I shot a beautiful wedding at Camelot Golf Club in Lomira on June 8, and we had perfect weather. This time I shot the whole day as a second shooter, except for the bride getting ready. And I have to say I rocked it.

The bride and groom were impressed with the photos, as was the photographer I worked for. We had a lot of fun shooting the guys getting ready and the couple had fun with some romantic posing after the wedding. They got to see some of the shots on a laptop and we shared a few throughout the day, and again they were impressed.

Seeing the clients' joy is one of the best parts of doing this. I don't go to a wedding to serve myself. If I do quality work, I will automatically take care of myself. I approach a wedding as me serving the client. Of course I'm there because people like my vision and the way I shoot, but my goal is to showcase the couple's wedding story.

The way I work is to get the best result in camera as efficiently as possible, and to do this I like to use a hand-held meter when possible, and I incorporate artificial light as often as I can. I know many would never use a hand-held meter, but it takes only about four seconds to take it out, get a reading, and put it back, and I can adjust dials while I'm getting into position or telling the b&g how to pose, and it takes the guessing out of exposure. Ambient light is awesome, but it's not always available or quality, so I bring in flash off-camera when necessary. Amateurs don't do this because they simply don't know how.

I like to get a little technical when talking about shooting because that's what I do. I tend to use TTL flash for all outdoor shots. This is because it's quick and enables me to shoot without having to worry about shutter speed. The automation of TTL is very useful for weddings and understanding how it works is key. The key is that fill flash is about filling in shadows, not blasting a subject with light.

For situations where I know where the subject will be and flash is the main light, such as during the grand march, I set to manual and test until I get the look I want. For couples walking down the aisle, I set up the flash opposite the sun on TTL set to minus compensation to fill in the shadows. In a church, I would go manual and shoot when the people walk within the range of the flash. The pictures were amazing, with rich skin tones throughout and soft shadows, super sharpness. With formals, using manual exposure, I achieved a dark bg and rich skin tones with the flash on TTL and minus compensation. Same with b&g alone; minus compensation for gentle fill for exquisite skin tones.

With the 24-85 mm lens still out of commission, I shot this entire wedding with just a D200, 50 mm, 70-200 and 12-24 (just for table shots). I also used only one Speedlight at any given time with a dome diffuser. I used an umbrella only for shots of the guys outside before the wedding. This proves that you don't need a lot of equipment to shoot a wedding. Beginners are borderline obsessed with gear, and it's amazing how many times on forums I see them post a list of gear followed by "Is this enough?" It's almost as if they use a template. And then I see a lot of posts from people who shot their first weddings and have a list of things they screwed up and want to know how to fix.

Good wedding photos come down to hiring a professional. There's just no other way. Uncle Bob doesn't cut it; he can get better than a bad photo in some instances, but he'll never get a professional photo. The difference between amateurs and professionals is simply too great for any amount of gear to make a difference. Professionals understand that it's not about gear but applying understanding of photography. Amateurs simply don't have it. There's no more powerful tool in photography than your brain. I understand light, I shoot weddings and I know how to pose and expose to make you look your best, efficiently.

So call me, 920-485-2152 or email me. Set up your free engagement session, no obligations, and see what I can do. You'll be blown away.