I am shooting my first wedding, i need help! D300 settings

I am doing a favor for my college roomate, he moved his wedding up to three weeks from now and cant afford to get a

new photographer cause he cant get his downpayment back! I consider my self a budding photographer but i need

some help because i want to do the best that i can possible give him! so i am renting a D300 because thats really

the camera that i am saving to buy and i wont have enough time to do all the experimenting that i need to do, so

please help me! I will be doing Photos in the church and as well at a few outdoor locations. So if anyone could

recomend some of the settings that will best work for those, i would be forever gratefull! Also any suggestions on

lenses that i should use! THanks

NEF 14 bit per channel, Auto White Balance, Aperture Priority, ISO 1200 inside, ISO 400 outside

Keep in mind that if you shoot 14-bit RAW on the D300, it drops down to 2.5 frames/sec. That slow frame rate is not necessarily a problem for shooting weddings, but just make sure that you are not surprised by that feature during the wedding.

 

Also check our Wedding Articles and Forum:

http://www.photo.net/learn/wedding/

What Ellis said plus:

 

A secondary or backup body and batteries.

 

At least one SB800 or SB900 speedlite.

 

Lenses: 17-55mm f/2.8 (or equivalent) is a must. Longer lens would be nice too (70-200mm f/2.8 or 105mm, etc.)

 

Someone to assist you.

Shoot in raw, NEF, so you can make adjustments. If you do not have a raw processor, download Nikon Capture NX2 for free for 60 days. Make sure you have a good flash like a SB 800. And a good fast prime lens like a 50mm f 1.8 for when you are not allowed to use flash. And a tripod. Joe Smith

Nathan ... I hope you've shot with this camera before. If you haven't, I<br />

*highly* suggest you rent the camera beforehand and get permission from <br />

the church to shoot in conditions similar to the actual wedding.<br /><br />

 

If your friends are wearing the traditional white dress/black tux, you need<br />

to have full understanding of the camera's capabilities and drawbacks with<br />

respect to dynamic range. Remember - this is their wedding and you want to<br />

be sure you FULLY understand your camera's ins-and-outs. I suggest you do<br />

some test shooting prior to the wedding, so you know where the camera settings<br />

need to be for the various environments you'll be shooting.<br /><br />

 

And you need find out what the rules are for photographing the wedding.<br />

You may be very limited with respect to where you can shoot from.<br /><br />

In addition, in Picture Controls, try Neutral, saturation +1, sharpening 4, auto-contrast. I find it tends to give better portraits than the Standard setting. When using flash, make sure you enable the high speed flash mode so when using fill-flash from an SB800 (or whatever) outside you don't accidentally overexpose in aperture priority mode.

With all the above, you also need to find out if you can use flash in the church. Some don't allow, which makes the use of fast lens a must. I own a D300 & D200 and with all my shooting of sports every week, I still am learning the 2 cameras, what they can and not do under different lighting. The question I would like to throw out, how solid is your friendship with your room-mate? You might see it as helping him out and he might be greatful to you in the beginning, but if anything were to go wrong and you don't deliver what he and his new bride expect, it could affect your friendship down the road. I have always felt, a 1 time event like a wedding that you can't go back and re-take is NOT the place to practice and try out new gear you've NEVER used before and worked out the bugs. If its going to go wrong, it will at this type of job. By the way, even if you're doing it for FREE...it won't matter, if something fails to deliver your friendship could be effected. Just my 3 cents. Make sure you talk to them both and find out what they are expecting from you!

 

G.P.

Take a look at these setting for D70 and SB-800 Wedding Shooting Settings from Sam Stern. These can be used as excellent starting points. Sam has helped many shoot their first wedding successfully.

"...i am renting a D300..."

 

One thing I would throw in is to strongly suggest you rent the camera early to "play" with it, and REALLY understand the focus options so that you can intentionally and successfully be selective on what focus points your images will have.

 

I commonly use the center-point sensor, find my central area of interest (the bride, or the bride's eyes), press the shutter release to the first detent, set focus on what I really want sharp, recompose, fully depress, and bingo, method. Works like a charm for me. There are different approaches you'd want to use for processional movement, etc...

 

The point is, just letting the camera always decide what should be sharp may not always work well, especially in wedding shots.

 

Take some time to look at some other wedding photographer's online portfolios for some creative ideas.

I am doing my 4th wedding on Oct 4th. 08 I used a Nikon D50 for the first three. I just bought a Nikon D90 but it

is not needed the D50 works perfect. JPEG is fine. I used Fine and Large settings. (D90 I might use medium)

Some high powered photo people say forget RAW unless there is a very good reason. I agree it is for geeks or a

specific need. I use Auto setting with the dinky on camera flash. My FINISHED photos are stunning and pro

quality. I would include a link but I don't think the people want to show up on the web. Auto setting works for

the vast majority of shots. Take shots at eye level way above and way below. Set the camera on the ground and

have the wedding party gather around in a circle and look down. Adding a flame to a candle and cross screen

filter for lights. I could go on and on but you either think of that or you don’t at the time. My first was a

church. The second and third were outdoors/beach. The only difference was a polarizer was used at the beach

because it was effective. The other outdoor wedding the sky did not respond to the polarizer. The beach

w/polarizer was stunning. All in lowly Auto setting. Except for near dark get away car when I turned the flash

off so it did not reflect.

 

Here are the most important parts. Take photos, do not be timid. Get the shots. GET THE SHOTS! This is a loaded

sentence. It will reveal whether you have the stuff to be a great photographer or you don't. Some people no

matter what you do just will never be a good cook. Same with photography. It wells up from with in, or it

doesn’t. Great composition time and again comes from those that have it. The same goes for lousy photos, it comes

from with in from those that don’t have it.

“My FINISHED photos are stunning and pro quality.” This is because of software processing. I use Photoshop

elements 5.0 and need nothing else. Correct camera distortion. Crop. Correct color cast. Correct color for skin

tone. Correct lighting – contrast +10-15ish. Darken highlights lighten shadows. Sharpness. The basics.

 

Take the photos (many don’t pull the trigger enough) process the keepers to make them the best they can be.

About 25% of mine make the final cut. I shoot about 1400 and save about 300

 

Good luck.

ps the first church used no flash during ceremony as well. Do what you got to do.