Did it really need two?

Chris Harding · September 22nd, 2014, 02:37 AM

Hi Danny

More often than not the lack of experience is obvious ... an assistant there purely for moral support. I had two guys also at a ceremony obviously with 10mm super wide lenses and at some stages their lens hoods were touching the bride's arm in an effort to get ultra close shots of the rings. Like yours the celebrant eventually had enough and banished them to behind the first row of chairs. Hope they had more than the wide lenses otherwise they would have been in real trouble.

I also did a wedding and had each photog straddling my main camera ... I think they were having a competition to see who could hit 1000 exposures first of the speaker at the lectern!! Seriously what were they thinking. My photog make sneak up and take 3 at most of each speaker .... these guys were obviously shooting identical frames and literally hundreds of them non stop!!!

I wonder if they work on the assumption that if they are sweating blood and running around like ants people might be impressed at their work effort???

The mind boggles sometimes!!!

Chris

Danny O'Neill · September 22nd, 2014, 06:55 AM

I blame myself actually. I only said to julie the other day how lately everyone is shooting on 5DMK3 which is lovely as the shutter is silent.

What happens? The next week and EVERY wedding since has been Nikons with shutters that sound like a tea tray hitting the floor. I jinxed it.

Chris Harding · September 22nd, 2014, 07:12 AM

Being a Nikon shooter I sometimes used to cringe doing stills on my D90's but they are pretty quiet ..the full frame Nikons are very noisy indeed " Will you "clunk" John take "clunk" Melissa ........ " I find the FF Nikon shooter are also the ones that want to stand next to the bride and become part of the ceremony so my lav on the groom picks up every shutter actuation!!

Chris

Dave Ande · September 22nd, 2014, 01:38 PM

I just ran into a similar situation. I shot (video) my nephews wedding yesterday and before the wedding started I spoke with the photographer with both my nephew and his fiancé present. I told her where I had planned on having my camera locked off and would it be a problem with her. She said no problem, I won't get in the way of it and we both agreed on it. When the wedding started everything seemed to be going fine until I noticed that everywhere I went with my r&g camera, she would follow me and then get her arm in some of my shots. Keep in mind I was getting tight close up shots. toward the end of the wedding she decided to walk down the middle of the isle and get in the shot of my locked of camera. I told my nephew about it and he was wanting to take a look at the footage so that they could talk to her about it. do anyone know of a way to get around this in a polite way?

Peter Riding · September 23rd, 2014, 02:09 PM

I'm reminded of a wedding I videod a few weeks ago in which a lot of effort had gone into choreographing the 1st dance and several tracks which were to follow. Yep it involved all the bridesmaids etc. To be several minutes long, probably the most important part of the day for these particular clients (it was the 1st thing they mentioned when they first enquired), and of course destined for Youtube.

I had 5 video cams running. All carefully positioned to anticipate the best angles with minimal chance of blocking. I asked the toastmaster (the chap in a red jacket who announces everything at some UK weddings) to ask the guests to stay clear of the cams when he announced the dance. He was great all day. What could possibly go wrong :- )

Time came, he forgot to ask the guests to stay clear, then he promptly stepped off the floor and managed to block not 1 but 2 cams. The groom broke off from the 1st dance early and blocked a 3rd cam. I was shooting handheld with the main video cam and couldn't break off to signal to them to scram. In the footage in post you can see where both the toastmaster and the groom gradually realise they "may" be in the way, do a double take on the cam, and swiftly move away. Then there were the guests :- (

The end product was OK but not nearly as good as it could have been.

Anyway, my point is that no matter how eager they are to please (the toastmaster) and how much of a vested interest they have in me getting great footage (the groom), and in the complete absence of any malice what so ever this stuff still happens. Maybe sometimes we are too quick to attach guilt / incompetence / selfishness / etc to the offenders.

Pete

Mario Ortiz · October 17th, 2014, 02:21 PM

these guys are from craiglist

September 22nd, 2014, 02:37 AM	#61
Chris Harding Inner Circle Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Perth, Western Australia Posts: 8,441	Re: Did it really need two? Hi Danny More often than not the lack of experience is obvious ... an assistant there purely for moral support. I had two guys also at a ceremony obviously with 10mm super wide lenses and at some stages their lens hoods were touching the bride's arm in an effort to get ultra close shots of the rings. Like yours the celebrant eventually had enough and banished them to behind the first row of chairs. Hope they had more than the wide lenses otherwise they would have been in real trouble. I also did a wedding and had each photog straddling my main camera ... I think they were having a competition to see who could hit 1000 exposures first of the speaker at the lectern!! Seriously what were they thinking. My photog make sneak up and take 3 at most of each speaker .... these guys were obviously shooting identical frames and literally hundreds of them non stop!!! I wonder if they work on the assumption that if they are sweating blood and running around like ants people might be impressed at their work effort??? The mind boggles sometimes!!! Chris

September 22nd, 2014, 06:55 AM	#62
Danny O'Neill Major Player Join Date: May 2008 Location: Northampton, UK Posts: 915	Re: Did it really need two? I blame myself actually. I only said to julie the other day how lately everyone is shooting on 5DMK3 which is lovely as the shutter is silent. What happens? The next week and EVERY wedding since has been Nikons with shutters that sound like a tea tray hitting the floor. I jinxed it. __________________ mintyslippers.com

September 22nd, 2014, 07:12 AM	#63
Chris Harding Inner Circle Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Perth, Western Australia Posts: 8,441	Re: Did it really need two? Being a Nikon shooter I sometimes used to cringe doing stills on my D90's but they are pretty quiet ..the full frame Nikons are very noisy indeed " Will you "clunk" John take "clunk" Melissa ........ " I find the FF Nikon shooter are also the ones that want to stand next to the bride and become part of the ceremony so my lav on the groom picks up every shutter actuation!! Chris

September 22nd, 2014, 01:38 PM	#64
Dave Ande Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: Tulsa Oklahoma Posts: 35	Re: Did it really need two? I just ran into a similar situation. I shot (video) my nephews wedding yesterday and before the wedding started I spoke with the photographer with both my nephew and his fiancé present. I told her where I had planned on having my camera locked off and would it be a problem with her. She said no problem, I won't get in the way of it and we both agreed on it. When the wedding started everything seemed to be going fine until I noticed that everywhere I went with my r&g camera, she would follow me and then get her arm in some of my shots. Keep in mind I was getting tight close up shots. toward the end of the wedding she decided to walk down the middle of the isle and get in the shot of my locked of camera. I told my nephew about it and he was wanting to take a look at the footage so that they could talk to her about it. do anyone know of a way to get around this in a polite way?

September 23rd, 2014, 02:09 PM	#65
Peter Riding Major Player Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Reading Berkshire UK Posts: 872	Re: Did it really need two? I'm reminded of a wedding I videod a few weeks ago in which a lot of effort had gone into choreographing the 1st dance and several tracks which were to follow. Yep it involved all the bridesmaids etc. To be several minutes long, probably the most important part of the day for these particular clients (it was the 1st thing they mentioned when they first enquired), and of course destined for Youtube. I had 5 video cams running. All carefully positioned to anticipate the best angles with minimal chance of blocking. I asked the toastmaster (the chap in a red jacket who announces everything at some UK weddings) to ask the guests to stay clear of the cams when he announced the dance. He was great all day. What could possibly go wrong :- ) Time came, he forgot to ask the guests to stay clear, then he promptly stepped off the floor and managed to block not 1 but 2 cams. The groom broke off from the 1st dance early and blocked a 3rd cam. I was shooting handheld with the main video cam and couldn't break off to signal to them to scram. In the footage in post you can see where both the toastmaster and the groom gradually realise they "may" be in the way, do a double take on the cam, and swiftly move away. Then there were the guests :- ( The end product was OK but not nearly as good as it could have been. Anyway, my point is that no matter how eager they are to please (the toastmaster) and how much of a vested interest they have in me getting great footage (the groom), and in the complete absence of any malice what so ever this stuff still happens. Maybe sometimes we are too quick to attach guilt / incompetence / selfishness / etc to the offenders. Pete

October 17th, 2014, 02:21 PM	#66
Mario Ortiz New Boot Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: So. Cal. Posts: 9	Re: Did it really need two? these guys are from craiglist