Tips: Photographing My 1st Baptism

When my sister asked me to photograph my nephew's baptism, I was a bit skeptical. I mean, come on. Everywhere online that I read about photographing one said that it was similar to a wedding. You can't miss the key moments. It goes by fairly quickly. All I could think about was how I'd never photographed a wedding before. So does that mean I would completely screw up this baptism? Oh crap. Well, first of all, my sister knows I never screw anything up completely. I always get good shots. They aren't ALL good. Seriously. Who shoots something and 100% of the pictures are print worthy? And if you know someone who says they do, they're lying. Simple as that. So this is what I learned:

1. Stop stressing.
Seriously. If you freak out, you're not going to get good pictures. Just practice your butt off, research what you can, and photograph to the best of your abilities.

2. Get to the church early.
You will want to walk around the church before everything gets started to find your best angles. By getting there early, I was able to find the stairs to the choir seating up in the balcony and find the best angle (which really came in handy). I was also able to ask the pastor if there were any rules he had for me. Luckily, he was pretty easy going and told me to just stand wherever I wanted.

3. Trust your instincts.
At one point during the ceremony, while the pastor was talking (so no good pictures to be had...or was there?) I thought to go behind my sister (who was sitting in the front row holding my nephew) and I got a couple good shots of my nephew laughing. Then, I went around to the front and got a picture just when the pastor told everyone to look at my nephew. It almost looks like everyone's looking at me. I wouldn't have gotten these shots if I hadn't listened to instincts telling me to try and get some shots during the times with no action.

4. Get the big moments.
I know I said not to stress about it, but there is one really big moment that you need to make sure you get. Just like the big kiss at a wedding, you need to get the baby actually being baptised! If the baptism you photograph is anything like the one that I did, the pastor will pour water over the baby's head for a longer period of time than some little kiss. (or in my case, he poured multiple time) So while it is probably easier than capturing 'The Kiss', it is still incredibly important so be sure to always be ready.

5. Move quickly.
Sometimes, something unexpected is going to happen and you'll need to move quickly. I had no idea that at the end of the ceremony, the pastor was going to ask everyone to stand up and gather around the parents and child to surround them with love and support. Well, I took off in the direction of the stairs that I had found when I got there early that lead to the balcony. I got there just in time to shoot a couple photos of everyone gathered around the happy family.

Hopefully, some of these tips helped you out. And if not, feel free to comment and ask some questions! I love hearing from my readers and I love helping people out. I wish there had been someone to ask questions to before I did this. I feel like so frequently, people try to discourage you from doing things you've never done before. What? You've never photographed a baptism before? Then, you definitely shouldn't do it! How are you supposed to get experience if you don't try it? So go do it, readers! Try something new! Photograph something you've never photographed before!