Photography - second shooter

raehny

For all the OMHs out there - we are trying to finalize plans with our photog and are trying to decide if we want to splurge on a second shooter. I'm all for one, but our parents are paying for just the basic 6-hour, 1-shooter package since she's a bit pricey (and my dad almost had a heart attack when he saw the package we originally wanted!). That means that any extras we want (which would just be extra hours or a second shooter) would be coming out of our HM spending money.

So my question is - if you had a second shooter, were they worth it? If you didn't, did you regret it? FI doesn't think we need it, but I wanted to be sure before we tell our photog no.

courtski2004

I didn't regret not having a second shooter. After talking with my photog, he said that he really only recommended it for weddings with a large guest count (200+). After looking thorugh our pro pics, there isn't anything that he missed, and there were 1800+ pictures just from him. I don't think much more could have been photographed at that point.

fallbride1109

Having a second shooter was important to me.  I just didn't see how one photographer could capture everything. 

One of my favorite pictures was of me waiting before the ceremony which was taken by the second shooter (as my photographer was already in the ceremony space waiting for me to come down the aisle).  Just moments like that that I would have missed had I not had one make me say yes, it's worth it.

professorscience

I think it depends on your timeline, too.  Our photographers were able to get photos of the girls and guys separately and save some time.

I also really loved the pictures we have from two different vantage points.

But I don't think I would have spent the extra if it wasn't already included in what we paid.

ejheart

Our package included a second shooter, and it was important to me as well. In hindsight, there were definitely some pros to having one (like Amanda mentioned, being able to shoot both guys and girls getting ready/before the ceremony) and having a few different angles, but overall I probably wouldn't have done it if it were lots of extra money. One thing you don't know is how experienced your second shooter will be (although, you can ask)...so it's hard to know if they will or won't be worth it. Something that I also didn't realize was that our second shooter would leave early. She was there for pre-ceremony, ceremony, and early reception but I noticed that she left mid-reception and for some reason that annoyed me.

As far as extra hours, our package had 6 and we ended up adding 3 on. I know, that sounds ridiculous, but our wedding alone was 6 and between getting ready and travel to/from the venue time added up quickly. So, I would definitely try to figure out extra hours first, and then maaaybe add the second shooter if it's still in your budget.  

fallbride1109

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_texas-dallas-ft-worth_photography-second-shooter?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:102Discussion:fe21ef97-b51d-4b4f-9edd-764a64076feePost:aef08a9f-d499-4a83-9dd9-dfb0b5353def">Re: Photography - second shooter</a>:
[QUOTE]One thing you don't know is how experienced your second shooter will be (although, you can ask)...so it's hard to know if they will or won't be worth it.  
Posted by ejheart[/QUOTE]

When meeting with photographers, you should always ask to see work from the second shooter so that you know what you are getting.

ejheart

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_texas-dallas-ft-worth_photography-second-shooter?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:102Discussion:fe21ef97-b51d-4b4f-9edd-764a64076feePost:95ad6462-7a9d-49fb-b261-3a94bd11bf95">Re: Photography - second shooter</a>:
[QUOTE]In Response to Re: Photography - second shooter : When meeting with photographers, you should always ask to see work from the second shooter so that you know what you are getting.
Posted by stephiehall[/QUOTE]

I should have done this. But, at the time that we booked she didn't yet know who she would be using and as it got closer and closer it got pushed to the back burner.