Colour correcting your weddings at DVinfo.net

Ray Pegram · June 26th, 2011, 05:50 PM

Hi all,
Just to get some sort of an idea of what others are doing as I change from time to time. When shooting weddings do you shoot straight from the camera with no picture/colour profile and colour correct while editing or do you utilise various colour/picture profiles that allow you to have the best possible picture whilst shooting saving time in post..

Currently my 'A' camera is a Canon XF305 and my 'B' camera is a Sony NX5P and I have great picture/colour profiles for the both of them that give a great picture but recently I turned the profiles off on both cameras and coloured graded in post and was very pleased with the result. Time consuming but pleased.

So what are the rest of you doing... in-camera or in post. The downside with in-camera is that you are stuck with the result but the profiles I have looked very good.

Aaron Mayberry · June 26th, 2011, 06:10 PM

We shoot flat (low saturation, low contrast) while aiming for the correct color temp.

I then color correct to what I like. I'm sure it takes a lot more time, but I am VERY happy with the results I get.

Peter Manojlovic · June 26th, 2011, 10:46 PM

I shoot flat..
Everything else is done in post, with much satisfaction.

Perhaps if i was shooting in controlled environments, it would be a different story, but with todays computers being fast enough, color correction isn't a strain on the system like it used to be...

Corey Graham · June 27th, 2011, 03:41 PM

I'm in line with Ray, Aaron and Peter . . . I'm just happy if I nail the color temperature while I'm shooting (which doesn't always happen). I rely heavily on post color correction. I could always be better at it, and am always trying to learn to improve.

George Kilroy · June 27th, 2011, 04:39 PM

Ray, are you referring to colour correction, or colour grading?

I always aim to shoot with as true a natural colour balance as possible by making regular white balance. I have trimmed the matrix in the camera to compensate for the inbuilt colour bias that the camera seemed to have. My aim is to capture natural colour (to my eye) and correct exposure so that I don't have to spend time with these in post. I rarely get perfect conditions and sometimes get it wrong so I do have to do the odd bit of tweaking.
As for colour grading, i.e. changing or enhancing the the colours for stylistic effect, I don't do any of that, my style is naturalistic.

Ray Pegram · June 27th, 2011, 10:37 PM

Hi George,
No colour grading...
Guys I have been doing it in post to get the look that I want and I thought that to make life easier and quicker I would shoot using various colour camera profiles which do give pleasing results.
BUT... I think that I am better going back to colour grading in post...

Just was wondering what everyone else was doing.. Thanks for the replies..

.

Jordan Brindle · July 4th, 2011, 02:01 PM

I shoot documentary style, colour correct where/if need be.

Victor Boyko · August 18th, 2012, 11:11 PM

what color grading software/tchinques/plugins are best?

Stelios Christofides · August 20th, 2012, 07:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ray Pegram

Hi all,
Just to get some sort of an idea of what others are doing as I change from time to time. When shooting weddings do you shoot straight from the camera with no picture/colour profile and colour correct while editing or do you utilise various colour/picture profiles that allow you to have the best possible picture whilst shooting saving time in post..

Currently my 'A' camera is a Canon XF305 and my 'B' camera is a Sony NX5P and I have great picture/colour profiles for the both of them that give a great picture but recently I turned the profiles off on both cameras and coloured graded in post and was very pleased with the result. Time consuming but pleased.

So what are the rest of you doing... in-camera or in post. The downside with in-camera is that you are stuck with the result but the profiles I have looked very good.

Ray
I don't understand why you have to bother in post (time consuming) since you said that you get great picture profiles. I have 2 cameras (NX5 and Z5) both set to the same colour profiles (that I found here at DVINFO) and leave it at that. I don't believe that by spending more time in post will give me that extra difference that I can charge the customer more.

Stelios

Nigel Barker · August 20th, 2012, 12:34 PM

We have tried shooting flat & then colour grading to taste but as it means that you need to touch & colour correct every single clip it is very time consuming even with Magic Bullet Looks or Colorista. We shoot predominantly with Canon 5Ds & the H.264 CODEC doesn't stand up too well to much colour grading. It's a long way from RAW or C-log in proper camcorder so the arguments for shooting flat & fixing it all in post don't really apply. It's easy to desaturate if necessary if you have a very flat image from the DSLR it's not possible to properly put the saturation back if the colours were never there in the first place

Now we aim to get the look in camera & now just use Faithful Picture Style on the Canon DSLRs & the profiles on any other cameras to match that. It's the right combination of nice skin tones, rich & quite contrasty but not over-saturated colours. In a word filmic.

We don't get to picky about white balance generally using AWB or Daylight outdoors & switching to Tungsten indoors. We have tried doing custom white balance but it's too fiddly & time-consuming with fast moving event like weddings. We do make sure that all cameras are using the same WB settings.

Noa Put · August 20th, 2012, 01:50 PM

Since I bhought 2 sony cx730's I stopped color correcting, these camera don't have any presets that can be changed but the color that comes out of the camera is what I like it to be, I just once added more saturation to make the colors "pop" more on the clients request but beside that it's only minor CC when needed to correct whitebalance mistakes. This saves me quite some time as I like to have it right the first time.

June 26th, 2011, 05:50 PM	#1
Ray Pegram Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Ulladulla - Australia Posts: 56	Colour correcting your weddings Hi all, Just to get some sort of an idea of what others are doing as I change from time to time. When shooting weddings do you shoot straight from the camera with no picture/colour profile and colour correct while editing or do you utilise various colour/picture profiles that allow you to have the best possible picture whilst shooting saving time in post.. Currently my 'A' camera is a Canon XF305 and my 'B' camera is a Sony NX5P and I have great picture/colour profiles for the both of them that give a great picture but recently I turned the profiles off on both cameras and coloured graded in post and was very pleased with the result. Time consuming but pleased. So what are the rest of you doing... in-camera or in post. The downside with in-camera is that you are stuck with the result but the profiles I have looked very good. __________________ Ray www.coastalweddingvideos.com.au

June 26th, 2011, 06:10 PM	#2
Aaron Mayberry Major Player Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Flint, MI Posts: 212	Re: Colour correcting your weddings We shoot flat (low saturation, low contrast) while aiming for the correct color temp. I then color correct to what I like. I'm sure it takes a lot more time, but I am VERY happy with the results I get. __________________ www.styleandmotion.com - Modern Wedding Films based in Michigan www.miweddingblog.com - Michigan's dedicated wedding blog

June 26th, 2011, 10:46 PM	#3
Peter Manojlovic Major Player Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Hamilton Ontario Posts: 769	Re: Colour correcting your weddings I shoot flat.. Everything else is done in post, with much satisfaction. Perhaps if i was shooting in controlled environments, it would be a different story, but with todays computers being fast enough, color correction isn't a strain on the system like it used to be...

June 27th, 2011, 03:41 PM	#4
Corey Graham Major Player Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Erie, PA Posts: 390	Re: Colour correcting your weddings I'm in line with Ray, Aaron and Peter . . . I'm just happy if I nail the color temperature while I'm shooting (which doesn't always happen). I rely heavily on post color correction. I could always be better at it, and am always trying to learn to improve. __________________ http://coreygraham.me http://coreygrahamweddings.com

June 27th, 2011, 04:39 PM	#5
George Kilroy Major Player Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Midlands UK Posts: 699	Re: Colour correcting your weddings Ray, are you referring to colour correction, or colour grading? I always aim to shoot with as true a natural colour balance as possible by making regular white balance. I have trimmed the matrix in the camera to compensate for the inbuilt colour bias that the camera seemed to have. My aim is to capture natural colour (to my eye) and correct exposure so that I don't have to spend time with these in post. I rarely get perfect conditions and sometimes get it wrong so I do have to do the odd bit of tweaking. As for colour grading, i.e. changing or enhancing the the colours for stylistic effect, I don't do any of that, my style is naturalistic.

June 27th, 2011, 10:37 PM	#6
Ray Pegram Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Ulladulla - Australia Posts: 56	Re: Colour correcting your weddings Hi George, No colour grading... Guys I have been doing it in post to get the look that I want and I thought that to make life easier and quicker I would shoot using various colour camera profiles which do give pleasing results. BUT... I think that I am better going back to colour grading in post... Just was wondering what everyone else was doing.. Thanks for the replies.. . __________________ Ray www.coastalweddingvideos.com.au

July 4th, 2011, 02:01 PM	#7
Jordan Brindle Major Player Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: UK Posts: 249	Re: Colour correcting your weddings I shoot documentary style, colour correct where/if need be.

August 18th, 2012, 11:11 PM	#8
Victor Boyko Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: binghamton ny Posts: 82	Re: Colour correcting your weddings what color grading software/tchinques/plugins are best?

August 20th, 2012, 12:34 PM	#10
Nigel Barker Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Norwich, Norfolk, UK Posts: 3,531	Re: Colour correcting your weddings We have tried shooting flat & then colour grading to taste but as it means that you need to touch & colour correct every single clip it is very time consuming even with Magic Bullet Looks or Colorista. We shoot predominantly with Canon 5Ds & the H.264 CODEC doesn't stand up too well to much colour grading. It's a long way from RAW or C-log in proper camcorder so the arguments for shooting flat & fixing it all in post don't really apply. It's easy to desaturate if necessary if you have a very flat image from the DSLR it's not possible to properly put the saturation back if the colours were never there in the first place Now we aim to get the look in camera & now just use Faithful Picture Style on the Canon DSLRs & the profiles on any other cameras to match that. It's the right combination of nice skin tones, rich & quite contrasty but not over-saturated colours. In a word filmic. We don't get to picky about white balance generally using AWB or Daylight outdoors & switching to Tungsten indoors. We have tried doing custom white balance but it's too fiddly & time-consuming with fast moving event like weddings. We do make sure that all cameras are using the same WB settings.

August 20th, 2012, 01:50 PM	#11
Noa Put Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Belgium Posts: 9,509	Re: Colour correcting your weddings Since I bhought 2 sony cx730's I stopped color correcting, these camera don't have any presets that can be changed but the color that comes out of the camera is what I like it to be, I just once added more saturation to make the colors "pop" more on the clients request but beside that it's only minor CC when needed to correct whitebalance mistakes. This saves me quite some time as I like to have it right the first time.