Every once in awhile we get asked about taking wedding photos. Our answer is always the same: we refer our favorite photographers.
It’s not that we can’t take photos for you. We can. We have great cameras for it. We even have (and enjoy using) film cameras and flashes. Chris takes some really spectacular images. But we don’t bring those cameras to weddings, and we don’t take photos at them either. Here’s why:
We Focus on Your Video
Our entire focus at your wedding is to produce an amazing wedding video for you. We’ve learned that to make the kind of films we make, it takes at least two of us (sometimes more, depending on the details of your wedding). For some of our other projects (real estate, family films, etc) we do sometimes take photos, and we’ve learned that to get the best of each product, we need to divide and conquer. One of us will capture photos, one will capture video to ensure that we get consistent, full coverage for each. We don’t do this for weddings because we are both focused on your video.
On the few times either of us have tried to do both on our own (ie, for our own family) we’ve learned that you must sacrifice one to preserve the other. These are for little, fun things. Not someone’s full wedding day. You don’t want to sacrifice either photos or video for your wedding day.
It will likely step on some toes for me to say this, but I don’t feel that it’s possible for one person to capture both photo and video at a wedding in an artistic and skilled manner. I certainly don’t feel that it’s possible for one person to do your photo and video and dj and every other wedding task with any measure of success. If you do hire a company that offers more than one thing, ask specifically who will film your wedding. If they have the same person doing all the things, know that not all of them will be able to have the same amount of attention. You know the saying “Jack of all trades, master of none?” It’s true.
Hire some masters of their own trades for your wedding.
Wedding Photography: More Than Pretty Pictures
As I’ve mentioned, both Chris and I do take photos. Both of us trend toward a documentary style, though I have quite a bit more practice posing individuals and couples. Just like great wedding video entails more than just setting up a tripod and pressing start and stop, great wedding photography is so much more than just pointing your camera in the direction of pretty people and clicking the shutter.
Our experience with video translates to a solid understanding of all the technical aspects of photography, and our documentary style of filmmaking leads to capture real, authentic moments. What we don’t have experience in is posing large groups of people for portraits. This is both an art and a skill unto itself, and demands an experienced and competent photographer who can gather and arrange your entire wedding party in a speedy manner (because you know everyone wants to get to cocktail hour) while remaining upbeat, friendly, keeping an eye on the clock, all while still remaining a master of all the technical aspects of photography.
While I can recommend a handful of very talented photographers who do possess this skill set, it’s not something that either Chris or I are practiced in. Never say never, so I’m not about to rule anything out in the future, but I can promise you that before either one of us would be willing to take a photo at a wedding, we would spend a significant amount of study in this art, and an equal amount of time mentoring with a talented professional before attempting the task ourselves. Right now, we’re too busy investing ourselves in creating wedding films to tackle anything else.
It’s All About Heart
The very last reason, and maybe the most important….is that we love making wedding films. Not just being at your wedding, or being a part of a great wedding team (though we do love both of those things) but quite specifically, creating a custom wedding film for your special day.
Every once in awhile I run into a wedding vendor who just isn’t crazy about weddings. This completely baffles me because weddings are an amazing amount of work. If you’re in the planning stages of your wedding, you already know this. But for couples and vendors alike, weddings are intense. Like most things that require a lot of work, they are 100% worth it if you love it.
I also have this deep seated (and maybe overly sentimental) view that everyone who is involved in your wedding day should enthusiastically love weddings. Call it superstitious or killing the vibe or whatever you like, but I really feel like bringing someone who doesn’t believe in marriage or weddings or in the things you have chosen as part of YOUR wedding is bringing negativity into that space, and no one needs that on their wedding day.
Not only do we really believe in this lovely thing called marriage, but we are enthusiastic about creating great films. I love it when I sit down and talk to a florist who could name me every beautiful flower from an obscure garden picture, and tell me when they’re in season, how they should be cared for, and their symbolic meaning. I might not understand half of what they tell me, but I love their passion. I love to see your stationer detail all the different paper options and go nuts for beautiful inks, patterns, and designs. I love it when your DJ is the absolute life of the party, and when your officiant or pastor brings everyone to happy tears. I love it when I talk to your wedding planner and their detailed plan for your day has ALL the things covered, things I could not have thought of, but your planner, with their love for your wedding and details, has thought of.
So I hope you understand that our love of creating the very best film precludes us from taking your wedding photos. We are happy to recommend people who have the same passion for capturing great photos as we have for capturing your moments on video, and work with them to give you a day you’ll never forget!