A while back I wrote a blog about never saying never, because in the end you will do what you said never to. Read here if you like: 
Never Say Never

Well, I suppose I've done it again. I've said "never" far too many times. I'm a little worried about that "I'll never drive a mini van" saying coming back to bite me one day :/

When people ask what I do and I respond that I'm a photographer, most people follow up with "What kind of work? Like weddings?" I almost always respond with, "Pretty much anything but weddings, you know like family portraits, newborn portraits and occasionally event or sports photography." Never say never…

Never is coming back to me as we speak.

I've joined a few Facebook groups to keep me up to date on photography events, workshops and job postings. Over the summer, a photographer named Katie Lamb posted that she was looking to hire two wedding photography interns. Now even though I never planned to make wedding photography my full-time job, I like to take any chance I can to learn more about photography. I figure any type of information I can gather and any technique I can learn can be applied to other types of photography as well. So, I threw my name in the hat. I was happy to hear that she had 60 applications, and I got chosen to be one of the two interns.

As soon as I met Katie, I knew we were going to have a lot of fun together and that she could teach me a lot. She's a fine art photography major and has tons of experience shooting weddings (she's shot over 50 this year alone). On top of that, she's a great teacher. She always explains what she's doing and why. She tells me how to improve certain shots. And she's more than willing to share any advice she can offer, whether it be on marketing, getting your work published or protecting yourself as a business owner.

After working with Katie on a few weddings, in addition to second-shooting (photog speak for being the second photographer/assistant) a few other weddings in past years, becoming a wedding photographer isn't quite so scary anymore. Yes, I still have slight panic attacks when I think of being the only photographer on a bride's most important day of her life, but I think I'm becoming a little more prepared with each wedding I shoot. I'm learning more about lighting and posing, where to stand for the best shot, and how to rustle up all of the family for those after-wedding-family-photos that everyone seems to dread.

I still don't plan on weddings being a full-time gig, but maybe after completing my internship in July, I'll be a little more open to accepting maybe five or so smaller weddings a year and building up to taking on a few more as I continue to gain experience. We'll see how things progress in the next year.

In the mean time, I'd like to start sharing some photos that I've taken at recent weddings. These photos were not taken at one of the weddings in which I assisted Katie. I'll be posting those in later weeks. These were taken while second shooting with my friend Sarah, of Silhouette Studio, in Huntington, TX (my home town for my first two years of married life.) 

Sarah and I met last summer when she was taking bridal portraits of one of my best friends. I asked if I could tag along to see how she worked, and I think we hit it off pretty quickly. She too was looking for an assistant/second shooter for some of her larger weddings, so I've worked with her now on three weddings. We have a lot of fun working together, and she's taught me quite a bit too. 

A couple of weeks ago, Sarah and I headed to The Cascades Country Club in Tyler for Jessica and Brett's wedding. It was a beautiful wedding at a beautiful location. Take a look.