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Jenny & Jonathan: Faith, Hope and Love. on Vimeo

I really enjoyed shooting this wedding. The photographer was my flatmate so it was nice to have someone friendly to work with (not that previous photogs haven't been friendly). I was also able to get clean audio during the speeches. Something I'm always grateful for. I actually had everyone mic'd up anyway, but despite that I'd much rather have a feed from the PA system as it makes things slightly easier.

Despite my thread moaning about poor use of warp stabiliser previously, I found myself using it a little too noticeably than I would have liked during this highlights package. It was a case of lesser of two evils.

As always, open to gentle critique, this has been given to the clients already (they are delighted with it) so please bear that in mind.

I love the slow zoom on the bride at the start (despite the WS wobble, if you noticed it!). That was a zoom done in post, perk of shooting in 4k. Originally it was a straight cut to her face, but I find the zoom draws you in rather nicely. I also like the way the piece ends the way it starts.

A shot of the bride's face during the vows would have been preferred. Unfortunately the space where I would usually stand (opposite) was also the space where they were doing the readings from and the chapel was very small so I physically couldn't stand there. It was also very hot, which is why you can see a fan spinning around in the middle of the couple. The bride also asked me to film her brother playing the piano during the register signing, so I had to be stood where I was to film that. Oh well, all things out of my control. I think in future I'd look to getting a smaller camera on a Gorillapod that I could put in these small spaces. I don't think a GoPro is cut out for it. Perhaps the Blackmagic micro?

The purple lighting in the evening was hard to work with, unfortunately I don't think my GoPro liked it at all. Not much I can do about that I'm afraid.

All in all, I'm really happy with this piece, I'd dare say my best one yet. This couple were my first ever booking, so I'm really happy they put their trust in me as I wouldn't be where I am now without that initial booking.

[Noa Put]

Looks great Nathan, there is not much to comment on, this one is also a improvement on your previous one where I had some comments and since I almost don't now it has to be good :) The ceremony looked very difficult to shoot, is that a typical situation for UK churches? I see more of these small chapels in UK trailers with hardly any room to place a tripod. I have used a small clamp to attach a camera if I did not have place for a tripod but even that depends if you have something to clamp the camera onto, you maybe also could use a lightstand as they have a smaller foot then tripods and can go much higher.
I also liked how you shot some of the surroundings like the birds on the water and mixed natural sound with the voices or the way you cut out the sound right after the toasts at 00:48, did the slow zoom, let the music play and then added the voice from the ceremony before you cut to another image. The only thing I would change there was from the moment we hear the other voice you still see the groom talking but we don't hear him, I think it would look better that you speed up the zoom just a little bit that from the moment we hear the person speaking from the ceremony that the groom is out of the frame because then you put the attention on the bride only which I think is a more powerful moment, that's just a thought though.

[Nathan Buck]

Originally Posted by Noa Put

Looks great Nathan, there is not much to comment on, this one is also a improvement on your previous one where I had some comments and since I almost don't now it has to be good :) The ceremony looked very difficult to shoot, is that a typical situation for UK churches? I see more of these small chapels in UK trailers with hardly any room to place a tripod. I have used a small clamp to attach a camera if I did not have place for a tripod but even that depends if you have something to clamp the camera onto, you maybe also could use a lightstand as they have a smaller foot then tripods and can go much higher.
I also liked how you shot some of the surroundings like the birds on the water and mixed natural sound with the voices or the way you cut out the sound right after the toasts at 00:48, did the slow zoom, let the music play and then added the voice from the ceremony before you cut to another image. The only thing I would change there was from the moment we hear the other voice you still see the groom talking but we don't hear him, I think it would look better that you speed up the zoom just a little bit that from the moment we hear the person speaking from the ceremony that the groom is out of the frame because then you put the attention on the bride only which I think is a more powerful moment, that's just a thought though.

Thanks Noa, useful input, as always! :)

Small chapels seem to be typical for me at least! I can only recall one where I had enough room for a tripod! Typically dark and small...

I didn't actually think about the voice overlapping the groom at the start, but I'll consider that in future. I think I had to put it there as I didn't have enough of a pause in gaps between what the reader was saying. I needed to add a gap to slow the piece down. The person doing the reading is the bride's brother so they would recognise his voice immediately. But I agree it does detract some of the focus on the bride, I'll bear that in mind in future, thank you!

I really enjoyed shooting the wildlife. Given that the ceremony and reception were all in one place it means you have a lot more time to spend in the morning whilst the bride is getting ready to get these nice shots. The 20x optical zoom also helps mind!