Second Photographer Wedding Education

Earlier this month at Stonepine. Serving as the master photographer and guest speaker for this workshop was a deeply meaningful experience. Leading the visual direction and later stepping into a teaching role brought together two passions of mine, creating and educating. With a background in teaching, blending education and photography continues to give new purpose to my work. These moments, this space, and this work are a reminder of why intention matters so much in what we create. So grateful for the entire vendor team, the trust, the collaboration, and the opportunity to lead visually in this way.

I’ve photographed wedding weekends on teams charging well over $20k for photography and with more customization than you can imagine... and learned that I LOVED being the second perspective. Hi, I’m Reagan. I am a wedding photog based in SoCal and a full time luxury second photographer (on top of my full time wedding business). Being a part of high achieving, established wedding teams has changed my work for the better and I want that for you too! When I first began photographing weddings back in 2019, I started where many start their careers... in backyards. Weddings weren’t always my career plan, but when I felt the Lord direct me in this way I was pedal to the metal in my race to excellence. My first two years of business were full of intimate weddings (thanks to 2020) and smaller scale events that had very DIY couples. While this time was sweet and stretching, by the end of it I was burnt out from taking on the role of photographer and coordinator as well. In 2021, Olive and Oath was born with a goal to pivot into working with more established wedding teams. While I had always second shot, this is the season I set my eyes on learning whatever I could from people already doing what I wanted to do! Within the year, I built up a collection of four photo teams, a few years ahead in experience, that I could learn and grow with. What I discovered is that each wedding I photographed was an opportunity to learn to mold myself into whatever style that photographer needed. This is the sweet spot, my friends. Through working for dozens of luxury photographers, I have been able to develop a skillset that’s not only transferable to my own work, but unique to the support role! Without adding editing to my queue, I can “pick up a shift” creating some of the most insane art that I’ve ever created and experiencing wedding days that creatively set my heart on fire. Join me Dec. 1st to 4th at the first ever Second Nature Workshop to learn how to do exactly this! You only need $1000 retainer because I am offering payment plans. DM me to get more info! Images are a collection of phone and camera photos from the last three years. I’ve tagged the artists it was taken under.

How will you improve your in-camera skills at Second Nature Workshop? Something that has always irked me about styled shoots is that they’re overcrowded, rushed and aren’t teaching anything. It’s the hunger games cornucopia of weddings. You find yourself leaving feeling disappointed that you couldn’t get what you wanted or get creative, because you didn’t have enough time with each part. At Second Nature, we’ve set our itinerary up to allow for breathing room to play and real time correction. This workshop is first and foremost, educational; secondarily, portfolio building. We will follow a pattern of lecture then execution to put into practice the technical skills we just learned. Though this isn’t a one on one experience, you will have myself as well as some of the guest speakers available for questions while you shoot. This ensures that what we are teaching is not going in one ear and out the other, but immediately practiced! Practice makes perfect and is the only way that technical skills are refined. #Photographyworkshop #weddingphotography

Photographers — a workshop like no other at @stonepineestate on December 1-4th 2025. Schedule your call to see if @secondnatureworkshops is right for you 😌💗 #weddingeducation #weddingworkshop

Telling a story with your images — a key component we will be teaching at the first ever Second Nature Workshop this December 1-4th at @stonepineestate in Carmel. A huge differentiator of a luxury photographer’s final gallery is the story shared within the contextual imagery and in-between moments. Luxury weddings are a full service experience, not simply in customer service, but also in the artistry it delivers. When photographing with story in mind, things like the flowers in bloom and the weather in the sky become important imagery to bring the day to life fully. Often times I find that high paying couples want to print a landscape of the city they wed in instead of a large print of their faces. These images are adding layers of sentimentality and reference nuances otherwise unseen throughout their wedding weekend. Want to know more about how I approach these in-betweens? Comment SECOND NATURE and I’ll send you the link to schedule a pick your brain call with me to see if Second Nature Workshop is a good fit for you.

Stonepine Estate; a luxury wedding venue nestled in the heart of the Carmel Valley and surrounded by luscious rolling hills only an hour from the sea. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ This seemed like the no-brainer location for the first ever @secondnatureworkshops because it truly feels like a piece of Europe was placed into the beautiful landscape of Northern California. This venue only takes a select amount of weddings per year to maintain excellence in their service and grounds, which has been evident since the moment we started working with them. Featuring accomodations for over 30 overnight guests, this is the perfect place to host your immediate family and wedding party in one place for your wedding weekend. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ We are elated to see the vision for our first ever Second Nature Workshop come to life at @stonepineestate . Swipe to see the beauty they have to offer.

The proof is in the pudding (or in the reviews). Here’s what @casiyostphoto has to say about my work with her. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ “Reagan is a wonderful photographer and I feel lucky to have worked with her for a large wedding that had lots of moving parts. I felt confident to have her take charge of certain parts of the day with little direction because I already knew she would do an excellent job. The questions she asked, how prepared she was, as well as her checking in with me through the day was wonderful. Whenever I can, I will always hire her to be a second for my brand. I can’t recommend her enough as a photographer, but also someone who would train others to be excellent photographers. She knows what she is doing.” ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ If you want to join me for the first ever Second Nature Workshop in Carmel, CA @stonepineestate from December 1-4, 2025, get on the mailing list. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Tickets go live on May 20th at 10 am PST to the mailing list first. We only have 20 spots, and I can’t wait to see you there! 🌟 All photos taken for @casiyostphoto

One thing that makes a luxury second photographer extra valuable is... CREATIVITY and solid technique. We all know that the second photographer, though they have to lead during guys getting ready, often has space to breathe that the lead photographer does not. This space should be filled with interesting uses of light and composition and anticipation of emotion! Some of my all time favorite images are from weddings I have photographed for luxury teams, because I utilized my breathing room well. This whole carousel is made up of images that made me feel alive from their uses of composition and lighting, and images that I know added something special to my leads galleries. I want to teach YOU how to use your breathing room well at my first ever Second Nature Workshop in Carmel, CA @stonepineestates from December 1-4, 2025. Tickets go live on May 20th at 10 am PST to the mailing list first. We only have 20 spots, and I can’t wait to see you there! All the incredible leads are tagged above @sabrinaryanphoto @foolishlyrushingin @abbyjiu @sincerelysini @alibeckphoto @jsrhos @moniquebiancaphoto

If I had to break down what the role of a luxury second photographer is, I would say... ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ A luxury second photographer is someone who documents a complementary perspective that adds depth and fills in holes to the wedding day story. Often for moments the lead photographer couldn’t get themselves whether due to time constraints, multiple locations or larger guest counts. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ This role is best filled by someone with a wide variety of experience and technical skills, because they should be able to be left alone and trusted to document moments at an equal or greater caliber as the lead. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ While many use entry level second photography opportunities as a learning experience, luxury second photographers are already at a refined, professional level of skill. The expectation is excellence, the amount of things to document is greater and the impact of error is substantial. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ It is also, however, a role where creativity is encouraged. Once you have the baseline skill set of photographing weddings, the refining process of gaining practical in-camera skills will allow your creativity to soar! This is why I love luxury second shooting. I get to create really inspired images of the art created by other really inspired vendors. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ If you want a space to refine your technical skill and learn how to enter in this niche of photography, join me at our first workshop on December 1st-4th in Carmel, CA @stonepineestate . Tickets go live on May 20th to our mailing list first! Join at the link in my bio. (All images photographed by me while seconding for incredible luxury photographers — tagged in each image 💗)

New profile pic 👀 (but in color) ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ This was taken on our first venue walkthrough at @stonepineestate after an hour of dreaming up what the first ever Second Nature Workshop could be. @secondnatureworkshops will be an earthy luxury wedding day featuring deep mauves and browns, envelope-pushing floral design and the stunning landscapes of Carmel. We cannot wait to share more!!

Second shooting has changed my business... let me tell you how. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Back in 2021 I found myself starting my photography business from scratch (AGAIN) under a new name, different style, different marketing needs. I was burnt out from continuously photographing weddings without planners, without many vendors at all really, and from having to take on 40+ weddings a year to make my financial goals. After a failed business (yup, olive and oath was a completely different business when it launched) and an already paid for LLC, Olive and Oath was born… Born, but without any connections in the direction that I needed to go. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ So I leaned into community. I reached out to anyone and everyone I could to start building friendships in the part of the industry I wanted to be in. That’s when I first realized the value of second shooting, not just as a stepping stone for your own business, but as it’s own role. From each person I worked with I learned a little more on how the second perspective can truly fill the gap on the wedding day and create a magically well rounded gallery. The second perspective is a unique one, because the pressure is way lower to be “on” the entire day. It’s the role of the observer and the supporter. It’s a complimentary perspective and requires me to put on a different hat than the lead. While second shooting the last 5 years, I have learned how to serve my own clients better, how to better communicate expectations to my team, and how to build relationships in the industry. Most of all, I’ve learned that being a second photographer doesn’t make you an unsuccessful photographer, though I was made to believe that when I first started my business. (I’d even argue you can make a living just second shooting, but we will talk about that later.) All in all, I wouldn’t be where I am today without the incredible teams that have had me on their side. <3 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Photos taken for @jsrhos