Photo Fusion: A Wedding Photographers Guide to Mixing Digital Photography and Video

Chapter 1. Stills + Audio

Fusion, at its most basic, is the addition of real-time audio to your still coverage. This is a very simple and stress free way to augment and personalize your existing coverage without compromising your still work. We explain how to set up audio in Chapter 8, but it is a fairly easy process. By choosing to start slowly, adding only audio, you will quickly see the benefits audio offers you, without compromising your ability to make still images.

The Value of Audio Coverage

Whether you have been married or not, as a wedding photographer, you know how chaotic a wedding day is. The cliché that everything happens in a blur is true. The day flies by with few of the details sticking in your memory (see Figure 1-1). Couples rely on their photographers to help them recall those moments, and most wedding photographers are able to do that well.

Figure 1.1. As she puts on her veil, she is overcome with the excitement of the moment

But the words our couples share with each other are often lost forever. They know they spoke vows to each other – every wedding has vows. They know that one of them cried and one of them laughed – your photographs show that emotion (Figure 1-2 is a good example). But, what they aren't always able to recall is the way the words were spoken, the way his voice broke, and the way her voice held steady through the tears. We can't give them that in ...