The question I get asked at almost every consult is how I got into photography. During the beginning stages of Shiloh (my husband) and my marriage we decided that I would walk away from my career as a manager for an internal medicine doctor and stay home with our four boys. Shiloh works a full time job, as a car salesman, at Anchor Subaru in North Smithfield, Rhode Island and with that comes lots of hours. I went a little stir crazy those first couple of months at home so Shiloh decided to buy me my first DSLR to pursue my passion for photography.
Now, we are a full blown business and shoot weddings together. When I tell people I work with my husband I get a few typical responses. Some wonder how it’s possible without driving each other crazy, some give us “props” for being able to work together, some people say there is no way it will last, and a very few are quite curious to how it works. I am going to detail what makes it work, how we work together, and leave you with a few tips if you are a husband and wife team.
Shiloh is my best friend and to be honest, I love working with him. I actually love every moment we spend together. Being in love, having had our own wedding, being parents, working in customer service, and having experience in management roles has helped us on this journey. We can read each other well, we don’t consider what we do work because we love it so much, we go into each wedding with our focus on having fun and serving our clients the best we can, and we make a game plan before we start the day.
Each wedding I make a shot list that we both work off of. We each go over everything the night before and pack our bags together. We break down the day as follows:
I am responsible for the bride and all of her getting ready shots, all detail shots (from the rings and invitations to the reception decor), and all formals. Shiloh gets to hang out with the groom and gets all the groom’s getting ready shots. We meet up before the ceremony and check over everything and figure out where we both will stand during the ceremony. Once the ceremony is over we get to shoot the rest of the wedding together. Shiloh helps me organize everyone for formals, he gets candids, and sometimes he will get individuals of the wedding party. The reception we both have fun and get creative shots of the guests having fun.
TIPS:
1. The day before we try to spend some time together and relax to nourish our relationship.
2. We pray together. We pray for our clients, we pray for our boys, we pray for our business, and we pray for whatever else is weighing on our hearts.
3. Make a plan ahead of time. The day of focus on having fun, keeping your clients happy, and enjoying the time with your spouse
4. Trust each other. Work with your strengths (if hubby is great at organization put him in charge of organizing everyone for portraits, if you are great at the emotional shots let hubby take some of the technical shots while you get to be a bit more creative).
5. Remember that this is one of the biggest moments of your client’s lives. Embrace it, celebrate with them, remember how it felt during your own wedding, be positive (even if things aren’t going according to plan: wedding running late, venue problems, etc), work together, and be present in all the happiness of the day.
Shiloh and I truly love working together. We respect one another as husband and wife as well as business partners. We lift each other up emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. Don’t force it. Some people just can’t work together and that’s okay! Whatever you choose to do and who your second shooter is, build your relationship together and have fun doing it!
If you are a husband and wife team, a family team, or friends doing business together…what is one big thing that has helped you shoot together?
Love this Kim!!!