Keep calm and carry on laughing

Things will always go wrong - it’s how you deal with those moments that are the mark of a true professional

- Paul Wilkinson

Paul Wilkinson Go Pro

Paul Wilkinson FMPA FBIPP FSWPP is a multi-award-winning international photographer and co-author of the best-selling book Mastering Portrait Photography and shares his skills through the free companion site MasteringPortraitPhotography.com. In this monthly series he shares his experiences and stories as he talks about the trials and tribulations of becoming a pro photographer.

Laughing, I swung my camera up to my eye to capture the beautiful scene in front of me. The bride, resplendent in her dress with perfect light cascading across the scene, was giggling and waiting for me to create a few photos before we ran for the church. As always, at this stage of a wedding day, time was short – the hair and makeup had not long finished, and I had just a few magical moments to capture. Any second now, we would be running for the cars.

The scene in front of me, however, is perfect. Light from a vast window is throwing light across the room, and a stunning bride is laughing and loving the moments just before she says ‘I do’ to the love of her life. I hit the shutter release. Nothing. I hit it again. Still nothing… I check that I have locked the focus correctly (I always set the camera not to fire if the focus isn’t locked), and the focusing is perfect.