Using digital video cameras to shoot and produce wedding videos

You've got yourself a fancy new video camera and now you've been "volunteered" to shoot a friend's wedding.Are you ready for this?What kind of things do you need to consider when shooting a wedding video?I hope that this article will offer you several suggestions.

Know your equipment-this seems logical enough but how well do you really know your equipment?Will you be able to splice the sound files from a cordless mic onto the video files from your camera?Do you know all you light settings and white setting? Does your camera beep to let you know when the memory card is full?You should learn to turn off any sounds your camera might make.Do a practice run before the wedding to make sure you will not encounter any technical difficulties that you haven't thought of.

Be prepared-you never know what might go wrong so bring a spare battery plus a spare AC adaptor.Make sure you have plenty of extra film or memory.If you are using a second camera mounted on a tripod, make sure there is somebody who can check on it periodically.

Ask questions-find out everything you can about the layout of the wedding and what the bride and groom want in the video.If you can, go to the church and see where people will be standing and what angles look best for the ceremony.Ask the bride is she would like pictures of the bridesmaids getting ready.Find out if the groom has any special requests.The more you know about what the couple wants, the better equip you will be to give them just that.

Get tons of footage-it's better to have too much footage than not enough.If you have ever looked back at an old wedding video you have probably enjoyed seeing the guests and family as much as seeing the happy couple; even if the happy couple was you.Try to get plenty of video of the guests.Also, get everything from when the couple arrives until they depart. If you are shooting the reception get all speeches and plenty of the dancing and cake eating as well.You can always edit out extra shots after it's over; you can't recreate those shots you missed.

Mic the groom-don't rely on the microphone on your camera to get the vows.Instead, put a small wireless mic on the lapel of the groom.This will be sure to catch every word that is said during the ceremony.This is one of the things that you will need to practice before the actual ceremony.Make sure there are no buzzing noises and that the words can be heard clearly.

Consider a second camera-if you can position a second camera on the tripod and have it focused on the alter you will be able to cut to that view during the edit.This will make the video more fun to watch.You will be sure to catch everything that happens up front, even if you are panning the crowd for interesting looks.

Get a shot from the still photographer-when you produce the video you will need to have a label from the DVD.Talk to the still photographer and see if you can get a still print to use as the label.As a videographer, you don't want to be trying to take still shots.Just focus on making the best video you can.

Purchase editing software-you might as well get some good edition software now and put it to good use.Good software can be purchased for under $100.00 and will allow you to produce a professional video.