I have always had an eye for photography. Since as long as I can remember I have usually carried a camera around with me–often just a point-and-shoot or cell phone camera, but a camera nonetheless. Since my purchase of a Nikon D90 in April of 2009, I have really started to focus more on developing my photography skills.
In the past year or so I started to feel I have the skills to take my passion to the next level. I launched “Photography by Wheeler” on Facebook and got the support from friends and family and eventually started getting offers to do grad announcement shoots, which I gladly did free of charge. However, once I started getting requests for weddings, I was a little hesitant.
What if the shots don’t turn out? What if my memory card fails? What if my batteries die? There are countless ‘what if’ scenarios when it comes to wedding photography. I had basically given up on actively searching for my first client for fear of failure. Fortunately, I have a wonderful girlfriend who didn’t count me out.
When a patient came in to her office and asked if she knew of a wedding photographer, my name came up. I jumped at the chance and everything was basically settled over the phone. Then the nerves kicked in. I decided to call up a good friend, Mike Doyle to hire as my ‘assistant.’ I use single quotes around his title, because he turned out to be more of a ‘rock star photographer colleague’ than merely an assistant. I also ended up purchasing two additional lenses and a second camera (all Nikon of course). This made a huge difference and definitely helped me to get all the shots I wanted.
Though Mike and I have plenty of horror stories about our first time shooting a wedding, we turned out some fantastic photos and are looking to team-up and do more weddings in the future. As Mike said in his blog post, “Doyle & Wheeler Photography” is officially open for business (or should it be “Wheeler & Doyle?” I’m kidding).
June 9th, 2011 at 8:51 pm
Great Job!
I shot my first wedding about twenty years ago and I still get the jitters, until I vew the final out come!
June 9th, 2011 at 9:34 pm
Glad I’m not alone, Michael. Thanks for reading!
June 10th, 2011 at 10:46 am
The most important question here is: What did Gena think of the pictures?
June 10th, 2011 at 11:23 am
She has not seen them yet. So we’ll just have to see.
June 10th, 2011 at 3:45 pm
This is the MOH of Genas wedding- I just want to say how lovely the photos came out! You guys did great! Gena had to call me and tell me about your blogs. She loves them!
June 14th, 2011 at 1:10 pm
Thank you, Kari! I’m glad you are all happy with the photos.
June 22nd, 2011 at 10:16 am
Finally! This is just what I was loknoig for.
June 22nd, 2011 at 1:27 pm
This has made my day. I wish all psotings were this good.
June 15th, 2011 at 5:54 pm
[...] As nervous as I was about shooting my first wedding, it turned out quite well and I couldn’t be happier with the results. With compliments from the bride and mother of the groom, I would call the day a success. Please read more about my experience in my previous post. [...]
June 22nd, 2011 at 8:53 pm
Holy Toledo, so glad I cclkied on this site first!
June 22nd, 2011 at 10:04 pm
Well I’m definitely glad you stopped by! Thank you for reading.
July 9th, 2011 at 7:24 pm
no shout out for the D90 choice? Ha, just kidding. Glad you made the jump.
July 9th, 2011 at 7:35 pm
Well, I did mention my D90 in the first paragraph… I also used a Nikon D70s with 35mm lens for this project. Thanks for reading. Miss ya, man.
December 30th, 2011 at 9:17 pm
[...] of Instagram and “iPhoneography” has brought me to a level beyond novice photographer. Shooting a wedding, doing outdoor portraits and low-lit concerts have helped refine my skills as a photographer and [...]