Question for Seattle wedding photographers

<p>Hi there,</p>

<p>I have a specific question for Seattle wedding photographers: has anyone shot a wedding in the evening at the DAR building in Capitol Hill, and if so, can they tell me anything about the lighting (or other challenges particular to this location)?</p>

<p>I'm doing the classic "first wedding for a friend" and although I'm slowly covering all my bases, any help would be appreciated. I've visited the location, but not at night, and I live in San Francisco (so no chance of checking it out beforehand). I'll be using a Canon D50 and T1i, haven't decided which lenses to use yet, and a 430EX II speedlite with diffuser. The second camera will probably have a fast lens and natural lighting. The wedding is mid-October, so I have a little time yet to sort things out.</p>

<p>Specific concerns: Are the ceilings too high to bounce flash off of? Is the indoor lighting strong enough to use just a 50 1.8 and about 800 ISO? Any other advice related to this location? Many thanks!</p>

<p>Google is your friend .<br>

<a href="http://www.rainierchapterhouse.com/pictures.htm">http://www.rainierchapterhouse.com/pictures.htm</a></p>

<p>Oh - and unless it is <strong>Indian Summer</strong> weather, you should pack at least one rain umbrella for possible use in <em>The Evergreen State</em>. If you think it rains some of the time in San Francisco, Seattle can rain almost all of the time (depending on what weather front moves in from the Pacific....)</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Hi Erik,<br />I am a fellow Seattle Wedding Photographer. I have not shot in the DAR building in Capitol Hill, but I have shot in numerous venues that are very similair. It looks lit decent enough to do natural light shooting while you have day light, since it seems to have many windows. Your 50mm 1.8 should do fine if its sharp wide open. The ceiling doesn't look to high for bounced flash.<br />During the day 800 ISO may be fine if its not too overcast. If it is very overcast I tend to use 1600 ISO to get the shutter speed I need. Seattle can get dark and gloomy, even 1600 ISO sometimes doesn't cut it! You probably don't want to use less than a 1/60 shutter. If you can get over 100 that would be ideal. I'm not sure how your T1i and D50 fair with the higher ISOs though, so 1600 ISO may be a stretch. Have your flash handy incase your camera can't give you a clean enough ISO @1600 or above. I suspect 1600 may be a little muddy / and lacking detail since you are using cropped cameras vs full frame. Don't let it discourage you if that is the case. Just be aware of it and shoot to the strengths of your gear and stay away from its weaknesses. Look to shoot in areas that have good light, near windows. Try an be conscious of how the light is falling on your subjects and where they will be. Try to put yourself in areas where the light is good and anticipate spots where the bride and groom or your subjects will be, and get there before they do.<br />I would shoot a variety of shots. Maybe some with flash and some without since you don't have any experience with weddings. You'll cover yourself in case a technique didn't turn out the way you anticipated. Also you'll learn how each technique looks in the situation that you are in. If I must use flash, I usually try to set my camera as close as I can (without losing too much detail) to the environment/ambient light and let the flash kick in the rest. I do this to get as much ambient light as possible. If I must use flash, I don't want it to look like I used it. Learn to bounce your flash to the sides, behind you, off people, etc. You don't have to necessarily go up =).<br />As far as a second lens, I would advise you to get a decent all around zoom with a constant aperture of 2.8. 17-55mm, 18-55mm, 16-35mm, etc. Canon brand is preferable, but get a third party lens if your on a budget. You'll need this in case you are doing any formals, regular photos, etc. Your 50mm may be to tight if you have no room to back up.<br />Also learn how to use your manual settings on your camera if your not already comfortable with them. If you rely on the camera's settings/presets, aperture priority, shutter priority, you will get burned and your results will be inconsistent. It may be a little difficult on your cameras since the settings are probably not readily available as they are on say a Canon 5d, or Nikon D700, D3, 1d mark 4. At least have one of your cameras set on manual. I sometimes set one of my cameras to Aperture priority if I am having to go in and out or if the lighting changes very quickly (This is so I don't miss shots). In Seattle , the lighting conditions can be unpredictable. It can be super dark one second and nice and sunny the next. I usually try to shoot manually all the time though.</p>

<p>Hope this helps a little. Goodluck! - Charles</p>

<p>Great advice, thanks guys! Sorry for the late response, I thought it was going to notify me when people responded, but I guess it didn't.</p>

<p>Steve: I'm going to check out that website asap. I think I tried googling that place before but to no avail. Thanks for the link.</p>

<p>Jerry: Thanks for the tip. I think it will be almost entirely indoors, but I'll pack the umbrella just in case people decide to take the party outside.</p>

<p>Charles: Lots of good info, many thanks. You're right about the 1600 being a bit much for the cropped-sensor cameras I'll be using. I'd like to keep it to 800 or under, but the reality may be that I have to go higher. And your point about bouncing flash off of things other than the ceiling is well-taken. I guess I was picturing myself in the middle of a big room with nothing around to work with, but there will be people, walls, chandeliers, etc. I'd also like to use as much ambient light as possible, so I'll practice what you were talking about (kicking in just enough flash to make up the difference). </p>

<p>In terms of lenses, I've got the 18-55mm 3.5/5.6 IS that came with the T1i, the 28mm 2.8, the 50mm 1.8, and the 28-135 3.5/5.6 IS USM. So the primes are fairly fast, but the zooms are not, although they have Image Stabilizer. I haven't figured out why they only put the stabilizer in the zooms but not the primes, but I guess that's a question for a different forum. I probably won't buy a lens just for this shoot, but I may look into renting one, so I'll take your advice to heart: a fast zoom with a good range from wide to long. I'm used to shooting in manual so that shouldn't be a problem, but aperture or even shutter priority seems like a good idea for one of the cameras if only to give me less to think about when switching back and forth.</p>

<p>Lots to learn still, thanks again everybody!<br>

Erik</p>