Three months ago, I started making wedding cinematography training videos to help others film weddings. It took about a week after uploading my first video for me to discover that there is a massive community of wedding cinematographers out there that want to get better at their craft. As I produce more videos in this series, I find that I am asked even more questions in comments and emails. These messages are added to an ever-increasing list of videos that I will be making in the future.
By far though, the most popular question I have received is, “Which picture profile should I use when shooting with my A7Sii?” This is definitely a complicated question due to the sheer depth of the picture profile menu on the A7Sii and FS5, as well as how many differing opinions there are across the many blogs and forums across the Internet. Your train of thought may have been something like mine: “Do I shoot with the new fancy SLOG3? But doesn’t that cause noise in the shadows? What about SLOG2 instead? Isn’t that going to cause an odd green tint in some images? Maybe one of the Cinegammas then? Aren’t those called Hypergammas in the higher end Sony Cameras? Why is everything so different? Am I crazy? Does this even look better?”
The look I make when I think too hard about Sony’s picture profiles.
I’m excited to say that today I have an answer for you. After extensive testing, and reading throughout the vast corners of the Internet so you don’t have to, I have found an ideal picture profile. Please keep in mind that while this may be my favorite picture profile, it doesn’t have to be yours. You can have a different opinion from me, and that is alright.
I wanted a picture profile that would suit my needs well. It needed wide dynamic range, a flat image for color grading (but not too flat!), and be versatile for the wide variety of shooting locations I typically go through on a wedding day.
Those needs almost immediately cut SLOG2 and SLOG3, with their minimum ISOs of 1600, and their bright exposure requirements, from my list of options for picture profiles. Incidentally, the 8-bit codec of the A7Sii in SLOG3 can also cause banding in the finer color gradients like blue skies etc. I wanted to avoid this as well.
If you don’t feel like watching me ramble in the above video for 6 minutes about picture profiles, here are the settings for my favorite picture profile:
SETTINGS FOR MY FAVORITE PICTURE PROFILE FOR THE SONY A7Sii and FS5
-Reset PP8 to default. -Change the Gamut from SLOG3 to CINE4.
That’s it! Congratulations, you’re now shooting in my favorite picture profile! Leave all the other settings as they are. Go try it out and see how you like it. I’ll be making another video soon, showing how I color grade this picture profile.
Special thanks for Marien Breithouwer for originally sharing this picture profile.
James proposed in Rio during the World Cup after being expressly told not to, they both mentally blacked out, and that is exactly why they wanted a wedding film.
Remember your first love in high school? I had one of those. And by “had”, I mean that I was the one in love; I don’t believe that the object of my affections actually knew I was in love with her. But thankfully this film isn’t about my high school romance, it’s about Will and Stephanie’s.
If you’ve watched my previous two wedding cinematography vlogs, you’re probably aware that they’re on the technical side. I’ve covered bit rates, color depth, picture profiles, and battery life for both the Sony A7Sii and the FS5. Both are amazing cameras that I was more than happy to review and share with other wedding cinematographers, and if you’re looking to switch or upgrade, I’d highly recommend watching both of those.
But I’ve got to take a step back from technical reviews like that, mostly because I cannot afford to buy any more cameras at this point.
So instead I want to talk about something that, in my opinion, has a far greater effect on how you create great wedding films than any camera does. Wedding days at their core are about relationships. The bride and groom’s relationship. The parents and their relationship with their children. The minister’s relationship with the couple. And a whole lot more as these two families come together on the wedding day.
Let’s talk about one more relationship, one that will affect you more than any of the others on the wedding day. Your relationship with the photographer. Or, if you’re the photographer reading this, your relationship with the videographer, because this works exactly the same in both directions.
Clearly, my beard and I are excited to share this tip with you.
You Get A New Coworker Every Single Week
Have you ever had a wedding where everything just clicks? You meet the photographer, you start getting along, you realize you have the same interests, and suddenly you go from who is this random person to hey, there’s a cool shot over here, you should check this out. And you’re both like, that’s awesome. And by the end of the night you’re swapping information, saying we should hang out sometime, oh you’re in town too, this is great, oh you’re two hours away, I’ll drive to see you, this is awesome. Because meeting other creative people like that can be such a cool experience.
What if I told you every single wedding could be like that? Maybe not to the point where you’re making weekend plans at the end of every one, but where you leave saying that was a positive experience, I liked working with that person, I would do that again. That’s my whole goal with this video.
One huge thing to consider is that a wedding is not a normal job. And I know, dumb Matt, of course it isn’t. But think about what that actually means. You are not in a cubicle from nine to five, Monday through Friday. If you work in a cubicle, of course you know the same people, because you see them every day. With a wedding, you are working with a different coworker every single week. One week it’s one photographer, the next week it’s a completely different one.
Some of those people are great. They’re entrepreneurial, they should not be in a cubicle, they should be doing their own thing and running their own business and being happy and successful. On the flip side, you also get people who are way too crazy to work in a cubicle, who are a little bit insane, who would genuinely not get along well with others, and their solution was I’m going to start my own business so I don’t have to work with those people. Except now you have to work with them, because you’re both shooting the same wedding. And if you’re one of those people, I’m sorry, I’m sure you’re a very nice person, but you’re a little weird. Okay. Just saying.
Regardless of who you’re working with, remember that the bride and groom chose them. It’s not up to your opinion. You don’t get to show up and decide this person is insane and I don’t want to work with them. It is your job to get along with them for the day. So if you can hold onto one thing, hold onto this: the bride chose them, she wants to be happy, let’s keep her happy, let’s get along. That goes a long, long way. It’s not about you. It’s about the bride and groom.
The Tip That Blew My Mind
This is my first massive tip for you, and it blew my mind whenever I experienced it. I want to give a huge thanks to Alex Maldonado at Alex M Photography for doing it to me first, so that I could experience it and then share it with you.
Here it is, step by step.
Find out who the photographer is before the wedding. Whenever you talk to the bride and groom beforehand, and you should be talking to them beforehand, ask who they hired. Then go look up their work. Go to their website, look at their portfolio, look things over, and find something positive in it.
Go to their contact page and send them an email saying hi. That’s it. That’s the whole thing that blew my mind. Alex emailed me out of nowhere and said, hey man, your work’s cool, good to be working with you this Saturday. And I was like, who are you? You’re so friendly, this is crazy. I went from I don’t know who I’m working with to oh, I’m working with Alex, this is awesome. We went instantly from you’re my wedding competition for the day to you’re my friend Alex, this is great.
Tell them something you like about their work. Tell them you’re a fan of something. And if you’re looking at their photography thinking well, I’m not a huge fan of that, find the positives anyway. Hey, those are cute kids you’re taking pictures of. I really like your use of black and white. Find something you can genuinely compliment, because that starts things off on the right foot. And remember, the bride and groom chose them. They clearly saw something positive that they wanted. That’s why they hired them.
Tell them you’re looking forward to shooting with them. This one will amaze them. They’ll be sitting there going, me? They’re looking forward to shooting with me? And suddenly you’ve built this whole rapport. You reached out, you said hello, you complimented their work, and you told them you’re looking forward to working with them. You’ve gone from who is this stranger I have to spend all weekend with to you’re Matt, you’re awesome, I love working with you.
End your message with your phone number. Tell them to call or text if they have any questions. If you extend that professional courtesy ahead of time, you will be amazed at how smoothly your wedding day goes.
When You Actually Meet On The Wedding Day
Fast forward to the wedding. You’ve reached out, you’ve sent the email, you’ve gotten a nice reply back. Whenever you meet the photographer for the first time in person, reiterate everything you said in that email.
First, tell them you want to get along. I realize that sounds basic, essentially I want to be your friend, but it really is helpful to say it out loud. Second, tell them you want to share ideas. So if you see a cool shot, tell them. Hey, this is a cool angle, come over here and check this out. And suddenly you’ve got creative information flowing back and forth, instead of this is my shot, my perfect precious shot, and you don’t get it. You end up with a genuine collaboration where both of your work improves because of it.
If you put all of this into practice, you’ll show up on the wedding day looking like you already know the photographer. I have literally had brides and grooms walk up and ask how many weddings have you two shot together, and I say, one, yours, we met ten minutes ago. And they say, but you get along. And you go, is that weird? Okay. But that’s what happens when you hit it off with each other.
I’ve had photographers absolutely floored just because I emailed them. Within five minutes of shooting they’re saying I want you to shoot every wedding with me, and I’m getting referrals from them now, because they enjoyed working with me. All because I took two minutes out of my day to send an email that said hi, I like your work, looking forward to this weekend.
Special thanks to head and shoulders Alex for his assistance with this vlog.
Everybody Wins
Above all, keep in mind that everybody wins whenever the photographer and the cinematographer get along. You’re less stressed. The bride is less stressed. There’s a free flow of creative ideas, both of your portfolios get visuals that look better, and the couple gets a better film and better photos. Everything benefits when the two of you are friendly with each other. It’s a win all around.
I really hope this helps you out, whether you’re a wedding cinematographer or a photographer, and that you can use it to improve your next wedding day.
A note on timing: this was filmed in January 2016, about six years into shooting weddings. The advice hasn’t aged a day, but the cameras in the first paragraph certainly have.
