Re: Lessons Learnt - From that first wedding
 

Hi Edward,

You did ask for a report following this first shoot, so here goes.

I think everyone will come out of their first shoot, saying to themselves that they need to;

(1) Work on their positioning plan for camera A or B or both
(2) Become more compact, organised & lightweight with the gear, especially at the ceremony, and especially if you're a "1 man shoot".
(3) achieve professional standards with audio
(4) hunt down the PHOTOGRAPHER, and tie him up, and bury his lenses
(5) define checklist of standard or required shots & subjects that need to be captured per event.

Working from bottom up (#5), I made the mistake of not getting adequate coverage of all required subjects, with the finished piece somewhat one sided or unbalanced. This mental checklist will come with experience i guess, but i realised after the event that i had very little coverage of the bride's parents, who were both extremely quiet, with the FOB not even making a speech. Also, as there was a wedding the night before, in same hotel, & I found that many of the guests from this wedding stayed on for an extra night, & it was hard to distinguish between the two parties, who were both formally kitted out. Very rare occurance i'd say.

Like everyone else, I had to edit out the photographer more often that not, and would be interested to hear how people work best with photographers, and what requirements you ask for, and how you try to accomodate them getting their shots too. For instance, for the recessional, I had to endure the photographer doing a backwards moon walk, and only got 3 seconds at the end, once he realised i was there. For my next wedding, i will try get photographers phone number in advance to discuss both requirements, but would be interested to hear what standard practice is, and how the two professions can best work together.

When jotting down lessons learnt, following the event, i found that most improvements would require further investment, and i bought all i could afford prior to event. My audio was a bit of a disaster to be honest, and think i do need a H2 for the lecturn, and another mic that i could put up against a speaker, such as a drum mic. Would be interested to hear if H2 is best form of DVR to get for readings only on lecturn, and if putting DVR on, or up close to speaker in church is recommended? Is the RODE Video Mic Pro, better or worst than shotgun mics during ceremony.

Starting out as a one man shoot is not easy, and you really need to be compact, organised, and lightweight for run 'n' gun style shooting, & to remain discrete. I definetly didn't feel compact, organised & lightweight. Next time, i think i'll leave slider & monopod in car during ceremony, and just concentrate on two tripods + 2 camera bodies. I think a Pelican brief could be the way to go, and a shoot sac comes highly recommended, to keep all your lenses on you when floating, spare memory cards, batteries etc. Easily solved, but further investment.

Lastly, and more importantly, my positioning plan did not match up with the lenses in my kit, and I quickly realised that having all primes in my kit, did not exactly match my style of shooting, and do think adding zoom will allow me to remain even further back, and more discrete. There is a serious lack of detail in my end product, and i think the long term fix is a 70 - 200 f/2.8 II. I was conscious of this beforehand, and rented a 7D because of it's crop factor, but really would like ability to get in close from both Camera A & B.

All in all, relatively happy. Some nice timelapses, a story was told, but a busy Autumn ahead, before the next wedding, which is in a Castle. Might share the clip, when complete, for further constructive feedback.

Thanks

Re: Lessons Learnt - From that first wedding
 

By the way, Karma is a biiitch, and I really shouldn't have laughed at Corey and his failure to press the 'big red record' button, because i ended up doing same on H4N, and thought that it was recording, when in fact it wasn't. Tut Tut Tut. It happens to the bets of us :-)

Re: Lessons Learnt - From that first wedding
 

Since the BRB (big red button) is such a problem, don't do what I did. I researched and bought a new shotgun mic. Tested it ahead for time to ensure all worked ok.
Funny thing about mics... If you don't TURN THEM ON, they don't record so well.
I did that at my son's wedding where a friend was running the cam for me. She didn't want to wear headphones. I said, no problem. My fault.

One more thing...
My nephew had agreed to run my B cam for the ceremony. I gave him a mid morning reminder and he agreed to arrive an hour ahead of time. Ceremony came and went and the nephew was a no show. Lesson learned?
Volunteer help can be hit or miss.

Picked up the vows etc from my digital recorder on the groom. Interviewed the B&G next day in the studio and got their thoughts, etc. on audio for a VO for a video of guests arriving, chatting,etc. prior to the ceremony. Worked out well.

Re: Lessons Learnt - From that first wedding
 

I make an absolute habit of turning both Rode Mics on before I even leave home and they stay on all day and all night!!

A little 9v battery is cheaper to replace than telling the bride.."Oops you have no audio!!!" It's also worth having monitoring turned on on your camera so you can see that audio is coming in!!! It doesn't hurt to wear a headset too...just to make sure you are getting audio!!

My radio mics also have a "standby" switch ..a priest once was fiddling with his audio and presumed my transmitter on the lectern was part of his setup and turn it to standby!! I now have a piece of gaffer tape over the switch!!

Chris

Re: Lessons Learnt - From that first wedding
 

I'm in much the same situation as Jordan Nash (i.e., an amateur with high standards). I've recorded two weddings now as a guest, the second of which I'm currently editing in order to give the couple a dvd as a wedding gift. I knew going in that the editing process would be time consuming but I had NO idea just how much! But I am a bit of a perfectionist and I'm learning to use the software at the same time. The editing process is where I am fully realizing the rookie mistakes I made on the shoot because now I have to find creative ways of hiding them. Here are some of the many things I have learned the hard way already:

- keep "rolling", even when you don't have a good shot. Otherwise you won't be able to react fast enough when the shot does present itself. Also, in my case since I had only the audio from the camcorder itself (no external recorder) turning it off meant I created gaps in the audio. Doh! Turning off the camcorder is a habit from vacation shooting, to extend battery life. Must unlearn! Fortunately I kept recording through the entire ceremony and vows, but that's all from one vantage point in the second row, shot in between the heads of people in the first row (who I kept out of the frame, for the most part).

- if all you have is the camcorder's mic, don't talk, even to answer questions and don't laugh at jokes during the speeches! You have to stay emotionally unattached. That's pretty hard to do as a guest, but I would guess not a problem for a pro covering the event.

- shoot lots of reaction shots. Not only do they make the final video more engaging (a wedding is all about emotions, after all) but you can use them to cover up other mistakes in the shoot. And they can be used to fill in gaps in the time line and/or to simulate using more than one camera. For instance, the wedding was outdoors and I recorded the bride and her father coming toward the gazebo. But I had to reposition midway through, which resulted in a few seconds of missing time. I used a shot of people looking in their direction before they started the walk to fill in the gap. With the audio running continuously from the walk there in no way to tell that the reaction shot is out of order. Unfortunately, there are other moments I could not correct in that way because I failed to get the reaction shots.

Maybe it's presumptuous of me to list my rookie mistakes and some of them just don't apply for pros, but if I can't discuss it here then where else?

Re: Lessons Learnt - From that first wedding
 

Joe, that's the downside to the DSLR for run-n-gun...especially if you're a single shooter. It's definitely possible, but you definitely need to incorporate a second camera and/or shooter. If you're a single shooter with a bag of lenses, you're setting yourself up for major problems. Zoom lenses definitely are the answer, however you lose speed, and thus a bit of your desired "shallow depth-of-field" look. Then you might as well be using a video camera.

As far as the photographer thing, it's best to meet up with them prior to the ceremony, get a good rapport with them, and discuss each other's strategies to best suit each other's needs. The photographer generally gets a little more leniency in positioning since the couple is typically more concerned about their photos. This doesn't mean, however, that they are to dominate the perimeter. If you're a single shooter, it's best to "join the photographer at the hip" in this case. Stay close by to them, that way you're equally getting the best shots without getting into each other's way. Good photographers, if they see that you know what you're doing, will typically share the perimeter with you, as there's a mutual understanding and knowledge of what the other is doing.

It definitely would help to place an audio recorder at the altar, if the situation allows. I've always just used audio from my shotgun mic.

Less is definitely better, on a number of levels. An overload in both gear and thought can divert your attention from what really matters.

Nevertheless, I'm glad everything for the most part worked out.

Re: Lessons Learnt - From that first wedding
 

Hi Edward,

Point taking regarding Photographer. And I intend to receive a running order of events plus vendor contact detail prior to events

But regarding your first point, I really do know the importance of a second camera & shooter, which is why i bought a second tripod prior to the event, and rented a 7D. But my problems on the day, really did stem from the rented 7D, which i wasn't used to & prevented me from dialling down the f/spot during ceremony, and caused card write errors during reception, so i was prob substituting lenses more than i intended.

The other major problem was bad positioning on my part, which meant i was stupidly using a manfrotto during ceremony, hence all shaky footage.

Here's the clip anyway. I've ordered a couple of H1's since, and a 70-200, which will took a huge hit on the bank balance, but you underestimate the importance of close ups & detail, when trying to convey emotion.

I've also posted this in the relevant section, incase anyone would like to offer suggestions on how i can avoid the flickering, and what i should be doing (in camera), when the speeches are in front of a window

Re: Lessons Learnt - From that first wedding
 

Also, let the long talky bits in this clip, (i.e. the grooms's speech) be a lesson to other newbies out there, and a reason why you should have that second camera, or ideally a third camera. It's long and boring, but as I'd only a single camera at that stage, i really don't have any other appropriate footage that i can use.

Re: Lessons Learnt - From that first wedding
 

Hi Joe

Nice footage!! I really dunno how you guys with DSLR's find the time to get the right content AND adjust exposure and focus at the same time!!!! At pressure times like these when you already are stretched to your limit I still like the fact I can snap my cam (or both of them) into full auto and concentrate on what I'm shooting as long as the circumstances permit!!!

Windows can be a curse and really, the only sensible thing one can do is go in for a tighter shot and expose for the face ..the window will be washed out of course ..otherwise if there are curtains I just close 'em!! Doing longwinded speeches with one cam is tough!! I usually have one cam on the speaker and then use the second cam for cutaways...when the best man thanks the bridesmaids viewers actually expect a cutaway of the bridesmaids!!

The windows might have been a curse but they also gave you light for other shots..something that's usually severely lacking at receptions!! Each wedding will have a new challenge for you that you will need to figure out and get right..that's what makes it interesting!!!

Keep up the good work

Chris

Re: Lessons Learnt - From that first wedding
 

Hi Christ,

Thanks a mill! Already looking forward to the next one. Also sorry about your loss to ireland in the rugby world cup today :-)

Some good advise there. I definitely put emphasis and focus on the view, which was a sensational setting, and wanted to convey this in the piece, rather than just the standard function room, which it may have looked like, had the curtains been closed. One thing is for sure, in ireland anyway, there would have been first degree murder, and the Irish wedding market would have been one vendor less, had i closed those curtains.

I have a 70-200 on the way, which I can't wait to play around with. The wife is going to get no attention for the next few weeks :-). I think this will improve the mentioned mistakes, allowing me to frame better, and get in close on the speaker, especially if there's a bright window behind. I did assume though, that i would have been able to fix in post production, as long as the background wasn't overexposed.

Unfortunately, I encountered write errors on the memory card with the rented 7D during speeches, so the one camera setup for speeches was not by choice, believe me :-)

A second shooter really would make things so much easier, as in all honest, it's impossible to get creative, and capturing|telling the story is a job in itself.

Re: Lessons Learnt - From that first wedding
 

Hi Joe

I only use a second shooter if I'm doing bride prep and groom prep and they are at the same time!! Sometimes she does cutaways at the ceremony but rarely attends the reception. Just remember you have to find someone with the same passion as you for weddings ...ideally a wife is the answer but most wives have other interests!

Maybe you need to talk seriously with Jeff Harper ..he runs 4 x DSLR's at weddings all on his own!! so it is possible although I wouldn't like to do what he does!!!

Also remember a 2nd shooter eats into your profits, the more experienced they are the more you have to pay them!! I can comfortably run two cameras all by myself!! The only real time you need two is during the ceremony and during the speeches..apart from those two the shoot only needs a single camera but there are times (like bridal entrance when I have one cam on the MC and the other shoots the bridal party coming in) when you can use two on your own again!! Working alone does have big advantages as you get exactly what you want and don't have to edit strange footage from someone else, correct exposure and a host of things where your second shooter hasn't produced what you expected!!

Congrats on the win by Ireland..I'm on the West Coast so Rugby isn't big here..the East Coast are crazy about it..we were busy watching the Aussie Rules footy semi-final!!

Good luck on the next one!!

Chris