Can I Do This?

Apr 6, 2019

In February 2018, My soul sister asked if I was interested in photographing her sister-in-laws wedding in August 2018.

I was flattered. She thought I was talented enough to capture this wedding.

I wasn’t sure if I believed that. What about the pressure of getting it right the first time? After all, it’s a wedding. If I screwed it up, there would be no second chance.

It made me think, though…

…if she thinks I’m good enough to photograph a wedding…would other people think I was good enough to capture their photos? If I do this wedding, should I take it further and make it a money-making business? Should I just do this wedding and be done with it? Go back to my casual photography?

Ultimately, after watching some YouTube videos, reading articles, and chatting with the bride-to-be (who proved to be a pretty easy going gal who didn’t have very high expectations; what better bride to do your first wedding for?), I made my decision.

I would photograph her wedding. I would take on the challenge, learn and improve my photography, learn the angles, poses, and the lighting.

Once I decided to photograph the wedding, it wasn’t even a second thought that I could maybe make this a reasonable side job. I had always thought I wouldn’t want to make a hobby I enjoyed in to a job, but why not try and see what could happen?

You miss 100% of the chances you don’t take, they say.

My partner supported my decision to pursue this and even helped me come up with the name of Roses & Scars. Roses for their beauty and Scars because even scars are beautiful.

My research in to how to photograph a wedding indicated I would definitely need to purchase a lot of equipment. All I had was one camera body, a stock lens, a telephoto lens and a portrait lens. I needed flashes, flash triggers, light stands, and an extra camera body to begin with.

Since I was paying for all of the equipment out of my own pocket, I was looking for the best value. I couldn’t afford the name brand equipment. I was looking for third party.

Amazon was the place to look. There are definitely some great local stores, and plenty of excellent photography specific websites, but none of them fit my budget.

Which was almost nothing.

So Amazon saved me there. They gave me access to all sorts of third party sellers such as Opteka and Neewer.

I purchased my first flashes within a week of deciding to photograph my first wedding.

It wasn’t enough to just buy the gear, though. I needed to practice, practice, practice and become deeply familiar with my camera and the settings. Something that had eluded me up until then. That pesky aperture…I didn’t get it.

So I read the user manual for the camera, and I practiced using wine glasses and fruit to start, then my step daughter as a model in early April 2018.

We went out and around Saskatoon, capturing her likeness all over town. When I got home and loaded the photos on to my computer and started sorting through them…I knew then.

I can do this.