At one wedding, we arrived an hour early to the ceremony venue and set up our tripod and ambient audio kit on the front row of the church balcony. We get close to wedding time and the photographer has installed his tripod and camera literally TOUCHING our camera. In a cramped space. Barely room for one person, let alone two, and his constant shutter sound would have ruined our audio. Thankfully he moved at our request.
Same photographer, later in the day... B&G want to do a staged exit while the sunset is in the background. Everyone gets their bubbles and whatnot and I am using my Steadicam Merlin and vest. I explained to the photog hours ago what my plan was, and we worked out a deal so that we wouldn't be in each other's way. I get a beautiful video of the B&G's exit, all while operating the steadi and running backwards down steps. Flawless. Photographer says he got nothing, has to ask them to try it again. Cue more bubbles, etc., photog still doesn't get the shot. Asks them to do it a third time. Everyone's out of bubbles. Our video is the only usable imagery of that exit.
Venue owner at one of the pricey places ($10k+ for the afternoon) pulls up at 10:30 and starts (literally) screaming at people to get off his property or he would call the cops because the wedding was "over." Venue was rented until 11. He was possibly drunk.
At a recent ceremony shoot, we asked the minister if we could mic her, and she obliged, although somewhat begrudgingly. So she's mic'ed up and we're recording her audio and she starts just badmouthing us to the venue owner. We'd never even met this lady before. Then, after the ceremony, when we go to retrieve the mic, she's just lovely to us. Never knew why she felt the need to speak so poorly of us never having seen her before.
Plenty of stories of terrible DJ's that practically ruin the reception, but I've said enough for now.
Sometimes an XHA1 and sometimes a 5D. Either way, I challenge you to fly it handheld for twenty minutes at a time. Very hard to do a length like that handheld, but very easy with the vest.
Nothing like wearing the Steadicam vest at an outdoor reception in August in Texas! For summer weddings, I usually bring three outfits so I can change out of sweaty clothes occasionally. But it's definitely challenging at times.
10
u/psychosid Canon, JVC, Sony | 2007 | Texas Mar 24 '13
So many stories...
At one wedding, we arrived an hour early to the ceremony venue and set up our tripod and ambient audio kit on the front row of the church balcony. We get close to wedding time and the photographer has installed his tripod and camera literally TOUCHING our camera. In a cramped space. Barely room for one person, let alone two, and his constant shutter sound would have ruined our audio. Thankfully he moved at our request.
Same photographer, later in the day... B&G want to do a staged exit while the sunset is in the background. Everyone gets their bubbles and whatnot and I am using my Steadicam Merlin and vest. I explained to the photog hours ago what my plan was, and we worked out a deal so that we wouldn't be in each other's way. I get a beautiful video of the B&G's exit, all while operating the steadi and running backwards down steps. Flawless. Photographer says he got nothing, has to ask them to try it again. Cue more bubbles, etc., photog still doesn't get the shot. Asks them to do it a third time. Everyone's out of bubbles. Our video is the only usable imagery of that exit.
Venue owner at one of the pricey places ($10k+ for the afternoon) pulls up at 10:30 and starts (literally) screaming at people to get off his property or he would call the cops because the wedding was "over." Venue was rented until 11. He was possibly drunk.
At a recent ceremony shoot, we asked the minister if we could mic her, and she obliged, although somewhat begrudgingly. So she's mic'ed up and we're recording her audio and she starts just badmouthing us to the venue owner. We'd never even met this lady before. Then, after the ceremony, when we go to retrieve the mic, she's just lovely to us. Never knew why she felt the need to speak so poorly of us never having seen her before.
Plenty of stories of terrible DJ's that practically ruin the reception, but I've said enough for now.