Having a second shooter (especially for weddings, but not exclusively so) always leads to better results than a single shooter. Almost every time we discuss it our clients, they ask why adding the option is essential, so we figured writing about it would be helpful.

1. Second shooters capture lots of the “real” moments. In most cases, 2nd shooter will be assigned to an alternative location/angle (during the ceremony, for example). Emotions, facial expressions, the little details, etc. would be captured while the main shooter is focused on the bride/groom.

2. Having a 2nd shooter means being able to be in two places at once. The main photographer can hang with the bride all morning while a 2nd shooter captures the groom’s party. It’s a win-win, and no special moment is missed.

3. Less shots are missed. The unfortunate reality is that getting that perfect shot every single time is not always easy (or possible) with a single shooter. There are some unforeseen scenarios where shots get missed (that annoying aunt with her giant iPad blocking the kiss, sudden lighting changes, children running around / motion blur, etc.) A second shooter reduces the risk of missing shots in general.

4. A second shooter results in more beautiful imagery. Having two different shooters usually leads to much more variety in the resulting images, A second photographer will just have a different eye for things in certain cases. Think of it as pure math: As a single shooter, I typically take a thousand or so images by the end of the night. The culling/editing process often narrows it down to a fraction of that (usually less than a third make the final cut). A second shooter doubles that final number.

5. Having a helping hand means more time spent capturing photos. A sizable portion of my time spent as a professional photographer is used in prep: changing batteries, switching lenses, heading to the ceremony early to capture the groom waiting for his bride, driving ahead of time after portraits to set up lights at the reception, etc. A second shooter cuts all of this time in half, meaning that extra time is spent actually taking photos.

Questions about second shooters? Please let us know or leave a comment below!

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