600D Wedding

[Tariq Peter]

Hi Guys,

Here is a link to my new highlights video filmed with my new Canon 600D + 50mm Zeiss 50mm1.4 lens. Would love to read your comments.

Rabya and Alex Highlights | ShaadiVideo.co.uk on Vimeo

[James Donnelly]

Originally Posted by Tariq Peter

Hi Guys,

Here is a link to my new highlights video filmed with my new Canon 600D + 50mm Zeiss 50mm1.4 lens. Would love to read your comments. Rabya and Alex Highlights | ShaadiVideo.co.uk on Vimeo

Congratulations Tariq, you got some great shots there. I see you bought a vintage lens in the end.

If I was being hyper-critical, I would say your DOF management could be improved, and the overall colour could have been graded better.

A shallow DOF looks great, but it's important to keep the key subjects in focus. I felt that was left to drift at times. Do you use a follow focus set up?

Having said that, I really enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing.

[Tariq Peter]

Hi,

Many thanks for your comments. Yes I hired the zeiss in the end and I think it was money well spent. I agree with your DOF comments and something I will definitely work on. The camera was attached to a monopod and no follow focus was used. I think I will hire the 35mm 1.4 instead of the 50mm next time and also purchase a follow focus to give the camera more stability. Have you any experience with DSLR Follow Focus: Introduction - YouTube ?

[Murray Christian]

Looks good. Nice job.
Following focus while shooting from the hip is less than ideal and pretty damn hard so I think you did well based on what's there (never used that little focus handle thing myself. Good idea though as larger rigs take a while to change lenses. It could have a propensity to slip, but then so do the big rail rigs.)

You changed the colour grade for a while there, which seemed a bit weird.
I was actually enjoying the little sparkles and glow-y edits there for a while thinking it was restrained and not too cheesy. But then Nooooooooooo the Lens Flare wipe. Heh. It probably won't matter to the audience, but steer clear of that one if you want to impress editors.
The general scheme you had going was working nicely. It's easy to get nervous and think you have to change up after a while, but for things like this; people are watching the shots not the stuff in between. So you don't have to make any drastic shifts usually.

Am I right in thinking the Mercedes shot isn't yours? Just curious.

Anyhow, keep on truckin'

[Tariq Peter]

Hi,

Thanks for your comments I will 100% take this on board.
The mercedes shot is 100% mine, I used a Konova slider with a wide angle lens and attempted the shot about 6 times as it was a really windy day and that car was parked at an angle.

[Murray Christian]

It's nice. Made me think it was a stock from somewhere (the colour in particular). The slo-mo stuff seems to be a worthwhile idea for that sort of thing (although sometimes, like around 3m40, it just highlights that the refocus was a bit slow)
Anyhow, enough from me.

[Buba Kastorski]

Beautiful shots!
but next time try to shoot from tripod, and may be even with key light, or just any light;

[Nigel Barker]

Originally Posted by Tariq Peter

Have you any experience with DSLR Follow Focus: Introduction - YouTube ?

That is a neat looking low cost gizmo. It builds on the old DIY standby of using a cable tie & pencil or similar to aid focusing/zooming.

For one of their M4/3 lenses Panasonic actually sell this http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/761052-REG/Panasonic_DMW_ZL1_LENS_ZOOM_LEVER_14_140mm.html which does work well but is a bit galling as it costs $29.95 for a piece of plastic that probably costs all of 50c to make & could have been included with the $800 lens.

[Nigel Barker]

BTW A very nice video which can be forgiven some of the faults already noted as you have only just started using the the 600D & stuff like reliably nailing focus comes with practice. Indian weddings are such a gift to us when it comes to grabbing beautiful images.

Lighting is a difficult subject when you are doing weddings. Many times you really need to add light but an on-camera light gives very unflattering lighting & a dazzling light in the eyes is distressing for the subjects. The perfect solution is to have an assistant follow you with something like a Lowel video light held up high on a boom Official UK supplier of Lowel battery video i-light and id-lights alternatively lights up high on lighting stands can immensely improve the images.

I like to use Canon lenses as when you are rushing around it's nice to have the reassurance of being able to quickly use the AF before a shot & know that it's in focus then even if you need to follow the movement after. I have tried a regular follow focus with my Canon DSLRs but much prefer to just use the camera 'naked'. The only add-on I use is a loupe which really assists getting focus. You don't need to spend a fortune on Zacuto Z-Finder as this for £43 does just a good a job

NEEWER 3x Magnification 3" LCD Foldable Viewfinder: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics

 

NEEWER 3x Magnification 3" LCD Foldable Viewfinder: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics

[John Friedman]

Originally Posted by Murray Christian

Looks good. Nice job.

You changed the colour grade for a while there, which seemed a bit weird.
I was actually enjoying the little sparkles and glow-y edits there for a while thinking it was restrained and not too cheesy. But then Nooooooooooo the Lens Flare wipe. Heh. It probably won't matter to the audience, but steer clear of that one if you want to impress editors.

Anyhow, keep on truckin'

As a fellow owner of a 600D and Konova slider, I enjoyed the video as well. I quoted this for the Lens Flare wipe statement: guilty as well. I just did a little teaser ad and used the lens flare wipe. It wasn't until afterwards that I came to the conclusion that the transition was "amateurish" and it has led to my regret in using it.

Nice lens. The only criticism I really agree with is the color grading. It was inconsistent throughout. I also felt like there was a lot of color grading opportunity that could have been explored, because there was no one defining look. Keep up the good work :)

[Charlton Chars]

Canon has clearly set the 600D as long as be controlled as much as possible by the perfect hand, and three key shooting controls – auto exposure fasten (*), AF point selection plus exposure compensation (+/-) are generally all placed within easy reach of one’s thumb.

[Lee Mullen]

Hello Tariq

Lovely Hindu wedding there. May I ask, what was the workflow for editing and which software/NLE was used?

Nice filmlike images.

Jalan

[Noa Put]

It must be fun shooting such a colorful wedding :) I only have one remark though and it regards whitebalancing, with a dslr it's critical to get a correct whitebalance setting when you film inside depending on the light sources. I see many images where the skintones are very yellowish and there are some parts where it's more natural. You really need to whitebalance to get a balanced color throughout your indoor shoots.
I use a expodisc for that and set my camera to auto WB when I take the whitebalance reading, then I switch my WB preset to custom. The colors I get in that way are much cooler or flat then how it actually is but white is white and skintones are very natural looking, in post I then can easily add certain colors to get the same atmosphere at the moment of shooting.

[Tariq Peter]

Originally Posted by Jalan Salur

Hello Tariq

Lovely Hindu wedding there. May I ask, what was the workflow for editing and which software/NLE was used?

Nice filmlike images.

Jalan

Thanks it was a muslim wedding though :) I pnly used Final Cut Pro X

[Tariq Peter]

Originally Posted by Noa Put

It must be fun shooting such a colorful wedding :) I only have one remark though and it regards whitebalancing, with a dslr it's critical to get a correct whitebalance setting when you film inside depending on the light sources. I see many images where the skintones are very yellowish and there are some parts where it's more natural. You really need to whitebalance to get a balanced color throughout your indoor shoots.
I use a expodisc for that and set my camera to auto WB when I take the whitebalance reading, then I switch my WB preset to custom. The colors I get in that way are much cooler or flat then how it actually is but white is white and skintones are very natural looking, in post I then can easily add certain colors to get the same atmosphere at the moment of shooting.

Oh that is a great tip.. Thank you. I finally have my new monopod so my next item is the Rode Mic and possibly the expodisc.