Off the top of my head, I don't know of anyone doing SDEs within driving distance of you. The Iowa video assocation is doing a live SDE demonstration and I think it's this coming weekend, but that would be a long drive.

We do our SDEs with just one nNovia, but two would certainly make it easier. When you are ready to pick up a second nNovia let me know. I know where you can get a good deal on them.

By the way, I grew up about 150 miles from you, in central IL.

Hi Timothy,

Thanks for the kind words. One of the great side benefits to a SDE is that the client is paying you to market to their friends. It's a win-win.

Hi Bill,

Thanks for all of the kind words. For me, this really is a dream job. One of my worst nightmares would be to wake up and realize that the past 7 years was just a dream and I had to go back to work in my previous career.

Hi Eric,

I agree. There were some shots that were dark. This was only the third full wedding I had shot with the HD cams and the first one that was entirely inside.

It has been said that the Z1's gain at 15dB is very usable. I was doing some shooting at 9 dB to see what I could get away with before the ceremony started. You will see an example of that during the two crowd shots around the 1:13 mark. I didn't know Trisha was going to use those shots. Oh well.

The couple wanted the ceremony to be very dark. So dark that even the PD170 couldn't handle it. We compromised with the couple. We settled on what was brighter than they thought was ideal, and we settled on darker than we thought was ideal.

Trisha shot from the back at 15dB and it looked fine. I shot from the front, but all of the lighting was coming from the back of the room, so the one shot of the Bride's face during the ceremony is dark.

Additionally, my son shot a third wide angle with the Canaon A1. We did a low light preset with 6 dB. You can see the shot where the four people are lighting a candle. The shot is not that dark, but the colors are washed out. We will fix the colors for the full wedding, but there's only so much you can do on a SDE.

Another dark shot that really stood out to me was during the reception when the Groom is leaning over and kissing his mom. He was a good distance from me and there was not time to get the shot and turn the light on, so the shot is dark.

In my testing with the A1 around the studio, I found that 3 and 6 dB were pretty clean, but 12 dB was really noisy, so I set my gain presets to 0-3-6.

Mark,

I checked the new version on both a mac and pc, and saw 16:9 on both.

Looks good!

Thanks Mark. That is one reason why I want to be one of the first because I don't know of anyone offering that currently. We have a wedding we are filming on June 3 at the Garden of the Gods in Colorado and will be spending the rest of the week around Colorado. Anyone you know there doing it? It would be good to get a hands on walk through. Maybe I just need to come to Tulsa sometime.
Thanks,
John

Hi Matt,

Okay good. Thanks for giving me the correct size.

Hi John,

It sounds like the market is open for you.

I was in the Pikes Peak area about 6 years ago. It is so pretty up there. Make sure you go see the Royal Gorge. I'm jelous.

I don't know of anyone in the area doing SDEs. I know there is a video association and I beleive it's in the Denver area, but I can't find their website.

I agree, make a trip down to Tulsa. We are doing a workshop right after your week in Colorado, so come on down.

Nice stuff! Could u tell me the title of the song? Do u guys try to use a new song everytime? its tough!

Hi Sean,

The song is Stickwitu by the Pussycat Dolls. The couple provided the song.

We pretty much use a new song each time. We may have repeated a couple of songs a few times, but really, it's up to the B&G. I know a videographer that uses the same song for all of his SDEs. It certainly does make it easier.