u/hopdicopter

Hi wedding videographers of reddit,

I am an amateur photographer with some limited videography experience. My cousin asked me to film some parts of his wedding this coming weekend (as a low-stress bonus - they already have a photographer and content creators, but they want a simple full video of three particular events). I’m hoping you all can give me some tips.

I need footage of 1) the ceremony/vows, 2) their entry to the reception/first dance, and 3) a surprise flash mob dance later in the night. His fiancée is a professional dancer so the dances will be pretty involved, and good video of them is crucial. Everything will be outdoors on the beach - ceremony starts at 3pm (there's no shade) and reception ends at 11pm.

I have two cameras and a bunch of lenses:

• An Olympus OM-D E-M1 II (micro four thirds, portable with good image stabilization), with a 35mm prime (f/1.8), an 18-36mm wide angle (f/4-5.6), an 80-300mm zoom (f/2.8), and a gorgeous 85mm portrait (f/1.6, the Panasonic Leica Nocticron).
• A Nikon d3500, with a Sigma art 18-35mm f/1.8 lens + the 18-55mm kit lens (f/3.5-5.6).

 

I also have a simple boom mic and a musician friend is helping to record the audio from the speakers for the ceremony. I’m getting ND filters because of the sun, and I have fast SD cards and extra batteries.

My general plan is to set up the Nikon with the sigma art on a tripod as the wide catch-all shot + shooting handheld with the Olympus for tighter reaction shots/good bokeh. 

My questions:

1. Which lenses should I use for each of the three events (ceremony, first dance, surprise dance), assuming the Nikon is on a tripod?
2. What settings do you recommend, and what technical issues am I not thinking about? I'm really worried about focus hunting.
3. Any general tips on successful wedding videography? Biggest pitfalls? How to navigate among guests without getting in the photographer or content creators' way?

Thank you so much! Worst case I give my cousin the tripod videos and call it a day, anything else is bonus. It would just be so nice to give them something more involved as a wedding present.

Hi videographers of reddit,

I am an amateur photographer with some limited videography experience. My cousin asked me to film some parts of his wedding this coming weekend (as a low-stress bonus - they already have a photographer and content creators, but they want a simple full video of three particular events). I’m hoping you all can give me some tips.

I need footage of 1) the ceremony/vows, 2) their entry to the reception/first dance, and 3) a surprise flash mob dance later in the night. His fiancée is a professional dancer so the dances will be pretty involved, and good video of them is crucial. Everything will be outdoors on the beach - ceremony starts at 3pm (there's no shade) and reception ends at 11pm.

I have two cameras and a bunch of lenses:

• An Olympus OM-D E-M1 II (micro four thirds, portable with good image stabilization), with a 35mm prime (f/1.8), an 18-36mm wide angle (f/4-5.6), an 80-300mm zoom (f/2.8), and a gorgeous 85mm portrait (f/1.6, the Panasonic Leica Nocticron).
• A Nikon d3500, with a Sigma art 18-35mm f/1.8 lens + the 18-55mm kit lens (f/3.5-5.6).

 

I also have a simple boom mic and a musician friend is helping to record the audio from the speakers for the ceremony. I’m getting ND filters because of the sun, and I have fast SD cards and extra batteries.

My general plan is to set up the Nikon with the sigma art on a tripod as the wide catch-all shot + shooting handheld with the Olympus for tighter reaction shots/good bokeh. 

My questions:

1. Which lenses should I use for each of the three events (ceremony, first dance, surprise dance), assuming the Nikon is on a tripod?
2. What settings do you recommend, and what technical issues am I not thinking about? I'm really worried about focus hunting.
3. Any general tips on successful wedding videography? Biggest pitfalls? How to navigate among guests without getting in the photographer or content creators' way?

Thank you so much! Worst case I give my cousin the tripod videos and call it a day, anything else is bonus. It would just be so nice to give them something more involved as a wedding present.