C100: Need some wedding lighting tips!

B

Beeboop

Active member
Lost a job because my lighting was bad for an engagement video. I don't carry around a fill light because I rely on changing the ISO but sometimes I forget or get the ISO wrong. What do you guys do to ensure good exposures? I'm running with a Canon C100 Mark II.

I'm thinking I should always be carrying around a fill light and never go above 2000 ISO. I believe someone mentioned that before here. Basically, I need more tips or maybe just practice.

Edit:
Okay, how about this. Always keep my eye on the light meter and wave form!

Here is the video in question. I had to bump up some of the cuts in post because my exposure was bad.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RN03d6q5ero
 
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A on-camera LED light is critical to have in the bag for a wedding even with a C100. If you can't capture the emotion on people's faces in a low light scenario then you won't last long in the wedding industry. I shoot weddings with a C100 mk1 and primarily a Canon 24-105mm f/4, and a ikan micro flood light and a litepanels micro pro. The ikan is great for adding a fill light to groups of people or decorations. The litepanels micro pro is great for the first dance because it is more of a spot light and can emit more light than the ikan just not as wide of a beam. You must also take into consideration not to go full blast with them and blind the guests. Move your feet and try not to get more than 10ft away from your subject or your light will become usless. You will still ride the ISO in many situations, be sure to have a low light profile loaded to switch to and you should be able to get to 6400 with acceptable results and use the neat video plugin in post if needed.
 
Just curious

What lenses do you use?
Do you set white balance or go auto?
Do you use ND filters? The internal ones? Or screw on variable ones? Or Both?
What do you mean lost a job? For me that would mean I shoot for someone who hires me to shoot weddings for his/her company and they chose not to hire me anymore (which would be a massive problem for me). Or is it you showed this video to a potential client and they weren't impressed and decided to go with someone else?
What picture profile do you shoot for weddings and does the post workflow match what you're shooting?
 
I used the Sigma 18-35.

I believe white balance was set to 5000, but I don't remember as this was about two months ago.

I usually don't use any ND filters but if I did than it would be the internal ones inside of the C100.

I'm just starting out so I would usually do proposals and engagements for free or at a low cost. This job was free as we were friends from a number of years ago. He said the video was awesome but his future wife didn't like the low lighting shots and I know she's right because I had problems fixing it in post.

I normally use C-log but I am about to switch to picture profile 8. It's the one that says wide dynamic range. I am switching because I've seen a number of people's work using CP8 and love the results. Also, my color grading isn't up to par yet.

Below is a link to a wedding job I did after the engagement in the first post. I think I've learned from my mistakes hopefully as the lighting seems a lot better in this wedding video. I will definitely keep an eye on both my light meter and wave form monitor. I will also invest in an on camera LED.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3xHKG4tW4E

Can someone suggest an on camera LED?
 
I looked at your first video and the half of the second. The first one had a weird white balance - about 2700-3000K. You may have accidentally turned down the dial on the WB and tried to mess around with the colours. Clog is meant for people who have grasp over colour correction. It would be prudent to stay away from flat profiles like clog till you get some control over it. Which software are you using to do your editing.

You need to be careful about the focus as I found number of miss focused shots. No amount of contrast/colour correction can salvage a shot if the focus is off.

You have already mentioned about wave form. Make it a habit to keep the waveform monitor displayed all the time till it gets ingrained in your memory.

Just pick up the camera and shoot some personal projects. Even if the projects are 2-3 minutes long, if you do some 20-30 projects, then you will have enough idea.
 
I am using Adobe Premiere. I didn't notice my focus to be off but I believe you because I have messed it up before. I'll do as you say and practice on my own personal projects. Thanks
 
Here are my tips:

- Get a decent on-camera bi-colour LED panel
- Use your waveform monitor constantly. This is crucial to nailing exposure on the C100. The LCD screen isn't 100% accurate. The waveform is everything. Read up on how to use it correctly.
- Download this colour profile. Extremely low noise. Lovely colour. Low noise at 6400ISO and beyond. https://t.co/ZY4Itb8X9E
- Nail your white balance! You have exterior shots that look set to 3200K! Stick the the Daylight and Tungsten settings. Custom kelvin input is whack! It doesn't adjust RGB correctly on the C100.
- Practice your colour correction. The first video looks very odd colour wise, not very flattering. If you are a beginner at colour correcting/grading, leave it natural!! The C100 has lovely colour out the box.
- Don't be scared to crank the ISO up (especially with the colour profile I linked to). I'd rather watch a slightly noisy video than an underexposed one.
- Constantly punch-in to check focus using the magnification button.

I think you just need to keep practising. You need to get to the point where you are managing your F-Stop, ISO and white balance, on the fly, without really thinking about it.

Also your second video posted looks 100x better than the first!
 
I've shot around 450 weddings, 50-80 per year for several years. I shoot every wedding by myself with one camera. Shot on the C300 for 3.5 years and now the Mark II. Most of my clients order unedited footage only and some add on a 3-4 minute highlight. My top package is a 6-8 minute highlight. I never edit anything longer than that. finalframe.com/weddings

I use a light about 1 in 20 weddings, or a few times a year. I often shoot 10k and sometimes 20k ISO. My clients are very happy with the final product they get from me.

Low light lenses I take to weddings are Sigma 18-35 1.8, 50 1.2, and 24 1.4. Have no problem shooting wide open and getting great shots. Never AF.
 
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I find it amazing that your clients only want a 3 minute highlight! How much do you charge for that? I usually end up doing a short documentary. I need to adopt your business model.
 
Beeboop said:
I find it amazing that your clients only want a 3 minute highlight! How much do you charge for that? I usually end up doing a short documentary. I need to adopt your business model.
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I was thinking exactly the same thing Beeboop! I've been editing my fingers raw for the last 4 years delivering a highlights film + a pretty epic feature film. My clients are normally over the moon (which is very fulfilling) but it's been a tough living. I've just upped my prices and need to get marketing which should hopefully make things more comfortable but then I saw how much Graham was charging on his website and it blew me away. Like I literally had to take an hour out from editing yesterday just to question what I've been doing with my life lol

End to end I've got it down to about 10 days work for all filming/meetings/editing of 2 films. At 50-80 you must be turning things around in less than 5 days / wedding? I've been playing the game wrong.

So, Graham, please enlighten us man! Your footage looks great but have you found it easy to charge what you do? San Fran is obviously a rich part of the world, so do you think it helps people having so much disposable income? Or is it purely marketing? Any advice you have would be fantastic.

Anyway, apologies for the thread hijack OP! I agreed with everything that has been said so far. I'm guessing you were at the wrong WB and underexposed in your first video and you had a lot of trouble pulling it back to make it look passable. However, your 2nd video is in a different league so you're obviously learning fast. I've learned some hard lessons too, keep getting out there and shooting. Some personal projects to improve would definitely be advisable so that everything comes more naturally when working and you can focus on the art. Also, just to let you know that I never use additional lighting, just fast lenses. There is probably a couple of occasions a year where I have to push the ISO to uncomfortable level, but I've never had negative feedback from a client due to noise.
 
Beeboop said:
This job was free as we were friends from a number of years ago. He said the video was awesome but his future wife didn't like the low lighting shots and I know she's right because I had problems fixing it in post
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Suggest making a B&W version of that engagement party. Never want to fail any gig, & be a good exercise.
 
Well, I have read all the posts with suggestions and I am making this one for you not as a judgement but as advice. I sincerely think you need to put your camera down and look for someone established doing the kind of work you want to do. Find that person and see if you can assist on shoots for a while till you learn the basic things you need to know before selling yourself to another couple to do their wedding. As an optimist, I like to think that a couples wedding will be their first and their last and that video is something that they will treasure for a long time. Nobody wants excuses. I say this because even though I have been shooting for a VERY long time and for a list of impressive names, I don't shoot weddings. I leave that to the pros who do it all the time and do it really well. Even for friends, I suggest they hire someone who does it and offer to edit for them.
 
I just saw an online add for your wedding work Graham. Hah

Also, I wouldn't mind working for anyone else. Know anyone hiring in the Dallas area? While I wouldn't say that I have years of experience, I can say that my previous videos are getting me some decent jobs. I only show potential clients my very last videos because I am picking up fast.
 
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