Wedding Photographer Takes Gorgeous Video Using Drone

This is by far one of the most gorgeous drone videos I've ever seen. Shot in California by Adam Rubin of Kaveret, its elegance and narrative beauty make it stand far above the crowded playing field. 

Though drones are primarily used for landscape and cityscape photography, I've begun to see them slowly make their way into the engagement and wedding photography field, where the unique perspective they afford can offer a way of taking in the extravagance of a wedding day that no other means can. This seems to have been just the wedding to show that capability off. Shot by the Pacific Ocean at the Pelican Hill Resort in Newport Beach, the aerial perspective really brings the beauty of the wedding and the surroundings into focus simultaneously in a way that photography from the ground simply wouldn't be able to achieve. I spoke with Rubin, and he mentioned the video was shot on his DJI Phantom 4 while flying completely manually.

Have you used drones in any of your wedding work? They surely present unique challenges in such a situation, but as Rubin has demonstrated, they can produce some beautiful and unique results. Be sure to follow him on Vimeo and Facebook!

Alex Cooke's picture

Alex Cooke is a Cleveland-based portrait, events, and landscape photographer. He holds an M.S. in Applied Mathematics and a doctorate in Music Composition. He is also an avid equestrian.

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36 Comments

I can't see why anyone would want to be followed that closely by something that sounds like a flying weed eater. Especially during their wedding ceremony.

As I understand it, there was fairly loud music playing. I can't imagine Rubin would have done this without approval of the couple.

it's easy to say this is gorgeous without that drone noise over your head

No one will remember the sound of drone. Everyone will remember those people running around with cell phone cameras though ;)

I bet that thing was super loud during her walk, especially at the beginning.

Also, those guests on the right... classic.

Great location, but they are also lucky those released birds didn't turn left and slam into the drone. Falling bird parts wouldn't be a great thing.

Amazing! ... Adam , Maor & Ariel from Kaveret are extremely Talented and doing a phenomenal job!

An ok sequence of shots but "one of the most gorgeous drone videos I've ever seen"? I'd be interested to think why you feel this way. The noise would be terrible at an event like this plus it doesn't really add anything.

Flying drones over people is not a smart thing to do. Seriously... this should not be encouraged by reporting on it.

The problem is that the copy-cat brigade (that is the entire wedding photography industry) will see this and it won't be long before some cretin with a drone and no brains crashes it into the wedding congregation, bringing even more pressure to bear on responsible drone pilots. Stoppers should pull this story.

Dallas, wildlife photographers post pictures of lions, but that doesn't mean people should also go out to try to duplicate them. Storm chasers post photos of tornadoes, but people definitely shouldn't be out trying to copy what professional meteorologists do. If we as photographers never shared work out of fear of others trying to replicate it without the necessary training, we would have very little to share.

That is really faulty logic you're using to justify something stupid that this drone operator did.

Alex, shooting at your own risk and putting bystanders at risk is two completely different things. Every drone law i know of states that your not allowed to fly over people.

I agree with your points. Videos like this should only be shown at conventions where there is a professional stating how much drone training they have had.

I thought there was a not within 50m of people rule, and all those guests with their mobiles out... talk about living in the moment.

And 120 people on iPhones!

I'm really glad I'm not the only one that saw that and was just blown away by it.

I only full-screen a handful of web videos in any given month, this was one of them. Wow.

What impresses me is, you only have one take. I'm not used to seeing people walk at this angle and at first I thought the bride was riding a horse due to her interesting gate. Maybe we all look like we are riding horses?

Phantastic Location, awesome Video but flying over many people its a no go. And i think the very loud noise of the Phantom at this ceremony was not funny.

Was there a wedding? Seems like more of a sports event with guests all taking vertical iphone video, the drone hovering over the event, and all the other video guys running around for shots...video dude in the white shirt is fun to watch. Next big thing is gopro mounted on the groom's head (probably already been done LoL)

I didnt see the closing credit that assured us no white stunt doves were harmed in this production.

they were specially trained to avoid the drone!

It's a really stunning video. I doubt the couple will look back on it in years to come and think, "God that thing was loud." The bride in particular will cherish that footage.

Once people see this video and want it that will push the drone makers to make quieter drones. ;) I actually thought it was pretty cool. Very different. The end product is what matters and I didn't hear the drone :P

almost everybody are taking photos with their phones...sad thing.

Don't bring your stupid R/C copter to my weddings. They get in my shots, they distract the couple and the guests, and they're the farthest thing from classy. Just because you CAN do a thing, doesn't mean you should.

I love how everyone here is deciding what is and isn't appropriate for this couples wedding. So it wasn't unplugged, so what. So they had a drone and they were cool with the annoying hum of a drone, so what. Worry about your own affairs people stop worrying about and deciding what others are doing isn't acceptable to your standards, because so what!

The term "is" and "isn't" was used instead of agree or disagree as they implicitly imply someone making a decision different than the couple. I don't think it "is" appropriate to fly over people like that. It isn't appropriate to fly over people like that. Both statements have been made thus the reason for the use of is and isn't. Perhaps you should go back to English police school and brush up before being a smarty pants.

You really should go back to English police school before posting yet another incorrect and ignorant statement.

If he shot in 4k and exported in 1080, he probably didn't even fly it that close, which minimizes both the "danger" and the noise.
Enjoy an incredibly shot (almost) single take sequence without whining. You'll survive :)

The Number of people who see such wonderful and important moments through their phones is to damn high! On what porpuse did this couple hire professional weeding photo/videographers? They gonna make the best vids n pictures for the memories, far far better then this ridiculous phone vids, they just ruin the shoot, thanks.
The vid on it self is beautiful!

I thought flying drones over people or traffic was illegal. This is the link to the FFA about commercial drones:
https://www.faa.gov/uas/getting_started/fly_for_work_business/

I learned today you can fly over people with a waiver.

The video is beautiful! I wouldn't take the chance of turning somebody's wedding into a small or big accident.

Awesome. Don't know why everyone talking about noise, a little noise is allowed when you can get such beautiful video. Here are the best drones with 4k camera http://popdro.com/best-drones-for-sale-2016/. Make your memories beautiful.

Wow, this is amazing. I just bought a drone this year and was thinking about incorporating in a wedding if one of my wedding couples is willing to have the sound of a flying lawnmower at their wedding.

nice video!