Teamwork: A Guide for Cooperation Between Wedding Photographers and Videographers
For the Brides
In nearly every consultation we are asked how we work together with wedding photographers. Our answer is always the same: "We're reasonable people who like to work with reasonable people." There is a popular trend circulating in the wedding industry which can be best summarized as community > competition. This catch phrase usually applies to those in the same industry and field who share helpful hints and insider tricks with one another, but this phrase applies perfectly to the relationship between wedding photographers and videographers. Why? Because there is truly no competition, we operate within the same industry, but we aren't fighting for clients, we're sharing them. When competition is removed the only thing left is community.
We love working alongside photographers for the following reasons:
#1. It gives us another set of creative eyes.
There is plenty of room for creative freedom within the wedding industry. Being around professional photographers on your wedding day gives us a chance to bounce around ideas, challenge one another to see things from a new angle, and suggest alternative shots which we may have never thought about. For example, a couple weeks ago our new friend (see #3) Matt from Matthew Ryan Photography suggested that we move a large dresser with fixed mirror in order to capture both the bride and groom in a third camera establishing shot. The result was beautiful.
Groom, Kevin, praying with his Bride, Jayde, on their wedding day in March 2016.
#2. We learn new things.
While we are adamant that photography and videography are completely separate professional fields, we do recognize that there is an incredible amount of bleed over. We are both mobile and constantly moving around our subjects, we are both shooting on DSLR or mirrorless cameras and we are both processing a digital product. These similarities, among many others, allow us to learn helpful tips and tricks from photographers. For example, it was our friends from Red Photo Co. who we first saw posting sneak peak wedding photos on Instagram and tagging them with the couple's hashtag during the wedding day. We quickly adopted this process and saw a dramatic increase in our followers and referral traffic.
#3. We make new friends.
We love to hang out with cool people. When we hang out with your photographers, odds are that by the end of the day we are going to be friends (if we weren't already!). Photographers we've met at weddings have ended up being our dear friends going forward. Our wedding photographer, Monique Pantel, is someone we first met while shooting someone else's wedding. Here are a couple incredible photographers we've worked with who you really need to check out.
For the Photographers
We know you have had videographer horror stories and that some videographers have made your wedding shoots really tough. On behalf of all professional videographers, we apologize. We've always been of the mind that photographers and videographers are on the same team, and we trust that you can take that attitude into your next interaction with a videographer.
As for ourselves, we pride ourselves on being personable and professional. You can expect us to offer a handshake upon our morning meeting, and a hug by the time the evening is over. We'll follow you on Instagram and support you in your work. We're amazed by the abundance of creative photographers in this city and we're happy to collaborate and encourage you to fulfill your goals and dreams. We're on your team.