How do you work with your husband?

We get asked SO many times, how do we work together so well? So I thought it was about time that I wrote a post on it!

The short answer is, it’s pretty easy!

I have worked with many photographers over the years both before TDP began and since, but there is something very different about working with your husband. What many people don’t know is that Dave has worked with me since the very first wedding I ever shot. He came along and helped with my bags, got batteries, water and whatever else I needed and gave me the confidence and support I needed to step out into the big bad scary world of weddings LOL.

All the training, courses and work experience goes out the window when you are shooting weddings for yourself. It is now YOUR reputation on the line, YOUR responsibility and YOU want to give it your utmost and do the best possible job that any one can do! So with all that in mind, having someone by your side to help in whatever form possible was fantastic for me at the start of TDP. The added bonus was that Dave caught the photography bug and began to step out on his own. He began to study, question and understand why I shot something in a particular way or why I positioned couples how I did and began to get competitive with me which was great!

So this year TDP was fully booked by February for the year (WAHOO) and I knew that having Dave assist me just on wedding days wasn’t going to be enough. I needed help full time with admin, albums, editing, schedules, shoots and the general day to day chaos that happens in a photography business, so he came to the rescue again and is now here taking off the pressure full time 🙂

So back to the original question, how do we work together so well?

• We know how each other thinks, (not in a boring predictive way, but in a scary sort of mind reading way that seems to happen). I need a lens he has it already, he needs a flash, I have it set up where he wants it. I need cars moved for a shot, it’s already done.  It’s intense teamwork at its best at every wedding.
• He also knows “that look” and vice versa. So if we need to communicate across a room, cathedral or venue, a look can say a thousand words and we will know what the other needs.
• Being married ourselves we have been through the “big day” together. We know all the emotions, stress, fun and games leading up to the day and of course the day itself. So if someone has a meltdown on the day, we completely understand! We have been there, done that and can tell you what’s the best next step to move on to enjoy your day! 🙂
• The groom gets to have another guy with him in the morning. Dave fits in to the grooms preparations as if he is just another one of the lads. He is able to talk to the wall and the guys always have so much fun with him in the morning (resulting in great shots!).
• Did I mention that Dave is a golfer (I don’t golf), but did you know that means he is like a walking weather man! This is amazing to have on wedding days! He has impressed so many couples giving me up to date weather info literally to the minute, in order to complete our shots and get shelter before the heavens open!
• Sometimes our attention to detail and focus on your wedding photographs can be bad for us, like when we forget to eat, or when I need caffeine! But because we’re husband and wife, we care for each other; he knows what I need before I do and vice-versa! So, “Grab me a Coke from the bar real quick!” can be life-saving in the middle of a wedding party in the 6th hour of photography.
• Most importantly we have fun and we enjoy working together. We are competitive so we enjoy challenging each other, we are real and we enjoy your day. If we didn’t love weddings as much as we do you would know. We live and breathe weddings and we love having the opportunities to work with such fantastic couples from all over the world, many of whom we now call friends.

If you think about it, how could it be anything else other than a huge advantage, to have a husband and wife team working with you on something as important as your wedding?!!!