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07/07/2004 03:46:53 AM · #1 |
To cut a long story short, I am being "forced" to shoot for a friend's wedding at the weekend. I hate the idea as I do not want to rish stuffing it up for them and have never done a wedding before.
I am about to read up in detail, including past posts on these forums I recall having appeared, but have a couple of specific questions:
1) Best lens to use in a church focal length wise? I have a 28 - 80mm, I would imagine that would be the best for inside the church (other choice is am 18 - 35 or 100mm+
Naturally, I do not yet know how close I will be allowed to things at different points in time, and am unlikely to know until the time.
2) Again in the church, and using a flash ... what ISO?
All hints and tips greatly appreciated! Ok, now off to read heaps!
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07/07/2004 08:14:36 AM · #2 |
I haven't shot a wedding in digital yet, kinda glad about that as I'm
still getting used to it.
What I did with with film:
When at the church during the ceramony, I used Kodak Portra 160NC.
Some with flash some with out. A peice of advice, talk to the Pastor, Priest, or whatever about taking the pictures, and what they
prefere you do or don't do! I royaly pissed off a Catholic Priest
once and after all was said and done and I was heading to the reception, he and I had a most unpleasant conversation. :D
Let's just say I've been doing lots of good deeds to make
up for that one!
The range you will want to cover, that I found most useful is 28-200.
28-135
70-200
are good choices IMO
Hope that helps!
added:
Oh and at the reception I changed to Kodak Portra 400UC film.
Message edited by author 2004-07-07 08:15:36. |
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07/07/2004 09:29:11 AM · #3 |
If you have a 50mm f1.8, use it for inside the church. It's a lifesaver. :) Also, you'll want to cover 18-105mm or so. If you had a f2.8 28-105 you'd be pretty happy. :) Once you get outside and stuff, you can change your setup, but my goal is to have the 28-105 and the 50mm f1.8 and that should do it. Those are two kickass lenses. If you need to get closer you're going to need a REALLY expensive lens - maybe an f2 70-200 L or something.
Make sure you're allowed to use a flash before you do. I've shot 3 and so far, no flash allowed at all during the church parts (thus the f1.8 and ISO 800). Otherwise just do some test shots the day of - see if you can get ISO 800 to 1/30 or 1/50. If not, crank it up.
And good luck. If you have more specific questions, ask away.
M
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07/07/2004 09:32:25 AM · #4 |
Lenses:
28-70 f/2.8
70-200 f/2.8 VR
50 f/1.8
12-24 f/4-5.6 (for creative shots)
These are the lenses I have used when I shoot weddings. The larger aperture allows for you to get more ambient church light when shooting the service, even if you're using a fill flash. Most brides prefer shots that have a more natural feel to them as opposed to heavy flash shots with dark backgrounds. So opening up to a wide aperture, using ISO400 or greater to gather more ambient light, will produce shots that have a more natural feel to them.
So far I have only done 2 weddings in churches, one where I was the primary photographer, and the other as secondary. On the primary shoot I was allowed to move around the church and take photos where ever needed. I of course did not get on the alter, or walk in front of people to get the shots. I did however move up the center aisle to get the ring on finger shot and the first kiss shot. I then moved toward the back for the recessional shots. I have spoken with the bride and she said they didn't even notice I was there taking shots... so do your best to be a fly on the wall.
When working with natural and flash and church lighting make sure that you get your white balanced set correctly, especially if you're shoot in jpg format. If you're shooting RAW format, you can adjust it in post processing, but it's always better to get it right in the camera. I shoot the formal portraits in RAW mode, and sometimes the service as well, but all the reception shots are in jpg format so that I can load up a 1 GB card with 303 jpgs :-)
Make sure you have enough batteries, and a second camera body, or second shooter if possible. Having two bodies, one with a zoom lens and the other with a widish angled lens is helpful. A second shooter even more so. They can get angles that you won't see or be able to get to.
I really enjoy doing wedding photography, just relax, and let the creativity flow... AND get a list of all the 'formal' shots the bride wants... you don't want to be waiting for ever as they try to decide who should be in what group photo.
Good luck, and show us your results!
-danny
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07/07/2004 09:38:51 AM · #5 |
//usabride.com/wedplan/w_photolist.html
Here's the list I use. I modified it a bit, but there are TONS of shots on there to get.
M
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07/07/2004 10:14:13 AM · #6 |
If you don't know how already, learn to "drag the shutter" for flash shots.
If you are shooting the reception indoors, it's nice to balance the color of the flash to the ambient light. It's a lot easier to do this by putting an amber gel over the flashtube than blue gels over all the lights in the room.
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07/07/2004 10:46:47 AM · #7 |
Originally posted by Spazmo99:
If you don't know how already, learn to "drag the shutter" for flash shots.
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At least as far as I understand this term, the 10D does this by default in Av or Tv modes - flash is just for the foreground, but the exposure is for the ambient conditions, ignoring the flash.
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07/07/2004 05:44:56 PM · #8 |
Thanks for some really excellent advice there guys :)
I am limited to the hardware I have though ... I am doing this as a favour and not going to go and spend $ on lenses etc.
It sounds like the best bet for the church lens is the 28-80 I have, but it is not a fast lens at all unfortunately.
My fastest lene is a f2.8 100mm, but it sounds like the fixed 100mm may not be a good idea. The only IS lens I have, to help in the low light, is a 100-400, so again no good (not sure I'll even take that, probably use the 100mm for the outdoor shots as I can pick the distance easily enough from the target).
Yup, will shoot a mix of RAW and JPG. I think in my case though RAW may only be for the formal outside portraits (and thanks for the list of shots there), as in the church I may go for the "shoot heaps of shots and cross your fingers" option.
Thanks everyone for the general church advice, especially to not piss off the vicar ;) Never even considered that I might not be able to use flash!
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07/07/2004 05:47:05 PM · #9 |
I've been in a position to shoot groups with only a 100mm. I found it actually pretty difficult to get far enough away to get full body shots with - it wasn't a very enclosed space either. I found a 50mm and a 24-85 were perfectly good focal lengths to shoot a wedding with, at least from the sidelines. A 100-200 type lens would be good for tight close-ups and candid shots though. 400 is probably too big for most wedding type pictures - 200 probably even being overkill if you are the actual 'photographer' so get to be up close.
Message edited by author 2004-07-07 17:48:35.
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07/07/2004 08:02:13 PM · #10 |
Originally posted by Gordon:
Originally posted by Spazmo99:
If you don't know how already, learn to "drag the shutter" for flash shots.
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At least as far as I understand this term, the 10D does this by default in Av or Tv modes - flash is just for the foreground, but the exposure is for the ambient conditions, ignoring the flash. |
In AV mode, you have to make sure the Custom function for the sync speed in AV mode is set to auto and not 1/200, which I believe is the default.
In either mode, you use the regular exposure compensation to control the ambient exposure and the FEC to control the foreground.
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07/07/2004 08:05:30 PM · #11 |
Originally posted by Gordon:
I've been in a position to shoot groups with only a 100mm. I found it actually pretty difficult to get far enough away to get full body shots with - it wasn't a very enclosed space either. I found a 50mm and a 24-85 were perfectly good focal lengths to shoot a wedding with, at least from the sidelines. A 100-200 type lens would be good for tight close-ups and candid shots though. 400 is probably too big for most wedding type pictures - 200 probably even being overkill if you are the actual 'photographer' so get to be up close. |
A good place to look for wedding photography advice is the Wedding Photography forums at Fred Miranda.
I have shot entire weddings with a 28-85 zoom. Only time I used anything longer was if I had to shoot from the balcony at the rear of the sanctuary.
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07/08/2004 07:00:32 AM · #12 |
Yeah, I think the focal length issues there are all very correct. I'm going to get there early enough to have a quick stuff around before the show (there is no prior wedding). I can see me basically sticking with the 28-80 I have, unfortunately a very average lens.
I'll also check out Fred's forum.
If I get a couple of good ones, especially in the church, I'll post them.
Thanks again guys, very much appreciated :)
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