Shooting Cinemagraphs at a Solemnisation

I've been offering casual engagement cinemagraph shoots for a while now with my wedding packages and I thought to myself, what if I can produce cinemagraphs on the actual wedding day?

I put the idea to the test during Eddie and Stephanie's solemnisation at HortPark. They've been fascinated with cinemagraphs for a while and they're the ones who suggested that I create some during their solemnisation. It was unfortunate that it rained heavily that day but thankfully, I still managed to create a decent set of cinemagraphs under such conditions.

Creating cinemagraphs during actual day would require minimal planning and more on-the-spot thinking, since I can't plan for the lighting and the actions that I'm going to loop. One challenge I faced during this shoot was that I have to direct more than 10 people instead of my usual 2. Some simpler ones, like the one above, I can simply tell them "Okay now let's do a Boomerang!" Others, like the second one above, requires more precise positioning. I wanted to animate the balloons actually, but one of the groomsmen overlapped them when he jumped despite telling them not to jump too near the balloons. In this case, I ended up animating the balloon strings and the bridesmaid's dresses instead.

Moving on to the solemnisation itself!

I encountered a funny scenario here. Since I'm shooting with a DSLR, someone asked if I'm the photographer.

Me: "Nope"
Guest: "Oh, videographer?"
Me: "Nope. I'm kind of a mix of both.""
Guest: "Oh..." *looks puzzled*

Another difficulty I encountered is sharing tight spaces with the videographers and photographer during the ceremony. Think about it, it is usually cramp enough having two media teams at a wedding already, now add in one more doing cinemagraphs! Haha, I suppose this would be less of an issue if it's at a banquet or larger venue.

Clearly an attempt not to get into the frames of the videographers and photographer haha. I love this vows part, as Eddie and Steph didn't let the weather affect their moods and they could still share some touching moments reading their vows.

One of my favourite shots of the evening. I love how beautiful this moment is! Their first kiss, those giant balloons, happy expressions of their fathers and the frozen confetti in the air (well done groomsmen!).

Last shot of the evening was an idea I had for rings for quite a while. It is often hard to show how sparkly diamond rings are as a still image, but with cinemagraphs, you get this extra feel of how the rings really look like. Really love it!

While it was fun testing out the idea of producing cinemagraphs during actual day, I don't think it is feasible for the whole wedding. Gatecrashes and tea ceremonies are often too chaotic. I believe that outdoor shoot, solemnisation and banquet segments have a greater chance of producing cinemagraphs.

Does the idea of cinemagraphs interest you? Feel free to contact me and we can discuss further!