At one time I had thought of doing some weddings; thanks for reminding
me why I should run in the opposite direction. Congratulations on
surviving it all.!
Mike S
Rick wrote:
>Last weekend I did my first wedding shoot with only 2 weeks
>preparation (it's a long story). Having been a member of this group
>for the last two years, I began listing every potential problem and
>caution I could remember being mentioned by other group members.
>It's good I paid attention, because everything that could go
>wrong......
>
>Although this is somewhat off-topic, I think it's beneficial. Here's
>what happened...
>
>1. I tested both of my cameras a week before the wedding. My newest
>camera decided to stop ejecting and taking in tapes. This is a small
>town with only one electronics shop and they don't touch digital
>camcorders. I begged them just to look and they finally agreed after
>I plunked down $50. They found a small object lodged in the tray,
>removed it and the camera "sort of" worked.
>
>2. Getting the camera back two days later, I went to the church to
>take some preliminary shots and to test the lighting. Camera 2
>decided to stop recording. I finally found an acquaintance who
>RELUCTANTLY agreed to lend me his camera as long as I agreed to pay
>for any and all damage to the camera. Fair enough.
>
>3. I talked with everyone ahead of time - the wedding party, the
>photographer, the minister, and the church committee in charge of
>their video equipment. This church has cameras installed and NO ONE
>touches ANYTHING. However, the bride's father is very influential
>and consequently I was granted an exception.
>
>4. I got all the preliminary shots and got the layout of the church.
>The installed cameras were limited in range, so I got permission to
>set up my two cameras, including one in the front of the church
>behind some ferns.
>
>5. I practiced with the installed cameras the day before the
>wedding. Good thing, too! Both cameras had six "presets" and were
>moved by simply pushing a button. The presets could not be changed
>under any circumstances. That's when I realized that the presets
>wouldn't work - they were set to focus on the minister during a
>church service, but not for a wedding where the bride and groom were
>a step or two below the minister. Every shot would have to be
>adjusted by hand and manually focused. Fine - I mapped which camera
>and which preset would be used for every one of the wedding
>activities and put it on a clipboard for reference.
>
>6. We got to the wedding ahead of time and found that someone had
>rearranged the alter and blocked our shots. I still had time to talk
>to the minister and get things changed. Great...
>
>7. Thanks to the group, I thought to bring extension cords, duct
>tape, extra batteries, a knife, tons of extra DV tapes, water,
>something to eat, and so on. I needed ALL of these items, most of
>them before the wedding got started.
>
>8. The wedding went fairly well and I managed to keep my composure
>in the "video room" until the very end (my wife ran our other
>cameras). I was trying to focus on a singer when I heard the
>minister say, "let me introduce Mr. and Mrs. So and So." That's when
>I panicked and couldn't find the camera and the preset I needed.
>Luckily, I had two other cameras running and still had a shot of one
>of the most dramatic moments in the wedding. Whew....
>
>9. I got to the reception and took a few shots here and there. With
>minutes to spare, the family asked me to tape the many toasts that
>would take place. The room was unbelievably dark and I had nothing
>but a small light installed on my camera, so I had to get up close.
>I quickly slapped on my wide angle lens and shot what I could. Once
>finished, I went to take off the lens, and......it's stuck. And I
>mean stuck. Every massive farm kid in that room took a shot at
>unscrewing that lens and I finally stopped them before they broke my
>chassis. No sweat. I run out to the car and got the camera I
>borrowed.
>
>10. I have now been shooting for almost 12 hours. I found a very
>polite way of asking the bride and groom to please do the garter and
>flower toss which I promised to film. Now I can go home.
>
>11. The next morning, I put in the tape of the wedding. NOTHING!!
>All I see is snow and ghost images. This is, quite literally, the
>wedding of the year in this community. The bride's father is a
>physician who widely known and highly respected. My new career has
>begun and ended in one day. I consider either suicide or leaving
>town. My wife suggests I try the other VCR. BINGO!! Everything is
>there...it was the VCR, not the tape.
>
>Believe me, there were a number of other issues, but I managed to
>anticipate and solve most problems because of what I learned in this
>group. Thanks everyone, for all the advice over the years. Your
>check is in the mail.
>
>RR
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>Yahoo! Groups Links
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