Wedding Videography Suggestions
Wedding Videography Suggestions
Lights: Use as little as possible. Most churches won't allow you to use any additional lights. At the reception, a 50-Watt on-camera light with a dimmer should be sufficient. Anything more than this, and all the people on-camera will be squinting, holding their hands over their eyes, or maybe lynching the cameraman.
Microphones: Many videographers like wireless, but also carry a shotgun mike as a backup. If the wireless goes bad, plug in the shotgun in a couple of seconds and carry on. Another tip - place a hard-wired PZM "flat" microphone right between the couple and the priest. This can be a secondary backup, or feed a second or third camera.
Clip the wireless lavaliere microphone on the groom. If you have more than one, a second can be on the priest or officiant, or at a speakers podium if there is another reader in the ceremony. Get a wireless microphone with multiple channel selections, or get more than one microphone on different channels. You want to have an alternative if your first choice is full of radio interference. Avoid the 27- to 50-MHz wireless kits as they are little more than toys. Likewise, avoid VHF microphones unless that's all that your budget will support. They will work, but you may experience interference or dropouts as you move about.
At the reception, just use the on-camera microphone, except for guest interviews. For those a handheld wireless is the best. Other places for a wireless microphone at the reception is on the best man, for the toast; on a stand at the head table; or piggy-backed on the DJ's microphone.
For wireless equipment, the accepted industry leader is Lectrosonics, but they are very expensive. The new Azden and Samson UHF diversity systems seem well suited to small cameras, and at around $500 are less than a quarter of the cost of a Lectrosonics unit. The Azden has 63 selectable channels, but the receiver is pretty big and heavy to go onto a small camera.
If your budget is limited, check out the little VHF non-diversity Azden WMS-PRO microphone with a street price of about $150. The downside - it does suffer from hiss and occasional dropout. Corporate videographers use the Sony 800 series UHF equipment, and consider it very reliable.
Next: What to Shoot
Microphones: Many videographers like wireless, but also carry a shotgun mike as a backup. If the wireless goes bad, plug in the shotgun in a couple of seconds and carry on. Another tip - place a hard-wired PZM "flat" microphone right between the couple and the priest. This can be a secondary backup, or feed a second or third camera.
Clip the wireless lavaliere microphone on the groom. If you have more than one, a second can be on the priest or officiant, or at a speakers podium if there is another reader in the ceremony. Get a wireless microphone with multiple channel selections, or get more than one microphone on different channels. You want to have an alternative if your first choice is full of radio interference. Avoid the 27- to 50-MHz wireless kits as they are little more than toys. Likewise, avoid VHF microphones unless that's all that your budget will support. They will work, but you may experience interference or dropouts as you move about.
At the reception, just use the on-camera microphone, except for guest interviews. For those a handheld wireless is the best. Other places for a wireless microphone at the reception is on the best man, for the toast; on a stand at the head table; or piggy-backed on the DJ's microphone.
For wireless equipment, the accepted industry leader is Lectrosonics, but they are very expensive. The new Azden and Samson UHF diversity systems seem well suited to small cameras, and at around $500 are less than a quarter of the cost of a Lectrosonics unit. The Azden has 63 selectable channels, but the receiver is pretty big and heavy to go onto a small camera.
If your budget is limited, check out the little VHF non-diversity Azden WMS-PRO microphone with a street price of about $150. The downside - it does suffer from hiss and occasional dropout. Corporate videographers use the Sony 800 series UHF equipment, and consider it very reliable.
Next: What to Shoot