1st Wedding, 1st Same Day Edit... for my Sister
 

History:
I've been doing photography since 2007, so I wasn't ever a pro or near that level. However, I got into video this past summer and got the crazy idea of doing event videography. So, I swapped over all my photo equipment to video, got a nice new PC to edit HD files from dSLR cameras. I've been studying a lot of different styles and edits, looked at what I hated about old wedding videos, and I came up with what I show today.

My sister didn't have a videography. She was going to have family friends set up handicams just because she didn't really care too much about the video. So, I said let me do it and it'll be worth it. I shot down to New Jersey to film the e-session, then lugged all my setup and computer to NJ for the wedding day. My girlfriend and I woke up at 8am to shoot groom prep part I; got to my sister's for bridal preps at 9am; back to groom preps part II at 12:30; got ready for the wedding and put the tux on while my girlfriend got fancy in her dress; ceremony at 2pm; wedding photos at 4pm (1 hour till sunset SHEESH!); break from 5:30 to 7pm to setup for reception; reception till midnight.

3 60D bodies
Tokina 11-16
Canon 35L f1.4
Canon 85 f1.8
Canon 24-105L f4 IS
Canon 70-200L f2.8 IS
Steadicam Merlin
Igus Slider
2 Manfrotto tripods
1 Manfrotto monopod
2 Zoom H1 w/ AudioTechnica mics
2 Sennheiser MKE400
Dell Studio XPS 9100 and monitor
luggage and stuff to spend time with the entire family all weekend.

I have a serious respect for you guys doing this full time. I'm not in it for the money, or the business. This is a hobby of love, and after this weekend I'm definitely going to keep it that way. I had some ideas for the SDE that I forgot to throw in, because I was constantly having to edit some, mingle with family, go back to editing, eat with family, mingle more, and edit. If I could do it all over again I would, and I'd make sure to have a story board written down.

Also, I had the SDE finished around 9:30-10pm. However, I forgot my DVI-HDMI cable to hook up to the TVs in the reception hall, and the DJ was extremely helpful in trying to figure out a workaround. While we were brainstorming, I published a DVD of the video and we ended using that. 11pm, SDE shows, and the crowd went nuts. My sister practically never cries, and I had her in tears from the moment Temper Trap was heard through the speakers. Oh yeah, she had no idea I was doing any of this... every time I was shooting something I'd hear, "What the heck are you recording? It's just a simple wedding video." Little did she know what HDSLRs can do with some elbow grease.

PLEASE C&C.

Hi peter, I thought that was an excellent video. Good job.

My favorite shot is your shoes shot of his. quite nice.

David, thank you.

Hey Peter,

Very good job, especially if this was your first wedding, let alone first SDE. Been doing this as a part-time pursuit for a few years and still have difficulty pulling it all together to do an SDE. Keep up the great work!
Would like to see some future work.

Peter,

I forgot to add the following question to the previous post. What is your set up recipe for your 60D/Tokina 11-16/Merlin combo? Your help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for the helpful feedback. Fred, sorry for the late response. My Merlin setup is as follows:

60D w/ or w/o Sennheiser MKE400
Tokina 11-16 f2.8
Manfrotto 577 QR adapter and plate mounted on Merlin plate hole "N"
3 full + 1 half weight on lower
1 half weight on middle
Z knob adjusted almost all the way short and modified depending on if the MKE400 is mounted.

Merlin setup additional info
 

Hey Peter,

I really appreciate the info about your setup. One more piece of info should give me a pretty good idea of the correct setup for similar equipment. What is the Arc Size (i.e. the distance from the camera stage to the end of the lower spar)? Thanks in advance for your response.

Approximately 39.5cm from end of stage to the notch at the end of the threads of the spar.