I thought I was recording!

Philip Howells · July 31st, 2010, 04:22 AM

I agree with Noa, anyone who's worked on demonstration programmes in a studio knows how hard it is to do accurate cutaways - and invariably ends up putting in an extra camera to shoot the whole thing in one go.

Here's our trick (OMG why aren't I charging for this? ;) )

Most people put on the wedding ring (assuming it's not a heavily stoned affair) on the other person holding it North-South with the thumb at North. It's natural and easiest because the receiver's other fingers are limiting access at East-West.

But I always explain to my couples how difficult the natural way (N/S) is for me to shoot - and ask them if they'll try and remember to hold the ring from underneath in the East-West position. This means the giver turns their hand through 90 degrees clockwise from the natural position.

I explain that I realise that they'll have a few more important things to think about at the actual moment but that if they can give my wife and me a couple of seconds of their thoughts, it'll give us the best chance of capturing forever the ring actually sliding on. As far as the limits imposed by the other fingers, in reality most rings only slide up to the second knuckle anyway.

It sounds unlikely but I tell no lie when I say we have a 90% success rate - and the other 10% we get in a waist up shot from our third camera zoomed in from the rear of the church, but that's another story!

July 31st, 2010, 04:22 AM	#46
Philip Howells Trustee Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Manchester UK Posts: 1,212	I agree with Noa, anyone who's worked on demonstration programmes in a studio knows how hard it is to do accurate cutaways - and invariably ends up putting in an extra camera to shoot the whole thing in one go. Here's our trick (OMG why aren't I charging for this? ;) ) Most people put on the wedding ring (assuming it's not a heavily stoned affair) on the other person holding it North-South with the thumb at North. It's natural and easiest because the receiver's other fingers are limiting access at East-West. But I always explain to my couples how difficult the natural way (N/S) is for me to shoot - and ask them if they'll try and remember to hold the ring from underneath in the East-West position. This means the giver turns their hand through 90 degrees clockwise from the natural position. I explain that I realise that they'll have a few more important things to think about at the actual moment but that if they can give my wife and me a couple of seconds of their thoughts, it'll give us the best chance of capturing forever the ring actually sliding on. As far as the limits imposed by the other fingers, in reality most rings only slide up to the second knuckle anyway. It sounds unlikely but I tell no lie when I say we have a 90% success rate - and the other 10% we get in a waist up shot from our third camera zoomed in from the rear of the church, but that's another story!