If I say "camera guy", what do you picture?
If it's some variation of hairy legs, shorts, T-shirt, baseball cap, that's pretty on the money for camera operators across film and TV -- and often weddings. They often dress casual.
Back in the '80s and '90s, most wedding videographers were news full-time, and did family events as a side hustle. Cameras were expensive, and they were among the few who had good kit.
Often, wedding videographers still have news literally in their CVs, and not just in their cultural DNA.
Photographers are different. It's like cats (photographers) vs dogs (videographers).
Some male photographers go for "The fact that I'm scruffy means I'm an artist" -- but I think that's less common. More common is simply smart casual. Among female photographers, boho chic is maybe the de facto uniform, or else an outfit that says, "I'm a pro, but I'm fun too."
Me personally?
Well, seeing videographers in shorts or ripped jeans makes me cringe, given that it's a freaking wedding and everyone's dressed to the nines.
In the past, wedding companies I've worked for have made me wear vests with their branding -- which looks professional, but maybe a little too corporate? And other companies want you to wear full-on suits, so that you blend into the crowd.
But being able to stand out from the crowd has its benefits as well. For instance, guests are happier to approach you and ask for photos, as opposed to thinking that you're just a guest with a camera.
Most often, if you see me at a wedding or expo, I'll be in black. If you opened my wardrobe, you'd see a row of shirts, pretty much identical except that some are more faded from the number of wash cycles they've been through. It's theatre-person attire (and I've had my fair share of working backstage in theatres).
Black hopefully means that I blend into the shadows and am less obvious if I wander into view of a camera.
It also means that I'm surprisingly often mistaken for a priest at churches, and for a waiter at receptions, and that more than one couple has dubbed me a "wedding ninja" -- especially when I do things like lie on the ground, climb trees, or hide in bushes to get the shot.
