WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY - NO FLASH ALLOWED...HELP!!

I've been asked to shoot a wedding in months time.

I have know previous experience in wedding photography

so this will be the my first time shooting one.

The client is on a small budget and as only asked for

the traditional group shots after the ceremony.. around 12-15 shots

although it's probably likely I'll take a few important shots during

and after the ceremony (Bride's arrival, Signing registers...etc)

The wedding is pretty informal in terms of dress and location, I've

been told the ceremony will take place in a large converted bard and

the groom will be wearing an Hawaiian shirt.

I am pretty confident in taking the photo's, but theres one rather BIG

PROBLEM, The grooms Mother is "EPILEPTIC" and insists the any form of

FLASH

can not be used. I have explained to her that is going to be difficult

to produce professionals looking shots without fill-in flash, but she

still will not allow flash.

So I assume all shots have to be taken in natural light

and I am fairly dependent on the weather been good on the day.

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Is there any way around this? please help....

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My Equipment:

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Canon D60,

Canon EOS 1,

Canon EOS 50e,

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20-35mm f2.8

50mm f1.8

28-80 f2.8

105mm f2.8 macro

80-200 f2.8

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Pentax 645 NII,

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55mm f2.8,

75mm f2.8 LEAF SHUTTER,

150mm f3.5,

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Hassleblad 503cw,

75mm f2.8

This is easy, fast lens, I'd rely on the 50mm 1.8 and a fast film, 400-800 asa.

We just had a lengthy discussion on the same topic in <A HREF="http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=008piP">this thread</A>. I shot that wedding yesterday. DSLR at ISO 800 setting, ISO 800 film, and a tripod solved the problem.

Fast lens, fast flim and a tripod. Piece of cake. It is quite common in many of the church

wedding I shoot for there to be no flash. Don't stress, it done all the time (the no flash

part...well maybe stressing too...)

Cheers for the thread...

Agree fast lens. Canon 50/1.4, 80/1.2, etc

 

Better yet, Rangefinder,

 

Leica or Bessa R2, 50/1.5 Nokton or 35/1.2, or summiluxes. Invest in a new camera.

 

Another way, is take all underexposed photo in raw, then photoshop it back a'la Marc Williams.

My main concern is the weather. The ceremony is taking place at 15:30 so sunlight should be fairly low in the sky, but what if it's dull, cloudy and/or raining...

pictures are going to look lifeless, flat and boring.

 

PS Thanks for the quick response.. greatly appreciated.

Seems to me you're asking about the formals with no flash, not during the ceremony, which is more of a problem because you need more depth of field for multiple rows of people and less grain/noise because these are the ones that end up being blown up. Why not tungsten continuous lights? You can rent some. Hopefully there is electricity available in the barn--if not you can also rent portable generators. If you use the digital, white balance to them. If you use film, get tungsten balanced film.

Should I add fast lens and fast film ?<br>

I have often done it, and it works ;-)<br>

Lenny<br>

<a href="http://afimage.com">AFimage.com</a>

of me wants to know who is paying the bill and who is getting married? The B & G or the mother? Who is signing the contract? The B & G or the mother?

For my clients, I let them know that I am shooting for them, not anyone else. JMHO

Meesha

Does the Groom's mother HAVE to be present when all of the pictures are taken? Maybe you can talk the Bride and Groom into showing up early for some pictures without Mom. I'm not sure the tungsten lighting is going to work because the camera can be set to tungsten, but in doing that, the background, not lit by the tungsten lights will have a bluish cast. Consider using a higher saturation film such as Kodak UC. This is the kind of situation that gets the best of some photographers. I once met a man who had to give up wedding photography because he let the stresses get to him. His blood pressure was so high he had to quit. Now he drives a limo and is happy. When people make unreasonable demands on me I look for a solution, but if there is none, I just tell myself that it is now THEIR problem, not mine and they are going to have to live with the results. If your pictures are flat because of the lack of flash, the bride and groom will know why and should not hold you responsibe. Don't worry about it, flat pictures are not THAT bad.

if you cant use flash, and you want the end result to be able to do anything past 8X10 inch pics, you need slower ISO speed film, than 800, and for digital (although the nikon d100 can probably handle it, not too sure of the early Canons). The only way, besides massive continuous light banks, is long exposures. Maybe in light of Mom's condition, everyone would be willing to stop dead in their tracks and let you do couple second exposures?

Thanks everyone for the replies, I certainly feel alot more confident in approaching this job.

Michelle, since flashes can cause epileptic people to have seizures, even if the B&G were paying for everything, one would be asking for trouble (big liability suits) if one went merrily ahead with flashes against the wishes of the epileptic mother.

 

If it were me, I'd use fast film/ISO for the candids/ceremony and use continuous lights for the formals with slower film/ISO. Maybe, since I'd have the continuous lights, light up the barn during the ceremony--not with bare hot lights, but diffused hot lights. It would help with the candids, especially if the weather is bad and it is really dark inside the barn. Some Lowell lights with diffusion material can really make a difference.

The time of day is working in your favor! The light should be

lower in the sky. Just make sure you position yourself to take

advantage of the light, and you'll be fine. I would second the

recommendation to have at least one fast lens in your bag,

however. F2.8 is just too slow in a pinch.

Easy -- take one shot with the bride's mom ** no flash** -- then have her escorted out of the room for the rest of the ** with flash ** photographs.

 

 

She is not the one getting married, and she should have not problem in not being in the room for a few minutes for you to take your images.

Sunglasses.

Hi,

 

I do not have big experience with this problem, but I would think about some other lighting equipement: see in the lighting forum and if needed ask a question there.

 

Regards,

 

Olivier.

I would think you'll be OK with your set up but make sure you explain to them that the

pictures might not be as good as than could be if you were able to use a flash. Bring one

along anyway, as there will no doubt be times when th mother is not present or could be

made to be so, and you can sqeeze off a few with it. Apart from that I would also say

bring a refector along. For anything cose up and 'static' or posed you can also get a little

more light from somewhere if need be. You may want to take someone along who can

hold it for you.

Also, for the formals, I'd use the Hasselblad, even if you use the tungsten lights and tungsten film. And if you use faster film, such as 800 speed, using the larger format will help when making enlargements. I guess a lot would depend on how much daylight gets into the barn--do they have huge doors that can stay open or have they installed large windows... Otherwise I'd think the barn would be lit by tungsten bulbs anyway. The worst would be if the weather was bad, meaning the doors would have to stay closed, there are no big windows, and the lighting is some bulbs high overhead, casting dark shadows in people's eye sockets. Maybe you can find out what kind of lighting exists there.

"Small budget, Hawaiian shirt, around 12-15 shots, insists that any form of FLASH can not be used" plus non-L lenses that aren't really effective until f4, slow MF lenses, stopping movement without flash, etc. all add up to, at least for me - thanks, but no thanks. Maybe you can take the group outside, otherwise rent or bring additional tungsten lighting. The mother's condition aside, there is always a way to shoot weddings with restrictions, but 1) Will you make any real money on this one? 2) Will it damage your reputation if you don't pull it off?

Sorry but perhaps you should speak to the groom about his mother. EPILEPTIC by light is not a big problem. There is a freak cure for it already and has been for some time now. You need to tell her to go to the doctor and get the pills for the condition. Sorry I manage a retail store on the side, and we were told for longest time we are not allowed to have flash by the strobes lights going. After a little bit of research and questions I found out that someone basically proved it could trigger a seizure but it is not guranteed. The reason why someone business and certain people freak out about it; was because of a lawsuit that happened over it. Of course I know you may not be able to do all this, but do not let this Lady's pyscological handicap interfere with a marriage!

Epileptic attacks are triggered by a particular rate of flashes per second. In the BBC we have to check TV programmes before transmission to ensure there are no potential problems; typically pop videos and "celebs" at a film premiere. It is unlikely that a single flash gun would fall within these limits, but to cover yourself you might want to do some more research into the causes.

<p>That is so hard to read! It's I have "no" previous experience, and "photos" not "photo's".<br>

I can't get past the bad grammar!!!</p>