The Benefits of a Husband and Wife Photography Team

 

The 5 Benefits of Being a Husband and Wife Photography Team

 

I love being a husband and wife photography team. It is amazing, and for so many reasons. When I first started my business I was single…actually, I had just broken up with a serious boyfriend and I needed something to throw my energy into.

 

I ended up throwing all of my energy into starting my wedding photography business! I didn’t offer a second photographer for the longest time. I would actually run back and forth between the guys and girls rooms to photograph them getting ready! If you think about it, this only really works if both the bride and groom are getting ready at the same venue! Almost half of our couples, though, do not get ready at the same venue, so I must have just been super lucky those first few years that most of my couples did! I was able to shoot everything by myself and I thought I was awesome for doing so! I could photograph everyone getting ready, the groom when he saw the bride the first time, garter tosses, etc. I ran around on wedding days like a crazy person, but I loved it.

 

I am so thankful that when Scott and I got together, he agreed that being my second photographer was a bonus for my business! It has been such a blessing over the past several years to have him with me. If you are a photographer who is trying to get your husband or wife to join you, here are several benefits we’ve been able to give our couples because we are a husband and wife team:

 

1. We communicate really well together.

 

We know how to talk with each other and figure out items during the wedding day. Scott pretty much knows how I think on wedding days. He has been married to me for a couple years now and is able to figure out what I am thinking when my mind is already jumping ahead to what is happening next on the wedding day. This is amazing because I do not have to stop and explain something…unless I am not making any sense…which, let’s face it, when its 90+ degrees outside for an outdoor wedding I don’t think too many people are thinking straight or making sense at that point!

 

2. I work with the girls and he works with the guys!

 

I love this aspect of the wedding day with Scott. You know how I chatted about running around like a chicken with my head cut off? Yeah… that doesn’t happen anymore thanks to Scott! He goes right to the guys getting ready room and starts photographing the groom’s details, the guys hanging out and getting ready. He builds an awesome relationship with them during this getting ready time, which is great! It makes it so much easier on me because when the guys meet me for the formals they are all ready to go and mentally used to picture taking! Scott knows how to get them laughing, and usually already has inside jokes with them! Having Scott photograph the guys takes the total weight of that off me. I can focus 100% on the girls, and the bride getting ready.

 

3. We text back and forth on the wedding day.

 

This one really isn’t a husband and wife benefit, but it does make it nice! We will text back and forth on the wedding day to let each other know if the guys are leaving for the venue, the girls are leaving, the groom is ready for the first look, etc. We are at least in different rooms for the first part of the wedding day, if not in totally different venues for getting ready. Texting back and forth about what is happening and letting each other know when people have left is awesome because it helps us with our timing. We know when to expect the other half of the couple to show up! This is crucial for First Looks, since we always want to get people tucked away and coordinate when everyone arrives so the bride and groom don’t see each other until the first look!

 

4. No more training other seconds.

 

This has been the biggest benefit of being a husband and wife photography team. I was always able to find second shooters that had similar styles, but the way they worked was always a little different. Having Scott with me every single wedding for several years now means that I have been able to train him in the style that I want the photographs to be. This is huge! He is photographing the wedding day from his perspective, but in the same style as I would be shooting if I was taking the photos instead of him. This makes the guy getting ready images flow with the girl even though we are at different venues. A lot of times when I am picking images for the blog post I can’t remember who shot what and I love that! I love that we have worked so closely together now for several years that our photos flow together so easily.

 

5. Recap of the wedding day.

 

This is something I really do love, and I never had the chance to do it with my previous second shooters. Recapping the wedding day. The day after the wedding, I go through and cull all of my images as well as Scott’s. I select the keepers and start the editing process. On Sundays, we sit down and go over what worked great at the wedding and what could have used some improvement. This year one of our biggest things has been to really focus in on family formals and get that section of the day to flow as easily as possible. The family formals have a lot of moving parts because so many people are involved. We are really making a huge effort in 2017 to make it as easy as possible on our bride and groom, their families and us! We have seen a huge improvement so far and we know it is working since after each family formal section at a wedding, a couple of the family members come up to us and tell us how nice, easy and awesome the family formals were! Having that recap time the day after a wedding is awesome!! We are able to really take things up a notch and bump the experience for our couples even higher.

 

Those are the benefits that come to mind when I think of a husband and wife photography team. I know not everyone is married or has the luxury of getting their husband or wife to start photographing with them. For many years of my business, I did everything myself and only had a second for maybe half my weddings. If you are just a one-person photography team and want more tips on how to work with second photographers, just let me know! Send me an email with your questions and I am happy to help!

 

 

Here is a little sample of how we were shooting at different locations for Caitlin and Johnny’s getting ready portion of the wedding day.  The images flow nicely together even though they were taken several miles apart!

 

 

 

Check out Caitlin and Johnny’s Full Wedding Post 

 

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