Last week, I was if I would be available to film a wedding over the weekend. My response to this question, as it has been for the dozens of times that I have been previously asked, is usually an easy "NO". I've always thought that filming a wedding would be A-rather boring, B-a high stress live shoot, and C-dealing with a Bridezilla. I wrote off weddings as being stressful and high-pressure. Nothing I want a part of...
What if I screwed up?
What if I miss the shot?
What if my equipment isn't good enough?
What if my inexperience shines through?
But this time something felt different to me. This time I felt like I needed to experience working on a wedding to either confirm or deny my suspicions. I have filmed large groups, hanging off of buildings, and on theatrical projects. Why not give it a try? I place the blame on the many Instagram posts imploring people to get out of their comfort zones that I have been seeing for years. This one worked. It read...
" Move out of your comfort zone. You can only grow if you are willing to feel awkward and uncomfortable when you try something new."
So, I embraced that awkwardness and discomfort. I went into the day knowing that I was going to experience at least that much, and possibly also some of my previously listed worst-case wedding assumptions (A,B,C's). It started out rather nerve-racking. I met at the groom's hotel to capture footage of him getting ready with the other guys in the wedding party. As I was filming him, a guy about to be married, I realized that my nervousness was nothing in comparison to his. Neither was my awkwardness. At least I wasn't being followed around by a cameraman like he was. It's all in our perception.
Needless to say, after the first shoot of the day, I felt much better (Hey, they don't know that I've never worked on a wedding before. At least I've got that going for me. At the church, I hit my stride. All types of great angles, close-ups, and timeless reactions. I may have done some things wrong on the technical side (my apologies to the editors for the long clips), but the video looked great and was more than adequate for the wedding video. And I enjoyed the day capturing all of these magical moments
So, the moral of the story, if you hadn't figured it out by the title, is to GET OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE!!! Try something new, embrace the fears that you may have and fight through them. There is most certainly growth on the other side of your fears. I know...I'm now booking MORE wedding shoots into my calendar for this summer and next!
see you at the church,
d
Comments