Wedding Photography in Church - Lighting Help needed

[kim_l.]

Question... Russ said: We use two Nikon SB800's with umbrellas - one on each side of the photographer with another SB800 on the camera body -...

I'm new to using off camera flash and just got my SB800... can you tell me how to use this with an umbrella? Is it attached on a stand somehow?

Thank you.

[russ_konrad]

Kim,

<p>

You use a bracket like this:

<p>

<img src="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/images/largeimages/298709.jpg">

<p>

This one is $13.95 from B&H Photo.

<p>

<a href=http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/298709-REG/Impact_3117_Umbrella_Bracket.html> Impact Umbrella Bracket with Swivel Mount and Flash Shoe</a>

[fotografz]

This question comes up so often, and the resources seem so dated that the time appears ripe for a really good tutorial, or even an on-line book with an attached PDFs to print for field reference, using modern digital gear and contemporary lighting solutions, so it's easily translatable by folks in need like Nicole and many others. As an on-line reference, it could easily

be updated rather than "becoming dated".

 

While lighting theory hasn't change all that much, ( "Let there be light" : -), how to use it to create a modern feel with modern digital capture techniques has added a whole new dimension to the endeavor. I think this area of wedding photography has been a bit neglected in favor of the more sexy "candid" approach. Yet these formals, and especially familial group

formals are often the center piece of a family's archives.

 

 

Nicole: you may know some of this, but I'll say it anyway after reading the exif information on your posted image:

 

IMO, you should back up a bit on the learning curve. If I were working with you one-on-one you, I'd help you understand the relationship between what the camera exposure does, and what the flash exposure does ... no matter what auxiliary lighting you may be using.

 

You also need to better grasp how a lens focal length AND what f stop you use affects depth-of-field ... so you can use a wider aperture to allow more ambient light balance. Plus, did you know that your lens is most likely sharper @ f/5.6 then it is @ f/11 that you used? Do you know that Depth-of-Field is greater behind the focus point then in front of it? If you focus

1/3 into a group you are usually maximizing the available Depth-of-Field, so you can use a more open aperture ... which in turn lets in more ambient light.

 

Did you know that shutter speed has little to no effect on the flash exposure of the foreground subject, but has a huge effect on the camera's exposure of the ambient light, especially the background? The camera shutter speed and lens aperture controls the ambient exposure ... but only the aperture controls the flash exposure. The level of light from a flash is always

the same. Always. It is the duration that it is "on" that determines how much light strikes the sensor. In other words it's "time on", not amount. This "time on" is almost always much quicker than the shutter speed you are using. So, using 1/200th shutter speed on your camera had little effect on the flash exposure and only served to darken the background as well as the

subjects further back in the group. You could have used a shutter speed of 1/50th and then would have needed far less flash.

 

Based on the picture you posted, it appears you had more room to work with then you utilized. You shot this @ an 18mm focal length on a 1.6X lens factor Canon Rebel which is the equivalent of about 28mm in full frame 35mm, but provides the Depth-of-Field of an 18mm, so you didn't need to stop down to f/11. Plus, when you shoot with a wide angle while up

over the subject, you are increasing the sense of "Keystone" distortion ... i.e., big heads, little feet. And, wide angle lenses, especially kit lens wide zooms, have more vignetting light fall off in the corners and edges than longer focal length lenses ... prime lenses like a 35mm or 50mm prime have less.

 

As far as lighting is concerned, there have already been a number of good comments. I always suggest starting with one light when working with studio strobes at weddings. Place it close to you to one side for some 3D modeling, and up high so the shadows drop down behind subjects. I use a giant shoot through translucent white umbrella to soften the light. Half the

time the subjects are sweating and all that a silver umbrella, or direct flash, does is create specular highlights on the faces. A diffused umbrella assumes your strobes are powerful enough to provide diffused light at the distance you are shooting.

[picturesque]

Good info, Marc. Here is a book which is actually fairly new, that has good info re photographing groups. Not so much the lighting, but other aspects, such as perspective, etc.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Group-Portrait-Photography-Handbook-Hurter/dp/1584281596/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1205452332&sr=1-1