I'm A Wedding Photographer: Take 2

I did my first ever solo wedding yesterday.

I looked up tips for new wedding photographers and there was all this scary stuff like 

"you have no idea what your doing"

"you're not prepared"

"hire the couple a real wedding photographer"

"you will most likely ruin the wedding"

"don't do it"

After many encouraging messages, I figured the morning of the wedding would probably be too late to call and cancel...

So I put on my big girl panties and walked out the door.

This was my mantra for the day

"Stay calm. Act cool...kind of like you know what your doing"

I'm learning MANY new things every time I do a shoot.

Here are the things I learned yesterday.

1. My height is a disadvantage

2. I need to buy a couple extra lens covers. Those suckers get lost too easily.

3. A light diffuser thing is life changing. I need to return this one to it's rightful owner (Thanks Jedi Josh & Kelley!) and buy one of my own

4. Other vendors become your friends during the wedding and keep you company
5. It is a guarantee that I will put the camera down and join in on the cupid shuffle

6. Stay calm

7. Act cool...kind of like you know what your doing (I think they believed me)

This was like one of the most intricate weddings ever.

Christy handmade 98% of everything. Bouquets. Table decorations. Boutonnieres

I wish I could show you everything.

I'm not legit enough yet to say "Christy and Mike's Sneak Peek"

but here are some of my favorites. 

Or a lot of my favorites.

Whatever. Don't judge. There was a lot to take pictures of.

Every center piece was a different color of the rainbow and looked completely different

brown table

pink table

Brittany and I got a shout out!

These were used in the game to decide which order the tables got to get up and eat

All bouquets match the girls. Christy made each one by hand out of paper.

Christy's bouquet

paper flowers made that hung from the tree where the ceremony took place

getting Mike ready for the first look

the first look about to happen

they were having just a little bit of fun :)

She was just a bit stunning.

Boom.

First solo wedding. 

So Excited.

I am so stinkin excited. 

I entered to win a absolutely fabulous bag designed specifically for cameras. 

(On this blog)

First of all, let's just state the obvious.

I could NEVER afford this 3 digit number

(not that it's not worth it, just not in my oh-so-glorious teacher budget)

but I had seen ONA before and thought they just looked like wonderful.

Especially the plum color.

(Random fact: I am consistently teased by close friends, and the hubs, about having a different favorite color every week)

I think plum is a beautiful color to wear.

But red (and yellow) will always remain first in my heart.

Long story short, 

I WON IT!

This little padawan right here.

I'm so excited I think I'll post a couple more photos that this little ole padawan has taken from this little ole big girl camera that will soon have a beautiful new home!

I sure do hope I am "earning the respect" of a new lens. 

Did ya all know I still almost pee my pants when I hit the submit button for a post with pictures. 

That's fun fact #2 for the day.

Oh! We need a new photo up top. Don't get me wrong, I LOVED our wedding but it's about time. Anybody like to play photographer like me and would like to snap a few of us in the next couple weeks, por favor??

I totally would, but, let's be honest, we all saw how the self portrait turned out. 

Real Padawan Updates

Apparently this is what I look like when I am using the camera.

A constant state of confusion and analyzing.

Over-analyzing, really.

Yep.

So I was gonna give this big long spiel of whats been happening

(because it's exciting, trust me)

BUT really what it boils down to is that I have been taking a lot of photos.

A lot.

Like an obnoxious amount.

But it's cool. 

mainly because it's a blast. 

There have been issues here and there.

There are issues that are mine.

Or the cameras'

Or the little girl editing tools that I am using. 

Really, they are all my issues but we'll just blame it on the technology for right now:)

So let's look at all the photos of late.

Here are a couple that I have taken with A Moment In Time Photography with my mentor, Liana. 

(edited by Liana using big girl photography tools and skills)

FYI, I'm just gonna shorten A Moment In Time Photography to "AMIT" for the rest of this!

A close friend at a fundraiser from church

very first engagement photo used for a real album for AMIT

another engagement shoot I got to do with AMIT!

 I have also gotten to tag a long on a couple of weddings.

Will some of my photos get used in the real set of photos??

I don't know! 

It's always exciting and nerve-wracking to get feedback from Liana.

She has been nothing but encouraging

But it feels like the equivalent of giving a famous chef a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and hoping they will at least just taste it.

I have also done some of my own stuff

Three family photo shoots?

The Barney Family

Pretty much models, right?

And from these photos I got 2 more shoots!

The Sauer Family

And also

Christy and Mike

These two just so happen to be getting married in February

And guess who gets to photograph this wedding?

This little padawan right here!
I'm so lucky, it's ridiculous

It has been lots of fun
and I love getting feedback from people
and like I said there are still issues

nervousness

I barely know what I'm doing

blurry photos

little girl editing tools

But I'm banking on the fact that these things will come with time 

(and dinero) 

I hope at least.

And then one day I'll have a facebook page and website and my own photography blog and a legit company name... (you just got a small glimpse into my way too optimistic head. I also am hoping that Santa and/or the city of Phoenix will get me a Sprouts and/or Sunflower Marker and a Super Target within 2 miles of my house) 

I'm so realistic.

But like I said at the very beginning of this adventure...

There will be good photo days and not-so-good photo days

And learning how to make the first outweigh the latter is a crazy good adventure.

Also random fact: it is a really odd experience to airbrush yourself

 I guess that's enough of an update!

And I'm positive this is way longer than anyone intended to read for.

 I will leave you with some of my favorite Christmas photos

GQ, right?

 Merry (early) Christmas from the AZ photography padawan!