I have found my niche..... Lastminutephotoshoot.com. Right up my street really as am late for most things!
Last week I was asked to photograph a wedding by Ash, the bride’s sister. Like the battery, my nickname is EverReady, so although I had very little time to chat things through with the stars of the show, I was excited to fulfill my next assignment. Ash responded to my advertisement on GumTree. To be a working photographer, I need a portfolio. To get a portfolio I need to work as a photographer. Bit of a Catch22 (literary reference there!).
Solution.... For a while I have offered my services for free, nichts, rien, nada, niente!
Surprise surprise, it’s working and I have quite a few weddings to shoot over the next few weeks. Long nights with coffee for company are looming as I try to get the post production work done. But I am starting to see a future in this which is really exciting.
This wedding took place in Chelsea Town Hall. The bride and groom, Azra and Tsung, are both doctors and really busy. So after a quick chat it was straight in to the event. Thankfully the room was warm. Very warm. So the beads of sweat on my brow as I worked the room could be interpreted as a response to my enthusiastic photography. Not nerves. This is still quite new to me and recording a couples wedding day is a big responsibility. I am sure I will get used to it. Given the size of the room, I mainly used my 24-70 f2.8 zoom lens as the range was perfect. That said with different venues, it won’t be long before I’ll need a second body. Swapping lenses just takes too long. That’s going to be an interesting conversation with the Finance department!
The ceremony ended with smiles and kisses and as the wedding party trooped off to a Knightsbridge restaurant, I was relieved that my presence had not been intrusive and I was confident I had enough in the camera to meet the brief.
Just need to get the album out now.