I do worry seeing so may posts on here asking about what lens or camera to use at a wedding and nothing about people skills.
All the kit in the world is worth nothing if the photographer has an inability to nteract with the couple and the guests and organise people in a firm but friendly way,a loud voice and a good sense of humour is as much use as a full frame body or f1.4 prime
Spookily prescient considering the other posts on here today...
One of the 'tested' criteria for aspiring Military Photographers during our selection phase is the ability to interact.
We are expected to be able to photograph (and control) individuals and groups up to battalion size and from private Soldiers to Generals, Royalty and Heads of State (the only British PM I have
not photographed in the past ten years is Cameron, the only Royal
not photographed is Prince Edward and the only US President I have
not photographed is Obama, though I
did photograph him before he won the election).
The ability to push yourself forward and control the situation is vital for
any photographer, let alone Wedding Photographers...
When I 'temped' for PA as part of my Seniors qualification course, I was surprised at how many (presumably) seasoned Fleet-Street toggers would hold back during a photo-op, letting one or two guys set things up and then 'poach' the shots themselves.
You quickly realise the pecking-order between the 'do-ers' and the 'lurkers'...
Being the 'newbie' I kept quiet for a couple of days, but after a while you tend to gravitate towards these 'do-ers' and offer up your own ideas, becoming an ad-hoc team, in effect.
When one of them asked me what white balance settings I would use at a cat-walk show we were all attending, I told him I was going to set a custom white balance.
He said "but that's no good if you don't know what the lighting's going to be like..."
I told him I'd already spoken to the lighting gaffer and had arranged a preview of the show lighting for all of us... he just nodded.
A few minutes later another one of the 'in-guys' brought me a cup of tea unbidden - "here you go Rob, two sugars, yes?"
Best day of the year that was...