We are always praised by our wedding clients on how we work so unobtrusively, how considerate we are with everyone around us, how calming and reassuring we are and that we are not being in people’s faces. We manage and go about our work subtly, we know when to be involved and when to take a back seat and cover from afar.
A wedding can be a very nervous time for both the bride and the groom, and getting in close with a lens in their face at daunting times such as just before the ceremony and during the speeches are major no no’s, but there are many photographers who don’t see the day like this, it is theirs to cover and that will be done without any thought, understanding or consideration of the pressure and emotions that person is feeling. It is really important to fully understand how someone works and conducts themselves when covering a wedding, this is as important when choosing a videographer as it is a photographer if you are having one.
Yes at times we are heavily involved, but we are relaxed and friendly at the weddings we photograph, enjoying the fun ourselves and blending in well. We covered a sun drenched wedding today at Newbury Manor, a glorious day, a great fun crowd but an understandably nervous bride and groom. I spent a lot of time with both during the preparations, so I fully understood how anxious they both felt, so my photography was kept limited and relaxed to help their emotions – myself and the groom walked out to rejoin their guests awaiting the ceremony for a video camera to be stuffed literally in his face:
Later in the day, the speeches moment arrived. Now I now through our conversations that our groom and the best man really weren’t looking forward to their speeches, the anxiety and nerves of this moment were gradually building through the day as the moment grew closer. The thought of me being right up close with my camera, photographing this uncomfortable and scary moment would have filled them with pressure and fear so I reassured them both that I wouldn’t do this. So during the speeches, I kept my shots from out of their eyeline and shot from a good distance away from them using a zoom lens so they were unaware of me completely, this was the videographers take on the appropriate way to video the speeches – how much added pressure did this bring?
This videographer was a really nice chap, but it does show how different people have different takes on how to cover a wedding, this isn’t the way we would work.
