Tips for shooting a wedding with DSLRs

Daviesgeek

Daviesgeek

Active member
I was just asked to shoot a wedding this coming weekend. This is my first wedding so I'm looking for some specifics tips on shooting a wedding with DSLRs. I'm planning on having a 60D, a T2i, and a higher end camcorder. Soundwise, I plan to record audio from the soundboard, and have a shotgun mic on one or two of the cameras. What are some tips for shooting a wedding for a first timer? I'm flying blind right now, although I have been doing a lot of research; watching tutorials/wedding videos, reading articles, but any tips I can get would be greatly appreciated.
 
For the best audio, try to see if you can stick a lav mic on the groom or priest and you could pick up the bride also. The most important thing is having more than one shooters. There are a lot of cons with shooting DSLR and so having more than one shooters can help a lot. Having a shotgun mic on camera wouldn't really do much since it is too far away from the action. I would just put the agc on and leave it at that.

You need to know exactly what the bride and groom is doing at all time, and what they're going to be doing next. It doesn't matter how you get the information (from the wedding planner or from the bride and groom), just get it.

Your lens choice is also extremely important. Canon 70-200 f 2.8 is always useful. Also get some fast f 1.4 lenses because receptions tend to get dark.

Stick your camera on tripod or a monopod to move around easier. The smoothness of your shot is what separating you from uncle Joe Blow and his camcorder.

Now, what's going to improve your skill is the creative shots. ie: sliders, steadicam, racking focus. Just watch wedding videos on vimeo to get an eye for it.
 
3 cameras, 1 shooter and first time doing a wedding video? Wow. That's going to be really tough. You risk being out of your depth.

Some good advice from Victor, the only thing I'll add is to make sure you're very clear about the schedule of the day. Weddings have a tendency to be somewhat unpredictable and you'll have no second chances if you miss something so make sure you're on the ball.
 
Rent the 24 1.4 for the reception. When I had crop cameras I would shoot entire receptions with that lens because light gets so low.
 
Well, the wedding is over and done :) So, no going back. Overall, I feel good about it. The one thing that I'm still kicking myself for is the toasts. I missed the toasts because my camera was acting up. I needed to have more than one going at one time. However, I've got a solution for it and the groom (who hired me) is pretty chill about the event in general, though I haven't told him yet about the toasts.

Victor Nhat Nguyen said:
For the best audio, try to see if you can stick a lav mic on the groom or priest and you could pick up the bride also. The most important thing is having more than one shooters. There are a lot of cons with shooting DSLR and so having more than one shooters can help a lot. Having a shotgun mic on camera wouldn't really do much since it is too far away from the action. I would just put the agc on and leave it at that.
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I just recorded the sound off the soundboard. The officiant had a mic on and it picked up the vows, so I was good there. I did have a shotgun mic on my main angle, but it was recording split sound (L: internal, R: external), so I have sound.

Victor Nhat Nguyen said:
You need to know exactly what the bride and groom is doing at all time, and what they're going to be doing next. It doesn't matter how you get the information (from the wedding planner or from the bride and groom), just get it.
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Good thing to know! :) I knew the ceremony pretty well; I went to the dress rehearsal the night before. As I said before though, I'm kicking myself for not getting the toasts.

Victor Nhat Nguyen said:
Your lens choice is also extremely important. Canon 70-200 f 2.8 is always useful. Also get some fast f 1.4 lenses because receptions tend to get dark.
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I ended up with 3 DSLRs and a camcorder. The DSLRs had lenses as follows: 50mm 1.8, 18-55mm 3.5-5.6, 18-135mm 3.5-5.6. It was pretty good, though, as you said, the reception was dark; not too dark though. The 18-135mm 3.5-5.6 performed pretty well at the reception and provided great coverage.

Victor Nhat Nguyen said:
Stick your camera on tripod or a monopod to move around easier. The smoothness of your shot is what separating you from uncle Joe Blow and his camcorder.
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I had two DSLRs on tripods, a camcorder on a tripod, and one DSLR handheld/Steadicam.

Victor Nhat Nguyen said:
Now, what's going to improve your skill is the creative shots. ie: sliders, steadicam, racking focus. Just watch wedding videos on vimeo to get an eye for it.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately, I didn't have time to do enough creative stuff with this wedding. I'm still learning the ropes, and didn't know where/how far to go with moving around during the ceremony. Next time, I'll be a little more disruptive, because I know I can. :) The photographer was in-your-face disruptive, so I know I can do some of that.
 
grantw said:
Rent the 24 1.4 for the reception. When I had crop cameras I would shoot entire receptions with that lens because light gets so low.
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Like I said in the other post, I didn't actually have a really hard time getting the reception. I was using an 18-135mm 3.5-5.6, and it was pretty good. Thanks for the tip though!
 
Mike Lorushe said:
3 cameras, 1 shooter and first time doing a wedding video? Wow. That's going to be really tough. You risk being out of your depth
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It ended up being 4 cameras, and three shooters :) It was pretty good as far as I know. I haven't gone into post production yet, but from what I saw, it was pretty good.

Mike Lorushe said:
Some good advice from Victor, the only thing I'll add is to make sure you're very clear about the schedule of the day. Weddings have a tendency to be somewhat unpredictable and you'll have no second chances if you miss something so make sure you're on the ball.
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As I said before, I learned that! :) Thanks for the tip though!
 
Yes! I'm in the process of editing it now.
Here are my main take aways:

1. Be really, really prepared. Be prepared to be behind a camera for a long time.
2. Have several fulltime people to help you and you only. I had several people helping, but it was hard because they had other duties (kitchen, etc....)
3. Scout out the place beforehand so you know where to place shots. I did this, and was sooooo glad I did.

There are probably more and I'll amend this list as I formulate my thoughts more...
 
sounds like my first wedding. I had 3 cameras rolling including a gopro hero 3 :). for the reception, Id use at least 2 cameras. Leave one pointing at the BG table all night and then run around with another. Sound is important. Have backups for your backups.

you have a highlight video you can post?
 
A novel/book could be written (and have been) on dslr wedding videography when you get into everything, but just a few quick tips I found helpful when starting out. Get a shoulder mount, can use either whole wedding or in combo with tripod. I used to use a cheap $180 Opteka C300 which was phenomenal build/value for the price and got some super smooth footage, great for reception dances when there's alot of moving around. However, I would recommend getting a followfocus if you plan on doing this, it's impossible to focus while using one of these without one. LCD is optional but I would make the investment if you are going to be doing alot of these. As far as lenses, same as what was said earlier...1.2 or 1.4 primes for the low light situations. I'd get a light or two as well for the reception dances depending on the amount of light, (colortran are vintage lamps and can be bought cheaply on ebay for $20-$40). As far as audio, use both directional mics and lavaliers, for the lavaliers I just wirelessly connect it to my zoom h4n near the stage/ceremony area or stick it on the podium for receptions.

Good luck and have fun with it :)
 
aonavy said:
you have a highlight video you can post?
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No not yet. I just finished editing the actual ceremony and I'm starting to work on the reception. Since I'm a junior in high school, I don't have much time ;) and the groom and bride are okay with it.
 
MattMyster said:
I used to use a cheap $180 Opteka C300 which was phenomenal build/value for the price and got some super smooth footage, great for reception dances when there's alot of moving around. However, I would recommend getting a followfocus if you plan on doing this, it's impossible to focus while using one of these without one.
Click to expand...

I actually used a $25 cheap stabilizer made out of metal pipes and a 2.5 pound weight, but the Opteka rig looks really sweet. (side note: it's the Opteka CSX-300)
 
Hell yeah!, looking good man! i'm 15 and i shot a wedding last fall for fun, and i definatly enjoyed it, all i had to work with was my little everio camcorder + tripod but it was for fun and for family so no pressure just alot of fun, we all flew down to Malaga, Spain for the weekend and i basically filmed ALOT, including the ceremony etc, but in my opinion the shots of my little nephews running around and having food smudged all over their faces definatly made the video worthwile, I might wanna get into wedding videography later on, we'll see, good luck with the edit!
 
Sweet! Stick with it as long as you enjoy it :) you won't be disappointed. Nothing better than completing a large project and pleasing a client.
 
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