One man photographer/videographer

[hydrocres]

Hi all!

I wanted to know if is it possible to be the photographer and the videographer at the same time in one event? My company soon will have an event and I'm the assigned photographer (amateur) but I'm thinking of making a videos of it since it's somehow my hobby.

 

[goodguy]

Personally I don't see how this is possible

 

[Desert Rose]

Of course. Anything is possible. Use a lot of automation and remote controls and you can do it from a spot in the corner.
It will cost a lot of money for all the equipment though, but it can be done.

 

[photo1x1.com]

It is a question of what quality and how much motion and engagement with the viewer you want to create. Also what kind of event it is. It is possible, if you set the videocameras (and yes for the purpose of fixed constantly running cameras I'd definitely recommend those over DSLRs or mirrorless) on tripods and record with 3-4 cameras the most interesting parts of the scene, and you yourself run around taking pictures. From time to time you check the cameras and maybe change position and zoom to get different angles.
But that's about it. You can't really shoot a speech photo/video with one camera at the same time for obvious reasons. Same with funny scenes. Having fixed cameras means having no control over framing when the speaker leaves his desk because he decides to walk around and communicate with people during his speech. No chance for a counter shot if somebody is reacting to his speech. We prefer to have a lot of movement and engagement with the viewer in our footage (no zooming and panning ). you can't do that with fixed cameras.
We used to photograph a lot of weddings once. Nowadays we only film weddings. People often ask us if we do both at once. Knowing others do that too, and probably losing many potential customers, we always refuse. We'd miss too many important (and funny) moments if we kept what I would call our style and quality.

 

[hydrocres]

I appreciate all of your comments, I forgot to add that our company hired a professional photographer and I was only ask to act as a supporting or backup photographer. I'm doing this photography and capturing video because besides on I want to improve my skill is I also want to add this on my portfolio. This is my first time doing this and I was a newly grad student and all of my gears will be coming straight from my pocket, so high-end gears will be difficult for me to buy. Hence, I'm using cheaper and used gears. I am somehow now aware that this would be difficult, but a simple technique and advise would be helpful.

 

[photo1x1.com]

Hi again. What kind of event is ist and do you have a list of the equipment that is available to you?

 

[Gary A.]

As a general rule, the more your divide your attention the lower the quality. While you may end up with a decent/outstanding video and some decent/outstanding stills ... had you concentrated solely on one medium, it, typically, will be much better.

 

[hydrocres]

Hello. It is a Christmas party and here's a list of my gears

for the body I use
Nikon D5000 - this one I will be using for video
Nikon D3000
Canon EOS 50D - This will be my main camera

for the lenses
Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5 - 5.6 VR
Tamron AF 70-300mm F/4.5-5.6 Di LD Macro
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

and for the flash
YN-560 IV - I will mount this one on my Canon EOS 50D

that's all of my gears for now. I know it's not that good but I think it's better than nothing. I've ask my friends about the video capturing and they advise me to use a tripod and roam around while I record video. Do you think it's a good idea?

 

[photo1x1.com]

Hello. It is a Christmas party and here's a list of my gears

for the body I use
Nikon D5000 - this one I will be using for video
Nikon D3000
Canon EOS 50D - This will be my main camera

for the lenses
Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5 - 5.6 VR
Tamron AF 70-300mm F/4.5-5.6 Di LD Macro
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

and for the flash
YN-560 IV - I will mount this one on my Canon EOS 50D

that's all of my gears for now. I know it's not that good but I think it's better than nothing. I've ask my friends about the video capturing and they advise me to use a tripod and roam around while I record video. Do you think it's a good idea?

Hmmm - I´m afraid that doesn´t give you a lot of options.
If I were you, I´d concentrate on the images and use the opportunity to play a little with video every now and then (to gather some experience), but don´t promise anything to anyone prior to the event. You can then see whether your output is enough to create a little movie. If not, you sure were able to learn quite a bit for next time.