Contents

• So why can’t you shoot photos and video at the same time?
• Different camera settings are required
• Different approach to shooting
• Video shooting features
• Different amounts of work
• Photo and video editing
• To summarize

In today’s reality of how easy it is to shoot video and photos on the phone, there is an illusion that a photographer with his professional equipment can easily do this “simple” job. But this is a big misconception.

I know great photographers who cannot shoot video; it is already very stressful for them to hold the camera horizontally. I’ve got a friend who has been shooting fine-art for a long time, and he’s used to a vertical film frame. So far, 60-70% of his works are vertical. I also know some great big name videographers, but if you ask them to take a photo, they’ll be stressed.

So why can’t you shoot photos and video at the same time?

At a minimum, the photographer and videographer need different equipment to shoot.

For a short shoot without a banquet, a photographer only needs a camera and lens, but a videographer still needs a DN filter, a stabilizer, and sound. If we are talking about a full day, then the videographer’s equipment is multiplied here.

Different camera settings are required

This is probably the most important point. Because if we want to get a picture that looks like a movie, we can’t shoot at the same camera settings for both stills and video just by measuring exposure and pressing the record button.

For shooting video, there’s a shutter speed rule: the number of frames per second multiplied by two. There are some uncertainties for digital cameras, but those are nuances. That’s the only way we’ll get a cinematic, beautiful picture. Also, to shoot video, filmmakers record in different video formats to get more detail in the lights and shadows to be seen in post-processing, such as the LOG format, which uses a logarithmic curve, so just pushing the “Rec” button in photo mode will not work. You have to keep these things in mind.

In addition, cameras for shooting wedding videos are often not very good for shooting photos.

Different approach to shooting

In photography, I can take a vertical shot, cutting off unnecessary objects. For example, in a narrow hotel room with a lot of people, from relatives and girlfriends to wedding professionals, I can set the action to a couple without context and catch the moment. I don’t have to worry too much about changing the lighting of the scene and the temperature of the day (sun/shade), because shooting in RAW format allows me to make mistakes that I can easily get rid of at home.

Video shooting features

Only the horizontal frame, if we are talking about wedding videos, not the reel format, etc.

The meaningfulness of the moment is important. The action must at least mean something, answer the simple question, “Why?”

Better control of light and temperature, because in post-production (editing and changing light/color) it’s harder to draw out light or temperature inaccuracies.

Different amounts of work

When you come to a photographer or videographer, you see their work and, of course, imagine the same result. But that result is made up of the details of working thoughtfully in one direction rather than switching between tasks.

Most of the time, brides just want to shoot reels for social media, but that’s a completely different request than wanting a short video. My friend the photographer has tried many times to shoot wedding videos. And he’s just forgotten that he needs to shoot an occasional video because his brain is already preoccupied with the idea of catching the brief photo moment rather than listening to the dialogues or following how the event will unfold for the video. It’s different brain work. Even the coolest professional can’t be torn apart. The brain is single-tasked; it just switches between multiple piling tasks.

If the photographer has the time and timing to shoot bits and pieces of reels for you, or if he makes them for himself, then there is time and conditions for it, but it is not a full-fledged video.

For shooting reels, you can use the soundtrack that the social network offers, but if you want to distribute this video on the Internet, popular music will not work here, because it has copyrights. And for this purpose, videographers are looking for music on the Royaltee-Free websites, where similar copyrights to use music can be purchased and used for their own purposes. It’s just a nuance that no one knows or considers.

Photo and Video Editing

These are completely different processes: photo editing and video montage. It requires completely different skills, programs, and often different computers in terms of technical requirements. That’s why a photographer can’t do editing without first learning video editing techniques and special software for that.

If you want to outsource marriage video editing to professionals, just get in touch with us! Our studio completely specializes in wedding film editing. We would be happy to help you with it.

To summarize

Photography and video are different jobs at your wedding. Sure, you can shoot one reel on your phone. But, if creating a real movie about your couple, it should be a dedicated person who will preserve the valuable moments in video and the photographer in photos.