So the big day finally arrived. I'm not on about for Graham and Stacey; I'm on about shooting my first wedding, well second shooting at least. I was second shooting for Matthew Lawrence, I always learn a lot when I'm with Matt. The day started out lovely, the sun was out and it was the warmest it has been in a while, which then made me dread wearing a shirt, I just kept thinking at least I’m not in a full suit like the men. We got there really early to get shots of Stacey getting her makeup done/bridal prep, while Matt focused on that, I walked around the venue thinking of shots and areas which would look good in pictures. Matt gave me the task of photographing the venue and the journey of the day. I started outside moving towards the bridal suite. Then I shot the brides shoes and little details.

Throughout the day I was shooting candids. Now you can at times feel a bit intrusive, standing away taking pictures and staring at people who you don’t even know through a lens. But you capture natural faces and expressions of the day, documenting the event as it is and not invading.

The perk of being there early was we had time to grab a coffee or in my case a hot chocolate. Thank god for my first wedding it wasn’t on the go every minute of the day. It was nice to actually talk the groom and the best men before hand, made it feel more informal and down to earth rather than this big strict image I built up in my head.

The ceremony was next, so many things were going through my head but the main thing was DON'T MISS THE KISS!!!. I have been given the advice to make sure you always get the kiss, because at the off chance one of you haven’t got the snap the other will. I Shot from the back and Matt shot upfront, I kept quite low just so I wouldn’t be visible in Matt’s shots.

So there was a little mingling time after before the group shots. Now this is were a second shooter comes in. Ordering people and getting the group shots ready for Matt to take. Luckily for my first time there was only about 30-40 people there. Going through a pre made list of the group shots wanted. Very straight forward thank god. Now the next shot was the confetti shot, passing around confetti and Matt asked me to shoot on his Nikon D4. It was a lovely piece of kit, even though I’m Canon, I am tempted to move over, but that’s for another post. Walking behind matt moving with the couple, Matt with the wide 24m Sigma and me on his shoulder shooting with the 85m Sigma.

Now when I ask photographers what is the most boring part of a wedding, they mostly say speeches, due to they can take forever. However I actually enjoyed listening to them, probably because the best man turned out to be very funny and the speeches were quite short which was a bonus, but none the less the speeches were beautiful in what was said.

The first dance was next. Now I haven’t used much off camera flash in a while so watching Matt was a nice refresher. Matt went for setting up the flashes either side of the DJ on the floor, always love seeing this shot done.

One main thing Matt has shown me, is to be is a little crazy. For the couple portraits, one of them was staged in the restaurant. I kept looking for when it was empty and we lucked out. Now if you saw us you would thing what the hell is going on. Matt straddling on a table, with me standing there pointing a bright video light towards the couple, which are standing on chairs in front of a table covered in dirty plates. But the shots Matt got were amazing.

Sadly the beautiful weather didn’t hold up, which Matt kind of liked as he had ideas for rain shots, however that was bad for me as I was test subject and standing out in the rain for 20 minutes in just a shirt wasn’t my favourite part of the day. The couple was staged at the top of a bending stone stairway, flash rim lighting them and a video light front lighting them as they stand there lovingly under a umbrella.

I learnt that being a second shooter doesn’t always mean I need to be shooting. Yes I spent a lot of the day shooting candid’s, detailing and shooting parts like the ceremony and the confetti shots from other areas from Matt. But its about be assisting in shots to make them more epic and the main photographers life a lot easier. I would rather help Matt make an amazing shot which would make me think i helped make that, than matt take a good shot while i try to take another okay shot. The day really was a eye opener into wedding photography and its only the start. Below are some of the shots I took. Thank you for reading.

- Charlie Bluck