dum-dum question about audio for wedding

[Nigel Barker]

With the greatest respect to Peter he is an excellent photographer who offers a free video of the ceremony, speeches & 1st dance for his customers. That's a great USP but not really comparable with the video coverage that the rest of us offer whether we do traditional documentary style or arty-farty cinematic style. Clients do tend to go looking for a photographer before they look for video so if I were Peter I would be delighted to hook them having me doing the video myself but I think that he is missing a trick by not charging extra.

Some kind of photo/video fusion is inevitable & there are other approaches. Neale James is an excellent photographer who has a background in radio and now offers Photofilms which are basically a photo slideshow with music and audio and they capture the day really well Wedding Photofilms - documentary sound and photographs Lisa Beaney is another photographer doing slideshows this time describing them as "Movie Slideshows" including some video shot by her husband who is her camera assistant/second shooter https://vimeo.com/channels/lisabeaneyphotography

We also do photography and video and have taken a leaf out of Neale's book and started doing some Photofilms for clients. Here is one from a couple of weeks ago that was a pure photography assignment Cinematic Wedding Video and Photography Norfolk London and throughout UK & here is another where we shot photo & video Cinematic Wedding Video and Photography Norfolk London and throughout UK

[Chris Harding]

Hi Nigel

I don't know Pete personally as we are a LONG away apart but from the context of his post I simply assumed that he was providing a full doc video of the day and also doing stills. Shooting a stills wedding with a fixed camera (and maybe a GoPro) just at the ceremony and speeches is a whole different ball park to doing bridal prep (video and photo) then ceremony (again video and photo) and providing footage of the bride arriving (both video and photo)

I have done both but I did have an assistant to help me ... but what we did was a bit of prep video then a few stills, then some more prep video then more stills then group stills of the bridesmaids etc etc.
I never follow the photog around during the photoshoot anyway so what we did was do a stedicam video shoot then after that we simply did stills only, groups, classic B&G shots until reception time ... The reception was more video than stills as it's a lot more meaningful to have a speech video rather than a few freeze stills of someone standup up with a microphone.

There are a lot of ways to do both together and get a decent amount of stills and complete coverage on video but let's see if Pete can clarify if he is doing "photos with some free video" or full coverage on both?

Chris

[Roger Gunkel]

I supply a documentary video with full coverage of ceremony and speeches plus of course arrivals etc etc. I also offer an add on photographic package. I make it absolutely clear that the stills are predominantly reportage style, with a limited number of formal group poses to a list supplied by them and some time with just the couple doing romantic shots.

To make this work, I use a twin mount with my video cam and a dslr side by side, with a remote control for each on the tripod pan handle. This means that while I am filming arrivals, aisle etc, I can take shots with the dlsr whilst still filming. I also have a still shot facility on the camera which takes 13.2mp stills while still videoing. This allows me to take a large number of stills throughout the day, both dslr and video, although the video stills only give best resolution in good light.

The group shots are far easier, as I set up the video for the group, then leave it running for a few seconds whilst taking the dslr shots from the best position. Romantic shots are worked a similar way, with much more time taken on setting up the stills but still running video. Occasionally I will use a second video cam on a lightweight tripod for a different angle, usually during the processional and ceremony just in case I miss anything.

As my whole approach to video is fly on the wall style and very unobtrusive, I find that working the photography with this is quite straight forward. To make it even simpler, if we only have one wedding on the day, my wife comes with me to share the load as she is an excellent videographer and photographer.

I would add that I do work very quickly with video, using lightweight gear and have filmed around 2000 weddings. That makes me very relaxed and instinctive, enabling me to take on the extra load of the stills. Strangely, I don't really find it any more difficult doing both and there are plenty of times throughout the day when I can concentrate on them individually. I know what comes across best with both photography and video and put the emphasis on either format appropriately, never having to compete with a photographer for the best position.

70% of next years weddings are booked for stills and video, which is a win win for both sides. The couple pay less than they would for separate photography and video, I earn more and they don't have a photographer monopolising the entire day as I am very low profile.

Roger

[Chris Harding]

Hi Roger

Nice to know it can be done and as videographers we do have plenty of time to take stills as well. Thinking about the ceremony, I only shoot cutaways for the first half and leave the vows and rings just on one camera so doing stills during the vows, ring and kiss would be hassle free.

Nigel has mentioned a "photography package with a "free" video" Do you charge a reasonable extra amount if you do stills as well? Admittedly we are already there so it could be lower than a "photo only" gig but it still requires extra time and effort plus some basic editing.

Especially for brides on a budget I think it's a great offer ..I actually lost a client this year cos the photog I work with was already booked and the bride wanted a "combined package" and nothing else and it wasn't really my job to find her another photographer either.

Chris

[Roger Gunkel]

Hi Chris,

I don't throw out prices on a forum, as everybody has different overheads and different time scales, but my add on photo package is about 1/3 the price of my video alone. That is for a guaranteed 200 stills, although they always get many more, all on dvd with no album or prints. They can do their own or come back to me if they want to pay me to do them.

Clients seem to really like the fact that they are not tied to an expensive album package and can decide after the wedding if they want to spend more on an album, prints, canvas etc. They know that they have all the pics to choose from in their own hands. As I said earlier, it's proving highly successful.

Roger

[Chris Harding]

Hi Roger

I wouldn't throw out prices either and I never expected you to..I purely wanted to know if you charged extra for photos after Nigel was mentioning photo packages with a free video. The few dual packages I have done, yes, I too have added about an extra 1/3rd and that's for DVD only.

Last month I was asked by a Realtor to do all their property photography so I did some heavy investment in new Nikon gear hence the interest in doing video and photos all together ..I avoided it previously only because I only owned a pair of Lumix FZ50 cameras and felt they might not be up to wedding photography but I have seen photogs using a lot less (at my last wedding I ended up lending the photog my speedlite flash as she had only a pop up on here single camera PLUS she borrowed my 11-16 zoom for the big group shot.

I think I will add a few "all-in-one packages" on my website and see what the interest is?

Thanks for the update!!

Chris

[Roger Gunkel]

Most combined packages that I have seen from other companies seem to be mainly photographic, with a limited video add on. Although I don't compromise on the video, I try to make the photos pretty comprehensive as well, so that they don't feel they have missed out on either.

I do keep the photo gear easy and basic with a Canon D450 dslr with an 18-55 lens and a 70-300 zoom plus speedlite and 160 Led dimmable flood. The video cams also take stills, so I use a mixture of both depending on circumstances and lighting.

It will be interesting to see what response you get to your ali-in-one package :-)

Roger