Benefits of having two wedding photographers

Cairns wedding photographers | Benefits of two wedding photographers

You might have noticed that we offer two options – either one photographer, or two.

You may be thinking “do we really need two photographers at our wedding?” – or “we’re having a pretty small, laid back wedding so we probably don’t need to have two people capturing it“.

Here are a few reasons that we love shooting with two photographers, and the ways it makes your wedding day coverage more personal and more comprehensive. Having two sets of eyes on the action decreases the chances of missing things, while increasing the opportunities to create something epic.
 

THE MORNING PREPARATIONS

 

Now – let us preface this blog post by saying that we can essentially capture many of these things with just one photographer. It’s not impossible to have groom’s preparation photos and bride’s preparation photos with just a solo shooter.

But the story of the morning will be quite different.

When we’re shooting with two photographers, we split up in the morning – one photographer with the boys, and one with the girls. This means we can capture whatever the boys get up to – with emphasis on the whatever.

From surfing to BBQ breakfasts, paddle boarding to fishing, playing golf to cut-throat shaves…  no matter what the boys do before the wedding, we’re keen to capture that.
 

 
JJ even took the time on the morning of his wedding to visit his grandparents grave at the cemetery – a super powerful moment, that we just couldn’t have captured with only one photographer.

 
All of these above images take place before the traditional “getting ready” photos. Here’s a couple of them below :
 

 
Photos like these ^^ we take at pretty much every wedding. Every groom puts on some kind of wedding attire, gets ready, takes a few photos with the groomsmen or Mum & Dad. Whereas all that stuff earlier in the day … that’s what really captures your unique occasion, and the feeling of you & your mates hanging out together.
 
It’s also worth considering the timelines. Here’s the same wedding timeline – Example A with a solo photographer, and Example B with two photographers.

Example A :

• 11am – Photographer arrives with boys for ‘getting ready’ photos. Boys get straight into getting dressed, tying ties, etc and take a few photos.
• 12.00 noon – Photographer leaves boys to travel to girls for preparations photos. Boys get undressed because it’s too hot to sit around for 3 hours in their wedding clothing.
• 12.30 – 1pm : Final stages of hair & makeup photos with bride
• 1pm – Bride gets dressed
• 2pm – Photographer leaves for venue to arrive early enough to capture groom greeting guests, etc.
• 3pm – Ceremony begins.

Example B:

• 10am – Photographer 1 meets the boys at a cafe in town where they’ll be having a brunch.
• 11am – Boys finish brunch & head down to venue to set up a few last minute table decorations.
• 12 noon – Boys arrive back at resort accommodation, go for a swim & have a few beers.
• 1pm – Boys start ironing shirts & get ready
• 2pm – Boys leave for venue
• 2.30pm – Boys arrive at venue & photographer captures guests arriving / greeting groom etc.
• 3.00pm – Ceremony begins.

 

• 10am – Photographer 2 arrives at girls, bridesmaids hair / makeup photos
• 11am – Details photos / bride’s hair & makeup begins
• 1pm – Bride’s hair & makeup finished
• 1.30pm – Bride gets dressed
• 2.30pm – Bride & photographer all leave at similar time to head to ceremony
• 3.00pm – Ceremony begins.

You can see that in the second scenario with two photographers, the coverage is much more natural and complete. Rather than the boys needing to arrange their morning around being available to ‘get dressed‘ purely for photos at 11am – they can do their thing, and the coverage will reflect whatever that happens to be.
At the girls place, there’s much more time for photos of the bride & bridesmaids just chatting / laughing – more time to capture you with your favourite people.

The other great thing about having two people in separate places shooting prep is that sometimes, funny things happen simultaneously. For instance these guys – completely unplanned – cracked a bottle of Moet and ended up drinking straight from the bottle – within 5 minutes of each other!

 

THE CEREMONY

 
OK – the next big selling point for having two photographers is the ceremony.

There’s a lot going on, and much of the action is taking place simultaneously. Having two sets of eyes on things just increases our chances of capturing THE perfect moment.

First example – coming up the aisle. The groom’s expression as he watches the bride coming towards him is always worth capturing – and with one photographer dedicated to this, the other can focus solely on the bride.
 

 
Second – the moments you speak your vows to each other often evoke beautiful emotions – and can change from crying to laughing in a split second.
Having one photographer focusing on the bride and the other on the groom means we increase our chance of catching these emotions – rather than being on the wrong side.
 

 
Third – Having two photographers means that, if there’s a “risky” shot that will be super cool but at the expense of missing other shots – we can still do it.
For instance, in the images below – this church has a beautiful overview of the aisle from a balcony above. But with just one photographer, there’s no way that we could shoot the over-top photo and still capture the important angles of the bride coming up the aisle, etc. With two photographers – one person can dedicate themselves to that crazy angle – knowing that the other has the ‘safe’ shots in the bag.
 

 
Finally – the first kiss. It’s fun to play around with opposite angles here – one capturing the view that the guests see, while the other catches the people clapping in the background.
 


 

CONGRATULATIONS

 
One of our favourite parts of a whole wedding day is the moment just after you walk back down the aisle. Everyone comes up to give you a hug – the emotions are running high, and these are your favourite people!
Having two photographers to capture the next 15 minutes or so just means you get double the chances to capture those people you love most in the world with their big, cheesy, happy grins.
 

Photographer 1 :

Photographer 2 :

 

BEING IN TWO PLACES AT ONCE

 
The next point is all about utilising time. We want to free up your wedding schedule as much as possible, to ensure that we can capture everything while having the smallest ‘footprint’ on the day.
 

While photographer 1 is shooting group photos :

Photographer 2 can scoot over and shoot reception details, before the guests arrive to hang their suit jackets and handbags on the chairs!

 

CREATIVE LOCATION SHOOT

 
There are two ways we can roll on this one. Having two photographers for the location shoot means you can cut down on the amount of time you need to spend away from your guests. For instance, while one photographer shoots a photo with the groom & groomsmen together, the other can photograph the bride with bridesmaids.
 

We also maximise the angles we capture of the two of you – for instance – while photographer 1 takes a wide shot :

 

Photographer 2 might be shooting a more zoomed in version, or a silhouette :

 

The other way we can rock this time of the day is that photographer 1 can take the bridal party & bride + groom off for some creative photos :

 

 

While photographer 2 stays at the venue and captures your guests enjoying those lawn games you put all that time & effort into!

 

 

NIGHT PHOTOS

 
You might have seen we love to geek out on the night shots. Often these require two things – extensive trial and error, and someone to be there holding lights.

If we’re shooting with two photographers, it means that photographer 2 can stand in as the test subject while photographer 1 tries, fails, tries, fails, tries, half succeeds, tries, succeeds, tries, improves, refines – and finally – is ready for the bride & groom in the photo.

Photographer 2 can also help out with holding lights, adjusting power settings, etc.

Basically – the end result is that you stay inside partying while we finesse everything to perfection – and then only need to steal you away for 3 minutes to achieve some epic shots to cap off your wedding night.
 

 
To sum this rather long post up … having two photographers is ace. You’ll have a more natural, relaxed timeline on the wedding day, get more photos of the key moments, and have a wider, more comprehensive story of your wedding day overall.

If you love the idea of having two photographers to capture your wedding day – we should chat! We photograph weddings in Cairns, Port Douglas, and anywhere else in Australia.

Until next time,
Isaac + Amy.