Shooting Weddings

[JohnKleban]

Hi Craig,

I prefer to have a solid 30-40 minutes to set up; sometimes, it is under the gun so to speak to get everything in place if the wedding I cover follows a previous wedding at the same church on the same day. I never test my wireless frequency; that Senn G2 is outstanding and I've never had such an issue. Keep in mind, I almost always double mic the groom; placing a minidisc recorder and lapel mic on the other side of his coat. I place this lapel mic very low, right above where the groom's coat buttons and again, on the opposite side from where I have my wireless mic on him (which is near his boutonniere). For any frontal mid-ranged shots of the couple, this tiny second mic is out of sight, just below the framing area.

Line level in and mic in is what all my minidisc recorders have.

[TimKennelly]

John,

I suspect Craig is talking about checking your wireless frequency against the church's wireless frequency to make sure they are not the same when he refers to "testing".

I have always been amazed at your efficiency working with four cams alone.

[Beachy]

I wish I had the time at a wedding to do all this setting up!!! Mic here, Mic there!! In the UK, the church might have three weddings planned for that afternoon, and we are the middle one!! so time is paramount, Having shot weddings for over 25 years I use a mic down the front as near as poss to the action, the onboard mic's cover the ambience of the service, (It isnt a studio!) so the sound, sounds like how the wedding guests will hear!, and two cameras, one at the back and one at the front, As i say i have been doing it this way for 25 yrs and never had a complaint about sound! The secret of shooting weddings is to be as natural as possible, 4 cameras! mixers? Mic's everywhere?.... why not have an OB van outside as well, I might add that I have done 3 big celebrity weddings, one was at Westminster Chapel London! and I still used my sytem!! But each to his own...just thought I'd let you know what I do....
Beachy

[TimKennelly]

I know mentioning you have done something one way for a quarter of a century is considered super cool in Britain where they like anything that's old or old fashion, but here in the States we are into change and so are our customers.

I normally shoot with three cams and I mike the groom, the officiant if he will wear one, the podium to catch the readers and one somewhere appropriate for ambient sound away from the cam.

I know the bride pays me to make sure she gets to hear the vows distinctly as much as for the video portion.

[Beachy]

Tim, Having seen and heard a lot of weddings from the US, including yours! I can't see or hear any difference..It still seems to me, English or not! that you are using a sledgehammer to crack a walnut! And as far as change goes, I am up on all that, Why, I am even considering, just considering, upgrading my 10 year old Aviosaurus!!..I know this sounds impetuous, but damn it, I may go for it! I do see your point tho' I just dont get the time to set all that gear up, and I am at the church at least an hour before! but perhaps your right, and its time this old timer hung up his gear and went fishing : John

PS> I knew I wouldnt get away with that, and it would tempt you back on the BB

[CKNewman]

I shoot weddings solo and more like Beachy's - two cameras, one wireless on the groom. That's one reason why I was asking about MP3 recorders.

Though I stand at the vanguard with my Kron Plus, I still calculate my invoices with an abacus. It seems like its getting harder to pay for some things like gasoline though.... I'm wondering if its missing a bead or two....

[Beachy]

You Have an Abacus?!!! What model have you got? Is it the 109/44x With multi-layering and Paint?....No? Well that wont be any good nowadays then will it? Beachy

[TimKennelly]

John,

My wedding last weekend was real tight due to a prior service running over and an officiant that was adamdant that the one I was shooting would start on time.

I had ten minutes to set up.

From my car I brought in thee cams with tripods, set them up, framed and focused (skipped white balancing because of the time), miked the groom, officiant and podium and was rolling on all cams in eight minutes, two minutes of tape rolled before the moms entered with candles.

Not desireable, but do-able if you have a game plan, experience and fairly modern equipment.

So I don't buy the time excuse and I don't consider getting good audio a sledgehammer.

And I always can tell the difference between audio with a miked officiant and an unmiked one.

Same with during Readers from miked podiums rather than garnered simply from the cams.

Unfortunately, many times the officiant will not wear a mike, nor even allow miking the podium and those are probably the ones you have seen, which would account for you not "hearing" a difference, unless it's just age. (there are becoming less and less I can jab about age )

Craig,

I am still hanging tough with my little iRivers.

They all have several hours capacity so I can set them running somewhat ahead of time with a bit of gaffers tape over the "hold" switch so the wearer doesn't screw with them and quickly "drop" them onto whomever, whereever very quickly and painlessly.

I am going to be bummed when these die as I don't see anything as small, cheap and convenient out there although there are certainly far superior and expensive alternatives available.