Re: 10 videographers at a wedding!
 

That company must advertise on Craigslist and hires everyone who responds to their ad!

Re: 10 videographers at a wedding!
 

Random thought: I was watching what looked like at least a three-camera wedding last night, one in the aisle, and two close-ups.

During the "You may now kiss your bride", the aisle camera got the kiss in a midshot, and the other two cameras spun around and got crying/clapping from parents.

So I thought that was kind of different... to me anyway. Normally, at that moment, I'm transfixed in the close-up, but maybe that is one of the moments you're most likely to get good reactions from audience, and maybe the emotion on the faces of the couple is often blocked by the smooching anyway.

Re: 10 videographers at a wedding!
 

I literally laughed out loud envisioning photographers roaming the plains as a herd.

Re: 10 videographers at a wedding!
 

For the wedding videographers (I don't do weddings), there is an interesting read on the BBC web site at Wedding photos: When snap-happy guests go too far - CNN.com titled "Wedding photos: When snap-happy guests go too far" that ties in to the original post.

Like the song lyrics says, "... the times they are a changin' ...."

Here are a couple excerpts:

"More and more, how a couple chooses to document their wedding is yet another extension of their collective identity."

"Some couples are crowdsourcing images from guests to complement or even replace professional photography. At the same time, some couples are asking guests to "unplug" and put away their cameras and phones altogether."

One sentence was of interest, even though I wouldn't be interested in doing it, ".. crowdsourced pictures allow the couple to see the day through guests' eyes."

New term: "Crowdsourcing [your wedding] images"?

The article seemed to be extolling the benefits of crowdsourcing wedding images and really didn't say enough about the downside to the professional documentation. Given this seems to be on the increase it would be good for the videographer or photographer to ask questions before booking about what the couple's policy with regard to guest photography will be. It's possible they might not even have thought about it.

Re: 10 videographers at a wedding!
 

I think I noticed several people shooting video with their I-Pad sized tablets at my most recent event shoot, not just taking photos. It's becoming more and more common. Not a crowd yet, so it's not quite crowd sourcing for video yet. I doubt that it will be much longer.

Re: 10 videographers at a wedding!
 

Everyone probably saw the pics comparing the latest Pope announcement vs. the last one - a flock of small LCD panels dominate the "current" one. Not just one or two, but ALMOST EVERY hand raised!!

Certainly cameras are getting better, but there's still plenty of "consumer grade" stuff (as in it's pretty NASTY image quality wise) that people "think" is great... yep, I'm sure the odds are with the game of "if you shoot enough shots some will be good", but that's a lot of drek!

And there are LOTS of situations where a simple bit of professional gear makes ALL the difference between a crappy photo, a "good" photo, and a GREAT photo. If people are satisfied with "so-so", I guess that's fine, but if it's ALSO getting in the way of GREAT, that IS a problem... I've had guests just wander into and out of shots like they "belong" there, when they DEFINITELY did not! If they are snapping pix with a cheap-o P&S to top it off, it's even more rediculous! Sadly, I don't think people understand quality differences and why some gear and some expense is necessary if you want really good results...

And too, the skill of the camera operator is a HUGE factor - all the gear in the world WILL NOT compensate for lack of talent! Sure, you COULD "crowdsource" but this is uncomfortably close to being the equivalent of 1000 monkeys with typewriters....

Shooting "professionally" is more and more of a challenge with everyone and their dog (cats too) having a camera... the opportunity for mediocrity has expanded exponentially... and the likelyhood that your shot will get blocked by a stupid LCD from someone not thinking and just doing whatever is certainly an increasing frustration!