First Wedding Edit

I was very reluctant about sharing this edit, but It's the easiest way to gather the thoughts from industry professionals on how I could avoid the flickering, bumpyness, darkness, & low audio on future wedding coming up in December.

I've sent it to Bride and groom, and they were surprisingly o.k. with it. The groom is my brother in law, and he asked my to do it for him, which I obliged for free, so although quality is fairly poor, at least it wasn't a paying client

Have a look first anyway ..

Brenda + Julian, Dingle, Co. Kerry on Vimeo

Because of poor positioning in the ceremony, & wrongly placed tripods, I was forced into using a Monopod on occasions, just to capture the scene, so not happy with the camera shake at all in parts.

Coming out of the event, I knew the audio was going to be poor, as i wasn't equipped and the lav mics and dvr's i did have, didn't record because of user error.

I've got a 70-200 on order, as i was seriously lacking some zoom in the kit, so should be able to get in closer for those reaction shots next time.

There is lengthy bits in places, especially the grooms speech, because the rented camera (7D) displayed card write errors during the reception, so only had the one camera. Cards used were 133x, and worked fine on 5D. Anyone come across this before?

[Lindsey Daugherty]

Ah I love Ireland =).

I think you're being a bit too hard on yourself, especially if it's your first experience shooting. We started not too long ago too so I know what it's like to feel like you messed up a shot, but I'm sure the couple won't even notice most of your mistakes!

If you're worried about the low lighting, I don't know that getting a 70-200 will help you much. We use faster lenses than that in most of our receptions; I love the Rokinon 85mm 1.4 and my husband prefers the Nikon 50mm 1.2. So if you don't have many/any primes, get some! And don't worry about making everything way bright; ambient light is nice, too.

I didn't really think the audio was that bad. It had a little hollow/echo sound to it but I've heard a lot worse.

I liked a lot of your scenery/establishment shots. Some of the people shots I feel could have been framed better ~02:15 and on, there is a bit too much headroom. During the speeches it also looks like you maybe exposed for the outside too much, and the people ended up a bit dark. The bride and groom dancing looked great, but I really wish you could have cut to a tighter shot of them. Actually, that is something I felt was missing throughout your film - I really wanted to see the bride and groom up close; the bride was really pretty from what I could see of her!

I don't know why you wouldn't want to use monopods- I guess if you're going for an ultra smooth looking film, but depending on what you're shooting (people dancing or walking, etc) the slight wobble/shake from the monopod won't even be noticeable. Tripods can give a nice look but things can go horribly awry, and it's good to rely on yourself to be super mobile and deal with the unexpected.

Anyway, I think you just need a little more practice and some closer shots and you'll get there! =)

[Joe Thompson]

Hi Lindsey,

Thanks for taking the time to view and feedback.

I'm not really worried about the light so much, as I have a 50 f1.2, but getting in close was a really big problem, especially as i had issues with the rented 7D on the day, which i was relying on with it's 1.6x crop factor, so this is the main reason why I had to go out and get the 70-200 f/2.8.

It will allow me to frame better, and also to get in closer for the reaction shots. If I'm faced with a situation again, where speeches take place in front of a window, at least I can have the 70-200 f/2.8 focused on the speaker, a luxury i didn't have in this wedding. I also couldn't find any suitable vantage point for the tripods, without blocking a guests view, so was positioned at the back of the room, and not ideal for the primes i had.

I do want to use monopods during prep and dancing, but for speeches and ceremony, i think the shaky footage distracts from the story being told. I had to use it on the first shoot, as i was badly positioned.

Thanks again.