Lately during wedding consultations my clients haven’t had many questions. I attribute that to the information that I put into my Client Lounge and Bridal Lounge that I invite them to review.  When someone is trusting me with the most important day of their lives, I want them to be 110% comfortable!  Over the years, I have been asked similar questions so I tried to make sure I had the answers to those questions in black and white! Even when clients don’t ask many questions, I will still go over some of the commonly asked questions that I received in case they happen to wonder later or happen to meet with another photographer who covers that information.

One area that I am sure to discuss is my equipment.  Not so much what type of camera I use or what brand of memory cards because who cares about that if I can produce work that they like.  I use this opportunity to discuss my back-up equipment!  I remember when I purchased my first camera I was so excited but then I outgrew it pretty quickly and purchased a second camera within the same year as the first one.  I remember talking to my dad about selling my first camera and he said that I needed to keep it as a back-up in case of equipment failure.  I hadn’t ever given that any thought but I just trusted his word.  Now that I have been shooting weddings for several years, there have been a few situations where having that back-up equipment meant saving someone’s wedding day.  I have been in situations where my camera just stopped working and as fast-paced as wedding can be I did not have time to trouble shoot.  For the sake of my bride’s sanity, I won’t recall which wedding this happened at but as she was walking down the aisle, the camera shutter would not release.  I quickly set the camera to the side and started shooting with the second camera. Another situation that happened was I had a charged camera battery sitting at my home while I was away at a wedding and I didn’t realize it until I was about to start shooting.  Again, having back-up equipment saved me.  Now, for weddings I carry at least 3 camera bodies, 6 extra batteries and more memory cards than I know what to do with.  I also carry 4 flashes, extra light stands for the reception and back-ups of any other equipment I am using for the wedding day.  Recently a friend watched as I packed my camera bags for a wedding and commented on my process…everything has a place so that I can grab what I need quickly.  Hey, sometimes having a Type A personality isn’t such a bad thing!  So to the wedding photographers that I just getting started, before the first contract is signed (always have a contract), make sure you have the proper equipment so that it’s the least of your concerns on the wedding day!

Photo Credit: Britney Jeanine Photography  + Design