If I'm Batman, my second shooter is definitely Robin. As an assistant, he is able to help me grab any gear that I may need if I can't move out of the current spot that I'm in; he can also help provide an informed opinion. He can even help assist the bride and groom in whatever they need! As a second shooter, he allows us to be in two places at once. Typically this happens during the getting ready portion of the day where I will be with the girls and he will be with the guys. For the rest of the day, he acts as a separate pair of eyes, getting alternate angles and perspectives of everything that's going on. Below I will go over three weddings that we've shot together and how his shots compliment mine in telling the story of the wedding.
This wedding here only had twenty some odd guests and was only 2hrs long but I had my second shooter there, as I always do to help capture alternative angles.
Now, one person could have taken the pair of images above, however, it would require a lot of quick and moving around for each member of the wedding party to be photographed like this. What I like to do is have myself and my second shooter stationed at different spots (usually opposite ends) where we'll switch periodically.
Getting lots of photos of the couple goes without saying, but getting photos of the guests are important too in telling the overall story. Both these photos were either taken at the exact same time, or seconds apart. As are many of the photos that I will share below.
If I'm shooting further away, he's shooting close up, and vice versa.
During the cocktail hour, we like to divide up the space so we aren't getting candids of the same people.
The speeches are especially effective with a second shooter where we will go from photos of the speaker to the couple, to the guests. My second shooter and I don't have eyes on the back of our heads, but we do have each other.
Lastly, some getting ready photos where we were in two places at once.
As you can see, having a second shooter is one of the keys to my success on a wedding day which is why I always include a second shooter in all of my packages. Could I shoot a wedding on my own? Sure, but no matter how good a single photographer is, they cannot replace what two photographers can capture.