GH13 Shooting a wedding/GH13

alignment1

alignment1

Well-known member
Hey folks,
I'm shooting my buddy's wedding as a favor. I've never shot at such an event and even though, the bride and groom are happy with the equiv. to home-video coverage, I want to hit all my marks as I would when I'm in the field shooting sports, commercials, etc.

I know there is a community of pro-wedding shooters here, and was wondering if anyone wanted to chime in on some things I should look for when covering the event.

Here's the possible shooting set-up:

GH13 on rails and shoulder mount,
various lenses, i.e. kit 14-140, lumix 7-14, canon fd's 50mm, 24mm, 28,mm.
H4N zoom

either another GH-1(unhacked), or HVX200 on sticks , (wide shot of ceremony from back??)

As of now I'm solo, so take that into consideration when commenting.

I am meeting with bride and groom tonight to go over some of their wants/needs.

Also, might be a dumb question, but what is appropriate attire? Looks like a pretty fancy place, but if I'm run'n gunning I can't be sweating in a tie and jacket. Any thoughts from those of you with experience is good.


Thanks in advance-

Z
 
Unhacked GH1... Id probably go for a GH2 if thats the case.
What you have seems fine, you've got most the low light lenses and some nice Panny lenses to play with.
Im using a similar setup, however no shoulder mount. I've got instead a steadycam, GH2, DIY glidetrack, monopod, and video tripod... and have yet to figure out my second cam... if I even use one. (Single wedding shooter)
I'd say the wide shot should be as high as possible.
The meeting, well... thats your call m8 :P

I have had previous experience, but with a whole crew and much larger clients.

Dai-Lon
http://www.dailonweiss.com/
http://www.kristinaweiss.com/Magyar/
 
I used to work for a company where we shot lots of weddings, quite often for celebs and the wealthy. I still occasionally do the odd one and once in a blue moon for a friend. My experience with this is, you're giving your friends a great gift, but I'm sure they won't want you to miss the day running between cameras and recorders. Keep it intimate and grab the fun stuff that is going to be important to them in the future. Don't treat it as a job and best of luck!
 
daihard said:
Unhacked GH1... Id probably go for a GH2 if thats the case.
http://www.kristinaweiss.com/Magyar/
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No...um , I should be more clear, the gear I have, is the gear I am using. The wedding is next weekend so I won't be scouring the earth for a GH2 to shoot an event that I'm not getting paid for. Plus, I've shot a bevy of professional payed events with both my GH13+HVX200. So, it's not the gear that I'm inquiring about, it's more what are some 'wedding event' specific things I should be looking for whilst shooting.

Sorry to sound salty

Wide shot high as possible? check!:thumbup: that's what I was thinking as well, thanks.
 
AdrianF said:
I used to work for a company where we shot lots of weddings, quite often for celebs and the wealthy. I still occasionally do the odd one and once in a blue moon for a friend. My experience with this is, you're giving your friends a great gift, but I'm sure they won't want you to miss the day running between cameras and recorders. Keep it intimate and grab the fun stuff that is going to be important to them in the future. Don't treat it as a job and best of luck!
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Really good advice, thank you.

"Don't treat it as a job"... good point, but it will be hard not to.

cheers

Z
 
"Don't treat it as a job"... good point, but it will be hard not to.
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Yeah, well if they're good friends you'll want to make it as good as you can. Why not go with a second GH1, with a 50mm or 28mm and the other GH with say the 7-14. You could put this on sticks for the most important parts, then use it later on for running around. You'll have the other GH with the faster prime for the more intimate stuff. Use the recorder just for the ceremony and the toasts/speeches afterwards. Turn up early and shoot loads of b-roll, that way you won't be sweating so much for coverage. Depends on the venue though, but with a lightweight set up like this, you should still be able to enjoy a few drinks with your friends.
 
alignment1 said:
Hey folks,
I'm shooting my buddy's wedding as a favor. I've never shot at such an event and even though, the bride and groom are happy with the equiv. to home-video coverage, I want to hit all my marks as I would when I'm in the field shooting sports, commercials, etc.

I know there is a community of pro-wedding shooters here, and was wondering if anyone wanted to chime in on some things I should look for when covering the event.
Click to expand...

Zack -- you may find this thread from Jeff Harper over at dvinfo helpful. He shoots GH2, but there are a few nuggets there that may be useful for your situation. Good luck.

Bill
 
sort out your must have shots like the "i do"s and wedding rings and make sure you get them. get comfortable with the schedule and location too. the rest depending on size of ceremony and reception and like others have said, go intimate as fillers. get a couple drinks into ya walk, around and converse and film so you don't come across as the "wedding film guy"..lol guests will open up more. most importantly enjoy the day.

I'm no wedding pro but i had to help my friend shoot his sisters wedding as a second camera guy that ended up being the main camera guy. not knowing the schedule and location made it a lot harder than it should have been. I botched up my main part but made up for it in capturing the intimate bits. learn't alot that day.
 
I used a tripod with fluid head (velbon c600) and just one leg extended for a quick setup. When I needed the extra stability for slow pans or the telezoom I went with all three legs. I removed the panhandle(?) to make it more nimble. Lenses used: Vivitar 28-90 and Canon FD 50.4. Since it was a solo job, I also had a GF1 with the 14-45 (plus wide adapter .45) on a gorillapod for more coverage. I'm planning on getting the tokina 11-16 instead. As for attire, always checkered shirts, in case you get in the way of a Canon;) Good luck!
 
If the bride is okay with it, cover her getting ready prior to the ceremony. This is a good time to use all those fancy shallow depth of field effects that'll make the bride look like a dream come true. Get her having her hair & makeup done and also her putting on the dress (or if she's modest, right after she's put it on). Ask her how she's feeling, they'll love to hear what was going on in her head just before she takes the big jump. Just before the ceremony starts, ask the groom for his thoughts too. His anxiety and/or excitement should be pretty high, so his responses could be pretty interesting. Have fun with it, and say or do whatever it takes to keep them in a relaxed, happy state of mind. And remember that a wedding day belongs to the bride, the groom is just an accessory (haha!) - the focus of the video should be slanted towards her feelings, her experience. Don't ignore the groom, but do rely on the bride to drive the emotion of the day (unless, of course, your buddy is a really emotional guy who doesn't mind letting his tears flow).

Rule of thumb: whoever cries gets shot. With a camera, that is. Good luck and happy shooting!

One more thing: if you don't have a video light, get one. You may not get to use it during the ceremony, but if there's a reception, it may prove indispensable for covering speeches and dances.
 
Get plenty of footage of the guests. One remark many have made years later has been "I wish we could see more of grandma" etc.

Toss the coat and tie in the car just in case you get to the reception and feel terribly under dressed. Otherwise the standard black shirt and black slacks is acceptable.

Mic at least the groom and plan on somehow grabbing PA audio too.
 
ChipThome said:
Get plenty of footage of the guests. One remark many have made years later has been "I wish we could see more of grandma" etc.

Toss the coat and tie in the car just in case you get to the reception and feel terribly under dressed. Otherwise the standard black shirt and black slacks is acceptable.

Mic at least the groom and plan on somehow grabbing PA audio too.
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Hey Chip, great to hear from you!

Thanks- yes, I've discussed with wedding dj about tapping into mixer with external recorder. Attire....check!

thanks guys

z
 
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