Tonight I attended a rehearsal for a wedding I am shooting tomorrow. I usually do a 2-camera shoot — handheld Canon XL1s and tripod-mounted Canon Optura. My main goals during rehearsal include (1) finding a good place to sit/stand where I can get most of the action and (2) finding a good place to set up the stationary camera.

The stationary camera usually goes at the front of the church, near or behind the altar, facing out toward the crowd. While the bride and groom practice their positions, I frame the picture so that I can get a good angle on one of their faces — usually the groom’s. Then I sit in the pew on the opposite side and shoot toward the altar so I can get the bride’s face. This works well if they are facing each other during most of the ceremony.

Sometimes a bride and groom will face the altar, which makes it difficult to get their faces during the ceremony. In one wedding, I got great shots by actually sitting up behind the altar and shooting out toward the audience. They didn’t mind my presence up there — actually, it’s the best overall view during a wedding, which is ironic since the crowd is facing the complete opposite way — but seeing a guy up front behind the couple, pointing a video camera in your direction, is distracting for some people. A wedding is a very personal thing and different folks have different tastes.

So my first and foremost goal in shooting a wedding is to be as invisible as possible. Which isn’t always easy, by the way. But in my experience, the still photographer — who has a MUCH more stressful job — is usually running the show already, so I can’t possibly be more intrusive than he/she.

By attending the rehearsal to work out details like this and get an overall idea for how the wedding is going to flow, the actual wedding day goes a lot smoother. Tomorrow afternoon I’ll visit the salon while Debra and her bridesmaids are getting their hair made. Always makes for good video. The wedding starts in the evening, with a cake reception afterwards. This will be one of the shorter weddings I’ve shot.