How would you shoot this situation

[sandra_henderson]

I am shooting a wedding in August at The Castle McCullough

http://www.castlemcculloch.com/tours.html and would like to hear

your thoughts on how you would assess the situation.

[picturesque]

The website shows many different kinds of settings at various times of the day. Without knowing exactly what the setting is and the lighting conditions, it would be impossible to determine any kind of "plan of attack" for lighting. Also, hard to say about space and logistics from photographs. Do you know where the ceremony is to take place and at what time of day and what specific locales they are interested in?

[sandra_henderson]

That is helpful information to know. It will be 6:00 p.m. in the Great Hall (5th virtual tour displayed) and they definitely want photographs of the ceremony and shots of them running out of the castle with people throwing flower petals. I believe the castle holds close to 100 people. She has not specified any locales but I want to get some shots of her on the stairway and sitting on the floor in front of the window. She is suppose to give me more details on where everything is taking place when I do their engagement session.

[dain_binder1]

It is hard to say, there are so many possibilities. From looking at their website you will not be short on locations to shoot. It all depends on what the couple wants and their style. If you are unsure you may want to visit the location before the shoot. I tend to not like to get to rigid on a plan of attack. Of course, you need to know the basics of the types of pictures they want. But once you get there your vision as a photographer will take over and you will be fine. You need to stay flexible; if you get your mind set on one thing you may stumble if it changes or is not available.

[picturesque]

You would treat the Great Hall pretty much like a dimly lit church as far as ceremony shots. The Hall will probably set up pretty similarly to a church, too, with an aisle, chairs and altar area. As for shots on the staircase, you would need to at least be on a tripod and drag the shutter while using diffused flash. Sitting in front of the window would be treated like your typical window shots--mostly ambient, with reflector or very low powered, diffused fill flash.

 

Running out of the castle gates--you will be shooting during that difficult time--dusk. You'll have to make decisions about whether to up your ISO a lot and about whether you want to totally freeze motion or have some motion blur.

 

As for the other outdoor spots--most seem to be your typical shaded/sun-dappled outdoor location, so the same kinds of decision about exposure would be made. There seem to be several stands of trees and some fairly evenly shaded pond areas. The stands of trees are good because you can get the classic directional ambient lighting pattern where you need very little flash if at all. Even shade is great for ambient only shots, too. I would strongly recommend to the couple to get their romantic shots done before the ceremony, to make full use of the daylight. If they don't, you'll have to use a tripod/dragging the shutter a lot because I wouldn't go too high on ISO for these shots.

 

If the reception is in the same Great Hall, you will have to probably deal with pretty dim lighting, from what I can see--a lot of shutter dragging again.

 

Not sure what else you are concerned about.

[twmeyer]

if you're that worried, why don't you take a couple of friends out for a walk through this week. Figure the difference in time and see what the ambiant is like at the approximate time of day of the wedding. You should be to assess your requirements better than our virtual guess work... t

[sandra_henderson]

Tom, I would love to do that; however, you have to make an appointment even to get in the place. Timeline for taking photographs are from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. or 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Unfortunately, this isn't one of those places you can go any time you like to see it. They have very strict guidelines. Plus I think there are fees that go along with it.

[bill_clark___minnetonka_mi]

I would try giving them a call. Explain to them, something like this, "I'm the photographer for ... wedding and I really want to do a good job for them and lighting is so important and I was to show this beautiful place in their photographs. Would you let me take some time to look things over at 6 PM when their wedding will take place? This is a once in a lifetime event & I want the best photographs for them. I'd even pay a fee to do this."

 

What have you got to lose other than being told no?

 

And besides maybe if you offer them some of your images at no-charge maybe they will consider.

 

Try it. Give them a call. Or go visit them personally. Talk to the decision maker, the manager, someone who has the authority to accept your request.

 

It's an option that's better than experimenting during the wedding ceremony.

 

Let us know your success.

 

Just a thought to help you.

[twmeyer]

yep. Time to get creative without the camera. If you've got the time, just go... t