Hi everyone,

New to the forum but finding it super useful for gather info ahead of my first wedding shoots in a few weeks. To set the scene, I'm shooting two weddings on consecutive days, both free of charge so that I can build experience and generate a few portfolio films to gather paying jobs. Aim is to output a highlights film of 5-8 minutes, but also aim to capture ceremony and speeches in full so that I can offer these as paid services moving forward.

I will be shooting these weddings solo, so eager to understand how to get best coverage of ceremony and speeches with combo of active and static cameras. My gear (mostly mine but some borrowed) includes:

- Canon 6D
- Canon 5D Mk ii (borrow from friend)
- Canon 550D/T2i
- Canon 50mm 1.4
- Canon 24-70mm Mk i (borrow from friend)
- Canon 10-22mm, 18-55, 55-250 (all EF-S mounts and only compatible with 550D)
- Benro Monopod
- Miller Tripod (borrow from friend)
- Sony Wireless Lav System (borrow from friend)
- Rode Videomic Pro

I'm looking at using the 6D as main active camera so with monopod and 50mm, this should cover almost all of bride/groom prep, and similar set-up will be main camera at reception.

Additionally, looking to purchase Zoom H6 for audio as well as perhaps a Rode SmartLav+ or Zoom H1 and wired lav for additional micing of groom or celebrant during ceremony.

A few questions I have are:

- With 2-3 cameras, what would be suggested camera set-up at the ceremony?
- Would the 55-250 kit lens on 550D be sufficient for static shots as my wide shot down the centre aisle for the majority of ceremony?
- In your experience, can the close up over the grooms shoulder of the bride's face be locked off once ceremony starts, or will I need to man this camera? Ideally would like to be roaming with 6D to get more creative shots, but could check back regularly to ensure bride close up was composed/in focus.

ANY and ALL ADVICE is greatly appreciated!

1. Lots of ways you can do it. Here's one. One of the cameras: leave wide the entire time, framing up entire stage area. Don't touch it. Other cameras... During processional, one camera on groom, one on bride. During ceremony proper, one close-up of speaker, one cutaway. During signing: one wide, one close-up. During recessional: both cameras at end of aisle, one wide, one close.

2. Everything depends on layout. If that's a 1.6 crop factor, then you've got 88-400. That seems too tight for me, but everything depends on layout. You'd be safer with the equivalent of 24-70 full frame.

3. You're imagining they walk up the aisle, they stand facing each other, and then they stay there for the rest of the ceremony? Well, just depends. What if they walk around? What if they sit down and stand up again? What if the priest positions them in a different way (I had one priest have both people facing the audience for vows recently)? What if... Short answer: "closeup" and "unmanned" in the same sentence is normally a recipe for trouble, but maybe you can get away with it.

Adrian is right. More detail is needed to know what to do.

First, plan your audio well. We use 3 pocket recorders and/or lavs to cover 1) the groom to guarantee the vows, 2) lav on the pastor for most of the service goes to aisle camera, 3) the readings or ambient noise

The camera's will depend on the kind of shots you want to deliver. Do you want faces coming down the aisle? Close-up shots of each the B&G during vows? (we use 50-250mm on crop factor for the vow closeups, btw).

For camera placement, your church's layout and it's rules matter. Here in the U.S., many/most churches have a center aisle and outside aisles. My wife and I will have:

Camera A) a center aisle camera in back, that is the primary coverage. During the processional, it's pre-focused on the groom/pastor action, and framed wide enough to see the guests on either side.
Camera B) in the outside aisle, up front, next to the front row on the bride's side (the left, when looking from the back). This gives you a clean look at the groom during the processional (medium shot) and the vows (tight, over her shoulder). My wife man's this, and will also get parent faces and such during the service.
Camera C) opposite side with a clean look at the bride's face, tight during the vows. During the processional, I'll have it on a monopod, and crouch up front (bride's side) to get the wedding party and the bride entering, then retreat once she's up front, and walk around the back, to get to my tripod on the other side.

you have three cameras to look after, but you mention one tripod! you'd probs need another one.
also remember the 5D has a 12 minute video limit, it's easy to forget!
I use a mixture of DSLR and video cams, I always have spare everything, thats cards, batteries, cameras, audio, lens and so on..

Regarding the layout, the only way to determine this is, if at all possible visit the location, talk to the celebrant, consult with the B&G attend the rehearsal if there is one, you can check sound and lighting conditions at this time also, ask where the readers are going to be? find out as much as you can of the sequence of events as possible, theres nothing worse than something taking place that your unaware of and maybe having the cameras in the wrong position etc.

I asked the very same question on another video forum quite a long time ago and the first reply I got was

"Run, run as fast as you can from doing weddings" Well, I never ran and I survived too.

Only basic hints I can offer are, like Adrian says, have one camera running all the time, high up on a lighting stand (at least 7' up in the air) ...Trust me that will save your bacon if something goes wrong at ground level...it's high up enough so people cannot block it and although it gives a wide view you will thank yourself when you have issues. I have a little GoPro on a lighting stand and I have often reverted to that during editing when the photog decides to block your camera during the vows!

As Rob says audio is VERY important ...don't neglect it ..you can have stunning shots but if your audio sucks the whole video will be a disaster so make SURE to attend to that side of the wedding. Recorder and lavs on the groom (as you are using DSLR's) and if it's a Church you need another setup on the lectern that they will use.

Chris

Appreciate the feedback guys. Lots to think about.

I should've mentioned that I'll have another tripod available, so can have two locked off cameras n tripods and one monopod during ceremony. Also, i'm looking at renting a Canon 70-200 II IS 2.8) as a tele lens for my 6D.

Re: camera placement it seems my plan needs to be:

Camera 1 (6D with 70-200 IS on monopod): Filming over groom's shoulder as procession happens. Then roaming to get tight shots during vows (switch sides and reset cameras 2 & 3 to avoid 12m recording itme issues). Reaction shots of crowd where possible.

Camera 2 (550D w/ 55-250mm on tripod): Located on brides side to capture groom reaction and hand-over. After start of ceremony this will need to be re-composed over brides should

Camera 3 (5D w/ 24-70mm on tripod): wide shot to capture procession arrival, then repositioned in aisle as couple shot during ceremony.

Camera 4 (GoPro high up on light stand as safety cam) - thanks for the tip, Chris!

As for audio, I'll look at wired recorders for both celebrant (and their reading mic setup) and groom as well as H6.

Thoughts on this setup?

Hey Mitch, what I actually think (this is just my opinion, and I don't know anything about your abilities): keep it simple. Maybe shoot with just two cameras and the GoPro and that's it. Pretend the GoPro isn't there as a safety net. Have at least one camera getting a good shot at all times so there's no gap in coverage. Don't worry about doing anything fancy for your first wedding -- just get through it without dropping the ball on anything.

Yeah

I agree with Adrian too! I still keep it simple with 2 cams and the GoPro ... As Adrian suggests just forget about the GoPro footage ..it might be awesome or it might be rubbish but at least you have it if you need it!

I just have one cam on a tripod on the groom's side so it favours the bride and that records the entire ceremony as a fairly tight shot concentrating on the couple and officiant. My 2nd cam is on shoulder and I use that for all guest cutaways, wide shots, reaction shots including bridal entry and the register signing. That also keeps it simple. I think you will be chasing your tail trying to run 5 cameras!!

Chris

Totally forgot about the 12 minute time limit! We have Magic Lantern installed on our 5d Mark ii, so it hasn't been an issue since we bought it. I presume that would be an option on the 6d and T2i as well.

Mostly just plan for the kinds of shots you want. You need one "safe" camera that will give you a shot no matter what. Which camera this is might change during the ceremony, but usually its the rear aisle cam. Your monopod camera will obviously have to be your mobile cam. Your other locked off cam could be another safety shot. rear camera is wide. other locked off camera is off to the side getting a 3 shot, so it feels closer, but is relatively safe.

Just remember to try and follow the 180 degree rule. If the groom will be on the right side of the frame in one camera, have him there in all 3 cameras, if possible. Especially if you'll be cutting back and forth between two views (like we do for our vows).

I was caught out recently with the 30 minute limit on a 5D Mk III, who'd have thought that someone could waffle on for that long???
anyway

If your not experienced in live event shooting, keeping it simple is really good advice.

your layout will still depend on the location, some are better than others, remember to take into account when the congregation stand - might have an impact on camera placement.
my worst was one where the officiant was up against a wall, with a table in front of him the B&G seated in front of the table under a decorative arch made up of white painted saplings/twigs ( think it's called a wedding arbor ) absolutely no room to place a tripod at any angle, lesson learned always have a lightstand with a small camera!
A good one, was two weeks back, where i had a camera locked off looking over the shoulder of the registrar (who asked where should she stand) the view took in the B&G, the complete bridal party and their families and friends which complimented the other two cams on either side.

Sometimes things work out great, other times not so good!

I usually take two or three clips of the crowd and use as required.

I dont have a 55-250mm but i know from experience that the IS on my 24-105mm has to be turned off if tripod mounted otherwise you can get micro-vibrations in the image, check if you need to do that with yours, the 55-250mm wouldn't be a great low light lens so you might need to do some test shots with it to see what ISO you need to get adequate IQ. The 70 -200mm f2.8 is excellent, I always use it for the speeches

as the guys have pointed out DO have a safety cam up high, it can be a life saver! remember there'll be a photographer(s) wandering about trying to occupy the same space as you!

After the shoot upload your footage from your cams/cards and store on at least one external storage device, a third is even better!! depending on how many cards you have ensure you have full backups before formatting for the next day!
Along with a backup strategy, I have enough cards that i can leave the RAW footage on them until after editing is complete, this way you wont fail at the last hurdle by losing clips from a HD failure, file corruption etc.

Sorry I keep posting, I keep thinking of more...

Sometimes I'll have two cameras with me, right next to each other, one wide/medium, the other tight. Usually it's a first dance or speeches. Then camera 3 will be far enough away to get a different angle, and set wide enough its safe, or set to get guest reactions of events.

That 50-250mm will only go on your T2i, so ISO noise is a concern. To get super close during a ceremony though... man, it's nice to have that reach. I hope it works for you.

Have more batteries and cards than you think you'll need. Right now, we have battery grips, and 8 batteries total per camera. If we work the next day, the second the first batteries get used, they're charging.

For cards, we copy them straight to two different external hard drives. When it's all done copying, I check them and see that they look good (both of them), and then I'll format the cards in camera to clear them.

For pocket recorders, say the date and name of client first thing into the recorder for EACH time you hit record. No problems later about whose wedding the sound file belongs to.

Something not directly related to "how to" but non-the-less very important:

Don't underestimate how tiring it can be to shoot a full day. Take that into account when shooting your first day because you have it all over again the next day.

Many of my colleagues don't accept bookings on two consecutive days for that reason, especially if both are full all day shoots.

It gets easier with experience because there is much less stress to wear you down once you are comfortable with what you are doing, but it can still often be very physically demanding. Everyone reports that whether they are 25 or 65.

Make sure you have backups of backups, that you get everywhere with plenty of time to spare, that you get a detailed timeline from each couple so you know for sure what is happening and when, and that you carry energy snacks and drinks - don't assume you will be fed and watered just because it was agreed. Oh and possibly pain killers in reserve for the 2nd day - its surprising how you can seize up :- )

Pete

Also, make sure all your cameras have the same picture profile when shooting, this will help you in the post. Always check your exposure, the asterisk button in your camera is your best friend, it's better to under expose than to over expose.

Always check your audio, sometimes Magic Lantern disables audio if you are in the wrong setting. Bring a power strips with multiple plugins so you can charge 2 batteries at the same time. And lastly bring a lot of mints and bottled water.

What worries me most here that nobody else seems to have mentioned, is the logistics involved in setting up all that equipment and moving it from place to place, all on your first solo wedding shoot.

The thing is that the wedding isn't going to wait for you to faff about with your equipment and things can happen quite quickly at most weddings. It can be quite stressful making sure you don't miss anything with just one camera to handle when you have no previous wedding experience. Trying to manage the sort of set up you are talking about on your own, strikes me as a nightmare scenario to put you off for life. I would seriously consider doing your first few weddings with one main camera and a GoPro for backup as has been mentioned.

You may well be able to manage the number of cameras you mention for the ceremony if you set up in advance, but it is the time taken to break everything down and load it up that is the problem. While that is happening, the wedding will be continuing and you will be getting nothing. Get used to the pressures of a wedding first, then add cameras if you feel you need them as you gather experience.

You may worry at the moment about having enough cameras to get the right angle or cutaway, but you are more likely to miss something very important whilst breaking down and setting up, which is much more difficult to explain to the Bride than someone walking in front of the camera.

Roger

Roger, Excellent points!! I have gotten used to the routine of the "Break Down" that I had totally forgotten about that!! One other thing...take a 3 x 5 index card and make a list of all of your gear that you used for this shoot. Nothing worse than having to drive back to the ceremony site to get than recorder left on the lectern.

Agree with Roger 100% - don't get too hung up on the gear to the detriment of providing the coverage you'll need - think ahead and treat it like a military operation - make sure you have enough time to set up in the venue, how are you going to do this is you are filming the bride and groom prep up to the moment they leave for the church? After 8 years doing this as a solo shooter I've got it down to 5 - 10 minutes depending on the location - and that is 3 cameras and 3 audio recorders.

So many small decisions on the day can make a big difference - 'do I get some shots of the groom waiting nervously, risking missing the bride arriving, or do I wait outside and not get some shots of the nervous groom?'

After the ceremony you'll need to scoot round and pack it up quickly if you are moving on to another location but you'll also need to be filming at the same time - difficult but not impossible - made all the harder by a church verger tapping you on the shoulder saying 'we need to lock up now'

Make sure you have an agenda for the day down to the last detail so you can mentally prepare - this is so important!

Regarding gear - GoPro's are great but need a lot of light, if the light is not sufficient I find the footage murky and ill defined. I find a monopod sometimes beats a tripod for ceremony or speeches if space is tight or you are likely to get blocked by a tog/priest. I always like to position myself at the front on the groom's side for my main camera with locked off cameras on the other side facing the groom and centrally at the back shooting down the aisle.

Are you familiar with the venue? Are there any restrictions? Can you park conveniently?

Above all be prepared for the unexpected - try and enjoy it but be prepared for a full body workout - it's tough!

Pete

Like Roger said, be aware as a solo shooter it's hard to control all that gear and get the shots you need. You have to know if you'll have time to set this all up properly because if you miss something important because you were relying on or faffing about with another camera or sound recorder you're f**ked. Keep it simple and grow with experience.

Guys, all this advice is seriously priceless - thank you!

From the various comments, I definitely agree about the 'keep it simple, stupid' approach.

The two venues are a park by the water, and then a semi-wide jetty/pier for the other. A few things there:

- no problem with low light, so GoPro on light stand up high is an easy 'safe shot'
- hoping I can get away with two DSLR cameras at ceremony instead of 3. Would have either:
a) Camera 1 on monopod to do tight shots of vows (switching sides for each persons vows - feasible?) readings etc. then Camera 2 with a 50mm in centre of aisle as wide shot (would this be overkill with the GoPro, or your ideal wife shot with GoPro as last resort
b) Instead of wide shot in aisle, Camera 2 could be on tripod on Bride's side to capture Groom, while I'm on monopod to capture Bride's face for vows rings etc.

Only times I'd be using a second body and tripod would be ceremony, and possibly during speeches (one camera on speaker, other on couple for reactions.

Does this sound like a more feasible plan to you guys? Once again, thanks again!

Hi Mitch

I normally have my first camera on tripod BUT not in the aisle centre ..rather stick it off on the groom's side so it favours the bride's face ...you can run your 2nd cam either handheld or monopod to get the groom now and again. I always put my audio on my first camera as well ..that way I have a continuous run of the ceremony plus all the audio tracks ... of course the GoPro also runs from start to finish so it's easy to sync with the main camera. Just bear in mind that you will need Magic Lantern if you are using Canons as ceremonies run longer than 12 minutes.

Chris

By the water? Will it be behind the couple? If so, that might be a nightmare of reflected light. Off center cameras might be the best choice.

Mitch

Go to the rehearsal!! Take a camera too!! That can solve all sorts of issues with positioning, and as Rob says lighting. They normally want their backs to the water but glare can be horrific so do a quick few clips at the rehearsal and if necessary change positions and try a few different exposures with a different EV if you think the water can be an issue. Weddings over here are well know for the bride and groom with their backs to a huge expanse of water and sky which makes exposure very tricky!!

Chris

Mitch, two quick thoughts:

-- Maybe a sandbag for that GoPro on a stick. I've had a a lightstand blow over before at outdoor weddings.

-- If you're all DSLR and don't have Magic Lantern installed, think about taking two tripods rather than monopod + tripod. What happens if you need to adjust the tripod camera, or move it? If you'll need to put the monopod down. But then there's nothing to cut to. Whereas if you had the monopod camera on a tripod instead, at least it's still rolling, so there's no gap in coverage.

This does depend on space though. Outdoor weddings are sometimes, paradoxically, very cramped.

Mitch I use sandbags on all my tripods/light stands indoors or outdoors - It's saved my back many times - at best someone may knock your camera out of alignment rendering the footage useless, at worst they'll knock it over possibly damaging your camera and a wedding guest!

Think about when you are going to turn everything on before the ceremony and give yourself time to do it, I turn on about 15 minutes before as i like to do a time lapse of guests taking their seats - for long church ceremonies the GoPro battery can die so I use a USB battery like this

http://www.amazon.co.uk/10000mAh-Portable-External-Technology-Motorola-Black/dp/B0063AAIRG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1411467048&sr=8-2&keywords=usb+battery+anker

Pete

How did your wedding go Mitch?

Hi Mervyn,

Thanks for asking. I definitely learnt a LOT out of the first two weddings, and my second shoot was so much more comfortable than the first. My main points to note were:

1. Impossible as solo shooter to capture any groom prep, as once at bride prep, I didn't have enough time once she was in her dress to get to groom prep before needing to get set up at ceremony.
2. I had a lot of issues with focus at the first ceremony because of bright sunlight and the fact that my Kamerar viewfinder was without the baseplate that magnetically connects to the LCD screen (as baseplate was on 70-200 lens mount instead). This caused me to actually have to had hold the viewfinder to the back of the screen, making focus slow and cumbersome. I got an extra base plate for the second wedding and this made it super easy by comparison.
3. A safety cam in front of the groom just below waist heigh would help mitigate risk of not tracking bride all the way down the aisle, so I'll need to look at how to work this into my set up.
4. Need to shoot moving subjects (bridesmaids and bride walking down aisle) at apertures with deeper depth of field, as it's too risky at 2.8 or so to accurately track bride. Devastatingly, I learnt this the hard way as I failed to get bride in focus on her walk down aisle. Hoping I can cover this with safety cam in the edit.
5. Need a good low light second body to mount on tripod for speeches. Had my 550D/T2i for speeches at second wedding which did OK, but image was a little noisy at ISO 800. This was still better than first wedding as room was too dark and 550D was unusable, so had to use my 6D on a monopod which means full speech coverage will be impossible to provide, as I was needing to get reaction shots with the same camera.
6. Need to be more conscious of not breaking 180 rule. Second ceremony was VERY tight (on a jetty wharf) so had very limited space to manoeuvre on Groom's side in front of bridal party, so some shots (including rings and kiss) were shot behind grooms men. Not a deal breaker as couple aren't likely to notice, but just a reminder to myself to do some further thinking into where I position myself during all parts of ceremony.
7. Audio was fine as I used my Zoom H6 for direct feed, and a SmartLav+ on the groom.

OVERALL, really positive learning experience, and both couples were great. I'll likely be delivering a short highlight film with ceremony and speech coverage in as fuller capacity as possible. Thanks to everyone for their tips along the way.

Hey Mitch, just realised that you're in Sydney! Where were the ceremony and reception held?

-- Re capturing groom prep... If you really want it, you have to communicate with couple beforehand. It may involve getting the groom out of bed earlier in the morning, so you can shoot at his place first, and then go to the bride's.

-- Tracking the bride during processional... One method is not to bother tracking. Ie: preset the focus at a certain point, then just let her walk into then out of focus.

Hi Mitch

Just some ideas based on your points :

(1) Yes you can do the guys! (I try to tell the bride we will just get some shots before the ceremony to make life easier BUT) if you do the guys just do them early ... they can get changed, shoot some footage of them and then they can simply go back to their boardies and singlets before they get ready again for real. It works well as long as they are happy to change twice..most are!!

(2) Why are you shooting with a minimum zoom of 70mm ... stick on a wider lens for your first camera like a 24-70 rather than a 70 -200 and get in closer .. that way you have more DOF to work with and less likely to have a focus issue ..do you REALLY need the DOF to be that shallow anyway? Not sure if you have Canon's but doesn't Magic Lantern has focus peaking? It's a lot easier and also Hoodman make great loupes that you can keep on the LCD and they stay there.

(3) I always put my Camera 3 and 4 up high ...on top of a lighting stand and it's an awesome safety camera and gives a nice semi-aerial view of the ceremony ... photogs can't block your shot and it will seriously save your bacon ... I use two actually and both are action cams (Hero and SJ4000) and brides love the wide view! Let them run from start to finish. You don't have to use the footage but it's nice to have.

(4) For speeches work with a lectern ..we use them in Australia all the time! Most venues have one and that way the speaker stays in one spot so you can zap a light on a stand on them too. On my 2nd cam at the reception I use fast lenses!! My goto lens for my handheld cam is a Sigma 18-35 F1.8 constant .. it very rare that I need lights on the camera except when they turn everything off sometimes for the first dance...again, working at 18mm and staying close you still have a decent DOF of a few feet to work with!

Hope the next one is even more fun!

Chris

Adrian - great suggestion about the pre-focus and let her walk into and out of focus. What aperture would you typically shoot at for this?

Weddings were at Palm Beach (Dunes) for first wedding, then quarantine Station for second wedding. I live in Manly so was super convenient.

Regarding groom prep, I tried to ask second groom if I could come by earlier but quite honestly he didn't seem too worried about me missing him. Will definitely suggest for future weddings that I want to build in 20-30 minutes for groom prep before I go to the bride, and just position that it really helps to tell the story of the day.

Chris - I think I was probably a bit shy about getting right in there for my first few weddings, but agree a 24-70 and being closer to the action would be more beneficial.

Don't have ML on my 6D as it's brand new and I'm a little concerned about voiding warranty and it being unstable. Any thoughts on this?

Hi Mitch

Don't over think the groom prep .. at best the guys are reluctant anyway so rather tell the bride they are not worth filming and you will get better footage of them at the ceremony as they arrive 30 mins early anyway. Seriously 90% of grooms/groomsmen drink beer and play video games/watch sport until it's 5 minutes to leaving time. They jump into their suits and speed off. I find it better to film them arriving at the venue and get Mum to pin on their button holes (if she has already done it just do it again)

I don't use Canon but I know Adrian does so he can advise you on that. My Sony's have focus peaking built in and without that I would struggle!!

Yeah just zone focus the bridal party . If you don't like the loss of focus as they come closer cut just before and switch back to the main cam so you get reaction shots.

Chris

Adrian - great suggestion about the pre-focus and let her walk into and out of focus. What aperture would you typically shoot at for this?

Well, to be honest, I've never actually done it that way! I've always tried to pull focus all the way. My last few weddings, I've used a 50mm at 2.0 or 2.8.

If you're going to use the "prefocus and let her walk" method, I guess you'd want to set focus at least for the moment when she'd fill the frame. But as for how much depth of field, it's up to your taste. Can't really advise you.

I cheat Mitch - If I'm using a tripod and stood at the front, I pre-focus on the groom and frame him so that you can see the bride come into focus as she walks up to him - then I follow her all the way down the Isle with my CX730 on autofocus - job done!

Pete

Nice one Peter. Starting to think I should've got a 70D instead of a 6D. That touch screen AF works so smoothly for a DSLR!

One method is not to bother tracking. Ie: preset the focus at a certain point, then just let her walk into then out of focus

I'd say try it but don't rely on it. Its a tried and tested technique in stills for scenarios where it may be too dark to focus reliably and / or the subjects may be moving quickly or unpredictably such as in the processional or recessional. The problem is that the depth of field is so narrow at the f-stop you need to use in low light that your subject is only actually in focus for a nano-second. Not so noticeable for video as it is for stills but a trap none-the-less.

Pete

I just solo shot my first 3 camera ceremony,

For focus, I have two cameras already set and focused on the front area (the groom). One from the back (85mm on full frame - wide shot), and the other from the same side the bride will be on (135mm on 70D, 3 shot of the groom). Then, I'm crouched at the head of the aisle and have a 70D so I can track everyone down with a 35mm equivalent.

For audio, I did a wireless on the pastor, fed to my aisle camera; a pocket recorder on the groom, and another pocket recorder stashed where the readings took place.

Wedding Ceremony for Nikki & Josh on Vimeo