Videographers and photographers are a bit like cats and dogs. It’s not that they don’t want to get on with each other, it’s just that, in most cases, they’re hardwired not to.

When cats are wary of something, or when they are concentrating on a prey, they hunch down wag their tails slowly. This is not a good time to approach a cat or they will claw your face off.

Dogs wag their tails in friendship and acceptance. The signal they are sending out is: “C’mere for a big lick.”

You can see how a first date would be a real train wreck, can’t you?

The relationship between wedding photographers and videographers shares some of these characteristics. For instance, videographers will at some point film the photographer doing his or her job, usually setting up the group shots. From the videographer’s point of view it’s rarely a huge disaster if the photographer appears in the picture now and then – unless their big head blocks things out entirely.

Most photographers, on the other hand, do not want the videographer straying into their frames at any point, ever.

This is a tricky balance to handle, especially in the church where the videographer will usually have to use a tripod. It means they are static and cut out a predominant slice of the altar as a no-go area in terms of photograph composition.

Some videographers may also use a lighting rig on top of their camera. Typically, these are strong enough to light up dark side of the moon. They can really kill the atmos.

Don’t get me wrong – none of this means that you shouldn’t hire a videographer. Far from it. Video and stills are two separate, yet complimentary ways of recording your wedding day. You will get different things from both. Simply be aware that one will affect the other.

One way to avoid any hassle is to choose a photographer and videographer whose styles suit each other. If you book a documentary photographer, don’t book a videographer who is going to turn the day into a Spielbergian production. Chose someone who is going to give you a documentary of your wedding instead. It’ll greatly reduce the chances of the two of them bitch-slapping each other on the altar.

On the Links page, you’ll find the names of videographers whom I rate and have happily worked with several times.