ahalpert
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  • Naive that the USA and UK/Europe are onthe saem team. Most well informed people trust the US as much as they do China. Even at a Government level. I do have good reasons for saying this none of which I wil elaberate on on an on-line system. Some of it came from my Father, now dead, who was part of the UK inteligence services.
    ahalpert
    ahalpert
    what about the five eyes alliance? doesn't that mean anything?
    On a wedding shoot Saturday, I setup a camera tripod to record the groom, another on the bride, and a third as a wide safety. I also held a Sony ZV-1 on a small gimbal for mobility. The ceremony venue was very tight, stadium benches that curved around a gazebo and extended almost to the edge of a raised eight sided platform with sloped roof and hand railing picket fence on all sides except where open at the front steps. The bride would descend a sloping aisle meaning the ground at the back of the guests was elevated. Putting cameras there would mean blocked shots of people standing. There was no room to put a tripod between the front row and the bridal party so it had to go behind the gazebo centerline and peek over the railing on one side. On the other side it was not possible to do the same because of sloping ground that was too low, tripod not high enough. I took one of the cameras and set it just at the edge of the aisle in line with the bench, about 3 or 4 rows from the front.

    The photographer came up to me and asked if I was going to have that tripod there, that it was going to be in the way of her shots. I explained I didn't have any other options, could she just shoot around it or use a longer lens. She reiterated it was going to ruin her shots and I said something like we all have our own problems to manage, something I have been told plenty. Where would she have me put it? She answered somewhere it's not in my shot. She asked, "Why do you have so many cameras? Other videographers use just one. Why don't you hand hold one? Where are you going to stand?" To the last question, I said I would be moving around as needed, just like her, but that in general I would kneel at the edge of the aisle in front to shoot the procession, after the flower girl, turn to shoot the groom's reaction, and then turn again to get the final steps of the bride and her father as she approached the platform. I would then back away and recompose and refocus the other camera angles as necessary. At the exchange of rings I would return to the aisle, and shoot the recessional as she would, walking backwards.

    She lodged a complaint against me that I was being uncooperative, unprofessional. It was something I'm normally not concerned about with other freelance contractors but in this case we were working for the same client office The office called me during the event, just before the ceremony start actually, and they asked if there were any problems, to which I said no problems. Then she said well we received a complaint you were being uncooperative, unprofessional.

    The photgrapher had wanted to meddle my shots right before the ceremony, a very busy time with mic'ing the groom, getting audio from the sound board, pouring rain and the reason for all the cameras is very simple, to be able to have an unblocked shot the editor can cut to. Shots get blocked. Handhold shots even on a gimbal are not always ideal, batteries run out, and I don't think I've ever been to a wedding where the video wasn't at least 2-3 cameras among to 1-2 videographers, minimum.

    This is where my rant begins that has nothing to do with her complaint except to point out how selfish her own activities were, she roamed all over constantly in front of all my cameras. The ceremony itself was long, 45 minutes 45 seconds, during which time she immersed herself fully onto the platform for 16 minutes from as close as 2-4 feet, to get that winning shot of the unity candle, wedding vow script, lasso. That's all wonderful shotmaking but I would not dare have intruded that platform space, or that closely if I was, for more than a few seconds, in this case which I did not at all. She even set up stepladders behind the gazebo so she could peek from there too, with her two cameras.

    In spite of it, my shots came out good as they always do, and that's the reason behind doing it the way I do. It works, but I am probably finished shooting for that contractor.
    ahalpert
    ahalpert
    Sounds like a royal pain in the ass! I love it how she then inserts herself directly in the proceedings. But I find that many photographers get uncomfortably close to the action, even the nice and cooperative ones (which are probably 2/3 to 3/4 of the ones I work with, actually.) Probably the thing to do is lodge a counter-complaint? And yeah, I've never shot a ceremony with less than 2 cameras. Now I use 3 (and if there's a 2nd shooter, there will be 4 or 5 cameras in total). I'm considering adding a 4th camera to my solo set-up because I feel like I never have enough time to get enough cutaways of parents and crowd in a short ceremony, although I also don't love increasingly the complexity of my set-up and my rigging time.

    Sounds like a hellish geographical configuration. Logistics is probably 75% of a wedding shoot.

    On a related tangent, I've been setting up a wide master on a 13' light stand (with a small gimbal) to try to get a nice shot of the back of the dress during the processional. I have to put it off-axis (no photographer is going to let me put it right at the back of the aisle), and it's always an issue to get a clear shot of the bride when the crowd stands up. (My inspiration for this shot is some church balcony shots I've done where you get a wonderful look at the dress.) So I just ordered a 20' stand. I think it will be safe if I increase my sand bags on it to 3 or 4 from my current 2. And hopefully I can shoot clean over the heads in the audience, we'll see. It should arrive in time for my Friday wedding. I could also use a little more height for my reception 1st/parent dances master too (though probably not 20'). (But after the processional I usually lower it a bit and move it to a few different positions, one right in the aisle, and then back out and off-axis before the recessional.)
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