... with the barest minimum of equipment.
As a Stills shooter, I've observed DSLR video outfits with 3 shooters, a handful of Canon bodies, sliders, Glidecams, Steadicams, shoulder rigs, heavy-duty everything. For a wedding coming up on June 10th, I'll be on my own, a one-shooter outfit where equipment portability is a key factor; I will have to be able to sling everything over my shoulder and around my waist. I'll be using a Canon 60D, Tokina 11-16 f2,8, Tamron 17-50f2.8, Canon 70-200f4, Glidecam 2000, and a light Manfrotto with a fluid head. For audio, I'll have an Azden shotgun mike, an Audio-Technica wireless set-up, and a Zoom H4N.
My instincts are to visualize, compose, and shoot stills images so philosophically, I'll proceed with the idea of capturing video stills, images that resemble stills but are at least 5 seconds long. Going in to the shoot, I imagine at least 5 storyboards possible so the idea is to capture as many clips as possible for as many storyboards as possible. Any extended footage, such as whole speeches are options that will be taken if the opportunity is presented.The storyboards in my head are just guidelines, for now... to be crystallized once I've reviewed the total footage at the end of the night.
This wedding coming up is ideal for this first-time exercise since it is a smallish, intimate wedding, with less than 35 people, including guests. The bride and groom are getting prepared in the same location as the ceremony, the formals, and the reception. Furthermore, the Stills shooters are colleagues of mine in the same outfit that I shoot Stills for.
In my opinion, the future of Wedding and Events photography is in Fusion Photography, a term increasingly in use to denote a hybrid of stills-and-video, utilizing the latest large sensor cameras.
Now, the challenge is to come up with a professional quality product that is technically and artistically very good. Post shoot editing is key and I have but 2 weeks to learn how to use Final Cut Express!
