I’ve thought long and hard about adding second shooters to my business and I think it’s time. Second shooters will not only give me company at my weddings, help me to capture more images, and provide some “insurance.” They’ll also help JFP grow. Let me explain…

For three years now, I’ve been shooting alone. Every wedding, with the exception of a few, and every portrait session have been done by just me. I’ve enjoyed working alone and I’ve always preferred it. I’m the kind of person that feels like if I don’t do it, it won’t get done right. And I honestly wasn’t ready to trust someone else with the responsibility of capturing my clients’ wedding pictures.

When talking with photographer friends and attending workshops, I was constantly being reminded of the importance of second shooters. During those long days of shooting weddings, second shooters provide company – an ear to listen when you need to share ideas and someone to chat with during the downtime. Second shooters also provide more images, whether it be detail shots, different perspectives or pictures of the guys while the main shooter gets pictures with the girls, the overall collection is larger. And lastly, second shooters are “insurance” for both the business and the couple. Hiring a second shooter for a wedding insures that there’s one additional set of camera equipment available and that in the case of the main photographer not being able to make the wedding (I know, this sounds crazy!), there’s still another person reserved to photograph that day. I always take back-up equipment to my weddings and I never plan on not showing up for a wedding, but sometimes crazy things happen (serious illness, family emergency, etc.) and “insurance”, or second shooters, helps to cover such things.

While it’s hard for me to give up some of the responsibility, I think adding second shooters is a great way for me to grow my business. I have one more service to offer to my wedding clients and maybe one or two of those second shooters will turn into an associate photographer in the future and help JFP grow even more. I’d be able to say “yes” more often and wouldn’t have to turn away so many great couples.

But before I can offer second shooters, I need to make sure I have the right kind of people working for me. As of right now, I’ve got my mom on board. Since she’s the one that exposed me to the world of photography, we handle things similarly during the wedding day, so we make a pretty good team. She’s also been shooting for over 20 years and knows both film and digital, which will come in handy in the next step of growing my business (with film), but more on that in another post. But I need more than one second shooter in my arsenal. So here’s what I’m looking for:

-Willingness to learn and appreciate my style of photography
-Technically knowledgeable and comfortable with DSLR cameras; manual shooting
-No interest in growing your own wedding photography business/clientele in the immediate future
-Availability on the weekends between March and November in the Morgantown, WV, Deep Creek Lake, MD and southwest PA areas

If you’re someone that might be interested in being one of my second shooters, shoot me an email (jessica@jessicafikephotography.com)! I’d love to hear from you, take a look at your portfolio and maybe meet up for some coffee at Panera.

And for all my future brides, I’m doing all of this for you. I’m adding second shooters and growing my business so I can continue offering the best services for my clients. I hope you’ll take advantage and enjoy!

My friend Jamie was my second shooter at my double duty bridesmaid + photographer job in May at Chris and Kelly’s wedding. She captured these pictures of Ally…

She also got these pictures of Brian and I being introduced at the reception. Not sure if showing an embarrassing picture of myself is a good or bad thing, but I figured I’d have a little fun today. My mustache was making it hard to talk and smile. Not an attractive look for me at all! HA!

Jamie was an AWESOME second shooter and one of the reasons I seriously started thinking about adding them to my business. Thanks for that, Jamie! You were so great!