What do you guys wear/do to either blend in (e.g. at a wedding) for guerrilla filming or just for socializing.

Usually looking like "the video guy" is helpful but on the occasions when it isn't what do you do?

Use a Canon 7D?

I've always worn show blacks but as far as blending in...not so much. I have a camera with a light on it with a wireless receiver on it, am most of the time on a DVMultirig and go on the dance floor to video the people dancing and partying, so blending in is not tops on my priority list. Not obnoxious but no wall flower either. Anyway some guys/gals are a bit more 'hidden' than I am but that's what I do and wear.
I have to be honest and say I've never had a time when looking like the video guy has been a major problem so I can't really answer to that.

Turn your tally lights off and if you want to interview someone never walk up to them toting your camera .. you'll scare off most folks.

Have someone else engage them in conversation and ask at the right moment.

Or get someone to hold yr cam and you do it. Old news hound trick.

Don what do you call show blacks?
Cheers.

Black shirt, black pants. Short sleeve long sleeve depends on the job and time of year. Summer weddings, short sleeve. Winter weddings, long sleeve. Summer seminars winter seminars, long sleeve regardless of whether I'm working in video world backstage or operating a camera out on the main floor.

Thanks. Cheers.

Dark suit with white shirt and tie for a wedding always. Black shirt and trousers for disco or party, with black jacket for formal/business/civic events, with black tie if very formal. Anything else jeans and tee shirt, casual jacket and shoes.

The company i work for makes us wear a shirt that says "Video Guy" on it with a play button. Whenever I go out on a shoot, people always say, "hey it's the video guy." I hate that shirt, but it's great for marketing. They've trademarked the names "video guy" and "video girl"

I wear all black, in that way guests almost don't notice me and it makes my work a bit easier at weddings.

The company i work for makes us wear a shirt that says "Video Guy" on it with a play button.

Some time ago at a music festival I saw a videoguy walking around with a shirt with a print on the back: "forbidden to feed the videographer" :)

Thanks for all the replies, sorry to hear about the shirt Corey

Dark suit with white shirt and tie for a wedding always. Black shirt and trousers for disco or party, with black jacket for formal/business/civic events, with black tie if very formal. Anything else jeans and tee shirt, casual jacket and shoes.

I can't imagine doing a wedding or any other video job while wearing a suit. It just would not provide the freedom of movement that I need. Plus I'd waste so much time tucking my shirt back in or straightening up my tie every time I moved.

Personally I wear black slacks and a grey/blue/white work shirt with at least two sealable front pockets (fesh tape in the left, exhausted tapes go in the right pocket). I'll be getting some company T-shirts done up soon - dark grey or black with my logo on the front and company details on the back. I'll wear those for more casual jobs like shooting surfing or live bands, as well as giving a few to my friends who said they'd be happy to wear them around town for a bit of PR.

I never have a problem wearing a suit, I've always done it out of respect and consideration for my clients and their guests who will have made every effort on their day to look smart. I couldn't imagine wearing a tee shirt to the sort of weddings I do. No disrespect intended but I've always thought photographers who turn up at an expensive wedding in casual or inappropriate clothing are making more of a 'look at me' or 'I can't be bothered' statement. I find I can blend in with the wedding guests much easier if I am similarly dressed, but then that's just me. Mind you I am quite often asked for directions at hotels, or to fetch more wine during the meal.
I've always considered 'blacks' as theatre wear (i.e. when I've got to work in the stage shadows or in the auditorium).

This is not meant as a slight or criticism, everyone should work in what they feel comfortable in and in answer to the Laurence's question why worry about looking like a video guy, that's what you are and a camera on your shoulder or tripod is usually enough to give you away.

My best response to the OPs question is: just wear what you think everyone else will be wearing. As for the equipment...well, there's only so much you can do about that. Just try to keep it to what's necessary and no more (i.e. don't bring 3 mics and a mixer if you only need one), and try not to get too into people's faces (without missing your shot of course).

For weddings wear a white shirt and white balance off the sleeve, it drives the single women nuts.

Cheers.

I think that's the best advice: wear what everyone else will be wearing. Second to that is all black. All black neat-casual is an accepted camera person uniform. If you are going to be on or near a stage recording a performance, wear all black so you don't show up as much on other cameras or look distracting to the audience. If I wore a suit to an event here in Hawaii, I would look like a crazy white guy just off the plane who doesn't understand local culture. Here, dark slacks and an aloha shirt are formal attire. Suit jackets are reserved only for people of importance in the event like a speaker or a wedding party. Wear what everyone else will be wearing - or all black. If you were to work at a music festival and wore a suit jacket, people would probably avoid you. If you wore a tuxedo to court, you would stick out like a crazy person. You don't want to be unapproachable if you are trying to get candid shots. Overdressing can be just as bad as under dressing.

For weddings wear a white shirt and white balance off the sleeve, it drives the single women nuts.

Cheers.

awesome!! haha

First gig, coat and tie to a wedding on the working man side of town. Was only surpassed in dress by the wedding party. Stuck out like a sore thumb.

Next gig, dress down some after last experience, slacks and pressed shirt. This one was out in farm country where I find out they still do it "old school".... coat and tie minimum, suit preferred. Opppps...look like a slob.

Third gig, black slacks and black shirt.

I can't say that there is a hard and fast rule for the diverse area where I work. I live and work out of a mountain resort town but travel throughout a 200 mile radius covering everything from old style western ranches to the very large churches in two of our state's largest cites to back-country areas around Yellowstone Park.

So, number 1 practice: find out about the venue and how the wedding is set-up. For a lot of reasons, you want to know up front if the wedding is very large and very formal.

Number 2 practice: When making the contract, ask how formally or informally they will dress and how formally or informally they expect their guests will dress.

Number 3, ask the officiant if the church or temple has a dress code. Once in a while, they will have one.

Number 4: pay attention to the weather. Don't wear black to shoot an outdoor wedding in a ranch field on a 90° F day.

Typical for me is a dress shirt and kakhi or gray slacks and polished comfortable shoes. I usually keep a tie and blazer or sportscoat in my car just in case the wedding turns out to be more formal than expected.

In our questionnaire we ask what the guests attire is and we follow that. If everyone is wearing all white, we would make sure to wear all white. We try to avoid blacks as much as possible because it can potentially save a lot of our shots and the photographers if we get in them. We shot a wedding in Atlanta a while back and the photogs wore all black and ended up in some of our shots and you could actually tell they were the photog. This happened mostly on the dance floor (a gazebo with very minimal room to move around with a ton of people), but also in some other places. When I got in my wifes shot or vise versa, you couldn't really tell with all of the people around us (we shoot with 5D's as well, so that helps). It looked like we were just taking pictures as a guest. If for some reason you get to a ceremony and they only let you use one camera way at the back of the church, you can get around it by dressing like a guest, using a DSLR, and sitting at a pew and poking out to get the shot. James Bond style. This technique also makes guests feel more relaxed as they think you are just a guest as well... less intimidation = more real interactions. Another good idea is to feel the vibe of the couple when you meet them or talk to them... the last wedding I shot was an outdoor Texas wedding in the heat. Everyone was wearing cowboy boots, jeans, pearl snap western shirts and what not. I showed up in Brown pants, brown shoes, and brown western pattern pearl snap shirt. It was great.

As far as marketing goes with your branding on your shirt, it could be good or it could detract. We develop a relationship with each couple, so our approach is different and we set it up from the get go to be that way when we first meet with them. Everyone has their own approach and I'm glad I could share what our ideology is.

We always wear suits except for an outdoor wedding last December at a waterfall in the North of Scotland, high up in the forestry above Fort William. we then wore walking boots, big coats and hats!
It was still cold but prob the most fun wedding for a long time!

We subscribe to the group that dresses to match our clients. I have a morning dress (tails) and I'm in the process of buying an Albert/Edward (slightly shorter jacket). If the client's wearing a lounge suit (business suit) I wear black. My colleague wears identical rig to me. My wife wears black suit with long jacket always.

No-one ever lost points for being too smart; plenty lost them for turning looking like tennis pros - but the real answer must be whatever's right for your market.

I was under the impression that the videographer should always be in black so they are as un-obtrusive as possible..I usually wear a black dress shirt (with company logo on the pocket), black pants and shoes. It's pretty tough here being all in black in Summer when the temp soars to over 100F so normally I take a spare polo style shirt (white) and change tops at the photoshoot and change back again for the reception.

If it's (or I suspect it is) an ultra format wedding, there is always a dark jacket in the car and a tie that I can slip on.

Actually I notice here that photogs seem to not care much about dress at all!! T-shirts with Canon logos and web addresses printed all over them, jeans and dirty sneakers seem to be common place. However all the lady photogs dress very neatly and I only came across one pair of ladies dressed like slobs (and they were doing a $5K shoot!!!)

When one visits the bride, it's a good time to find out the wedding dress code and dress accordingly.

Chris

What to wear depends on how you shoot, the presence you want to have, and what your client expects.

For us, we wear black shoes, black slacks and a black button-up shirt (whether it's 60 degrees or 100 degrees). We don't wear a suit because with the way we shoot we need unrestricted movement. We wear all black because we want to blend into the background and we also don't ever want to be mistaken for guests during the event.

We ARE considering other options right now, though, because filming outside when it's 100-degrees and you're wearing all black ... well, it's just not fun. d;-) When we first started we had white polos with our company logo on the chest, but one of our assistant's kept managing to ruin a shirt at every wedding and it actually just got cost prohibitive.

I wear all black. This way, If i'm standing next to the groomsmen during the ceremony, I blend right in with them. Also, a photographer once mentioned that I don't show up in his photos as much.

The company i work for makes us wear a shirt that says "Video Guy" on it with a play button. Whenever I go out on a shoot, people always say, "hey it's the video guy." I hate that shirt, but it's great for marketing. They've trademarked the names "video guy" and "video girl"

Does that mean if I wear a shirt that says "video guy" I can be sued? Or does it have to have a play button too? Haha. I feel you pain with this one. It has to be somewhat annoying like using a Fig Rig. "Hey! He's driving the camera."

Black, it's always black, even in times that temperature reached 40+ Celsius!