Maryann & Andrew “Coming Soon” wedding preview (UPDATE-I’M NO LONGER DOING WEDDING VIDEOS)

I only shoot a couple weddings a year.  (UPDATE 1/1/15- I have decided to no longer do any wedding videos, they are just too much work as described below). With my regular work of corporate videos, TV shows, and commercials, I just don’t have the time to do too many of these.  Plus to be honest, they are probably the most stressful gigs to do!!  There is no second takes.  You can’t control the situation like with most shoots.  Its purely capturing the events that unfold the best you can.  And to do them to the level of what I like to work at, its downright exhausting!  Most times its a 12 plus hour day.  I shoot mostly with my new C100 camera.  But during the actual ceremony, I set up 3 other cameras, one that my wife runs, and two locked off shots.  This helps later when you edit to keep the shots cutting around to hold interest.  On top of that is the audio to worry about!  I use two wireless mics, one on the groom and one on the officiant.  The bride is usually close enough to either of those two that I can pick her up audio up from them.

I start shooting around 9am for most weddings, getting the bride getting hair and makeup done.  Then go over to the grooms location and get them getting ready, then back to brides place to get dress going on.  I also do interviews during these times to use through out the video.  I find you need some statements to give some kind of “story” and meaning to the finished video.  Once I get that all done, it’s off to set up the four cameras and audio at the event location.  I also try to get shots of people arriving, the nervousness of the groom etc…this is by far the most stressful time of the day!  The clock is ticking and it can be a challenge to set up everything where you need to, get the camera settings correct for each location, find groom and officiant to put wireless mics on them, test those mics to the camera and still get shots of folks arriving!  My wife is great and a big help at schlepping gear, but I need to do all the set ups because she doesn’t know much about cameras!

Once the ceremony is finished, I feel a bit relieved!  The receptions have moments you have to capture, but I only use two cameras for most of that stuff.  By the end of the night, I have over 80GB of camera footage to then sift through later on for the edit.  This equates to about 6-7 hours of footage for an eventual 25-30 minute final video!  Within two weeks, usually sooner, I edit one of these “Coming soon” preview trailers for the couple to show all their friends what the day was like.  They usually post it on their facebook page.  These little 3 minute videos can take up to 8 hours to edit!  The actual video takes closer to 40 hours to edit!  Now, you can begin to see why wedding videos can be expensive!  It’s not your Uncle Louie in the back of the event with his handycam, these are full broadcast quality HD movies that could run on TV!

Sometimes I think “Is it too much that I’m doing for these?”  “Do I REALLY need to be so fanatical about it all?” but in the long run, it’s a life event for the couple and it’s my job to make the video a treasured keepsake for them.  Even more then photos, the video has the ability to REALLY capture the day.  The sights, the locations, the sounds, the atmosphere, peoples voices…one bride lost her grandmother shortly after the video and said she was so thankful I got her talking on the video so she could always remember her voice!  It’s these little moments in a video that can truly make all the effort worthwhile!

Maryann and Andrew were a wonderful couple to work with!  So full of joy and passion that I knew right away this one would be special!  The rainy summer decided to take a day off and the actual wedding day was just glorious!  They picked the Whiteface Club and Resort in Lake Placid for their destination wedding (Andrews parents live there) and I can’t think of a prettier place to have an outdoor wedding.