6 things Videographers want Photographers to know

So often I’ve had this topic come up. As most of you know, I am primarily a Wedding Photographer, however, I am commissioned for Videography on select occasions. And here are the top 6 things that a Videographer would want a Photographer to know in order for everyone to have a blast and be able to capture all those amazing moments on a wedding day. 

1. SHARE – We are both hired to document quite possibly the most important day of their lives. So, let’s share the day together. Videographers are not asking to have dibs to every single angle and every single moment, but for the moments that only happen one time – like the first kiss let’s say….do us a favor, share the isle with us and shoot side by side for these one time only moments. 
2. IT’S OKAY TO STEP IN FRONT OF THE VIDEO CAMERA FOR A PHOTO – We shoot motion picture, not still pictures. So that means that if you need to take a step or two or three in front of us to get a photo….go for it. Don’t get me wrong, please don’t hang out there with your backside in front of the video camera the whole time, but if you need to step in front of it, that’s totally okay. Most of the time, we are recording entire portions of the wedding but it will be edited to a few seconds. For example, the couples first dance. It might be to a 4 minute song and we will be rolling the entire time, but we will only use about 10-20 seconds total. So, unless you are standing in front of our cameras for the entire 4 minutes, don’t worry about crossing in front of the cameras a few times….we’ve got it covered and we can edit only the seconds that we need. 
3. SLOW DOWN – We realize that you may want to rush and hurry and get all these photos completed in the fastest time possible, but please remember that we do motion picture…that means that when you ask a couple to pose for a second and then immediately ask them to do something else…the video of that looks really awkward. Instead, allow then to naturally come out of each pose so that it looks and feels more natural to the camera. Engage with the couple to allow a more fluid transition between poses so it doesn’t seem so choppy when the couple sees themselves for real. Plus, we have bulkier equipment and it takes us a little bit longer to move with you. Not terribly long, but an extra 3-7 seconds…which isn’t that bad, so please help us out a bit. 
4. DON’T FORGET ABOUT US – This happens all too often. You see the sun setting and it’s absolutely beautiful and you make a mad dash outside dragging the couple with you. Please please please don’t forget to drag us along too. While you may only need a few minutes to capture detail shots, we need more than a few minutes to record those details or to work with and test our audio recording levels…..and while we do all this, we may sometimes miss the spur of the moment catching the couple to take them outside. So, please don’t forget about us too. We’d hate to miss important or beautiful moments because we were left out of the loop. 
5. COMMUNICATE – We make an effort to contact at least 2 vendors when we book a wedding. The Photographer and the DJ. The photographer because we will be working with you all day and the DJ in order to ensure we have the proper sound and audio recorded throughout the wedding day. Please email us if you haven’t heard from us or ask your bride to pass along the information. Sometimes, we request it as well, but Photographers generally will spend more time communicating back and forth and will have better luck getting our information from the client vs. us from them. So, help a girl out and contact us.
6. WHEN WE ASK FOR TIME, PLEASE RESPECT THAT –  as videographers, we will rarely stop anything during the wedding day to do something. So, when we do request a few moments or a few minutes here and there, we do so cautiously as to not take away any much needed time. We typically work as documentarians and don’t do much directing if any at all. So, when we do ask for time to direct, it means we’ve fully thought it through and believe whole heartedly that we need that time to make magic happen.