Emergency Wedding Photographer - Lighting Advice?

Emergency situation. Couple hired a pro who's had a minor accident

and cancelled. No other pro available and wedding is this weekend.

They've asked me to fill-in (we're friends) and I reluctantly

agreed. Wedding will be in a Church which is not brightly lit and

some natural light will be available from the windows. Reception

will be in a hall with similar lighting. Couple requires some

portraits and small group shots done both in the venue and outside

(late afternoon light}. Now, I am concerned about the lighting for

these shots with my limited equipment. EOS350D & kit lens, flash

420EX, 28-105USM. I can borrow a flash bracket, white & silver

reflectors, flash 580EX. I really need some advice on how to use

these limited lighting resources for the formals.

Without a doubt, try to bounce the flash when it's the primary source of light, especially if the flash is directly attached to the camera. I use a Lumiquest pocket bouncer for those cases.

I think I would set the ISO at 400 to 800. If the 350D is like the 20D it will be able to handle the higher ISO, this will help get a shutter speed you can handhold. You could also shoot in P or AV. I would would get the flash bracket and 580EX and use it in ETTL mode.

 

Take your time and watch the histogram now and then. You might want to take a tripod with you since the lighting will not be that good.

 

Dave

1. practice.

2. bounce flash between 45-90 degree with OMNI Bounce attached to spread and diffuse light. Bouncing flash is very important to capture the background as well foreground.

3. in Church or inside, use 1/30 - 1/60 shutter speed, f2.8-f5.6, and ISO FROM 800-1600. TRY TO PRACTICE ALL THESE setting with flash on ETTL mode and you will be fine.

4. FINALLY, GET your print at http://www.adorama.com

 

good luck.

 

good luck

You could use the 580EX on camera and use the 420EX under wireless control of the 580EX, but since you haven't done this before, I would stick to just an on-camera flash (the 420EX you're used to) using a diffuser and bare flash reflector when needed (the diffuser cuts too much power). I would not bother with the reflectors. You don't have enough time to practice new techniques or learn new gear by the weekend. Just concentrate on getting sharp, well exposed and well lit photos, whether it be ambient only or with flash. The bracket and off-shoe cord would be a good idea though, as well as a tripod and lots of memory cards.

What provision has the "pro" offered to deal with formals? These may be possible to reschedule for at least some of the participants and might take some of the edge off of trying to do all of the event?

FOR INDOORS:

 

Get a cheapo tripod and use the camera in landscape mode only. Set the stage (choose your spot) for the formals first, then be sure you can leave some room to fit the largest group you set up into the frame of your lens (chosen length). Mark in your mind the apporximate position of the extreme edges you want to get every one inside of. Make sure they get inside those marks. If you can get a remote release, do so and use it for all shots. Focus on the eye of a person in the front row, or if you have 4+ rows deep, on the second row back. Switch to manual focus (switch on the lens body) and make sure you don't touch the focus ring from now on.

 

Set that cameras ISO to 400. If you can get the 580 and a diffuser (go to ritz/wolf or any retail store for this) do so and point the flash either 1) using a plastic difuser, such as the omnibounce, straight forward. or 2) using a lumiquest pocket bouncer, point it straight up. or 3) using no diffuser, angle the head of the 580 to 45* and slide out the little white card that resides behind the built-in wide angle diffuser.

 

Set the flash on E-TTL (if using the omnibounce or the lumiquest set it to +2/3) and the Camera on manual. Set the shutter speed to about 1/40th -1/60th and the aperture to F4 - f5.6 depending on the group size. Try to avoid using the widest or longest focal length of the lenses you have, they are worse at the ends of their range. I dare say the 18-55 will be the one for the indoor formals.

 

FOR OUTDOORS (SOFT LIGHT):

 

Set the flash to E-TTL and the Camera to AV. Keep the aperture to f5.6 - f8 (as long as your shutter speed doesn't drop below say 1/60) and hand hold these.

 

Focus, using AF (switch on the lens) again, on the eye of the front person and if you have a larger group, on the second row back.

 

Fire away... :-)<div></div>

Oops, sorry about the size Mary. You would think I would know better by now ;-).<div></div>

Forgot to add, I would recommend shooting in RAW. and having as much memory as you can get your hands on. Then shoot a lot.

Do what Nadine suggests. Keep it simple. Use the equipment you're familiar with in the manner with which you're already familiar.

 

Your friends will still be your friends after the wedding. I shoot weddings only for family and friends. So far I have lost either due to dissatisfaction over the photos.

 

If you relax and enjoy what you're doing, they'll relax and help you make better photos.

 

You still do have a little time to practice so grab someone for some practice. Kids are great for this - they're either fidgety or hams and both are challenging. Have at least one kid wear a white tee-shirt. This will help you get an idea of how to set your flash to get good exposures without blowing out detail in the bride's gown. Don't worry about detail in the groom's tux - you won't get much and nobody looks at the groom anyway. With good exposures and a little luck you can dig out a little detail in the dark areas during post processing.