Evolving a Working Wedding Videography System — insights after Video Wedding #1 this year.
On Saturday I had my first video wedding shoot (technically it was shooting for the venue but still worked it much like I would if I was shooting for the couple with some exceptions).
And, after the event, I gained quite a few insights that I want to share.
Ultimately, the goal is to find a working system of tools and methods for covering a wedding as a videographer/filmmaker. I want to make my wedding videography coverage as instinctive and as seamless as it is to do wedding photography (something I have done for a long time).
I’m trying to find what is the right fit for me and perhaps you will be able to use something from this post.
What worked:
The Sony a7sIII with the 28-70f2 was an absolute dream.
The little Amaran 25C Ace is a champ. I will add a second and will then have a very small lighting package going forward. I will add the grid and pouch on this next one ordered as well as purchase the grid for the one that I already have.
Using tripods throughout the day worked really well. I much prefer this to working with a monopod as I always feel like the monopod is going to get toppled and I never feel like I can get it truly locked off and totally motionless.
My old small Manfrotto 6 1/2 feet collapsible light stands — will throw one more in the kit.
The Zhiyun small quick release for an extension arm (a selfie stick … er, more on THAT later) as well as mounting small lights.
Using the Sony a1 as “the gimbal camera” and kept it on the Ronin RS4 Mini all day. When I needed a gimbal, it was always ready and quickly accessible. When I had a long take such as speeches, ceremony, I could either leave it on the floor using the small tripod feet (which I did since I didn’t have a third tripod) or leave it on a tripod attached with the Falcam F38. BTW if you hate gimbals, the Ronin RS4 Mini will absolutely change your mind.
Using the Falcam F38 shoulder strap clip to hold the Ronin worked superbly and means I don’t have to bring the dedicated Small Rig Strap (just another thing) to carry the gimbal.
Having two Peak Design straps (one Slide Lite and one Leash) worn bandalero style across my body are rather subdued, and a quick way to hold cameras, lenses, and even a camera on a gimbal. Plus they are very quick to change when you want to reconfigure for eye level viewing or shooting with the rear monitor. I have tried numerous straps including the Holdfast Moneymaker (very good but I felt like I couldn’t change off of the strap quickly enough) or the Spyder belt (felt like I was always going to drop a camera from my hand when using these). I needed a system that allows me to go from camera strap, to tripod, to monopod, to gimbal with a literal snap. The F38 Falcam system does just that.
What did not work :
The two small Sirui travel tripods were just a little too small. I didn’t want to leave any gear on them without being in sight for fear that they might get bumped and topple. With the a7sIII and the 28-70 f2 it puts a bit more weight on them but the fx30 and Tamron 17-70 is pretty light, though I wish it had a tripod collar as the lens makes it a bit front heavy. I am going to try a new tripod and I will see if it’s going to be “the one” going forward. Also, the video head on the tripods (a Sirui VA5 is very good but heavy and the Neewer leveling plate is also heavy making the unit bigger still and even MORE top-heavy. The new tripods coming in this week *should* eliminate this problem. We shall see. The key thing is that they have to be shorter than 20”, and less “faffing” around with adjustments as was the case using the leveling plate and the pan/tilt head.
The older Versa-flex sling bag got heavy on my walk from the venue back to the car. Even though it had a relatively light payload. I thought maybe a smaller type of sling bag to carry would be the answer, but after the walk back I know that is NOT the answer. What is the answer? Having things fit into a small Pelican roller case so it means things have to be less than 20” long to make it work. That way it will be one backpack with cameras, lenses and gear and one Pelican roller to get all the gear to the event. I don’t want a cart, I don’t want three huge “video” tripods and I don’t want to be using the aputure 60x this year.
My 24 bit audio recorder (Tascam 40x). I mean it worked, but it is a PITA to use. I have had it for years and I NEVER liked it. I find the menus still very confusing — I need to get either the new Tascam 32 bit float recorder (DR-AV2), or a Zoom F3 which is Gero proof.
A selfie stick for an extension arm on the nightstands. The good side of the Manfrotto travel stands is they work well and are small to pack, but they’re short (6 1/2 feet). I tried using a self stick as an extension arm and while it works okay, I still feel the light attached is still pushing the weight limits. Those selfie sticks are really meant for iPhones, and GoPros. So what I did a couple days earlier (and what arrived after I got home) was order an extension arm that looks like a real tripod. It’s aluminum and gives another two feet. While the Manfrotto is still not meant for really heavy lights, I think I will even be able to hold a Godox ad200 and maybe a small umbrella (probably not a big heavy soft box, though). But it will still allow me to keep the gear requirements down. This is the one, that I got. Once I saw it, I immediately ordered a second I felt like it was the perfect arm for what I need:
I need to add some fluroescent gaffers tape. While working at a really dark venue such as the Orpheum I noticed how they were using this type of tape to help make things more clear. While I had yellow gaffers on my tripods and my light stand, I still don’t think they were bright enough. And, if I need to tape the legs of the lightstand to the floor, I want to make sure that the tape is seen.
Not having a full frame lens for the Sony a1 gimbal camera. I used a 11mm f1.8 Sony E mount lens and it is good, but it means I can only use it in aps-c mode on the a1 and really can’t use it on the fx3 or a7sIII because in video mode they don’t really do aps-c (they you could use Clear Image zoom on those, but then you lose eye AF in video). The answer is something in the wide angle range — a full frame 16 1.8 is probably the best and most cost effective strategy. It’s about $798 new and can be used on Full Frame and aps-c cameras (it will crop in to approximate a 24mm focal length on APS-C). While I have thought about a 16-35 f2.8 (I used to own the GM and sold it and GMII is great and light but more than I want to spend for a lens that I don’t use a lot. I also considered the 16-25 f2.8 G but I have heard some reports of barrel distortion. The size is good and the price is good. The fast 16mm prime, however, makes the most sense as it is a focal length that I rarely use unless it is to shoot interiors, a Timelapse or a reveal with a gimbal. Plus the aps-c cropped 24mm would be helpful and useful too on the FX30 or the aps-c mode of the a1.
As nice as it was to limit myself to primarily shooting with the 28-70 and 17-17 (on the fx30, the equivalent of a 25-105), I still found myself wishing for just a bit more reach. My 70-200 was left at home and the same with the 135 — they are both great, but they add a lot of weight and take up space in a bag when trying to keep things small. Still, I think the lens that would be a perfect compliment to that 28-70 would be the 50-150 f2. Having the zoom range would be helpful. I know there’s always give and take in the photo and video world about folks using prime (fixed focal length lenses) or zooms. As the zooms have gotten spectacularly good and fast aperture, the reasons for me wanting to use primes become negated. In fact, with the exception of the 135 1.8 GM, I have no GM primes anymore. And the 135 would be sold to make room for the 50-150. Yes, I believe it’s that good and losing the 1/3 of a stop is negligible given the compositional advantages in fast moving situations.
I have to figure out a lighter solution for audio cables — they take up far too much space and weight.
On camera audio needs to get standardized. I have a ECM-B10 Sony shot gun mike and it is good and small and works simply. I also have an XLR-K3M and while it works well, it is big and draws attention. On the other camera I used a small Rode Micro. The problem with the Rode is that you have to constantly be keeping an eye on the audio, unlike the Sony which I use in auto mode. On the gimbal a1, I had no audio just taking in scratch audio from the camera’s on board. Like the Rode Micro, you have to keep an eye on audio levels especially during a musical performance.
Plan going forward:
Get 16mm f1.8 G prime lens
Get 50-150 f2 GM zoom lens (sell 135 1.8, and 70-200 f2.8 GM)
Get another Amaran Ace 25C light
Get a 32 bit float recorder (preferably one that also does timecode for future use: leaning towards the Tascam DR-AV2 or even the Zoom H1 XLR (I know many reviewers do NOT like it, but it may work just fine and is priced well (about $150).
Add 3 tripods that are quick to deploy, sturdy and will fit within a 20” case (ORDERED and TBD)
Add another extension arm to use on the 6 1/2 travel stands. (DONE)
Add a tripod collar to the Tamron 17-70 (found one! It’s the same one that I used on the 135 1.8 GM so I already had it!)
Check out the Sony ECM-M1 and the ECM-G1. The M1 is about $300 while the G1 is half the price. The M1 is probably their best little shotgun, but I would rather test and see if the G1 will do the job. I could get two for the price of one and they could become the audio gathering standard for the cameras. The other option is to not use any microphones to keep a really low (non-videographer) form factor and use some furry wind screens over the camera mikes. That’s the one thing I noticed when outside and shooting video on the gimbal a1 is that I heard wind noise. My hunch is that the G1 will be the hot set up and then I would get one for each of the cameras.
Sony Alpha Universe post on My Most Meaningful Photo of the Year
Lake Mills HS FB Coach Tyler Huber rides the bus with his team enroute to what would be their final game of the season in the third round of the playoffs against rival Lodi.
Frame grab from a Sony a7SIII with 24-70mm f2.8 GM II lens on a DJI Ronin RS3 Gimbal shot at 4K.
Here’s my longer post about the project which goes more into detail about some of the tools and techniques and distinctions that I gained from this project:
This year was full of wonderful weddings, portraits, and commercial work, but the project that was the most meaningful was my video-only project documenting the entire season of our local high school football team in a project I called “A Season With the L-Cats, 2022”.
Our town is small (6200 people) and located in south central Wisconsin and is sports crazy (in a good way) Football is probably the biggest sport for our town as in many towns across the country. We even have a true cross-town rival that is literally a walk across the street from our campus.
When head coach Tyler Huber reached out in the spring asking if I had any video from the previous season, I shared a couple of shorts that I did as little “concept videos”. They were rather raw, but he loved what he saw.
I asked if he would allow me access to document the team behind the scenes from the beginning of the season until the end and he was an enthusiastic yes. To my wife’s chagrin (she knows that she’ll be a “Friday night widow” during football season), it was a go!
I set out on this project for a few reasons:
One, I wanted to do a deep dive, BTS of the season so people could see and understand the glory as well as the pain that these kids go through. Football, I believe, is America’s game and the teamwork, camraderie and sheer brute force of the game is fascinating.
My primarily love over my career is documentary projects and particularly of sports. I have documented three previous football seasons (though primarily with still photos — two for Tesoro HS in CA and the 2019 L-Cats in our first fall back in Wisconsin) so this was my first doing all video.
Two, I wanted to fine tune and hone my video skills so that I could be as confident shooting video as I am shooting stills.
And three, I wanted to get significantly better and faster at video editing.
At the heart I believe that all photographers will become videographers if not now then some time in the future and I want to embrace what I consider to be inevitable.
I believe the project was successful on all fronts.
There were moments of great joy and sadness over the course of the season that I witnessed on the field and behind the scenes. From season-ending injuries for some players, to overcoming all odds and beating a dreaded rival at Homecoming, there was the full gamut of emotions.
As the season progressed, my shooting skills became significantly stronger, I believe. And while I’m not quite as “unconscious” (in a good way) as I am with shooting stills only, by the end of the season I found my groove and what proved to be my preferred working method.
(That method was a Sony a7SIII with a 24-70mm f2.8 GM II on a Ronin DJI RS3 gimbal with the “secret weapon”, the DJI Twist Grip Dual Handle that I supported by attaching a Peak Design Slide Lite strap (two small rig D-Ring screws were attached to the Twist Grip). The second camera was a Sony a1 handheld (on Active Stabilization) with a 70-200 f2.8 GM II with a Sony 1.4X tele extender. That gave me a bit more reach and then a fixed f4 aperture.)
For frame rates, I found that 60P worked best for me when shooting action and I preferred shooting the locker room at 24P.
I used a Rode Go II for part of the season with a small Rode Micro or Deity D4 mini attached to the camera using a Rode splitter cable. This allowed me to get a track of audio from the Rode Go transmitter and then a track of audio for the shotgun. That was on the gimbal camera.
On the a1 with the longer lens, I usually used a small shotgun microphone or, later in the season, I added the Sony ECM-B10(?) for high quality audio through the MIS hotshoe.
(I also tried a DJI Microphone over the season and found that I was having some issues with a too loud signal, which may very well have been my problem of having the gain too high on the camera. Both the Rode GO II and the DJI Mic record the audio track as well as transmit the signal so you have a back up…while not a 32 bit float recording unit, it does very well. )
The third and final goal from the project was to increase my speed, quality and confidence of editing (in Final Cut ProX).
I would guess that by the end of the season my editing time per episode was cut by 30-50% if not more. I also got better at exposure at capture plus having a better sense of what I wanted and needed for the particular episode as well as having a running catalogue in my brain about what had already been done.
Bottom line with editing, I found: Quick keys are your friend and learning the basics such as setting an in point (I) and out point (O) and then favoriting a clip (F) were critical but some less well-known quick keys such as Option-Left Bracket (to delete all the footage BEFORE the playhead on a clip) and Option - Right Bracket (to delete all the footage AFTER the playhead on a clip).
Learning those last two commands probably saved me and my wrists from the tedious task of using the blade tool, highlighting the clip, and then selecting the gap to delete.
I am extremely grateful to Tyler Huber, the head coach, as well as the rest of his coaching crew, Athletic Director Steve Considine and the school administrators who graciously allowed my presence during the season from the first day I showed up (in the rain) to the heart-break of losing to Lodi in the third round of the playoffs.
I also want to thank the players, student trainers and their parents for allowing me to document this aspect of their lives. The kids were open to the project without any hesitation and just did their thing while I did mine all through the season. I can only suspect that it had to be hard knowing I was there for the heartbreak as well as the joy, and yet they were great sports about it.
This labor of love project showed the capabilities of these Sony cameras and lenses and what can be done by a one-person crew. It was a tremendous experience and only makes me want to do more of this type of work in the future.
This image is of Coach Huber quietly riding the team bus to what would be the final game of the year, their playoff loss to rival Lodi High School.
Shot with the Sony a7SIII, 24-70mm f2.8 GM II on a DJI Ronin RS3 gimbal using PP11 (S-Cinetone).
Sony's announced the new 24-70mm f2.8 G Master II lens today....
...and it is everything I had hoped it would be.
It's 22% lighter than the original 24-70 GM and this one comes in at 695 grams (1.5 pounds). The original is 18% larger and came in weighing at 1.9 pounds or 886 grams).
User reports that the lens feels more balanced and less front heavy, something that Sony has been doing since the launch of the 400 2.8 G Master which spread out the lens elements so that weight was more evenly distributed.
It's also got improved focus motors, newly added control of the zooming mechanism (Smooth and Tight)
The lens also has a mechanical aperture ring and the ability to de click the aperture like most of the recent G Master lenses have contained.
Sony reports that they have improved focus breathing in video and the breathing compensation with the Sony a7IV works so that should improve performance of these still lenses when used for video production.
All in all, it is a worthy update and one I will get. Yesterday I had a video shoot and used the a7SIII and the 16-35 2.8 GM and the 24-105 G OSS (mostly this one) on the gimbal all day.
For video I really like this 24-70, 24-105 range when using a gimbal. For me, it just works especially in fast, run-and-gun situations like a wedding or event.
If you want to see some good information on the new lens, go first to AlphaUniverse site for the overview:
Then the Matt Johnson YouTube video is very good (and he's not a real 24-70 f2.8 fan)...
I love Matt's reviews because he is a person who uses the tools for paying client work and that gives him real credibility in my eyes.
Gerald Undone does great technical reviews, and here is his:
There are more of course and you can find them at youtube https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=sony+24-70+gm+ii
What are your thoughts on this lens? Please comment below!
Taylor + Lucien's Winter Wedding at The Tinsmith
For the second Saturday in a row, I had another lovely wedding on a cold and clear winter day.
Taylor and Lucien were married in front of family and friends at the Tinsmith in Madison, a modern and industrial venue site on the east side.
Lucien and his groomsmen got ready at home along with their two gregarious large dogs Tizzie and Stanley. The men watched golf on the big screen as the dogs went from person to person looking for attention.
The girls were staying downtown at the AC Hotel just off the square and had hair and make up done at a nearby salon, Arch Apothecary.
On the 9th floor of the hotel, there is a stunning view of the Capitol and it was the location where they had their first look as well as a private reading of their vows.
From there, the couple and the bridal party headed for the East Steps of the Capitol, just a couple blocks away. The dogs were brought there by a friend and stayed focused in the cold for a few minutes as they were photographed with the couple.
Then the bridal party came out for a very brief group portrait — the cold was bitter and the wind blowing making anything longer difficult.
It was off to the Tinsmith for indoor family portraits and the final preparations for the ceremony that started at 5 pm.
As guests arrived the excitement grew and the ceremony began. Taylor’s friend from fifth grade, Kat performed the ceremony.
At the last minute, they decided to read their vows (the ones that they had read earlier in private at the hotel). They were personal and poignant and led to happy tears.
And just like that, they were married and the party began.
I had first met them in early 2020 and they had originally planned for a March 2021 wedding but it was postponed due to the pandemic. Thankfully they were able to celebrate their day surrounded by a group of friends and family that had an incredible time dancing and partying late into the night.
Congratulations to the couple and thank you for having me and second photographer Wendy document the day!
#sonyalpha #sonya9II #sonya1 #sonya7sIII #wisconsinweddingphotographer #weddingphotography #winterwedding
The Think Tank Retrospective 7 -- Rekindling my affection for a run and gun wedding bag
I hope you're having a great start to your week.
It's a cold day here in Wisconsin and we're expecting a storm this afternoon -- pretty common for a midwest winter day. At the local coffee shop and having a hot chocolate.
On Saturday I had another winter wedding (which is rather amazing because I have probably had more weddings in Wisconsin in February this year than I ever remember having in CA during a February when we lived there).
For the past couple weddings I have been using a shoulder bag that I have owned for a several year but haven't used much of late.
That bag? The Think Tank Retrospective 7 (in black).
Mine is the version one, and the version two looks to be a solid upgrade. https://www.thinktankphoto.com/collections/retrospective-series?rfsn=140905.1cb641 (this is an affiliate link).
What made me bring this back into the rotation? I had been using a bag from another manufacturer and that bag is very contemporary and stylish. The thing is that I found it difficult to simply "jam" gear into and out of it as is common when you are in a run-and-gun world of weddings.
The other bag's tighter configuration made it tougher to grab and go that is my (bad) habit from years of newspaper work.
That bag is more like skinny jeans and I guess my Think Tank is more like cargo pants.
The Think Tank just has a little bit more room for lenses and other accessories and is not much bigger so it works incredibly well as a day long carry (using the bag slung across my right shoulder, bag on the left side).
The Retrospective lines harken back to the original canvas bag that many of my contemporaries from the news biz used back in the 80s and 90s -- the ubiquitous Domke bag. Domke was named after the Philadelphia Inquirer news photographer (Jim Domke) who designed and manufactured the bag before selling the brand a long time ago.
Think Tank is often known for their great rollers (which is well deserved) but for folks that like to work out a small shoulder bag that has real utility, I encourage you to look at the Retrospective Series because I think they are superb.
Hope you have a great week!!
Paul