I was at a wedding this weekend and there were 3 shooters...and no, it was not a high-end wedding (just a typical middle-class Texas wedding). I thought that 3 was a little overkill and the thought of shorting through all those photos made me queasy. So now I'm curious, how many people do you shoot with? Solo, solo with an assistant, with a second shooter, 3+????

I typically shoot with a dedicated second shooter and an assistant that can also shoot when I need her to, like the ceremony. It comes in handy when you aren't allowed to roam in a church and you can position shooters at three different locations to get great coverage in less than ideal conditions.

My assistant stays with me during formals and my 2nd can go to the reception to get details before anyone arrives. At the reception my assistant basically runs remote lights for me while me and the 2nd shoot.

Worst case scenario is me and one 2nd who can assist when I need.

Ben

My husband and I often have people shadow us at weddings... but rarely more than three shooters in total.

had 4 last weekend if u include myself, you can never have too many lol. Sorting is not a big deal if your doing it correctly... If you have skilled artists that you trust and that are true professionals it shouldn't at all matter.

Earlier this year I shot a wedding with 3 photographers and just the bride and groom LOL. Ironically that was maybe the best wedding i've ever shot!

I agree that at the ceremony, having a lot of shooters is very helpful.

but what about when the bride & groom are getting ready? I have been the second, third, and fourth shooter this season, and there are definitely times when I felt cramped.

I suppose it really also depends on the personality of the B&G, if they like having that kind of attention.

I am also interested in what others have to say on this topic.

I think you cannot have too many shooters at a wedding, but I work alone. Because I am the only one I really trust in. And I don't shoot high class weddings, so it's a question of money to call a second shooter.

Mario

I always have at least one other person with me but I prefer to have a team of 3. I really like the dynamic of 3. I recently had a team of 4 because I was worried about the lighting .. it was a huge place and the 4th was only there for ligting and downloading cards. I found that everone shot much less than they normally would have (except for me) maybe they felt like it was covered since there were so many of us. In this kind of situation I think it's really important for the 1st shooter to make it very clear what the expectations are for each person.

We have up to four shooters at our weddings - our adult children are learning the biz, and this year we are using that to train them for two reasons - backup for us as well as giving them skills to start their own biz! We get a lot of inquiries for weddings under our smaller package and would love to be able to refer them to our children!

At times 4 can be too much but we take time before each weddng to plan the day, where everyone will be, etc. so that we arent in frames.

It is more work now to sort through all the images, but it's worth it to see their growth. Also, cant tell you how fun it is to see the different angles and eyes that everyone has. We've had some great shots where we all caught a moment from different angles. Recently we caught the dad passing off his daughter. I had a shot from the front of the bride looking back, with her brother crying in the background. My daughter had the shot from the other side of the dad looking back at his wife and my wife had the another angle from the other side!

It also gives my wife and I the chance to do the formals together knowing we have them in the reception getting shots of the family and friends and the life that is going on there.

I agree that you almost can't have too many cameras, within reason. I've found that our overall storytelling is better with more images to choose from.

This is actually a selling point we use when we meet with clients - that they get multiple shooters with our studio meaning we have more to choose from when we sort out for the final mix. Most clients love it. We havent had anyone yet say they wanted less shooters.

Since it is all of us shooting together as a family, we love it and it makes for a great day!

But having said all that there are times when we have to "shoot in turns" but that actually gives us a chance to sit and relax at the reception as others shoot and one or two get a chance to sit and rest.

If it's a smaller venue then we will have them be assistants and not shoot if it's too small and it will be too crowded for more than two or three shooters. Luckily this year we've had some

I am just getting into the wedding end of photography.

How much do second and third shooters get paid?

Thanks,

Linda

Linda,

It depends on the company you are shooting for. I don't have a 2nd at every wedding. But when I do, I pay $500. I think many here work hourly, but since I don't do hourly coverage, I just pay a flat fee.

My 2nd shoot until the reception and at that point they are FLASH GIRL. LOL

Weddings are so much more fun if you have a 2nd to share the stress with. I seriously hate shooting weddings alone, but hey, not every couple wants to add the 2nd.

I'm thinking about raising my prices $500 to always bring one.

It totally depends on the size of the wedding and the personalities involved. I just did one where there were four of us. Two photogs and two assistants. It was a great day and we just fit right in. But I can see where 3 or 4 of us would've stuck out like a sore thumb at some other weddings I covered earlier this year.

it depends too on the bride and groom - i shot a wedding this weekend where there were so many photogs and videogs it seemed crazy, but that's what the B&G wanted. really the only time it has felt like too much when i've had 3 or been a 3rd myself is during the ceremony - you want pix but it's really not supposed to be about that.

i agree. We have some situations where we ahve to dial back our third or fourth shooters - noteable the cake cutting since the cake is usually stuck into a corner and it's hard for all of us to get int there without dominating the scene rather than the B&G who should be. But, they can go out into the crowd and get shots out there.

For us that is the real beauty - several shots of the night from different vantage points without having to run yourself ragged.