Amelia & Kevin - 2nd Shooter

Last Saturday I had the opportunity to 2nd shoot a wedding with Kevin Murawski of Murawski Studios! I had such an amazing time. It's been over 2 months since I've been to a wedding and I gotta tell ya, I was starting to jones a little bit! :-)

I have a special place in my heart for being a second shooter. This wedding made me remember why I love it so much. It's where I got my start as a wedding photographer, so it sort of brought me back to my roots so to speak. But this time, it was way different. It made me see how much I've grown since those early days. I remember getting home from my very first wedding with Kevin, I was so excited as I dumped my memory cards. I couldn't wait to see all of my awesome images! I just knew I had created some real works of art. I got a few good shots from that day, not nearly as many as I thought I had nailed, but the volume of knowledge that I had gained definitely out weighed the number of keeper images.

I didn't give Kevin any of my images from that wedding, I was pretty embarrassed and thought they were "unworthy" of a photographer like him. But he continued to invite me along and each wedding I learned more and more shots were "usable" and my confidence continued to grow. I even started giving some of them to Kevin (after editing of course).

This time though was an entire different experience, I proudly handed over my memory cards to Kevin so he could use any of them if he so chose to. This is huge for me people. Having another peer seeing my unedited images was unthinkable before.

And now I'm even more in love with being a second shooter. After shooting 9 weddings last year as the "main" photographer, it was nice to not bear the responsibility of the day. I was able to hang back and be a little more creative and try some new things. Don't get me wrong, I will always L-O-V-E being the main photographer at your wedding, but 2nd shooting is something that I hope to continue to do. For me. To help me to continue to grow and learn, and maybe even provide images for the "main" from another perspective.

Here's a few of my favorites from the day. Thank you Kevin for having me along, it's always so nice to shoot with you! You can see Kevin's images over on his blog.

The ceremony was held at St. Peter's church in Richmond. It's such a beautiful church, I love shooting there!

Kevin sent me downstairs to hang with Amelia (don't you just love her name?) and the girls before the ceremony. They found these paper flowers and we thought we'd have some fun with them.

Ruby was such a sweet heart and she just adores her cousin Amelia!

And John was definitely digging his role as the ring bearer.

I love this moment with Mom before the ceremony begins...

I love this image I got of these two cuties! If I would have been at the front of the church, I never would have seen this moment between the cousins.

Amelia and her Dad waiting for their big moment.

Love this perspective of their first kiss.

Another top favorite from the day!

Such a nice brother-in-law carrying his new sister in as they stopped for a drink.

Work it girl!

Candy stations are becoming popular at receptions and I love how everyone has a different take on them. Amelia & Kevin made theirs personal by adding pictures from they were kids. Awe.....

And it was a big hit with me, having all of my favorite candies from back in the day when we used to go to Candy Palace back in the 'Nac. Runts and Sour Patch Kids, Jolly Ranchers and Fireballs, Blow Pops and licorice pieces and Fun Dip! Right on!!

There are definitely some dancers in this bunch!

And one last image of the coolest ring bearer. He's single and ready to catch that garter belt! :-)