Second Shooting A Fall Wedding in Finleyville, PA

I don’t get to second shoot weddings very often, but whenever the opportunity arises, I love to take it – especially when it’s to help out a good friend.

There is so much that goes on in the head of a main wedding photographer: timelines & keeping things on track, addresses & travel times, names & relationship statuses, shot lists to follow – all while at the same time remaining positive & upbeat, giving clear directions – OH AND TAKING PHOTOS. Being a wedding photographer is not an “easy” job by any stretch.

I think though, that’s what makes it so much fun to take the “back-seat” on a wedding day & second shoot a wedding or two. All of the “big” pressure is on the main photographer – all eyes are on her – and the couple, their parents, & their friends are counting on that main photographer to deliver. Hardly anyone ever blinks an eye at the second shooter though!

Which simply means: while the main photographer has all that pressure to keep her eyes on the “main event”, as a second shooter, I’m free to open my eyes to what’s going on “on the side”. I shoot completely differently as a second shooter than when I’m in the role of the main photographer. That’s not to say I’m not backing up the main photographer – because I totally am – but I know that they are capturing the “main events”, which frees up me to capture more candids & details & images that will compliment the main photographer’s photos.

And it’s just a ton of fun!

So, last October, I had the grand opportunity to second shoot for a sweet friend of mine: Jessica Fike. That name might seem familiar if you’ve ready my blog for any length of time – along with her photography, Jess runs a website called “For The Love Of Deep Creek” & I helped her out last year with the launch of some t-shirts! Anyways, she lives in Maryland in Garrett County, but had booked a wedding in Pennsylvania, so she asked me if I would like to help her out with it & of course, I said yes! It was a gorgeous golden fall day & we simply had a blast together!

I wanted to share some of my favorite images from the day. Like I mentioned above: these are completely different from what I’d capture if I was the main photographer – but I love the story they tell & I feel like they compliment well the main storyline that Jess was shooting. They are the “side characters” in a story – they’re important, but not the shining stars that the “main characters” are – however they are necessary to tell a complete story.

Okay, I have to tell the story here!! The sweet bride & groom had their grandparents walk down the aisle as their “flower girl” & “ring bearer”. Well, as they were standing at the doors, waiting for the signal to begin walking, Grandpa tilted the pillow up to hold it against his chest (see the first image below)..

And that’s when he lost the ring.
It must not have been tied very securely, because it simply rolled away.
And this next series of images is why having a second photographer is SO important! Without me standing in the back, capturing everyone as they came in the door, the main photographer would have never seen these moments from the front of the aisle.
Thankfully, the rings didn’t roll too far & they were able to recover them without any delay. Poor Grandpa! He held onto those rings SO tightly from then on out!

And here is my beautiful friend Jess – wrangling up the bridal party! We took all of the formal portraits for this wedding in the bride’s parent’s backyard – it was gorgeous! So glowy & glorious – and I love the personal touch of the location being a spot near & dear to the bride’s heart.

While Jess was shooting the bride & groom getting ready at the beginning of the day – she had me start my day at the reception location. She knew that the bride & groom were decorating it to be themed to old cars & she wanted to make sure we had good images to show off their hard work. I was blown away by the amount of details that they had!! It was truly incredible!

*Side note: if your reception venue does not have a cocktail hour location that is completely separate from the reception location – it will be pretty much impossible for a photographer to get in & capture the room all set up & decorated (unless your photographer does like we did & it’s captured before getting ready details are captured).
Just know that traditionally: cocktail hour & the reception location would be 2 separate spaces & if they are the same space, you will have to work with your photographer to figure out how she will capture it or simply understand that those detail photos will not be able to be taken.

I know we always talk about having a second photographer there to capture the ceremony from two different perspectives, but there are definitely some moments during the reception that are helpful to have two photographers as well – like the cake cutting!! While Jess had the better angle when the bride & groom were actually cutting their cake, I had the better angle for the cake smashing!

This wedding was photographed by Jessica Fike Photography, with Kara Abbey Photography acting as her second shooter. The ceremony was held at St. Francis of Assisi in Finleyville, PA & the reception was held at the Liberty Fire Hall in South Park Township, PA.