Wedding PHOTOGRAPHY VS. VIDEOGRAPHY

I recently put down my video camera for an SLR....at least for a day:) Last Friday, I had the opportunity to shoot stills at a wedding with my good friend Sam Wood from Sharpe Photographers at the Newcastle Wedding Gardens. I had asked him when we worked together at a wedding months before if I could tag along someday as a second shooter/assistant just for fun- and it really was! Attending a wedding without the usual video production pressures was wonderful. Sam outfitted me with a Nikon DX1 body and the pick of any pro lens in his considerable arsenal and we were off to the races:

Having professionally filmed weddings as a videographer over the last 19 years, I could not help but make some comparative observations between wedding videography and photography: 1. Photographers chase the perfect moment, that fraction of a second of optimum lighting, expression, composition etc. Talented photographers rarely get that perfect shot, but they approach it several times at each wedding. Videographers seek to capture the story and emotion of the day in motion and sound. As Sarah -our beautiful bride- tearfully repeated her vows at the altar, I instinctively reached for a video camera- but Sarah chose not to hire a videographer. I felt sad that that memory of that remarkably powerful scene - perhaps the single most important event in her life - will forever be lost.

2. In-camera editing rocks! (am I young enough to say that?) As a photo rookie, I LOVED the ability to instantly delete my last (usually) lousy photo at the push of a button...and Sam would never see it:) I spend an average of 30 hours editing each wedding video- how cool it is for my photog friends to be able to do much of the image editing on-site!

3. Changing exposure accurately in rapidly changing lighting conditions is much easier in video. Since you are looking at the constant LCD readout on a video camera, dialing in the proper exposure real-time is a snap. I fequently found myself chimping (looking at the Nikon's LCD) after each still shot. However, I was more relaxed not having to be constantly worried about making sure the camera was properly framed, focused and exposed or correct audio was being captured as I had become accustomed to in shooting video.

4. Professional Wedding Videography & Photography are complimentary artforms. Brides sometimes ask me if they need a Photographer if they can make stills from video. Not only do stills from a professional photographer render much higher resolution than video stills, but a good photog typically has advanced lighting and compositional skills vital for posed shots such as formals or an engagement session . Thanks Sam!

Below is my favorite shot of the day. Call it luck:)