How to convince stuborn Bride???

[Lukas Siewior]

I thought I'll share that with you. I have a wedding tomorrow and Bride called me a week ago saying that they don't want to do photo/video session before their ceremony in the church (church is booked at 4pm and reception starts at 6pm, so no way to squeeze session between both). Instead they want to sneak out at the reception after the official part and few dances to do the pics outdoors...

I told them right away that it is not a good idea because it'll be dark - too dark (around 7pm). They think they know better. Of course. I give up - I told them about possible problems with video and photos in those conditions. So I'm covered. It's just a shame that such a beautiful day will be wasted.

BTW: Any ideas for video session after dark?

[Stephen J. Williams]

Lukas...

I feel like I'm somewhat in your shoes... All brides are a little stubborn I guess. I went to the rehearsal today for a wedding i'm shooting tomorrow. I was hit with a surprise that the bride didn't want the groom to mic'd with a lapel mic. It's somewhat of a big deal because the view that i'll have to move to capture the vowels is pretty far, I hate relying on the on camera mic. Enough with me..

What kind of lighting setup do you plan on using??

[Don Bloom]

Stephen,
Far be it from me to tell anyone what to do but they DO realize that without mic'ing the groom they will regret it forever!? If in fact this is the way you have to do it, then make 100% sure they sign off on the paperwork that THEY decided NOT to use your professional ability and NOT mic the groom and therefore you are NOT liable for the quality of the audio during the ceremony. Trust me, been there done that. Hell I even mic the groom for Greek ceremonies and the B&G NEVER say a word during a Greek ceremony.
When B&Gs do stuff like this it really frosts me. Sorry.

[Lukas Siewior]

Wow Stephen - no lav mic during ceremony is a complete suicide. How about mic'ing the priest? and I'm not kidding. You can also try hide the mic so it'll be less visible.

As far as the lights - I'll be using two cams with 50W on-camera lights (non-LED). At this point I just shut my mouth - it seems like it's someone related to the B&G who has those "crazy" ideas, and feeds them to clueless their minds. They just don't want to realize that a photog or videog did wedding countless amount of times and has more experience then anyone else at that wedding.

Sorry for this rant - just packing my stuff and I can feel the stress building up.

[David Schuurman]

Hey Lukas,

You have two on camera lights so rather than leave them on the cameras, and moving around to get shots in the dark, I would try to stage shots where the camera was static and you moved the lights around. An example would be to have the bride and groom locked in a kiss, shot is a profile shot. Hit record and have yourself and an assistant stand behind them to only rim light them, and both of you walk in an arc towards the front of them where you illuminate their faces and their kiss.

Even just having a static shot and shining the light on them from ten feet to the left and walking past the camera to ten feet on the other side of them will create some nice dynamic lightplay.

I'd imagine with only 100w total light you'd have to be fairly tight with your shots but I think it could be done pretty nicely.

Another suggestion I have is to get some shots with the one light on the camera, and take the other light and have an assistant holding it and backlighting the couple/subject otherwise it's going to look like a deer in the headlights shoot.

let us know how it turns out! And don't think of it as a waste of a beautiful day, think of it as a perfectly good excuse to try out new things without too much penalty because hey; she knows you told her it'd look bad.

[Lukas Siewior]

Great ideas David!!! Thanks a lot. I'll share my footage as soon as it's done.

[David Schuurman]

no problem, I hope it turns out good...

[Denny Kyser]

Great lighting advice above, and I feel you're pain guys. Brides and Parents of the Bride are getting crazy about schedules. They do not want to hear about how long receiving lines take, and formal pics. They think they can start a wedding at 3:00 and reception at 4:00.

I do my best to advise, but in the end explain I will do my best to document the day as it happens.

Someone mentioned above about getting things signed off on, I think that is a great idea, and could save you some $$ down the road.

[Nicholas de Kock]

Darkness can be your friend when taking photos as long as you have Pocket Wizards and more than one off camera flash, as for video it never really looks any good in the dark even with lights.

The Groom at a recent wedding I shot refused to put his lav mic on, it's their loss, after all they are the paying clients so I guess they can do what they want. Usually when they override my authority like that I take a deep breath, stand to the side and give them what they want. Think I should design a little sign off booklet with various scenarios - a good idea.

[Stephen J. Williams]

Originally Posted by David Schuurman

Hey Lukas,

You have two on camera lights so rather than leave them on the cameras, and moving around to get shots in the dark, I would try to stage shots where the camera was static and you moved the lights around. An example would be to have the bride and groom locked in a kiss, shot is a profile shot. Hit record and have yourself and an assistant stand behind them to only rim light them, and both of you walk in an arc towards the front of them where you illuminate their faces and their kiss.

Even just having a static shot and shining the light on them from ten feet to the left and walking past the camera to ten feet on the other side of them will create some nice dynamic lightplay.

I'd imagine with only 100w total light you'd have to be fairly tight with your shots but I think it could be done pretty nicely.

Another suggestion I have is to get some shots with the one light on the camera, and take the other light and have an assistant holding it and backlighting the couple/subject otherwise it's going to look like a deer in the headlights shoot.

let us know how it turns out! And don't think of it as a waste of a beautiful day, think of it as a perfectly good excuse to try out new things without too much penalty because hey; she knows you told her it'd look bad.

Lukas, sounds like you have your answer. Hope it goes well... I saw someone's work a few months ago where they did the exact same thing. Moved the lights instead of the camera. I thought it looked awesome.
I listened to the audio that I recorded last night and couldn't hear anything. Hopefully I'll be able to change the brides mind about the mic. If not I'll just throw my H2 somewhere near the altar. I even have strict instructions that it too must be out of the way invisible to the B&G and guest. ahhh :-(
Steve

[Lukas Siewior]

Originally Posted by Stephen J. Williams

Lukas, sounds like you have your answer. Hope it goes well... I saw someone's work a few months ago where they did the exact same thing. Moved the lights instead of the camera. I thought it looked awesome.
I listened to the audio that I recorded last night and couldn't hear anything. Hopefully I'll be able to change the brides mind about the mic. If not I'll just throw my H2 somewhere near the altar. I even have strict instructions that it too must be out of the way invisible to the B&G and guest. ahhh :-(
Steve

Just play her that recording from yesterday and it should work - tell her that this is all she will hear of her vows.... I'm sure you could place the H2 on the altar and hide it away.

I'm out to my gig... Wish me luck :-)

[Travis Cossel]

Got to this late, but I had an idea for future situations. Attend the rehearsal and record some footage from a distance and play that back so they can hear how crappy the sound will be. That might convince them that the mic is worth it.

I've had a few situations where the groom was wearing a military uniform and refused to wear a mic because of that (others wore uniforms and didn't care). In those cases I educate them the best I can and then respect their decision. If someone is just wearing a tux, though, I'd be a lot more aggressive about the mic.

[Lukas Siewior]

Thx guys again for advises. It turned out much better then I thought because the bride rethought her decision and announce in the morning (noon) when we arrived that we'll bounce to the park to do photoshoot right after the ceremony and the reception will be delayed 30 mins or so... what a relieve. So everything when very well (except limo being late 40 mins - we were late 10 mins to the church). And bride was less then worried about the video - she just went with the flow of the day.

[David Hutchinson]

Originally Posted by Stephen J. Williams

Lukas...

I feel like I'm somewhat in your shoes... All brides are a little stubborn I guess. I went to the rehearsal today for a wedding i'm shooting tomorrow. I was hit with a surprise that the bride didn't want the groom to mic'd with a lapel mic. It's somewhat of a big deal because the view that i'll have to move to capture the vowels is pretty far, I hate relying on the on camera mic. Enough with me..

What kind of lighting setup do you plan on using??

Stephen - might be a bit late but what about micing the vicar?

[Dana Salsbury]

What about clipping the lapel *under* the shirt -- totally invisible, and yes, it works. Another trick is to go around the back of the neck, under the collar and down through the tie knot (w/o a clip). The mic points down and barely peeks out at the bottom of the knot. I don't do this because of time, but will to a stubborn officiant or groom.