10 Rules for New Orleans Wedding Photographers
I’m as slow to learn as just about anyone out there, but 10 years of photographing weddings in New Orleans has taught me a few things, and I thought I’d share some nuggets of hard-earned wisdom :)
Double check for parades on the wedding day. Check for festivals. Leave early because you just never know.
Watch where you step when photographing a second line. Potholes, horse crap and worse await while you're walking backwards. Ditto for fountains you may have forgotten about.
Bring a second shirt if it's the summertime. Whatever you do, don't wear a white shirt during a mid-day July outdoor wedding with a second-line. Don't ask me how I know. Poor clients did not expect a wet t-shirt contest from their photographer.
Keep a snack and a bottle of Advil in your bag. Bring earplugs. Not all bands are good bands, even in New Orleans, and the volume typically goes up as the skill level goes down.
Don't roll your eyes at the guest from Massachusetts loudly explaining what a "second line parade" is to everyone within earshot. Optional: don't mean mug the DJ who insists on bringing a camera and pestering the clients.
Never, ever, ever tell a bride she resembles X actress, no matter how good your intentions. You never know how exactly they may feel about X actress…
Make friends with the staff, the servers like to talk to folks and not feel so invisible. Their job is important too.
Videographers are people too. Even if there’s 3 of them, and all their blinding video lights are different colors :)
Be prepared with a mental happy place for when "Don't Stop Believing" inevitably comes on. Science has never been able fully explain its mesmerizing effect on white people, so don't expect it to go away anytime soon.
Stop forgetting your business cards, you big dummy.