What’s more intimate and sensual than a beach wedding? They always express a romantic and somewhat casual vibe, creating a truly intimate ceremony. This is why there are so many beach wedding destinations today.

As a wedding videographer, you need to be aware of your surroundings and the things that could affect the recording process and the post-production process. Both beach photoshoots and wedding video post-production are dependent on the weather and the ambience.

5 Things to Know when Shooting a Beach Wedding Video

These are the key essentials to create the perfect beach wedding videos

Pick the Right Time

Talk to the bride and groom if it’s possible to have their ceremony during the golden hour. The golden hour is the period that usually takes place an hour after sunrise or an hour before the sunsets. There’s always a beautiful, warm light during the golden hour that will add a great glow to your footage. It may be challenging to negotiate the hour of the ceremony, but you can try attempting to schedule it at that time.

You’d want to avoid shooting an outdoor wedding at noon or in the early afternoon due to the sun that’ll be way too harsh at the time. Ceremonies in the late evening will rely on artificial lights, which will not look good in videos. When the couples you work with have already set their ceremony time, you can try suggesting an additional video shoot during the time of optimal light. This way, you’ll make some gorgeous footage you can insert within other shots to diversify your results.

Consider the Different Sceneries

What to include in your beach wedding footage? First of all, you can’t go wrong with having the ocean, as its magnificent view is the ideal shot for natural scenery footage. However, for beach wedding videos, you can add sand dunes, cliffs, lighthouses, and piers, all of which can be included in your video. You can also create artistic silhouette shots by shooting the couple against the sky’s blueness.

There are a few adjustments you’ll need to make to accomplish this. This includes adjusting several settings to get a good outcome. When in manual mode, try exposing the sky. Aim up high, but not directly to the sun. Experiment with the shutter speed, aperture and ISO for optimal exposure. Don’t use HDR and automatic light optimization. Popular cameras like Nikon and Canon all have these features under different names.

Also, keep exploring the angles, perspectives and natural surroundings that you can’t find in other settings. Make as much footage as you can to choose the best clips later on.

Use Off-Camera Lights to Ease the Post-Production Process

By choosing the right equipment, you’ll also simplify the task and minimize the amount of work you’ll do during the post-production. Remember to bring off-camera lights even if you’re shooting in harsh bright sunlight.

You can balance the exposure between the background and the couple by using additional lights. By setting brighter lights, you’ll be more capable of making the couple stand out against the backdrop.

Take Care of Your Equipment

Shooting at the beach offers plenty of challenges for wedding videographers. The different elements can leave your equipment vulnerable as you’re filming outdoors. The wind, sand, and moisture can ruin your shoot and permanently damage your lenses and cameras.

Get Ziploc bags, cases and protectors to keep sand from getting inside your camera. It’s best to change them indoors before heading into the beach. Also, avoid changing lenses at the beach if possible.

Choose the Right Filters

By adding suitable camera filters, you produce beautiful clips and help you spend less time in post-production. A great start is with UV filters.

Besides protecting your camera lenses, UV filters can help by keeping the UV light in a specific range. We also recommend polarizing filters for beach wedding videos. This helps to reduce reflections and glares, which are the two common occurrences made by the water surface.

The polarizing filter can also enhance the sky’s color and saturation within the shots. If you’ve ever tried a pair of polarizing sunglasses, then you should know what to expect in this filter

Best Beaches in Bali to Shoot a Beach Wedding Video

Bali’s beaches need no introductions, especially for destination weddings. Their popular beaches offer endless views of white sands, crystal clear waters and, of course, the killer sunsets that are unlike any other.

Newlyweds flock to Bali every year to make their dream beach wedding come true, as the island offers stunning beachside villas to unique oceanfront cliff beaches. If you’re looking to make some wedding videos on Bali’s best beaches, then here are our most recommended places:

• Jimbaran beach
• Uluwatu
• Balangan
• Dreamland
• Canggu
• Seminyak

Beach wedding videography is fun, especially if you’re experimenting with new ways to capture your footage. Remember to always have an action plan in advance and discuss it with your clients. Specify all the key aspects and have an alternative method in an emergency.