Behind The Scenes – Photographing in 2020

Ahhhh 2020. What a wonderfully stressful, chaotic, & strange year for the wedding industry.

I love seeing behind the scenes of other people’s businesses – whether they are other wedding photographers or they work in other industries! It is just always so fun to pull back the curtain & get a small peek into what really happens. Plus, I love going back thru my images from the year and reliving the incredible wedding days I was apart of!

It’s just hilarious to me: I never in a million years thought that I would have a “behind the scenes” post, filled with photos of me at weddings in a mask. I mean, talk about crazy.
And to think: when I wrote last year’s behind the scenes post, all I did was make fun of myself for growing my bangs out! I actually looked forward to shooting weddings in 2020 & having some updated behind the scenes images with my bangs cut short again.
Little did I know, 2020 would bring another facial obtrusion to me getting good, behind the scenes photos (I’m looking at you: masks).

*And just to clarify: when you look thru these photos & see some photos of me without a mask, these photos are in no particular order & were taken throughout 2020. So, some of the following photos were taken before mask mandates were set in place. And during some weddings – if we were outdoors & I was socially distanced from everyone, I removed my mask so I could give better, clearer posing directions (masks really do muffle what you say & when directing a large group of people in a time-crunch, there is no time to repeat yourself multiple times!)
So, judgement-free zone, okay?
Additionally: it is almost impossible to wear a mask “correctly” while holding a camera up to one’s face. The viewfinder instantly gets fogged up! So, I found myself pulling my mask below my nose when I was actively shooting, and then tugging it back up over my nose for the in between moments when the camera wasn’t up against my face. OY.
Ultimately, I did what I felt was best at every wedding – for myself, my clients, their wedding guests, and the other vendors I was working with. Thankfully, I stayed 100% healthy the entire year!

And if you can’t get enough behind-the-scenes, check out:
2019’s version, 2018’s version, 2017’s version, 2016’s version, 2015’s version, 2014’s version, and 2013’s version!

So, as always, before we begin: I just have to give a HUGE shout-out to the four amazing photographers who came along with me as second-shooters in 2020!!
Derrick came along with me to a few weddings – and he ended out the year coming to the wedding with me – as the videographer!
Ellen also came along with me to a few weddings – she’s still my favorite person to have along on wedding days (sorry Derrick, you’re great & all, but I love Ellen most).
Darcie shot a few weddings with me last year & I was able to snag her help for a wedding this fall!
Becky is an old friend from down in Virginia & I asked if she wanted to come help me at all this year & she said, “Absolutely!” So, she drove up to shoot with me on Halloween!
All of the photos in this post of me (unless they are mirror-selfies) were taken by one of these 4 amazing photographers!!

So, here we go! A tiny peek into what 2020 looked like as wedding photographers!

“Umm, your shoe is untied.”

“But if you just spread your wings like this – you can fly!”

Not excited – at all. Nope. No excitement here.

Remember how I said Derrick was the videographer for a wedding I photographed? That was SO much fun!

Yes, I’m always down for a mirror-selfie.

You put your left arm in, you put your left arm out, you put your left arm in & you shake it all about.

Double-chins, flushed cheeks, sweaty hair – HEY no one said being a wedding photographer was a pretty job!

This is me taking a photo of Derrick’s butt – or something else. You decide.

THIEF. The videographer at this wedding was a thief! Call the police!

Thank you so much for taking this photo of us, Ellen!!

Speaking of US – we didn’t just shoot weddings in 2020! We also visited a bunch of amusement parks & shot as many roller coasters as we could!

We had high-hopes to attend a handful of media days for roller coasters opening around us in 2020, but when almost every single one of those coasters got pushed to a 2021 opening, we were simply thrilled to be invited to Candymonium’s media event at Hersheypark!

I realized that I didn’t really have any photos of myself taking photos of roller coasters – so I handed my phone to Braelynn & asked her to take a photo of me. This is what I got.
I guess we need to work on her photography skills.

Back to weddings!! Derrick doesn’t just shoot roller coaster footage – he’s an excellent veil-tosser as well.

My brother came with us to a wedding! The wedding that Derrick was videoing – I was photographing with Ellen as my second – and the couple asked Derrick if he could also set up a live-stream. And we brought my brother Steve along to help man that! It was a whole family affair & I loved every moment!

My team of people (all obviously getting fired for sitting down on the job!)

Speaking of my team & my favorite second shooter –

Hey Ell – you’re looking fine.

She’s my designated groom & groomsmen wrangler & she’s amazing at it. (She’s also fantastic at pinning boutonnieres & photographing cool socks, as seen above!)

I also had the immense privilege of being a second-shooter twice this year for my sweet friend Jess! She’s a ninja.

Becky is obviously a ninja too – apparently that’s a prerequisite for being a wedding photographer – who knew?

“So, if you hold your hand like this, you can sneak by the cookie table & snag a cookie without anyone noticing. Trust me, I do this for a living.”

Too many mirror-selfies? Hey! When a girl is all by herself on a wedding day, I gotta document that I was indeed there, and did in fact look decent at the beginning of the day (because I never look decent at the end of the day!)

Okay, just one more – promise.

Thank you all so much for your support & love for me & my little business!! I am living the dream and it’s because of you all! Cheers to an amazing 2021!

And if you can’t get enough behind-the-scenes, check out:
2019’s version, 2018’s version, 2017’s version, 2016’s version, 2015’s version, 2014’s version, and 2013’s version!