Lighting and Audio: £1000 ($1600) - What do you do?!

[Craig McKenna]

Hi All,

I recently made a thread about buying a Cinevate Duzi slider and a tripod to go with it for £500.

Since then, I've shot my first wedding, edited it down to one song in length and delivered the product on a custom USB stick within a custom wooden box, along with 12 DVDs that are professionally printed and edited using PhotoShop.

This experience has been an amazing one... so much so, that I've offered my services for free in the summer, so that I can shoot alongside two amazing photographers, who were eternally helpful to me on the day of the shoot. They've kindly offered to email their clients about my offer and I hope to fill 4 slots in the month of August - during my weeks off work.

Potentially, this is my future. Once I have the experience and KNOW that I can deliver, then I think it's game time.

That said, my equipment is weak. I have a Panasonic GH3, Panasonic X800, Olympus OM-D EM5 and will soon have a Panasonic GH4 - paid for, but currently out of stock. Obviously, my hope is to shoot alone with the GH3 and GH4, with the X800/EM5 as back up. Cameras are covered.

Lenses are sort of covered - 12 f2, 25 f1.4, 45 f1.8, 75 f1.8 - although I would love to add the 12-35 f2.8 and 35-100 f2.8, along with the 42.5 f1.2 - but they're not necessities yet.

Legs are almost covered - I have a Sachtler Ace that was recommended in said earlier thread - and I'm thinking of adding a second one to my kit soon. Along with the Manfrotto video monopod.

Following this, I wish to invest in lighting and audio. Audio because I shot using on-camera audio for the ceremony and it was AWFUL! I had warned the bride in advance, but she refused to use mics for the ceremony. Following 4 hours of fixing the audio in the ceremony, I will never agree to shooting a ceremony again without mics. The speeches were fine - using two DR07 MKII's from Tascam, but even they suffered with interference from mobile phones - fortunately, I was able to switch between each recorder when the d-d-d-d occurred and match the audio as best as I could.

Ultimately, I've learned a thousand lessons from my first outing. Focus being a second major focus of mine for future shoots, along with white balance - staying away from auto?!

Since, I've considered a grey card (but don't know which one to get?) and wireless or wired microphones with recorders. I've looked at the Sennheiser wireless ones... but ultimately, I'm clueless when it comes to audio.

So, my questions are as follows:

If you had two DR07 MKIIs for audio, with two tabletop stands to go with them, but no other equipment for audio - and zero pieces of equipment for video - where would you invest your money and why?

Thanks for all of the help in advance!

[Peter Riding]

The audio dept is a lot easier and simpler to kit up with than it might appear.

As you know the audio from onboard cams is often next to useless except for syncing in post to the audio tracks you are actually going to use.

Many of us use recorders similar to your Tascams and simply place them in close proximity to the audio source, be that a lectern in a church, hidden in flower arrangements, on a stand next to a PA speaker, etc. Use combinations of mini tabletop stands and friction arms (search ebay for these).

If you need to use one in a clients pocket you ideally need something rather smaller. The Zoom H1 works. Some users use cheaper audio recorders designed for note-taking etc. These are OK as you don't need as good a capability for speech as you want for music. The Zooms do WAV rather than just MP3 so you have more data to push around in post if necessary.

You need 4 recorders e.g. 1 for each of the groom the best man and the father of the bride on the top table, and one for luck.

There are lots of affordable lavs around that are fine for wedding work. Lavs from Giant Squid are a popular choice. You can specify the colour and the cable length when you order.

Sooner or later you will want to go the wireless route. Get the Sennheiser G3 system (not G2 or G1) and in the 606 to 614 band. Its a great relief to be able to monitor and adjust the levels in an unpredictable recording scenario. These are expensive brand new. You can pick up used on ebay for around £380 - £420 per kit of transmitter, receiver, lav (ensure its the ME2 omnidirectional lav NOT an ME4 cardioid lav), XLR cable, 3.5mm cable, and hotshoe adapter. Get one as soon as you can to start getting used to it; You'll probably use it straight away on the groom and as a link from the DJs board in the evening for the 1st dance etc (phono cable from board to G3 transmitter, possibly with a pad cable in between to cut down if its too hot rather than adjusting the G3 transmitter from its earier in the day speech settings).

Also budget for Plural Eyes to automatically sync multiple video and audio sources in post. Plural Eyes is free with some audio products from time to time.

If you run several G3's you'll want these going into separate recorder(s) - I prefer to go into a recorder anyway rather than into a cam as then you know you have one big continuous audio track rather than multiple shorter tracks where you've switched cam recording on and off. I use the Zoom H4n (2 x XLR & 1 x 3.5mm) but now I'd be looking at the Zoom H6.

Pete

[Craig McKenna]

Originally Posted by Peter Riding

The audio dept is a lot easier and simpler to kit up with than it might appear.

It definitely appears tiresome and confusing! And now I have so much respect for audio that I want the best!

Originally Posted by Peter Riding

As you know the audio from onboard cams is often next to useless except for syncing in post to the audio tracks you are actually going to use.

Many of us use recorders similar to your Tascams and simply place them in close proximity to the audio source, be that a lectern in a church, hidden in flower arrangements, on a stand next to a PA speaker, etc. Use combinations of mini tabletop stands and friction arms (search ebay for these).

Thanks for this, it's a relief to know that the Tascams are always going to have their place. The audio I captured was similar - on two different sides of the wedding table - and the other time, beneath a chair with a polite reminder to guests during an impromptu speech from the father of the groom the night before the wedding.

Out of interest, is there a way to monitor the sound captured by these? As it was still very much hit and hope... I set it to around 70 on the levels and I captured everything well; but is the d-d-d-d unavoidable from mobile phones? Have you experienced it yourself?

Originally Posted by Peter Riding

If you need to use one in a clients pocket you ideally need something rather smaller. The Zoom H1 works. Some users use cheaper audio recorders designed for note-taking etc. These are OK as you don't need as good a capability for speech as you want for music. The Zooms do WAV rather than just MP3 so you have more data to push around in post if necessary.

The H1 makes itself instantly more attractive with the ability to record WAV. I definitely think audio - like stills - need a lot of data to push around incase something should occur.

Originally Posted by Peter Riding

You need 4 recorders e.g. 1 for each of the groom the best man and the father of the bride on the top table, and one for luck.

There are lots of affordable lavs around that are fine for wedding work. Lavs from Giant Squid are a popular choice. You can specify the colour and the cable length when you order.

This sounds great, as lavs from R0de etc seem to stem £150 each... do you really capture crisp sound with Giant Squid equivalents, or is it just an unnoticeable difference?

Originally Posted by Peter Riding

Sooner or later you will want to go the wireless route. Get the Sennheiser G3 system (not G2 or G1) and in the 606 to 614 band. Its a great relief to be able to monitor and adjust the levels in an unpredictable recording scenario. These are expensive brand new. You can pick up used on ebay for around £380 - £420 per kit of transmitter, receiver, lav (ensure its the ME2 omnidirectional lav NOT an ME4 cardioid lav), XLR cable, 3.5mm cable, and hotshoe adapter. Get one as soon as you can to start getting used to it; You'll probably use it straight away on the groom and as a link from the DJs board in the evening for the 1st dance etc (phono cable from board to G3 transmitter, possibly with a pad cable in between to cut down if its too hot rather than adjusting the G3 transmitter from its earier in the day speech settings).

Sounds amazing... definitely... can you alter anything once you realise something is wrong? And do you monitor from the audio socket on your camera considering the receiver slots on top of the DSLR?

I'm happy to buy brand new... I know that it's more expensive, but the awareness that it should be in better condition is a relief to me. I don't quite understand what a pad cable is - but I'll do some research and perhaps start out with the G3 if it's the way to go eventually. How many mics can you sync up???

For each G3 kit, will I be able to sync one mic and then need to buy another kit or?

Originally Posted by Peter Riding

Also budget for Plural Eyes to automatically sync multiple video and audio sources in post. Plural Eyes is free with some audio products from time to time.

You can get Plural Eyes for free sometimes?! Doh... I would have searched around for that... fortunately, I'm a teacher so I was able to get the Education discount - but I did use it to sync up two cameras and audio from my two recorders in my first wedding - such an amazing piece of software!!!

Originally Posted by Peter Riding

If you run several G3's you'll want these going into separate recorder(s) - I prefer to go into a recorder anyway rather than into a cam as then you know you have one big continuous audio track rather than multiple shorter tracks where you've switched cam recording on and off. I use the Zoom H4n (2 x XLR & 1 x 3.5mm) but now I'd be looking at the Zoom H6.

Pete

I feel like I'm confused (as usual). Is there a place that I could learn more about this, without bugging you about it?

Thanks Pete!!! So helpful, as always!!!

I love your job!!! It might sound like a noob thing to say, but all of the equipment that goes into making a great video is exciting... if a little daunting. Nailing a video is the best feeling though!

[Adrian Tan]

Originally Posted by Craig McKenna

If you had two DR07 MKIIs for audio, with two tabletop stands to go with them, but no other equipment for audio - and zero pieces of equipment for video - where would you invest your money and why?

1. Cables for plugging into sound systems.
2. Some sort of lav mic for clean sound during vows. Probably x2 so you can pick up priest as well.
3. If wanted to invest in lighting as well, frankly most eBay LEDs would do the trick. Look for ones that are dimmable.

[Craig McKenna]

Originally Posted by Adrian Tan

1. Cables for plugging into sound systems.
2. Some sort of lav mic for clean sound during vows. Probably x2 so you can pick up priest as well.
3. If wanted to invest in lighting as well, frankly most eBay LEDs would do the trick. Look for ones that are dimmable.

Do you just buy a light stand for the video lights?

When I watched Ray Roman and Rob Adams' cinematography courses, they talked about the importance of light... but in reality, it seems like most people ignore them and shoot high ISO?

Accurate or a misconception?

The only thing that puts me off using a video light is annoying the photographers.

[Adrian Tan]

Do most people shoot high ISO? Yes, including me. Whether people ought to be... Well, maybe that's a long discussion in itself. But one thing about Adams and Roman is that they're prepared to use fast primes and shoot wide open. So they're not going to need a whole lot of light at f/1.2 to avoid shooting above 1250 ISO. They also use lights with a lot of throw -- so Roman uses a dedolight and Adams uses a fresnel or whatever. And if something is shining on you from far away, it's less distracting, which is the main negative about lights.

Re light stand, if you're using LEDs, you can get away with really cheap plastic (and compact and light) eBay ones. $10-$20. I usually carry two lights, for fill and backlight, or to double up from one direction if I need the extra light (eg lowering contrast between bridal dress hung against window and outside world).

Re annoying the photographer, to be honest most photographers like video lights. In my experience anyway. A lot of them use video lights themselves. They like having backlight/lens flare during the dancing, same as videographers, they like using low ISO for low-noise images as much as possible, same as videographers, and the good ones prefer off-camera lighting to avoid flattening all the shadows, same as videographers.

They can get away with higher ISO than videographers, or I think so anyway. But doesn't mean they like it.

[Peter Rush]

I agree - togs like a few continuous LED lights around the dance floor for first dance. Regarding lav mics I've started to use these - great price and (IMO) they sound as good as my ME-2 - Come with spare foam and tie-clips - very well made

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pronomic-LA-...words=pronomic

For micing the groom for the ceremony I find the H1 too bulky - and so might he in his jacket pocket. I much prefer my slimmer Olympus WM311 (now discontinued) but they do drift a little which will need correcting in post.

Pete

[Peter Riding]

You can learn a lot just by regular visits to the threads and stickies in the audio rooms on this forum and on DVX user:

All Things Audio Forum at DV Info Net

Location Sound / Post Audio

Richard Crowley posted some tutorials on audio recently:

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/all-thin...damentals.html

In addition there are many useful tutorials in the “Learning Lab” series such as this one on the Sennheiser G3 wireless system:

https://vimeo.com/channels/rulelearn...eries/22401329

However be aware that the recommendations lectures advice tips and tricks etc are only relevant up to a point for weddings. Thats because many contributors work in environments in which they have access to a multitude of good gear and assistants combined with none of the pressures of weddings. Its perfectly straightforward for them to monitor everything and to do retakes, all the while not needing to be concerned about how their physical presence and actions may compromise the ambience of the wedding. If they had their way they'd all have a boom operator inches from every bride :- )

Shooting weddings always has to be a compromise. Sometimes you don't really want perfect audio because that will show up other parts where you simply couldn't achieve great results. For example you might have a £500 lav mic on the groom six inches from his mouth – great; but then the bride is going to be a metre away from the lav so you take an immediate hit – good luck trying to lav up most brides! And in a civil ceremony most celebrants are going to be females – again good luck trying to lav them up! They are going to be a good two metres from the lav, even further at some points, so you take an even bigger hit. The certificate will be presented by the other staff member – the registrar – at the end so thats another talent you ought to lav up but can't. There may also be 2 or 3 readings during the ceremony each of which ought to be lav'd. Even if you could lav them all you are unlikely to have enough time once they've arrived just before the ceremony. Thats why Zoom H1's hidden in flowers or friction-clamped to nearby fixtures and fittings can be a preferred option. If you cannot get a hidden recorder near enough then you really do need to lav the groom and make the best of it. A free program called The Levelator can work wonders and save you shedloads of time – you just drop in the audio file and use the result which is suffixed “output”.

Its also good practice to have a shotgun mic at the ready on your main manned cam so that you can at least get some half decent audio from several feet away at times when the talent moves to the “wrong” place etc. I use a Rode NTG2. This mic does not require phantom power to make it work if you insert an AA battery so it is widely usable.

Weddings are all about speech not music and so you don't need the capabilities of high-end lavs – that would be wasteful.

Nearly all DJ boards have spare “phono” sockets and all you need to connect to an audio recorder or to a Sennheiser transmitter is a phono cable comprising white and red terminals like this:

Fisual Install Series 2 x Phono to 2 x Phono Cable - 1m: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics

Fit a phono to 3.5mm stereo conversion plug at one end or get a phono cable that terminates with one:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Phono-Female...phono+to+3.5mm

There are often multiple phono sockets on DJ boards and you may not get the DJ speaking in addition to the music so check that with headphones if it matters. Buds are fine for that – and small :- )

Pad cables reduce the signal strength from the board – which otherwise may be too hot even with very low levels set on your audio recorder. You just add one inline using connectors like this if necessary:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Earphone-Cou...tp_s2_edpp_url

Pad cables are available from Pinknoise Systems. The new Zoom H6 has a pad cable equivalent feature built in.

If you mount a Sennheiser G3 receiver to you cams hotshoe it can be difficult to monitor its own levels etc. Instead attach it to a small ball head with dual nuts like this:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kaavie-Screw...eywords=kaavie

then you can swing it to a suitable direction. Wireless gear is supposed to sit upright for best reception but with the G3's in wedding venues that is irrelevant as you are not asking that much of it.

I prefer to mount up to 3 G3 receivers and my H4n on a modified T-bar (two combined) clamped to a tripod leg. T-bars:

Dual Twin 1 4" Standard Screw Bar Bracket for Flash F V Z96 LED Lights AU22 | eBay

but sometimes I have 2 G3's going straight into my main video cam secured in its hotshoe using a ball head and single t-bar.

A lot of pre-owned G3 equipment is in very good shape – people just buy it thinking they will use it but don't. Buy from someone with a good longstanding feedback though as there have been fakes around (some fakes are reported to work perfectly well!).

I always monitor audio using the various devices and cams LCD displays as its impractical for me to use headphones (I shoot video and stills simultaneously and work alone). The G3 transmitters and receivers seldom need to be adjusted once you've found the optimum settings for wedding audio – I just tweak using the levels on the actual recorders. n.b. I use a pad cable to the transmitter rather than changing its settings if the music from the board is too hot.

I've never ever had interference from phones or anything else. Maybe thats a “feature” of that Tascam model?

You are unlikely to be allowed to use LED lights in ceremonies, nor would it be desirable. Not really desirable for the speeches either as it kills the ambience. The main problem time would be the 1st dance. Often you can get the venue to have the room lights a bit higher than otherwise just for the 1st dance – they often will turn them up for the speeches as well if you just ask.

Don't shoot low apertures just because you can or think that it what everyone wants. Stills photographers have already been there and come out the other side but many videographers seem to think its the only show in town. I shot quite a bit of yesterdays wedding (I was doing still only) at f8 to ensure that the surroundings as well as the subjects were readily viewable. Quite a bit of f1.2 is just pug-ugly :- ) My clients are bigshots in the advertising and design world and there were several advertising and art director types among the guests. I had my Canon f1.2L with me but just for “insurance”.

You won't love our job quite so much once you've had a few not go to plan :- )

Pete

[Noa Put]

In a church I have a yamaha c24 in the grooms pocket (discontinued now) with a lav for the groom and brides vows, depending how large the church is it can happen that you have to gain up the brides voice considerably but it's still better then the onboard cameramike. I use a tascam dr05 in front of a church soundspeaker as backup, here it also depends on the soundspeaker quality but this is your most important backup as it will capture anything that is being said in a mike which could be from 2 different lecterns, the altar and with a wireless handmike. This alone covers your basics.

Only if time allows (I often have only 5 minutes to set all up in church) I will add a zoom h1 with a lav, a sony icd-px312 with a lav to the lectern and altar and if there is live singing I"ll connect my tascam dr40 to their soundsystem if this is possible, otherwise I just use a lightstand and place the zoom h4 in front of their soundspeaker.

During the evening part I velcrotape the yamaha c24 onto the handmicrophones handle and if possible connect my tascam dr40 to the soundsystem, if that is not possible I just put the dr40 on a lightstand in front of the soundspeaker as backup.

I like the zoom h1 a lot as it's auto level recording is quite good, my tascam dr05 is much more aggressive in adjusting gain when there are moments of silence which is why I manually set levels on that recorder now, the zoom h1 is much better at that, also my yamaha c24 is also very good at auto levels, both recorders are always set to auto as I rather have to adjust my levels a bit in post then to have clipped audio as you cannot recover that anymore.

I have thought about getting a small wireless system (I have a big azden wireless system that I only use for speeches) but if your audio would fail during a ceremony you can't do anything about it anyway, you only will hear it fail but you can't tell a priest "can you pls stop the ceremony while I exchange my audio recorder?" :)

[Peter Rush]

That's exactly why I don't use wireless Noa - I used an Azden system many moons ago but it suffered from random interference so put me off. There's nothing you could do during the ceremony anyway - a few years ago the groom got a hanky out of his jacket pocket during the ceremony and in the process knocked off his lav mic which he (for some odd reason) then put into his inner jacket pocket along with his hanky rendering it useless - thank god I had good audio from my speaker mic :)

[Peter Riding]

Sometimes I go for long periods without using my wireless systems but I do like the ability to change the levels in the receiving recorder mid-ceremony if the talent has a booming or a mousy voice - something you cannot do if your recorder is inaccessible in a pocket etc. For something like the speeches often there is no point in using wireless if you can get an H1 or suchlike hidden on the table directly in front of the person speaking - that also gives you good ambient guest reaction and next door neighbours comments without having to mix.

Taping a recorder to the venue handheld mic is something I avoid - because as a photographer I don't want all that paraphernalia showing in large album spreads. Also the speakers often start using a mic and then put it down so you're stuffed.

A recorder next to a venue speaker is also of course good practice. However some systems are horrendous quality and it may not get the guests singing hymns adequately. Recently I shot in a church in which the priest was mic'd up to the inhouse system but the quality was so bad as to be almost impossible to distinguish what he was saying. I expected to be blamed for "interference" but when I asked the staff afterwards they said "yep its always like that"!

One other connection type you sometimes get in churches Craig is a single 1/4" jack socket. Just have a 1/4" male to 3.5mm female adapter from Maplins and connect your recorder using a 3.5mm cable. Doesn't matter if its mono or stereo really as you can sort that in post. Many church sound board sockets are inaccessible though.

Pete

[Noa Put]

something you cannot do if your recorder is inaccessible in a pocket etc

That's why you would set such a recorder to auto gain, works very well on the zoom h1 and yamaha c24, both recorders will set the gain based on what they hear, it's ofcourse not as precise as setting it manually but it will prevent distorted audio in case of a very loud speaker and will adjust accordingly with the silent ones.

Also the speakers often start using a mic and then put it down so you're stuffed.

If that happens you can only avoid it by putting a mike with a lav on every speaker, I actually never in 9 years time had a speaker that would put his mike down during a speech, why would they do that? :) I once had a venue sound system fail so it was not possible to use a mike and the speaker had to speak up loud enough for everyone to hear, I was smart enough to tell them to speak into the handmicrophone anyway where my recorder was velcrotaped to, it might have looked a bit silly speaking in a microphone that didn't work but I got crystal clear sound.

as a photographer I don't want all that paraphernalia showing in large album spreads

As I see it the photog had his moment during the photoshoot, the speeches are my territory and if he doesn't like the recorder taped to the mike, too bad. I actually get the best sound in that way, if I go through the dj's system I often get interference or other unwanted sound, the sound from my taped on audiorecorder is always very clear and noise free, if they ofcourse hold the mike that way it should but you always have have these idiots that hold a mike at waste height :) Now I try to wait at the DJ when the speeches start and tell each speaker how he should hold his mike. Just a bit of communication does wonders.

[Peter Rush]

I have to tell the speakers that my H1 recorders are for the video only and not to pick them up - I've had speakers pick them up and start speaking into them as if they were for the PA!

For speeches I now always use a H1 in front of each speaker - works a treat.

Pete

[Peter Riding]

That's why you would set such a recorder to auto gain, works very well on the zoom h1 and yamaha c24, both recorders will set the gain based on what they hear, it's ofcourse not as precise as setting it manually but it will prevent distorted audio in case of a very loud speaker and will adjust accordingly with the silent ones

I find that auto with my 4 x H1's is a bit lower than I would like. I use auto if I'm unsure but around 70% with a lav and 90% if on a table.

If that happens you can only avoid it by putting a mike with a lav on every speaker, I actually never in 9 years time had a speaker that would put his mike down during a speech, why would they do that? :) I once had a venue sound system fail so it was not possible to use a mike and the speaker had to speak up loud enough for everyone to hear, I was smart enough to tell them to speak into the handmicrophone anyway where my recorder was velcrotaped to, it might have looked a bit silly speaking in a microphone that didn't work but I got crystal clear sound.

I do put a lav on each wedding breakfast talent if it looks like their position is going to be unpredictable e.g. if the tables are circular and the top table is also circular and positioned mid-room. happens quite a bit. I'll often encourage that everyone delivers their speech from the same place if there is not one rectangular top table against one wall (USA members - we seldom if ever have a lectern for speakers in the UK).

Talent puts down the handheld mic frequently in my experience, or you get one uses it and the next does not. Sometimes its because they feel that their unaided voice is fine - which often it is - or because the room speakers sound awful. I'm editing one right now in which the FOB used the mic, then the groom started with it, put it down, then grabbed it again later, then the best man used it but waived it about all over :- ( I wish I'd used lavs rather than table top H1's which also picked up the horrible room speakers.

As I see it the photog had his moment during the photoshoot, the speeches are my territory and if he doesn't like the recorder taped to the mike, too bad. I actually get the best sound in that way, if I go through the dj's system I often get interference or other unwanted sound, the sound from my taped on audiorecorder is always very clear and noise free, if they ofcourse hold the mike that way it should but you always have have these idiots that hold a mike at waste height :) Now I try to wait at the DJ when the speeches start and tell each speaker how he should hold his mike. Just a bit of communication does wonders.

That may be as you see it :- ) But the speeches are a huge part of the stills coverage and usually occupy several album spreads e.g.

Ref sides27-28-lrl Ashton Lamont Photography, Copyright

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Plenty more where they came from :- )

Album spreads = sales = £££££

I've never had a album in which the speeches do not feature prominently unless there were no speeches. Its also a great time to shoot flattering images of as many guests as possibly smiling and laughing rather than looking glum as they so often can do when they're just chatting in other parts of the day.

I haven't heard of videographers or photographers taking ownership of certain parts of the day :- )

Craig the bottom line is that although audio is relatively simple you do need a backup strategy plus a back up of your backup strategy!

Pete

[Noa Put]

It's not about taking ownership, it's about getting the best audio for my needs, I do shoot those speeches also you know which will be included in the video :)

If I understand you right you would remove your own lav mike from a groom during the ceremony if a photog has an issue with it and doesn't want that lav mike to appear on the grooms vest in his album considering those photos are an important part for him?

You just have to take it as it comes, a wedding is not a fashion shoot where every single aspect is controlled, for his pretty pictures the photog has the photoshoot, all the rest of the day both the photog and me are not in control and we both try to get the best possible shot without being to disruptive to either the couple or eachother. During the first dance the photog often position 2 flashes on a light stand at the corners of the dancefloor, the first dance is important for me but I don't tell him to remove them because I don't want their ugly lightstands to appear in my video or I don't ask the photog to stay away from the dancefloor because he is ruining my image when he circles the couple for his photo's. :)