D2x wedding shooters - HELP!

[richard_cogan]

hi, i just shot my first wedding with my new D2x. the camera handled

extremely well, however, i am frustrated with the amount of post-

processing that needs to be done. particularly dissappointing were

the shots after dark.

 

i used two sb-800's - one on my camera and one held by my assistant

on a monopod. i used iTTL mode and checked histograms. i had to

continually adjust the exposure of both flashes. still - many of

them need to be adjusted after the wedding, and most are pretty

dark. i shot the whole thing at ISO 400.

 

is anyone else out there shooting weddings with D2x yet? do you have

similar results? i would like to form a little user group of D2x

wedding shooters, because i think it would be interesting to share

stories and figure this all out together.

[paul_sokal___dallas__tx]

Shot my first one two weeks ago and my next this weekend. My reception shots were a bit underexposed when using a bounce with the diffuser on the sb800, but easy to correct in Capture. By and large I think my D2X images require much less post-processing. Tony Cabrera are you out there? What are your thoughts?

[johnmarkpainter]

Richard,

 

Just to check...have you shot other Nikon DSLR? I have a D100 and it is always

underexposed. The camera is protecting you from yourself! Over-exposure looks awful.

 

As a default setting in Camera RAW I have a +.5 exposure and generally boost a bit from

there. And that is from exposures with careful Incident/FLash metering.

 

jmp

[richard_cogan]

to answer your q's:

for most shots i added +.3 or +.7 for each.

this is my first digital camera - prior to this it's been film for me. with film, in dark rooms the subject is bright and the backgrounds are dim but still visable. in this case, the subject usually was bright but the backgrounds very dark...

also - while shooting i really had to watch exposure. i never did that with film!!

[rich_dutchman1]

I shoot receptions at 500-640, bounce the light, and add +7 to +1.7. The results are consistent for me.

 

For best on site previews, I set the LCD brightness one notch under factory settings and leave the highlight warning on. If the image appears nice and bright with few to no highlight warnings, then you nailed the exposure.

[t._duane_jones]

I don't have the luxury of shooting a D2x.. yet. This year I transitioned from Nikon film to Nikon digital, now with a D-100 and 2- D-70's. As was mentioned, the Nikon DSLR's tend to underexpose slightly, to prevent blowing the highlights. I have loaded the "point and shoot" curve into my cameras from Fotogenetics. That helped tremendously. And I would experiment with Rich's advice on the receptions. Last weekend, I had an outdoor reception, so it was quite dark after 8pm. I changed the ISO to 640, kicked up the SB800 to +7 (using the bounce attachment @60 degrees), and shot away. The images looked great. Best of luck, and happy shooting with the D2x!

 

Duane

[mark_jacoby___raleigh__nc]

Rich & Duane, I shoot with a D100 and never considered using ISO 640.

 

Thanks for the hint as I am also tired of so much post production work.

 

By the way, this is why I participate in this forum!

[johnmarkpainter]

Richard,

 

Thought so....Welcome to Digital :)

 

As for your Dark Backgrounds...Digital has a moee drastic falloff in Shadow. Just the

nature of the beast.

 

jmp

[chris_eisenkoelbl1]

Hello folks!

 

I don't contribute often (am a long time member tho') - but I've been a gret listener.

 

I switched to the D100 about 2.5 years ago from and F100 and various others. I used to up my EV +.5 for a while and considered using custom curves - but noticed you have to be very careful with blowinf highlights. The flash has problems too of course - I use the SB80dx (D-TTL)and Sb 28 on manual and or flash metered. I noticed that altho' you might not impress the PN forum team ;) There are times when the program mode works very well (even better than all the manual experimentation you may lose pics or opportunities with. I've shot about 400 events the last couple of years with the camera and flash (Stroboframe bracket at times) and have become very good at handling the short comings - and happy with what have become predictable results - for me at least. Altho' I tend to use many primes I shot a fashion show in a large office tower with the D100, SB80dx on the dreaded program mode at ISO 400. I'll post a couple of the pics with minor adjustment.

 

Cheers!<div></div>

[chris_eisenkoelbl1]

Another one from today:<div></div>

[chris_eisenkoelbl1]

I'm sure it's obvious - but this is with the flash bounces off roughly 12 ft ceilings (the 'kit' lens was used in this case 18-70mm.

 

Cheers!

[richard_cogan]

hi everyone -

 

i have almost-free access to a conference call system. i would like to set up a free, 1 hour conference call with other d2x wedding photographers to share ideas and figure things out together. i would like to limit it to a group of 4-6 people.

 

if you're interested in participating, please email me, and include a link to your wedding website. thanks!! rc

[tony_cabrera]

Sorry a little late on the response here. I haven't been online for a week now.

 

I've done 6 weddings with the D2X and have no exposure problems. I do the same thing Rich does, setting my LCD low and shoot with the highlight warning on. I usually kick it up to .7 indoors. Using the white bounce card works great if you want to get the background into your shots.

 

Only issues I have are the color purple and red. For some reason, my D70's white balance is easier to set. I've seen my purple colors turn more blue and my red turn more purple-ish. Even when I use a white/gray card to set white balance. I know most cameras have this problem in the first place. I even know some photographers that actually state on the contract that they don't color match purple. But I was just a little concerned that my D70 gets it better than my D2X. But it could just be the lighting conditions during my shots. I'm not certain until I do more weddings with those colors.

[rich_dutchman1]

Hi Tony. I had the same feelings when I first received the D2X. I've customized the outdoor setting to +1 and tungsten to +2, and I've been very happy. The tungsten setting balances very well indoors with the amber gel on the flash. The D2X in mixed lighting works great when I set the PRE off a white card. But, the Auto setting is pretty much worthless, and, yes, the D70 Auto seems to work better.

[richard_cogan]

so you guys are not using auto white balance?

are you using the preset white balance options? i would assume you need to white balance every time the light changes.

 

my concern is how to balance in mixed light (flash outside), and as the sun is going down, do you need to continue to white balance...

[tony_cabrera]

Richard - I use the shooting banks storing white balance for indoor avail light, outdoor, & flash. Since I don't have time to reset with white/gray cards when I go indoor and outdoor, I have my outdoor set to a temperature (K) that I set in the beginning of the day. The rest of the shooting banks are usually indoor so I have all of those set to pre using the white/gray cards, and reset as needed.

[tony_cabrera]

To answer your main question though... Yes, I constantly monitor my white balance. It's a pain but I'm not trusting the Auto WB at this point.

[tony_cabrera]

Wedding I did this past weekend, bride sitting in a photo booth which was outdoor at a zoo.<div></div>

[rich_dutchman1]

Yeah, constantly checking and resetting the WB is something you become accustomed to. It's a huge timesaver once you reach post. I mention this since you're new to digital.

 

If you shoot JPEG+RAW and nail the exposure & WB on site, you can send the JPEGs straight to the lab (or web gallery) for proofing, almost without even reviewing them. I only open RAW files when doing the album. Even then, the JPEGs are often enough, so I make quick curves, hue and sharpening adjustments, then I'm done.

[tony_cabrera]

Wow Rich, this is weird, I feel like I'm stalking you because we do exaclty the same thing. LOL!