Decision Point: Do I need a Second Photographer?Misnomer of a Second Photographer

We are Joe AND Robin Photography.  With that comes the implied that you always get both Joe and Robin as your photographers.  We love to shoot together and are not some outsourcing company so that is what you likely would get if you get two photographers.  Most often two photographers is not needed – particularly for us at this point.  So the question we hope to answer with this blog is when would a second photographer be valuable.

All 2nd Photographers are not the same.  They are typically viewed a lesser than skill position.  Things go so far as at some weddings people will ask who is the second photographer.  Thank you for the compliment that you cannot tell the difference between our skill levels.  In the wedding industry most photographers are a company of one photographer with someone who is an add on to supplement.  This supplement is a felt need when someone does not want to miss anything. This is often why people who get second photographers also then will consider a videographer.  The fallacy is if there are two photographers then there is a low risk of a moment being missed.  We noticed in some general wedding blogs that impression was given. We practice redundancy in our business model but believe the need for redundancy comes down to balancing a risk of failure to cost of impact.

Different Types of Second Photographers

Assistant(s)

This is more of a label either to downplay the skill of another or have someone there to manage the photography gear.  Ironically we see assistants used most often with male photographers who have a high end flare to them.  There can be good reasons to have an assistant as it lets you focus on the shoot and the creative aspects.  For most people though this can be a little overkill when it comes to weddings.  Another way to say it is we never had someone ask us if they could have an assistant.  We have noticed there is a hybrid sometimes between this and the next where a spouse becomes the second photographer eventually.

Outsourced / Partner

Often this is to a newer photographer with lesser experience.  We used to get job inquiries from photographers that overstated their experience to sell themselves as they looked for work.  With the advent of certain website platforms making it easy to build a website we think they now run their own businesses as ‘professionals’.  This person is often rather new and shooting less as it is a little filler cash on the side.  There is really not a predictable nature to who the main photographer uses so they are normally in the background taking direction to align to another style.  We think 2nd Photographers are around >90% in this category.  When you think of the primary photographer having little experience the secondary as a safety makes sense.  Another way to say it is if you have two half photographers one could argue that makes a whole?

Seasoned Professional

This is what you get with Joe and Robin Photography.  We are both at that primary / principle level of photography.  On any wedding day where you had hired both of us you could have either of us take lead on any shot and make it happen.  This is less common to find so we get why one might have some concerns on if one photographer is enough.  If you need our take on the different levels of photography you can check out this blog on professional photographers.  We know women are less driven by numbers so here is a thought – if you get more images after edits with one of us (Joe or Robin) with less time than most other companies two photographers and more time are you really missing something?

Wedding Characteristics for Second Photographer Value Add

The variable with all of this is the level of skill.  When it comes to a second photographer under the business of another it is hard to assess unless they have another separate photography company.  We can best speak to where we are with two primary level of photographers so that is where we will focus.  Looking back we can say that until we hit 100 weddings we were still learning and after 200 weddings it became a little excessive to have us both.  So – assuming your photographer is a competent professional what are the wedding characteristics where a second photographer is valuable?

Guest Count Size > 150

More guests equate to more happening simultaneously and having more key events.  For us, we recommend having the conversation of a getting a second photographer when you are above 150 guests.  The average wedding is around 120 so for us it is good considering both of us for a large wedding.  Below 150 guests and we are normally completely fine with one photographer.  This is due to the level of experience we have shooting weddings.

Compartmentalized Venue

With the open concept trends in building we find this has become less and less common.  Often the venues are older that have broken up rooms.  The idea is that if you do not have a line of sight then it can be hard to shoot something.  We shoot a lot of candids so this means you might miss some stuff in another room.  Realistically, we see a higher level of commonality with traditional weddings in older buildings.  All that to say this might not even be a factor to consider.

Multiple Concurrently Planned Events

This is the most logical reason why people have two photographers.  With any of these you however can overcome them with a little bit of coordination / time.  We have a lot of ideas on how to make things work.

The most common example is getting ready photos.  Often they are planned at similar times.  Sometimes they are at multiple locations.  The simple way around requiring two photographers is to give yourself 15-30 minutes more and bounce between spots.  If the guys are at an entirely different location we normally start there then go to the bride’s location.  We do not use multiple cars from just an overhead cost perspective.  We have occasionally dropped one of us off with the bride while the other commuted to where the guys were and got those shots.  Guys take about 5 minutes to get ready and commonly are already dressed by the time you get there unless the bride pushes hard for those shots.

Another example is when one does not have a first look and someone tells the couple it would save time to do part of the bridal party early getting ready and bridal party photos could overlap.  Ironically the people who come up with that idea are not photographers as realistically you spend more time on bridal party photos than doing them all at once after the ceremony.

The best reason for two photographers is having a large wedding with a very tight schedule due to the venue and a late setup.  What we mean is something like a venue were you cannot get into the building until a certain point and the setup goes all the way up into the ceremony.  If you really want things like an empty reception room it can be hard to get without the second photographer stepping out of some other event.

Concurrent unplanned events are things not mentioned here like a trending dad – daughter first look that seems to happen often just before coming down the aisle.  This means you might need to have a very quick camera / lens change.  This is not that impacting as we have a surplus of cameras / lenses.

Comparison of Two Weddings

We have found the best way to help our couples when they are on the fence about doing one photographer or two is to have them compare two weddings from the same venue.  One wedding below has one photographer and the other has two.  If you have easily tell which has two then you likely should get two.

Here is another wedding at the same venue: