Shooting a wedding... prepare, and then be flexible

I got the chance to shoot my wife's cousins wedding and reception on last Saturday.  I felt like I really had my stuff together and was as prepared as I could have been.  It felt like it was planning for going into battle.  All the things that I have read and learned from all sorts of sources on the internet made my time really enjoyable, and challenging.  So I tried to do it all.  Shoot video and shoot photos.  I kick myself for missing things, or wishing I had X piece of equipment handy, or not doing more.  I look back now and realize that I could have done so much more.  But all that doesn't matter now.  All I can do is put together the best possible video and edit the best possible photos to capture the day.  In the end, I loved it, and I think they will love the final product too.

Here is what I came away with for the video:
Here is the link in case the video doesn't play. http://5d2.smugmug.com/Weddings/Jen-Wedding/i-R8gpQJd/0/1080/JenWeddingCompilation-1080.mp4

Here are the photos:
http://5d2.smugmug.com/Weddings/Jen-Wedding

Things I did right
I brought almost everything that I own, equipment wise.
I made a shot list for all of the "wedding events" so that I knew what was coming, and what was left.
I watch other wedding videos to get ideas.
I made people laugh and got some very good shots.
I didn't settle with good enough shots, I took on complex shots that paid off.
I stayed out of the way.  I did my thing, and hopefully was not distracting to the guests.
I got all the shots on my shots list.

Things I did wrong
I left the Zoom H4N on Phantom power, which sucked the batteries dry in minutes, not hours.  Lost audio files of the ceremony because of that.
I didn't carry both cameras with me at all times.  I should have.  I need a belt/holder for second and third cameras.
I didn't start the GoPro because of my fear of running out of battery in the middle of the ceremony, and I didn't have any good spot, or way to mount the camera in trees.
I didn't bring an assistant to hold a reflector or a diffuser.
I didn't set the shutter speed and ISO on some of the inside shots and got harsh shadows.   Single flash system does not hold up well with large wedding parties.
I didn't balance the stabilizer to perfection so I had to post stabilize.
I didn't use the jib for the wedding ceremony, to get shots over the crowd standing for the bride entering. Although, this was probably good since I would have had to change the depth of focus and could have really screwed it up.

Things that I learned
In the end, I am happy with what I was able to do.  It was worth the hours of planning, the equipment testing. But here are the little things that I learned along the way.

1. Don't try to be the photographer and the videographer.  You really need multiple cameras and multiple people shooting to do video well.  There are so many angles, and movements that you need to do with video to make it interesting.  And of course to capture all the little moments you really need a dedicated photographer.  Switching back and forth, and making sure all the settings for the cameras switch as well, is not a good place to be in.  It can be done, but I would not recommend it.  Also, don't try to shoot anything if you are suppose to be in it.

2. Don't let the batteries run out on a Zoom H4N while recording.  If you do, take out the card and put a new card in so that you have a chance of recovering what you did record.  There is a good chance you can, but not if you replace the batteries and continue recording to the same card.  Don't leave phantom power on, if you aren't using a powered condenser mic.  I had the Sennheiser G3 wireless mics that don't need phantom power, and I left it on and got maybe 30 minutes of record time.

3. Learn how to make people laugh.  People are usually pretty solemn at weddings, but if you bring out the joy, however you can, you will be remembered and you will get shots that look like people are really glad to be there.

4. Plan ahead as much as possible.  Get there early, and if possible, go there before hand to scout out the great locations for shots. If you are looking for good spots while people are waiting for you, they will get bored and frustrated.

5. Learn how to direct people to do what you want.  Chin down, turn to your left, step forward need to be direct and assertive.  For those few moments, you are the boss and you can't be timid about asking for what you want.  This does mean that you have to do it in a way that stops people relaxed and happy.  Don't be a photo Nazi. Be a stewardess on a first class flight to Hawaii.  Happy people make better photos and video.

6. Don't waste people's time trying to get your camera to work.  You should take a test shot as people are gathering for you, check the settings to make sure you know what is best for the situation, and then shoot.  Talk to people while you are shooting so that they have some feedback.  If you are stuck staring at the back of your camera, or spending time adjusting things, people will get bored and not listen.

7. With large groups of people, take lots of shots.  If there are kids in the shot, don't try to hard to make them look at you, chances are that if you are being entertaining to the group, the kids will look as well.  So catch them when they do by taking more shots.  If you are any good with Photoshop, you will be able to edit the perfect shot with a composite of multiple shots.
 
8. Make sure you set expectations up front.  Shooting is about 1/6 the battle.  Remember that for every good picture, I spend about 10 minutes per photo.  From every 1 minute of good video, I spend about 6 minutes of editing.  So, why does that matter? Because you want to set expectations about what it will take before someone is going to get your final product(s).

Canon 5D Mark III with Magic Lantern In-depth review

Hi all, Dave here.  For a very informative and very helpful review for anyone looking at the decision to buy the Canon EOS 5D Mark III camera, watch the video.

For those that like to read, here is a summary text of the review.
Reasons why I was looking at the 5D Mark III to replace my 7D.
1. Moire and poor anti-aliasing.
2. Lens purchase decisions fork in the road (crop vs full frame)
Compared to the 7D, the 5D Mark III is better at everything, higher quality build, built for video, full HDMI out.  Then came the 6D, full frame.  Mega pixels, focus, no headphone jack, but GPS, Wifi, didn't have the video quality of the 5D Mark III.
Compared to 5D Mark III and the Cinema series C300, C500 to get to 4K $$$ and missing features

And then came Magic Lantern video raw...
 -24fps 14bit raw video that blows away 8bit compressed video and competes with RED at least at 1080P
 -Promise of even better future... MLV format, ISO less HDR video (14 stops of dynamic range), compressed RAW, Sound, stabilized features/bugs

Things I love about the 5D Mark III
Camera features:
 -focus speed, FPS photos, auto-focus settings
 -no aliasing, no moire,
 -sensor is better, beautiful photos,
 -less noise at high ISO
 -600EX flash, High speed sync,
Magic Lantern features:
 -video quality
 -color depth 14bit amazing dynamic range ,
 -focus peaking,
 -zoom, mixed with 70-200 IS II L, amazing 600mm Zoomed video at F2.8
 -intravalometer,
 -histogram,
 -scopes,
 -advanced bracketing,

Things you will have to live with...
It is not perfect... yet.
- Setup/install/update of Magic Lantern not for the weak (hard to find and know the instructions are correct)
- Upgrades fixed pink frames but removed audio
- Raw video post processing steps/time (Rawanizer -> After Effects/Camera Raw-> Premiere)
- No audio sync, all separate and external (Zoom H4N)
- Sometimes flaky (video recording errors, pink frames, slow to start recording)
- 11 minutes of video per 64GB better know what you want and not waste time rolling
- Shooting Raw video in full hot sun temp issues

Is it worth it...
 - Resounding YES!  For the price and the quality and features, YES, you would have to spend $$$$$ on RED + accessories to get the quality with not all of the features (no photos), or double on Black Magic Cinema and get a cropped lens coverage with less features (no photos).

Accessories that you have to have:
 - A video editing capable computer to process the Raw video
 - Komputerbay 64GB(1000x) $120 or 256GB (1200x) $600
 - CarrySpeed VF-3 (used to see live video focus peaking)
 - Zoom H4N, H1, H6 (Quality sound recording)
 - Tripod with a Fluid head for smooth video pans

Audio Technica PRO88W-830-24 battery powered wireless transmitter and receiver in-depth review

Audio Technica PRO88W-830-24 Pro 88W Wireless Microphone
So you are thinking about wireless audio options for Canon DSLR

Reasons that I thought about buying…
So if you have watched my review on Zoom H4N, you know that using a separate Audio recorder is probably the way to go for capturing high quality audio.  The next problem that I ran into is being able to record audio from a distance without running a wire and carrying around a microphone. The main things that I needed were the ability to run on batteries and keep the weight down as low as possible.  I looked at the options with Sennheiser and some of other lower cost options.  As you can tell from my other reviews.  I tend to try and save as much money as I can.  I want the quality and features but at the lowest cost. Even though I read several reviews on this product, I thought that for my needs, it would work out.

Here is what I actually use it for.....
I found that for interview and training types of videos, I use this as the main input for mic'ing and ultimately sending the audio into my Zoom H4N.  If I want the flexibility of moving around, without moving a mic, I use this a lot. I will typically mount the zoom on top of the hot shoe on top of the camera and then mount the receiver to the bottom of the Zoom.  This doesn't cover all things and the one area that I am lacking is news interview style where I use a lav mic for myself and a handheld for people I want to interview.  Because of this, I haven't done any of this style of interviewing.  Just as well because it really requires multiple people for a camera man and talent.  I did my research to compare multiple systems and although the Audio-Technica is not the best, the distance that I typically shoot works alright.

Here are the things I didn't expect or didn't like...
I didn't expect the audio quality to be great, but I didn't expect the level of noise that is introduced because of the radio signal.  I also didn't expect the level of radio interference that can happen at really short distances.  Computer equipment, some lights, cell phones, all of these things can disrupt the signal.  And not having the option to change the signal beyond an A/B switch is not enough to get to the best possible clear signal.  I have found that when I shoot around lots of computer equipment, cell phones, walls, and other interference, I have to test and move the position of the receiver a lot.  This is not a fun process.  I typically have to be within a few feet in order to keep the signal from being static ee.  In open air though, across 30 feet, it does pretty well.  

Here are the super cool things that I love about it...
I love not being tethered to the camera, once I find the right (non-interference spot), turning on all the signal chain and the camera and then knowing that it will work.  I haven't had any problems with cables, or even the mic, although I haven't ever stretched to any heat or cold limitations.  The batteries last quite a while, several hours, without worry. Just don't forget to turn it off.  For the price, it was a good purchase.  For the amount of headache of checking for interference, and doing takes that end up screwed up because of signal interference, I can't really recommend this product.  If you want rock solid and flexibility, it looks like spending the extra money is well worth it.  I will be upgrading to a the Sennheiser system for the future.
 
Common settings that I use...
Only has an A/B switch for channels
Levels can be adjusted but I never have from out of the box.

Zoom H4N in-depth review

So you are thinking about getting an audio recorder for Canon DSLR with the Zoom H4N

Reasons that I thought about buying…
So if you have watched my review on Canon 7D here, you know that using the on-camera mic is not great.  I knew that I needed to add-on to the camera to allow for better audio recording.  I read review after review of people discussing an on-camera mic, but I really wanted the added flexibility of multiple channels of audio.  I wanted to be able to plug-in multiple mic's for field recording and I wanted it to be simple.  Funny story, I actually got my wife to agree to getting it because she was a big fan of Ghost hunting.  I told her that she could use it as a great EVP recorder.  Turns out, it's a horrible EVP recorder, because of it's high quality, the chances of "interference" causing "unknown" sounds to be recorded is pretty low. That being said, the Zoom H4N has become the de-facto standard of off camera audio recording.  There are many imitators out there, and even Zoom is trying to up-sell people to the new Zoom H6N that is about to be released.  But the abilities of this little recorder make it flexible enough to do just about anything.

Here is what I actually use it for.....
I use this as the main input for mic'ing and ultimately sending the audio into my camera.  The nice part of this is that I can record multiple mic inputs at the same time either on multiple channels or just from the x/y stereo mic on the zoom.  I will typically mount the zoom on top of the hot shoe on top of the camera if I am running and gunning or shooting an event like sports or concert type events.  It captures the stereo field rather nicely, and also has the ability to set limiting and compression for those moments that you want the maximum audio signal that you can.  In more advanced setups for interviews or training videos I usually run a separate condenser mic in order to get closer to the subject.  Originally, even though you could have this as a recorder, plugging into the Canon 7D directly out of the Zoom required a intermediate device or cable in order to cancel out the AGC from the 7D.  I bought a JuicedLink device to have the signal on half of the stereo channel to max out in order to allow the signal be controlled on one channel.  Now with the latest 2.0 firmware for the 7D, you just need to set the levels in the camera to Manual and then make sure the levels in the camera are set to not peak, and in the Zoom both the record level and the headphone out level so that the camera does not peak out anywhere along the audio chain.

Here are the things I didn't expect or didn't like...
Learning the menu system and learning the different options in the Zoom can take some time.  Recording multiple inputs at the same time with multiple mic's can be a bit tricky.  The Zoom also has updated the firmware to allow for setting input levels while recording multiple sources.  I highly recommend updating if you want to do multiple mic setups.  The biggest surprise was when I accidentally tipped my camera bag over into a river at the top of a waterfall.  The Zoom went off the 100 foot waterfall and survived the fall, not even a scratch on it.  I did the bury it in rice for a couple of days trick to get the water out.  And to my surprise, it worked.  Even the microphones sound no worse for wear.  I have used the Zoom in meetings, concerts, interviews, and in cold and hot weather.  It just works.  I haven't come across any flaws that I can find.  The only thing that I had to do is get a fuzzy wind screen.  The foam screen that comes with it doesn't help with wind. When shooting with the camera I typically don't even record on the Zoom, I just turn on Monitoring  (in settings) and go directly into the camera.  If you want to monitor with headphones, then you need a splitter cable for coming out the headphone out.

Here are the super cool things that I love about it...
If you are going to get serious about shooting video with a DSLR, you are going to need some way to get quality audio with the video.  The Zoom makes this possible with a portable, quality audio, at 24bit 96Khz.  I love my Zoom and would replace it immediately if it ever got lost or broke.  Because it is so portable, and the battery life is very good -- about 4-6 hours of continuous recording, taking on a shoot is a no-brainer.  I am going to look seriously at the Zoom H6N.  The added flexibility for the 6 channels and the different on-board mic options is a very nice set of added features.  I would highly recommend this piece of equipment for anyone trying out film-making.  It has about every feature you could ever want from a portable and high quality audio reproduction.
 
Common settings that I use...
Record Settings, 24 bit WAV, mp3 variable
Input Monitoring On
Record levels
Headphone out levels
Camera settings Manual levels
Multiple microphones attached