Whether you are doing it as a hobby, or you are charging a fee for your work, when it comes to shooting wedding videos, your work has to be perfect. After all, this big day only happens once, and if you miss any of the big moments, you can’t go back and do a re-shoot.
When it comes to wedding videography, there are many things that need to be considered, and the more you think about ahead of time, the better your work is going to be. Today we are going to take a look at four of the best wedding videography tips from professional wedding videographers.
Communication is Key
Communication skills play a huge role in wedding videography. Not only do you need to be able to communicate with the bride and groom to make sure that you are going to give them exactly what they are looking for, you need to communicate with many more people, including the venue and various vendors.
There are all kinds of things you are going to need to know about, from the wishes of the couple to where to find power outlets at the venue, where the caterers and other vendors are setting up, etc. Basically your job is not only to create an amazing wedding video, but also to help ensure that the wedding goes off without a hitch.
Make sure that you speak with the bride and groom to find out if there are any special details that they want to have captured in their wedding video. For instance, they may be planning to have a special toast at the reception, or the bride may want to highlight the tossing of the bouquet, or the borrowed earrings from her favorite grandmother. Take lots of notes, because you are going to need them on the big day.
Keep Gear to a Minimum
You are going to be on the move a lot during a wedding, and the last thing you need is to be weighed down by a bunch of gear. Keep your gear to an absolute minimum, and only bring along what you are going to need for the shoot. You will probably still have a lot of gear, so it is recommended that you put the bigger pieces in a corner until you are ready for them.
For instance, you won’t need your big tripod to get photos of the bride or groom getting ready. Carry around the least amount of gear that you need, and go back to the main bag when necessary to grab other items you need throughout the day.
Bring Extra Gear
Okay, so we told you to go light on the gear, but the next tip is to bring extra gear.
What’s up with that?
Yes, you do need to travel light, but there are certain things that you should always carry “extras” of. These include memory cards, camera batteries, a battery charger and at least two lenses, a wide-angle and a zoom lens. You won’t be able to just up and leave in the middle of the ceremony if you run out of battery or memory, and then you will end up missing some very important and special moments.
Use Multiple Audio Recording Sources
As we mentioned earlier, you can’t go back and re-record those special moments in a wedding, so you have to know that you capture them when they happen. For this reason, it is a good idea to have multiple audio recording sources set up throughout the venue. In addition to the built-in microphone in your camera, it is important to set up microphones, depending upon the usage.
Conclusion
Obviously, there are all kinds of other tips and tricks that wedding videographers use, but these are undoubtedly the most important pieces of advice any of them can give you. You will need to brush up on your communication skills, and then make sure that you plan your videography down to the tiniest detail.
Yes, there can be surprises or minor hiccups throughout the day, but if you have a plan and the right gear, you are going to be able to create a video that is going to be special to the couple forever.
