Potential nightmare scenario? First Wedding Tech Questions

Hi all,

 

Well, I decided to bite the bullet and accepted my first wedding related client.

I told myself for the longest time that, even though I wanted to make

photography my profession, I was going to shun wedding work. Too much pressure,

too much stress, etc. However, having thought about it (a lot!!) there is a ton

to love about the business and I'm really starting to get excited about the

prospect.

 

This first client is a budget client who wasn't planning on having a

photographer at all. I've been putting word out lately though of steeply

discounted rates in an effort to build up my portfolio (basically just covering

some costs) and a few have answered. Her concern is 99% based on just having

her portraits done...if I get shots during the ceremony itself then that's great

but she brought me on specifically to capture their formal portraits.

 

Now...the scenario....there's nothing like starting out with a challenge right

off the bat. Indoor ceremony at 8:00 at night in a private residence. Modest

home, nothing extravagant like a great room or anything. 35 in attendance so

it's going to be crowded. She's white and wearing white, he's black (from the

Caribbean...not mixed at all) and wearing a navy blue suit. He has 6 others for

his groomsmen and his sister will be there. The bride's mom is the other member

of her party.

 

Standard shots are being asked for....family, wedding party, the two of them

together, etc...

 

I have a bay window, a staircase, and a baby grand piano to work with. House

will be decorated festively for the holidays (that's their theme).

 

Available equipment: a Nikon D70 with an SB-600 speedlight, a 50mm 1.8, an

18-70 3.8, and a 70-300 that probably won't be getting used. :-)

 

Concerns: contrast, shadows, and lighting - I have nightmares of what these

factors are going to do with this and that's why I'm writing this. I can use a

diffuser on the flash as well as bounce the light off the ceiling (and maybe

tune down it's output) or just go with the 50mm opened really wide and see what

I do with the available light. But, what about contrast? Do I need to worry

about blowing her out because of the extreme light and dark contrasts in the

image? And don't even get me started on the shadow factors at play....there

will be walls everywhere and the house is painted a light color.

 

Any thoughts would be hugely appreciated. I'm not freaking out or anything but

there are some technical issues I see in this that could make this really difficult.

Honestly, in your situation, I would ask to visit the sight (at the same time of day you'll be doing the formals) to get an idea of what you have to work with. Take a model with you and work every possible scenario. Then take the images home and edit until you have found the best possibilities. The thing about wedding photography that makes most people run and hide is the fact that you can't control the environment nearly as much as portrait photography.

 

Be very careful about not using flash at all for the formals. Many indoor shoots w/out flash result in big shadows under the eyes. Using bounce flash or a diffuser is a good place to start, but I would still play around with it first. Also, invest in a really big reflector. Using this on just the groom will be a help to even out skin tones just a bit.

 

Lots of luck!!!!

Hi Eric

You will need a complete camera & flash & accessoires backup. I would use at least a second slave flash for the group shots. You need an aperture of minimal f5.6 and I would try to set the shutter to 1/30- 1/60 at ISO 200-400 for a bit of ambient light. A monopod is very useful as well and much more flexible than a tripod. I would only use a flash diffuser for close-ups and otherwise bounce the main flash and forward a bit of the light with a white card fixed with a rubber band for the catchlights. Always take a second and third shoot immediately for groups because people relax after hearing the first shutter release and it's good against blinking as well.good luck, Markus

You may need to raise ISO to use bounced flash with SB-600. Get another SB-800 flash. Pay attention to flash warnings when underexposure happens. Turn On the flash audible signals, as well as verify on the flash LCD screen immediately, and possibly on the camera LCD if the time allows.

 

If only single flash is used, then mount it on a Stroboframe or similar flash mounting frame, and rotate the arm when taking vertical shots, so the flash is always above the lens, not to the left or right. Get a diffuser like Stofen for the SB-600. SB-800 already comes with appropriate dome diffuser.

 

Have many spare batteries for the flash. Leave the 70-300 at home. You could benefit from using other lenses that are more appropriate for weddings - but will do with what you have.

 

Another idea, you could use some bracketing on the D70, but wait until the flash is fully charged.

Absolutely have, at the very least, a backup body with a wide to moderate tele zoom (or equivalent primes), a backup flash, plenty of charged batteries for everything, and plenty of memory cards. Borrow this backup equipment if you have to. All of this backup stuff will be near useless unless you're as comfortable using it as what you have now.

 

When shooting, chimp like crazy and adjust exposure as needed.

 

Simply getting clean shots will be a challenge in a "modest home" with "35 in attendance".

 

I can not emphasize enough the importance of what I'm saying in my first paragraph.

If the walls and ceilings are white or light colored, I would bounce the flash. This should help with contrast as well. However, I would be sure I had my post processing color balance down to handle any color problems. Also to handle the contrast. In these situations (extremes in skin tone), some post processing work is necessary to show both with detail. A decision as to how you are going to expose your images should be made, with the appropriate post follow through. If you decide to expose for the whites/lights and bring the shadows/darks up in post, be sure you have a handle on doing this with as little noise gain as possible. Or, if you decide to expose as "right" as possible, with some small overexposure, be sure you know how to bring the highlights back in post.

 

Frank might be right about the SB-600--if the ceilings are high and the house is larger, you could have a problem because you want to use as low an ISO as you can. Even with flash, you will be using at least 400 or 800. Being that you don't have many fast primes, I'd ditch the idea of shooting without flash. For some ceremony shots and perhaps some candids later, the 50mm f1.8 can be used without flash, but for many shots at a wedding, you will need more DOF than f1.8 can give. Also, Rachel is right about most home lighting not being such great ambient light to shoot in with no flash. A lot of it is down light, which causes those eye socket shadows. However, you could be pleasantly surprised by nicer lighting, but you can't depend on it.

 

For the formals, I'd still bounce and stay away from walls. Put the groups in the middle of the room if you have to. That should help with shadows. I doubt that you will have the room to set up off camera lighting. When you bounce, be sure your flash head is sending a wide enough beam of light to the bounce surface to avoid the focused spotlight effect. I don't know why you would tone down the flash if it is the main source of light. Dragging the shutter, yes, and use a tripod if you have to.

I agree with Nadine, Chance are in a private residence there will be low white colored ceilings. I would ask the bride ahead of time. Make sure she she hasent painted it red to match her colors or anything! ;)because bouncing your flash will help alot. As for portraits I would possible try and shoot the bride ahead of time before the ceremony when its lighter out and also some of the groom. Then just do your best after the ceremony for the two of them. And I would def. bring a tripod.

I think you will need a better, wider wideangle than the 18-70 (is that the 18-70 f/3.5-4.5 kit lens?) With the small space and large crowd, you're going to have to take shots fairly close up, and with the number of people in the wedding party I think you'll have to use the wide end of the 18-70 quite a bit.

 

Unfortunately the 18-70 has a lot of distortion at the wide end. For people shots, I would keep that lens longer than about 24mm.

Thank you all very much for these responses. My work hours (day job) dictate that I was kept away from the board all day today while your responses happened.

 

I'm printing this thread and am going to study it word by word today and tomorrow, will post follow up questions either this evening or tomorrow morning, and hopefully will come out of this with a few images to post for your critiques over the weekend.

 

Again, thank you so much for the time and thought that went into your posts. I truly appreciate it.

>>>I decided to bite the bullet and accepted my first wedding related client (. . . ) Any thoughts would be hugely appreciated (. . . ) there are some technical issues I see in this that could make this really difficult. <<<

 

The foremost and most immediate technical issue is the (lack of) system redundancy.

 

You need, at a minimum, a second body; a second fast wide lens or wide zoom lens; and a second flash unit.

 

I emphasise this point by stating it could be professional suicide, not to be prepared so.

 

WW

I recently shot a wedding in a cave, or so it seemed considering the light. To cut to the chase... 5D, 24-105mm F4 IS, 580ex, lightsphere for 70% of shots, ISO1200 - 3200 depending on light (plenty at 3200), shutter speeds down to 1/20 or so. 350D/85mmm F1.8 available at the same time - no flash. A bit of modest noise reduction using Noiseware, and that's it. The key points for me:

 

a) nail the exposures (practice).

b) use a lightsphere (buy one, it really makes a positive difference).

c) acquire a noise reduction program (costs a bit but well worth it).

 

In your case, the D70 is obviously no match for a 5D, but determine the highest ISO you can live with. The 50mm 1.8 should be excellent, although a little long at times.

Well, the day of the event is here and I'm set and ready for it. First off - have no fear on the backup gear. There is no way I'd go into a situation without having a contingency in effect. I only listed the D70 because it is, at the moment, my primary camera....soon to be replaced by a D300. But I have a backup.

 

As to the technical aspects of the evening - I'm going to be chimping so much I may just swing from tree to tree rather than drive home afterward - at least until I find out works best. Unfortunately this is not a situation where I can preview the location. The home is actually the home of the client's employer, not her own. She said in our initial consultation that she was going to have pictures of the rooms sent to me but that never happened.

 

I'm very much a "go with the flow" kind of guy - probably lucky because I have no idea what waits for me when I walk through that door tonight. I'll take all of your advice and hints with me though - images will be in my gallery by the end of the weekend.