Wedding Day Photo Session

Wedding Day Photo Session - Music Video Style · March 21st, 2009, 03:16 AM

This couple hired me to shoot their wedding day photo session. It was an interesting experience shooting with a photographer other than Katie. It made me realise two things - #1 That Katie is an awesome photographer and I'm so fortunate to shoot along side her - #2 Much respect to those who work with photographers to whom they are not married.

This clip is also the first one I've edited using Final Cut Pro. I decided in February that I'd make the most of my Macbook Pro and purchase Final Cut Studio rather than editing with Premiere in Boot Camp. I'm loving FCP so far, especially the added stability and reliability, plus working in OS X.

Feedback is most welcome but don't go looking for a story in this clip, it's all rock and roll + eye candy! :) And please excuse the self-indulgent Steadicam shot at the end. I was just so stoked to pull it off with a handheld Merlin that I had to include it :)

Watch it in HD on Vimeo here - Hailey and Paul - Wedding Photo Session - HD on Vimeo

Cheers!

Matthew.

Simon Denny · March 21st, 2009, 05:44 AM

Hi Matthew,
Nice vid love the colours.
Have a question, now that you're using FCP how are you finding rendering out to sd mpeg via compressor if that's what you use.

Cheers

Monday Isa · March 21st, 2009, 05:58 AM

Exceptional eye candy of a job Matthew. Enjoyed it. I think you could have mixed up the type of shots when each person of bridal party was on the screen individually. It was all medium shots one after the other. Should have thrown in WS, CU, you get the gist. Besides that everything else was great. Thanks for sharing.

Monday

Art Varga · March 21st, 2009, 09:26 AM

Matthew - that was smokin! Loooved the color grading. Only possible nit mayby a little too much of the flashing film effect. Thanks for sharing!

Art

John De Rienzo · March 21st, 2009, 09:47 AM

Hi Matthew,

Some nice footage.

My only minor niggles would be losing the gentlemans head at 0.30seconds to the left.

Too much flashing lights, and I am not sure whether you intended on having so much head room around the one minute mark!

Cheers,

John De Rienzo

Oleg Kalyan · March 21st, 2009, 10:41 AM

Matthew!
that quite a Photosession I must say! very dynamic, man I wish we'd have locations like that in Moscow, also guys never wear black toxidos here, everyone in different outfits, in this wedding, it makes it so much more uniformal in a good way for photographic purposes.

Good job, possibly a little bit too much flares, but it goes well with overall lively mood!

Matthew Ebenezer · March 21st, 2009, 06:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Simon Ash

Hi Matthew,
Nice vid love the colours.
Have a question, now that you're using FCP how are you finding rendering out to sd mpeg via compressor if that's what you use.

Cheers

I've only done a couple of DVDs since so I'm not an expert. I just export a self-contained Quicktime file from FCP using Current Settings. Import that file into Compressor and use one of the DVD Mpeg-2 presets that I've tweaked slightly. So far I've been quite happy with the results.

Thanks for watching too!

Cheers,

Matthew.

Stephen J. Williams · March 21st, 2009, 09:44 PM

matthew... thanks for sharing. That was awesome. My favorite shot was probably the one with the B&G centered in front of a building with the groomsman and bridesmaids on each side. Simple, but looked awesome. The music was a great choice.

Travis Cossel · March 22nd, 2009, 01:55 AM

Some good stuff in there. I felt like the 'film burn' effect was overused a bit, and you lost some heads here and there, but good stuff overall.

The merlin shot was impressive, since that's what I use and I know how hard it is to run around in a circle with that thing and keep it on track AND not show your footsteps crashing down. Even so, I would have definitely cut that shot MUCH earlier. I know you're proud of the shot, and you should be, but from an outside perspective it just goes on for far too long and there's nothing to be gained from the scene. If the couple was really into each other and lost in each other's eyes then it might work, but it's too obvious that they are just posing for you, so I would cut it much sooner. Also, near the end you get some jitters from your footsteps, so definitely cut before that becomes visible. The merlin is so hard to operate at a good speed without advertising your footsteps.

Thanks for sharing, man!

Joe Riggs · March 22nd, 2009, 02:16 AM

Hi Matt,

Can you give some specifics about what you feel Final Cut Pro does better, easier, or faster than Premiere?

Jason Robinson · March 22nd, 2009, 02:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Travis Cossel

The merlin is so hard to operate at a good speed without advertising your footsteps.
Thanks for sharing, man!

See this is where the Glidecam and the extra 15 pounds it adds helps to smooth everything out. :-)

I just finished a wedding today where i used the glidecam even more than in the past. I've got it set up on QR plates so I can pop it off my MultiRig and onto the Glidecam in about 15 seconds. I ended up flying a lot for the dancing, but it was a fun crowd, so I find it hard to just sit back.

Gino Mancusa · March 22nd, 2009, 06:28 AM

Hi Mathew,

Very good energy, good job of capturing candid moments. I loved the artwork style and movement. Small things here and there (we all have em) but overall I liked it very much. Thanks for sharing.

Regards,

GMan

Carl Wilky · March 23rd, 2009, 09:58 AM

That was fun to watch. I think the strongest element in this clip was "colours". I liked the different colours you had all throughout it, and the change of scenery. From the city to the mountain top.

I also like the merlin shot you managed to pull off amazingly, but i do have to agree with Travis that it was just a tad too long, but i think leaving it in the couple will still love it. The only thing i would've added to this great film, when you show the bridal party one after the other, having their name show up with a "shaky" effect to them would've filled in that nice empty space next to them.

I am also a premiere user and i'm trying to convince myself to move over to FCP, but i can't seem to justify the need to. What ever i can make on the MAC and can acheive the same result on the PC. So why in your opinion should one migrate to the other platform? Is output image quality higher from compressor than adobe media Encoder?

Thanks again for sharing mister top dog aka top 25 DVevent.

Luis Rolo · March 24th, 2009, 09:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matthew Ebenezer

Much respect to those who work with photographers to whom they are not married.

I feel your pain my friend...

But you managed to make a cool clip, as always.

L.R.

Matthew Ebenezer · March 27th, 2009, 06:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carl Wilky

That was fun to watch. I think the strongest element in this clip was "colours". I liked the different colours you had all throughout it, and the change of scenery. From the city to the mountain top.

I also like the merlin shot you managed to pull off amazingly, but i do have to agree with Travis that it was just a tad too long, but i think leaving it in the couple will still love it. The only thing i would've added to this great film, when you show the bridal party one after the other, having their name show up with a "shaky" effect to them would've filled in that nice empty space next to them.

I am also a premiere user and i'm trying to convince myself to move over to FCP, but i can't seem to justify the need to. What ever i can make on the MAC and can acheive the same result on the PC. So why in your opinion should one migrate to the other platform? Is output image quality higher from compressor than adobe media Encoder?

Thanks again for sharing mister top dog aka top 25 DVevent.

Thanks everyone for taking the time to watch the clip, and for the feedback.

Carl and Joe - Here's a few of my reasons for moving to Final Cut Pro

- I already had a Macbook Pro on which I used Premiere via Bootcamp - so, I figured by purchasing Final Cut Studio I could better utilise the laptop and enjoy the benefits of OS X as well.

- On the PC I was having a heck of a time editing footage from my 5D Mark II. I've found it much easier using FCP. I seriously love FCP's multi-format timeline for mixing the 5D footage with my A1's

- Mostly I was just tired of the constant crashes and stupid unexplainable errors I encountered on the PC

So far I'm really enjoying using FCP, especially the reliability. In 2 months I haven't had one crash or stupid error. I do miss the inter-operability and 'dynamic link' of the Adobe products but not enough to put up with the PC annoyances.

It isn't really a matter of FCP enabling me to make better videos. The reliability means a less stress post-production experience for me when compared to my PC's.

Cheers,

Matthew.

March 21st, 2009, 09:47 AM	#5
John De Rienzo Major Player Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: London Posts: 313	Hi Matthew, Some nice footage. My only minor niggles would be losing the gentlemans head at 0.30seconds to the left. Too much flashing lights, and I am not sure whether you intended on having so much head room around the one minute mark! Cheers, John De Rienzo __________________ De Rienzo Films www.derienzo-films.co.uk

March 22nd, 2009, 01:55 AM	#9
Travis Cossel Inner Circle Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Miami, FL Posts: 2,933	Some good stuff in there. I felt like the 'film burn' effect was overused a bit, and you lost some heads here and there, but good stuff overall. The merlin shot was impressive, since that's what I use and I know how hard it is to run around in a circle with that thing and keep it on track AND not show your footsteps crashing down. Even so, I would have definitely cut that shot MUCH earlier. I know you're proud of the shot, and you should be, but from an outside perspective it just goes on for far too long and there's nothing to be gained from the scene. If the couple was really into each other and lost in each other's eyes then it might work, but it's too obvious that they are just posing for you, so I would cut it much sooner. Also, near the end you get some jitters from your footsteps, so definitely cut before that becomes visible. The merlin is so hard to operate at a good speed without advertising your footsteps. Thanks for sharing, man! __________________ Black Label Films www.blacklabelweddingfilms.com

March 23rd, 2009, 09:58 AM	#13
Carl Wilky Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Montéal, Canada Posts: 115	That was fun to watch. I think the strongest element in this clip was "colours". I liked the different colours you had all throughout it, and the change of scenery. From the city to the mountain top. I also like the merlin shot you managed to pull off amazingly, but i do have to agree with Travis that it was just a tad too long, but i think leaving it in the couple will still love it. The only thing i would've added to this great film, when you show the bridal party one after the other, having their name show up with a "shaky" effect to them would've filled in that nice empty space next to them. I am also a premiere user and i'm trying to convince myself to move over to FCP, but i can't seem to justify the need to. What ever i can make on the MAC and can acheive the same result on the PC. So why in your opinion should one migrate to the other platform? Is output image quality higher from compressor than adobe media Encoder? Thanks again for sharing mister top dog aka top 25 DVevent. Last edited by Carl Wilky; March 24th, 2009 at 08:32 AM.

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March 21st, 2009, 05:44 AM	#2
Simon Denny Trustee Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Australia Posts: 1,409	Hi Matthew, Nice vid love the colours. Have a question, now that you're using FCP how are you finding rendering out to sd mpeg via compressor if that's what you use. Cheers

March 21st, 2009, 05:58 AM	#3
Monday Isa Major Player Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: College Park, Maryland Posts: 913	Exceptional eye candy of a job Matthew. Enjoyed it. I think you could have mixed up the type of shots when each person of bridal party was on the screen individually. It was all medium shots one after the other. Should have thrown in WS, CU, you get the gist. Besides that everything else was great. Thanks for sharing. Monday

March 21st, 2009, 09:26 AM	#4
Art Varga Major Player Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Belle Mead, NJ Posts: 552	Matthew - that was smokin! Loooved the color grading. Only possible nit mayby a little too much of the flashing film effect. Thanks for sharing! Art

March 21st, 2009, 10:41 AM	#6
Oleg Kalyan Major Player Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: MOSCOW Posts: 860	Matthew! that quite a Photosession I must say! very dynamic, man I wish we'd have locations like that in Moscow, also guys never wear black toxidos here, everyone in different outfits, in this wedding, it makes it so much more uniformal in a good way for photographic purposes. Good job, possibly a little bit too much flares, but it goes well with overall lively mood!

March 21st, 2009, 09:44 PM	#8
Stephen J. Williams Major Player Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Mays Landing, NJ Posts: 768	matthew... thanks for sharing. That was awesome. My favorite shot was probably the one with the B&G centered in front of a building with the groomsman and bridesmaids on each side. Simple, but looked awesome. The music was a great choice.

March 22nd, 2009, 02:16 AM	#10
Joe Riggs Regular Crew Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 189	Hi Matt, Can you give some specifics about what you feel Final Cut Pro does better, easier, or faster than Premiere?

March 22nd, 2009, 06:28 AM	#12
Gino Mancusa Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Thunder Bay Canada Posts: 50	Hi Mathew, Very good energy, good job of capturing candid moments. I loved the artwork style and movement. Small things here and there (we all have em) but overall I liked it very much. Thanks for sharing. Regards, GMan