Had a great time meeting with Raquel and Mynor ahead of their upcoming wedding to photograph their engagement session. Their wedding has a beach theme, and we decided Seal Beach would be a nice locale for their engagement photos. It was a beautiful day around Seal Beach pier, and they were very kind to be open and show their affection in front of my camera.

Eduardo Suastegui is a wedding photographer serving the Los Angeles & Orange County, California area

What does wedding photography have to do with a local school musical? Capturing timeless moments in good light, for starters. A couple of weekends ago I had the pleasure — and I mean that — of hanging back from my seat during St. Jeanne de Lestonnac’s presentation of Oklahoma, and grabbing a few shots. The kids did a terrific job, from the singing, to the choreography, the sound, and yes, the lighting. I had a great time trying to capture a glimpse of their terrific work.

Eduardo Suastegui is an event and wedding photographer serving the Downey, Whittier, Los Angeles – Orange County, California area.

What is the most common piece of advice given to an aspiring wedding photographer? Second-shoot with an experienced photographer. Does it work? Before we get into that, let’s touch on why this piece of advice makes a lot sense.

• Wedding photography involves not only photographic ability, but skill over a range of business and wedding day challenges. Learning the flow of the wedding day, for instance, while not having the pressure of delivering the primary set of photos helps.
• Hands-on experience while observing an experienced photographer can go a long way in furthering your skill set. In a healthy primary-second relationship, the primary may even take steps to advise and mentor his second. That’s really helpful, though it doesn’t always happen.
• The second photographer can focus on building his portfolio and skills while not having to worry about the business end: no contract to sign with the client; no negotiations over price to conduct; no thorny email interactions when the client wants to adjust some contract detail; no albums to design, proof with the client and deliver; no ruffled feathers to smooth when the client expresses displeasure with photos, etc.
• Second-shooting also helps the second photographer to network with other photographers, and as her career moves along, she will have a list of potential business partners to whom she can refer work, who may refer work to her, or who can team up with her down the line.
• Finally, second-shooting enables the second photographer to build his portfolio. Yes, he’ll have to turn his images over to the primary, but in most cases he’ll be able to retain some rights so that he can feature photos he took on his website and hopefully attract clients.

These are all very good things, and in between the lines, you might also sense that for someone just getting started with wedding photography, it is easier to second-shoot for a while than to get business and provide quality product to your clients as an inexperienced primary. Is this true? As it turns out, not really, and there are other problems with the second-shooter route.

First, getting a job as a second-shooter isn’t easy. Not at all. For a variety of reasons, many primary photographers will not be very keen on hiring you as their second.

• It turns out primary shooters want experienced second-shooters. In many cases, they want photographers with primary photographer experience. Why? It’s their reputation on the line. Why would they want to risk their reputation and brand by taking a chance on you? If you’re just getting started, you’re out.
• Somewhat related to the desire for experienced second-shooters, primary shooters are more likely to already have a list of second-shooters they know and use on a regular or as-needed basis. If you’re not already on that list, you’re out again.
• Other primary shooters prefer to shoot solo. They pretty much view a second-shooter as a detriment rather than a help. Unless you’re really good, they’re not looking forward to having to process another 1,000-2,000 photos. Even if you’re good, your style (more on this below) may not match theirs, so they may find they can’t really use many of your photos; if they did, they’d be delivering a disjointed product. As they say, three strikes and you are…

Add all that up, and if you’re cold-calling or emailing photographers in your area trying to find second-shooting opportunities, you’re likely to find more brick walls than open doors.

Are there more gotchas with second-shooting? Unfortunately, yes.

• Personal relationships between the wedding photographer and his/her clients are crucial during a wedding day. While the primary has met with the client(s), gotten to know them, learned about their expectations, and probably even shot an engagement session with them, as a second-shooter, you’re walking in cold. If you’re just hanging in the corners and shooting candids, that may work out okay. But if you have to interact with the client(s) to execute formal shots, walking in cold may leave you out in the cold.
• As a second shooter, you will likely have limited access to the bride during the wedding day, primarily during the pre-wedding prep hours. The primary will be shooting all those getting ready shots brides love to see in portfolios, and you’ll probably be somewhere else, maybe shooting the groom prep – important stuff, but not the main act in many cases.
• Then there’s the style, “who am I shooting for” question. As a second shooter, your goal should be first and foremost to support your primary photographer, to make him succeed by supplying photos he can use and sell to his client(s). That means in some cases you may be altering or bypassing your own personal style (e.g., natural light vs. strobist shooting, informal candid vs. formal posed portraits, etc.) to make sure your shots fit within the primary’s requirements for final delivery. This creates a tension between what you want out of the shoot, namely, to build your portfolio, and doing what’s best for the primary. If your styles and approach match, that’s great. If you differ a little, or if your experience prevents you from doing everything the way she would want it accomplished, you will struggle.
• When it comes to getting paid, the second-shooter shouldn’t expect much of an income. In many cases, you’ll be lucky to make enough to cover your gasoline. That’s okay for a season if you’re getting valuable experience and a portfolio out of it, but in general, not a sustainable business model.

Reading all that, should you be a second-shooter, or not? Every situation is different, and you may find some of the roadblocks I list above don’t apply to you. If so, great! Others may find that a combination of second-shooting and primary shooting of low budget weddings may help you pay your dues as you build your business. And others still may choose to just go for primary jobs and forget the second-shooting thing.

Whatever route you opt to take, just know the second-shooting advice you often read comes with a host of often unstated caveats. There are pluses and minuses, and you’ll have to weigh them for yourself.

This past weekend I had the opportunity to lead a photo project covering Serve Weekend 2012. I and another 16 photographers spread across the Whittier, California and surrounding areas to record with our cameras what folks were doing around our community to serve our neighbors. It was really great to put all the planning together for our photography team, then see what a talented and enthusiastic crew could capture with both heart and skill.

Go here to see the full set of team photos. Here are some favorite shots I took during the two day event.

Eduardo Suastegui is an event and wedding photographer serving the Whittier-Downey-Los Angeles, California area

If you’re a wedding photographer, soon enough you will become obsessed with flattering skin tones. Chances are you will turn to presets and actions to standardize and optimize the look of your photos. Recently I’ve been trying my hand at developing some Lightroom presets that suit my tastes and needs. Having met with success in some cases and frustration in others, I decided to give the now cult favorite VSCO Film preset pack for Lightroom.

To illustrate how presets enhance the look of a wedding photograph, let’s look at a photo I shot with the Nikon D7000 and a 135 f2.0DC lens. The cool and flat overcast light brings the challenge here. I’ve tried several approaches, and they’ve never quite satisfied me.

OOC with just the Portrait camera profile in LR4, 2012 process (doesn’t look much better or different in NX2):

Here’s a preset I developed with my own tone curve and some split toning (spent hours on this thing!):

Now let’s see what VSCO gives us, with just a click…

Fuji 160C+

Kodak Portra 400++

Fuji 800Z++

The differences in look are subtle and yet full of character, I think. Which is best is no doubt a matter of taste, but yeah, one-click-BOOM!, VSCO satisfies. After some quick turn-around adjustments to their original Lightroom 4 preset pack, Visual Supply Co have turned out a great product.

Eduardo Suastegui is a wedding photography serving the Los Angeles-Downey-Whittier California area.

I had great time photographing this wedding. The Palos Verdes and Long Beach venues were beautiful, as were Kelley and Evan, and their family and friends.

Eduardo Suastegui is a wedding photographer serving the Downey, Whittier, Los Angeles – Orange County, California area. You can view selections from porfolio here.