Why You NEED two Wedding Photographers at Your Wedding

“Hey Siri, Do I need two wedding photographers at my wedding?”
“I have found 58,000,000 results on the internet for Do I need 2 photographers at my wedding?”
Really?

This is a highly searched topic, and highly debated topic with varying opinions.
Most photographers offer a “second shooter” or “Assistant/Associate Photographer” (for an additional fee, of course), so regardless of what they post on the internet about NOT needing a second photographer, they obviously see value in it, even if that value is self-serving.

But the truth is, you DO need two photographers at your wedding. Not sure? Keep reading.

When a photographer presses the shutter release on a camera, that shutter moves anywhere from 5 seconds to 1/4000 of a second (pretty fast, right?) Different shutter speeds offer different advantages/disadvantages, but that is a little more technical and a discussion for a different blog.

The reason we mention it, is that the decision to press that shutter release is a split-second decision that might capture a memory forever, or maybe your eyes were closed, or someone passed in front of the camera, and that moment was lost. Having two wedding photographers at your wedding means two different sets of eyes capturing two completely different moments in time of the same event.

No two wedding photographers are the same.

Photographers are artists, and because of their creativity, they often have different creative points of view. This means they will not view subjects the same way. In essence, you benefit from getting more creative choices for your galleries, albums and prints from two wedding photographers.

Different photographers may also have lens preferences that can offer different perspectives of the same moment.

In the shot below on the right, Gord is crouched down and zoomed in with a 200mm lens. On the left, Guylaine is standing just behind, mindful to keep Gord out of the frame, and capturing the same scene, but with a 24mm lens creating a much wider perspective.

Both photos add to the story by telling their individual parts. Photographers will argue that they carry multiple cameras with different lenses throughout the day, but you can’t work two cameras at the same time, and the moment may be gone before the camera is switched.

Avalon Wedding Photography always offers two primary shooters at no additional charge.

Things aren’t always happening at the same place, at the same time on a wedding day. Even when the bride and groom are getting ready at the same venue, the bride and groom are separated before the ceremony starts.

How can one photographer be at the front of the church taking photos of the nervous groom, while the bride is waiting in the back, having a teary moment with her father before her grand entrance?

Candid moments are an emotional part of the day. They are natural and unscripted and real. And, they are one of the biggest reasons we believe you need two wedding photographers.

While one photographer is focusing on getting the standard, necessary, photos, they are is missing out on what is going on around them. The emotion. The real shots. The emotion best captured during candid moments, when you don’t even know there is a camera pointed at you.

Things just look different from different views and angles.
And things that may be missed from one angle are very apparent from another angle. Covering things from different angles with two photographers not only ensures everything is captured, but it provides more photos and more variety in those photos than one photographer could possibly do on their own.

Conclusion – even if you have to pay your photographer extra for it, the advantages to having a second shooter on your wedding day far outweighs the cost.
(On a side note, Avalon Wedding Photography offers two primary shooters at no additional charge, but that’s just us.)
Hopefully, your photographer has worked with their second shooter previously and has selected someone who has a similar shooting style to ensure consistency in the final edits. After all, you want all your wedding photos to look the same.

If you want to discuss the need for two wedding photographers to shoot your wedding, or any other questions you may have, click the link below to set up a virtual meeting with us. We would love to help!

We want to talk!

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Guylaine and Gord
Avalon Wedding Photography