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Notes19 Mar 2026

One year of filming with no assistant

What broke, what I'd hire for again, and the setups that got simpler out of necessity.

I shot twenty-two weddings alone last year, mostly to find out whether the second shooter was a habit or a requirement.

For anything under a hundred guests it's a habit. Above that, the speeches are where you lose — one camera cannot be on the speaker and the couple at the same time, and no amount of clever editing fixes it.

The unexpected benefit: my lighting got simpler because there was nobody to hold anything.

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