Second Shooters + Lenses Q+A // NH Wedding Photographer

I’m gearing up for my first wedding of the season this weekend and I am SO EXCITED to be back in the groove! There is always this pent up excitement to do new things I learned about in the time off so I am super glad to jump into my season with an early bird April wedding woo hoo! I have quite a few shoots I need to post about here but I thought I would do a “for photographers” post first. I received a few questions from other photographers lately and thought my answers might help others so I decided to post a couple of those here from time to time. My answers are certainly not the be all end all, they are just my way of doing things so please don’t feel like I am pretedning to be the holy guide to photography – haha! With that said, let’s get to it!

Question Number 1!Hey Sarah,

I just helped photograph a wedding with two other photographers. I was allowed to come along as third shooter to get the experience and possibly more work from them. I wasn’t getting paid for going however, she’s offered to pay me for individual pictures if she ends up using them in the albumm. I have no idea what a fair price would be. Do you have any thoughts?

Also, I’m unsure about giving her pictures to use for the album because the bride and groom will have no idea that I took them. How do you work that out? Is it just that once I’m paid for them, they’re no longer mine? I wouldn’t like the look of putting a copyright on the individual pictures, but is that the only way to do it?

Thank you. Any help is greatly appreciated.

– keeping the name anon :)

Here is how I work to give you an idea of my arrangement:

I almost always have a second shooter at my weddings and I pay them a flat rate based on how many hours they will be working with me and it is agreed upon ahead of time. I also have my second shooter sign a contract with me outlining a few things:

they can use the photos in their portfolio and on a blog (in the blog they should call out they worked with me) but they can only post AFTER I have posted my photos online

they retain the rights to their photos (so they can use them in their portfolio and any advertising without my permission) however they also allow me to edit, remove and pass on to the client any images I see fit and those photos will now be under my brand so I can sell those photos in my online gallery

they must shoot in RAW format and upload the files to me before they head out for the evening

The photos are all put into the same grouping and I don’t distinguish between who shot what. I have never shot with or heard of another photographer who splits up the photos so I think this practice is pretty standard across the industry. To split them up could create confusion and a lot of couples don’t care who shot what – just that the photos were amazeling :) The second shooter’s work is (ideally) very similar to the first shooter’s so the work can be as seamless as possible.

I assume you uploaded all of your photos to them at the end of the night. I think it was the mistake of the first shooter to not have you sign a contract with them at the get go, although they were most likely just wanting to be helpful and have you there and then potentially use your services in the future. I think the only reason it was a “mistake” is because you are now confused as to what to do and confused as to who owns the rights. Since there was no contract, the photos are NOT lost on your part and unless you sign over the rights, you can use them on your own portfolio (again, as long as nothing was signed) but I would still be mindful of the photographer and wouldn’t publish anything until after they have already done it first.

I would venture to guess that your photos are now going to be housed under their brand. Most photographers don’t offer to money if an image is used in an album, so it awesome they are offering that! I think it is up to you to decide what a good cost would be. Maybe you can find out how many images were going to be used and see then if you can get a total based off of the number. I wouldn’t go very high just because they truly are trying to give you credit and help you out by passing on some money for images used.

I shot with two AMAZING photographers in San Diego for a couple of years and was paid by the hour ($15-20/hour) and they were paid at least $6,000 for the wedding overall; they used my photos but I never received more money from it. My images were all shot on film (haha) and the film rolls were handed over to them at the end of the night and I never got them to even use for my portfolio. They would frequently email me uploads of the images I took that they loved, but that was the most I got from it. And that was ok! It was honestly just an honor to work with them and learn from them. To me it was more about that and getting to be at these crazy weddings with great details and beautiful people all dressed up. I truly think if you look at it that way, then you will be more pleased with the experience.

Second shooting is definitely not a way to earn a lot of money up front, it is more about the knowledge and the experience you gain while there which will help you grow in the future. I would use the time with the photographers to find out about camera settings, why they shot a certain way (backlit, wide aperture, a certain pose, what was a natural reflector in the area, where they focused on an image etc) and ask lots of questions – while they are not busy of course! And also just do whatever you can to make the first enjoy working with you so you can join them more. There is so much that goes into shooting a wedding (both socially and capturing the right images) and that means there is an insane amount of stuff you can learn from the photographers. It’s AWESOME second shooting and I truly wish I could do it more. I second shot last year four times (yup! I still do it because I love to help out others and I love to learn more about how they shoot…there are a couple of photographers in my area I would shoot for free with just to be by their sides for 8 hours!) and I loved every minute. The pressure is off your shoulders to be the one getting all of the “must have shots” and you are more free to be creative and get fun shots so I love love love it!

You DEFINITELY deserve to be recognized for your work and I am sure the first photographer was very happy to have you there but don’t take offense to them using your images, it’s actually an honor :) I would say that for the future you should ask about what happens to the images after the wedding and to what extent you are allowed to use the images on your own site/blog/facebook so you can be completely comfortable going into the wedding.

My handsome husband being my second shooter/kissing an imaginary bride and allowing me to test the light on him while we location scout :D

Question Number 2!

What is your most used lens? -Lizzie

I shoot Canon cameras and the two lenses I use the most are my 50mm 1.4 and the 35mm 1.4 – I love both of these lenses suh much. I shoot close to wide open for most of the day (so 1.4 – 2.0) to really get that soft background and the subject super sharp; I love that juxtaposition. I also like to shoot with the occasional item in the foreground which means it too will be soft since it is closer to me than my subject is. This means that you really have to be on point with your focus or else you end up with images of the subject being out of focus, so be sure you have mastered that when you shot wide open. I am constantly changing my focal point (I have gotten good at changing my focal point super fast) when I am shooting to select the one closest to my subject and then if a person is in the image, you should always focus on the eye closest to you if they are not on the same plane and you will be good to go!

The 50mm is so great for portraits and details, I am in love with that one. I typically switch to my 35mm for group shots since it is a bit wider without getting warped at the edges. It is tack sharp when you focus right and the images are amazing.

L: 50mm 1.8 and on the R: 35mm 2.0

Hope these help someone! I have a few other questions I didn’t post this time (I get wordy so these can go on forever…and ever…) so I will most likely do another one of these again!

Feel free to email me more questions, post them in the comments below or post them to my Facebook!