Welcome to my first blog on my new site!  

In my blog I'm going to shake it up a bit...Stuff for customers...Stufff for other photographers...Stuff for me (sometimes I just need to get it off my chest).  Today I'm going to give some advice to Brides Grooms and anyone else whose in charge of hiring both the photographer and the videographer for the wedding.  

Oil and Water?

Wedding Photographer and Wedding Videographers working together.

Problem

In case you didn't know it, both  Wedding Photographers and Wedding Videographers are creative types.  Each thinks that their craft is all that and a bag of chips.  The problem is sometimes they are so intense about their own craft they sometimes interfere with the others ability to capture the images they need to fulfill the desires of the client.

Solution

Neither profession is completely innocent of creating havoc. So unless you want your wedding videographer jumping in front of your wedding photographer's shots all day, or your photographer showing up in every video clip, you've got to set some ground rules and get the two communicating ahead of time. First, when interviewing both professionals ask them how they will work with the other professionals involved to make sure everyone can do their jobs at a high level. Second, inform each professional of your wishes regarding which is most important to you. The point is to let each vendor know what your priorities are and if there is a preferred or "lead" vendor. Finally, once you've made a hiring decision, ask them to connect with each other ahead of time to go over your wishes to create a team atmosphere of working together.

One important reason to create this team atmosphere is to prevent a problem in our industry regarding "line of sight" or "line of vision" issues. This is a problem where one professional gets in the way of the others "line of vision". The results are photos with videographers and/or their equipment in it (think bride and groom exchanging vows with the videographer right behind them), and videos with photographers all over the place distracting from the main focus (think first dance, with the photographer on the dance floor in the whole scene).

How can you help this from happening? Ask your videographer if they have stationary equipment set up on tripods (more than one if they want different angles) with great zoom capabilities for discreetness and advanced sound pickups so they don't need to be right next to you with an 80's style boom mic! The photographer can then stake out where they are and stay clear much easier and keep the focus on you. 

Also let each professional know you will be asking them for feedback on their experience working with the other professionals and that you will be writing reviews about them in all those on-line forums. This will give further positive incentive to foster that team atmosphere, and work well together for great results!