Stupid question

[robbie_caswell]

What do you guys do for a checklist during a weddings for simple

reminders like checking ISO and things such as this? Where do you

keep your checklist?

 

I just got back from my third wedding as a second shooter and I'm

seeing great improvement. I have a good handle on bounce and fill

flash.

 

However, somethings continue to trip me up. Today it was my D70/135

combo. We went indoors for the ready shots and I bumped up my ISO.

Problem is I left it at 800 for the outdoor ceremony in bright blue

skies.

 

I even did the AKWAT about an hour ahead and setthe D70 at 800 and

forgot about it. Then when things seemed off, then I just winged it

with the histogram, never looking at the ISO right in front of me.

Pretty stupid.

 

The d200/ 17-55DX combo just rocks though I wish it had more length.

I like that combo and a d70/prime on the other shoulder.

[lulu_yu___santa_cruz___ca]

did you ever see the movie momento? where he tattooed all important info on himself?

seriously.. something i have considered. i think if you do it enough..make mistakes.. learn

from them.. it will eventually become second nature and you wont forget. I do keep a

checklist- funny though its worthless when i really need it. the reason is.. once i start getting

really busy i tend to get tunnel vision and FORGET about the LIST. Most important for me- is

to slow down and focus on what i am doing- have a set routine and always follow it.

Whenever you go from one location to another indoors to outdoors- have a mantra-which

will remind you to change your iso. Hope that helps..

[fotografz]

I jot it down on my Temporal Lobe which is stored in my scull.

[crystal-lite]

I used to jote everything down, not just the settings of the camera, but location, time etc.

Now it's imprinted in the brain, well most of the time and I still make some little mistakes.

[austinphoto]

Whenever the camera is not at my eye and I am looking for action, many times during the day, I look at the camera and see the settings. I do it quite a lot, it's now second nature. I catch many mistakes that way. If you get used to checking your camera at any given moment, you will catch problems.

[kari douma]

I have a check list for some of the formal images, especially if they have some spacific requests. But, I don't have a check list for camera settings. I think that if you forget once or twice, you'll remember better in the future. I just get in the habbit of ALWAYS checking my settings when changing location, and even if I am not changing locations. I also set my camera to show a quick 2 sec preview after every image (unless I am shooting real fast, then it just displays the last one). I don't look at it very often, but I usually glance at it when I take the first shot in a new situation. Sometimes I get a glimps of it (not intentionally looking at it) and I realize something is not right, so I immediately check my settings.

[kiva]

Until the process embedded in my temporal lobe I devised a system of touching the lens, then the settings area of the camera. The actual touching was a way to remind me to check settings every time venue/atmosphere is changed. This developed the process of checking settings which is now the mode of working.

 

I can't downplay the importance of the situation you describe and it's important to remember those who are struggling with these small and seemingly silly points while the heat of the moment steals all reason from our studied brain and leaves us a mush of Beginner Soup.

 

Find a way of using your tactile senses right on the camera and forget the notepad, you won't have time for it. The tactile method will traslate to the grey matter with greater speed and depth.

[nstock]

You need to ask the stupid questions before you can ask the smart ones! I am an expert on asking the stupid ones.

 

The first rule of wedding photography is to check your settings. You MUST remember this. Always.

 

If you do not, the first wedding you shoot on your own and your forget and have a mess on your hands will improve your memory greatly.

 

Fortunately for me I had a great teacher who made this a priority and I CHECK MY SETTINGS.

 

Because you may go from indoors to out etc. a LOT you need to check your settings for White Balance and ISO and all of that (especially shooting digital. Film is more forgiving of these errors.

[ajb]

i have a bright white 1/2" x1/2" square sticker right next to my view finder that reads: ISO,

AV, Flash... etc. just seeing the white square reminds me. i've made the mistakes, and

that is the best reminder. the sticker keeps me from making any more.

[ben_rubinstein___mancheste]

The histogram is a great tool for reminding you that you are shooting iso 400 in bright conditions outdoors! that is if you shoot in manual mode like I do.

[Jerry_]

If you mix B&W at a wedding, one good thing to do is put one (yellow?) filter on one lens and use only that lens for B&W shots....so you could put a ND filter on one lens for out-side work, and be sure to switch the lens when going inside: ISO 800 would be a little less extreme with a ND filter in sunshine.

[chris m., central florida]

My biggest motivator for checking settings is screwing up a shot or two for my clients. You do it enough, checking your settings becomes a conditioned response. I still screw up occasionally, if things are getting too fast and furious, but it's rare. I'm dumb like that sometimes, but even the best will forget to rest their camera for a new lighting environment from time to time.

[Gary Naka]

Well Robbie, I think I have you beat.

I went from inside the dim church with ISO-1600 to outside in full sun, and I forgot to lower the ISO level. :-( Things were moving too fast, as this was the walk out. That was one time when auto ISO would have saved my butt. Things were moving so fast I did not look at the LCD. Luckily the blown highlights were not significant.

 

Anyway as others have said, develop a routine and repetition. When things are moving FAST, you want your actions to be automatic. Or another analogy, I could not drive a stick if I had to think about and how to shift gears and work the clutch.

 

There are some really good ideas presented here, and they apply to any event.

 

Gary

[larry schaefer - chicago,]

Heres mine from last week. I now have an 89 year old groom who is getting married on May 6th. This by the way is my first "real" wedding; contract, retainer, the real deal but sort of entry level and easily managed.

 

This groom was a bomber pilot in World War II and was a POW for a year. While at his house I sugested we do some casualavail light portraits with him and his B17 model in the shot.

 

On the better shots I had a blazing set of white drapes in the backround at 1:30 pm and had the ISO at 1600. I tried printing an 8-1/2 X 11 but it looks like it spray painted on 00 grit sand paper.

 

I am calling him this week to see if he will let me re-shoot. I am going to tell him that the B17 didn't show up well against his plaid shirt.

 

Ya can't recheck enough.

[larry schaefer - chicago,]

Okay that image again . . .<div></div>

[jaimie blue]

It helps to be obsessive compulsive like I am, I check and recheck and check again...lock the door and go back in to make sure the coffee pot is off, it helps with the settings on the camera...

[steve_levine]

I have a stupid question too, whats AKWAT?

[robbie_caswell]

How did you miss that discussion on metering? Its been dubbed the Al Kaplan Walk around Technique.

 

Got there an hour early and metered with my Sekonic indoors and out, made notes, and promptly forgot about them as the bell sounded.

 

I should have caught it sooner because my settings were nowhere near my notes or my D200 (ISO 160). Live and learn I guess.

[larry schaefer - chicago,]

I thought everyone knew what AKWAT is.

 

Al Kaplan, may you live to be a thousand years old.

[matt_kelsey1]

I used to have the same problem (forgetting to change settings) What I did was tape a small strip of bright neon colored paper with a reminder written on it, like "ISO!!" or "White Balance". I would tape it right next to the screen on the back so whenever I checked my historgram from a shot I would have that reminder screaming at me. After only two weddings of doing that it became second nature. Give it a try.

[picturesque]

Shoot film, screw up once, and it will be burned in your brain, because with film, you don't have a chance to catch your mistakes (on the LCD) while there is time to redo things immediately. Lots of good answers, especially developing a routine with whatever kind of reminders work well for you--either habit or visual or both. I started developing habits based on what I screwed up on, plus I used to use the fluorescent notes taped to the camera/flash, whatever--still do, actually. One of my worst was compensating the flash (in the film era) and forgetting to put it back to the normal setting. I developed a reminder that had me setting up a "flag" that partially blocked my viewfinder when I moved the compensating switch on my flash. Don't need that now, but it helped at the time.

 

It works the other way too. I was so used to using film, at a set ISO, that the first wedding in which I used a digital camera, I never moved the ISO.

 

I do use a note carrier--a holder that can carry 3x5 cards. Each wedding, I use a pre-printed list of important photos plus reminders, with lots of space for notes specific to the event (schedule and requested images) and clients. The reminders on this list are more geared toward the creative rather than the technical, though. Just some key words that help get my creative juices flowing if I am tired and have photographer's block.