Wedding Location has changed 1 week before the wedding!

[amanda_gammill]

I am meeting the bride and mother of the bride in a few hours. This has been a planned meeting for months now. It

is one week before the wedding. I received a phone call this morning from the mother of the bride letting me know

that where we have thought we were going to be having the ceremony, we WON'T be having it there now. It was

going to be at the "New" church that they were building, but because the New chruch has not been dedicated yet,

the elders of the church have decided not to allow the Bride to hold her wedding in it. So, she is now going to have

to use the "old" church to hold over 200 people in. The Old chruch may have potential though. It is a country church

and it was dedicated in 1909. I went and looked at both locations earlier this week and the old church is VERY

dark. It is Dark Paneling walls. Not very pretty at all but manageable. The Bride and Mother of the bride are

freaking out and I am trying to hold these 2 together. I am about to go meet with them at the location. I went ahead

and got the 70-200mm F2.8 lens and also the SB800 flash. I am thinking I very well may have to use the Flash in

the ceremony? I am going to take a few shots while I am there today so I can know what settings I need to have my

camera on for the day. I will post a few of the pictures when I get back so everyone can see what I am talking

about. If anyone has any Approaches that I could use for this let me know PLEASE! I think it will all work out

wonderful if my eyes and my ability as a photographer do not fail me...lol

[howard_m]

Don't count on being able to use the SB800. You definitely want to talk to the priest or whomever decides these things asap.

[picturesque]

Not sure why the change is a problem. Assuming you've shot in dark churches before, just do what you did then. You should ask about restrictions and abide by them, though. You may not be able to use flash during the ceremony, in which case you will have to have a different plan, possibly involving a tripod. As for approaches, do some searches. Lots of info in past threads re dark churches and ceremonies without flash.

[jo_dinning]

Concentrate on the photography - the bride and MOB can look after themselves and I'm sure they will be fine on the day. As Howard said, clear the use of flash with the minister first, and you may want to review the expectations of the B&G and their families, and if necessary re-negotiate your contract to allow for this change.

 

Flash won't help you with long shots from the back of a church filled with 200 people.

 

The timing is unfortunate but probably not entirely surprising. Go with the flow but let the couple know what may not be possible now given the change of venue.

[david_schilling___chicago_]

Once had a bride have the church changed about 90 minutes before the ceremony. I stayed cool/relaxed and reassured the bride that it would go fine....then I assurred mom. dad, everyone else there at the house (we were still doing the getting ready shots) that it would be fine and we'd make the best of it.

 

Turns out we ended up at a church about a half mile away but it co-incidentally was the same church that her deaceased grandparents were married in. During the ceremony the priest joked that the grandparents may have had a hand in the way that things were changed, got many smiles and some laughter. I suspect that the grandparents likely did have a hand in it.

 

A good wedding photographer knows how to adapt and go with the flow, most of which comes from years of experience.

[l_e]

Adapting and going with the flow is much easier for a new photographer, than an 'experienced' photographer who could be set in their ways.

 

Amanda, you know what your strengths and weaknesses are (hopefully), so set yourself up for success. Focus on the areas in which you are strong, and minimize the amount of areas in which you are weak. While it is very nice and helpful of you to try and keep the bride and mother from freaking out, it is not your job. You reassure them of your ability to handle the situation and then deliver on that.

 

Do everything you can to maximize the the available light - ask to have all of the lights turned on and up all the way, open the shades if there are any, etc. Find out how close you can get to the couple during the ceremony, if you can get close then invest in a fast prime (50mm or 85mm).

[William Michael]

I do not understand the question: or I am ignorant of the history to it.

 

Either you will be able to use Flash during the ceremony or not: it will inevitably be as simple as that.

 

If not, you should be using suitable fast prime lens(es), in very dark situations.

 

A `suitable` fast prime might indeed be a 50mm 85mm or perhaps 24mm, depending upon, primarily but not limited to:

 

1. your cameras` format(s)

 

2. Layout, size and architecture of the Church especially Sanctuary, Aisle and Nave

 

3. Number in the Bridal Party

 

4. Composure of the Bridal Party during Processional and Recessional.

 

My comments regarding any of the 70 to 200 zooms being the very LAST purchase for any Wedding kit are frequently documented on this forum.

 

WW

[savagesax]

One of the fun parts of being a wedding photographer is adjusting to every situation. Trying to find a good location is pretty much a constant challenge.

 

If the church is really ugly simply take the photos needed of the ceremony. Then find another location to do the formals. This could be right outside of the church or at a local park. Plan ahead a bit and to take the pressure off of you let the people know what your ideas are as a pro.

 

One time here in California it rained. Amazing as it seems it rained one day! Anyway it was a backyard wedding. Well the wedding was moved to a bowling hall! We all had a blast. Got fun shots of the bride bowling. After a bit the weather cleared and we went to a park after all of the guests left and then did the formals with the families and the bridal party.

[steve_hovland]

I just shot a wedding using D80/55-200VR/SB600 with 19-35mm for the group shots.

 

You will need a tripod for the ceremony shots if they don't allow flash.

 

Your long lens will be nice for candids at a distance where people won't notice you that much.

 

A second body/flash with a wider lens - 24-28mm equivalent will be very useful.

 

I shot a lot in manual mode at 1/60th, f4, ISO 800, with the flash filling in what it thought was correct- the pictures look pretty good to me.

 

Outdoors I find TTL very erratic. The D80 has high speed sync with SB600-SB800 and running manual with 2/3 to 1 stop underexposure might work better.

 

D80 also has a shade color balance which was very useful on the shady side of the redwoods in the park where we shot.

 

Set the image optimization for Portrait.

 

Except for the ceremony, I do essential zero available light except for a few dance shots at ISO 3200 where I want to catch the atmosphere.

[amanda_gammill]

Ok, Thanks for the comments. I did go to the new location yesterday. It is not going to be bad at all. I was told that I could use the flash but like Jo Dinning said, "Flash won't help you with long shots from the back of a church filled with 200 people," it didn't work with 4 people in the church and me half way down the isle. So I will not be using the flash after all during the ceremony. So, I shot a few different shots using the 70-200mm f2.8 with different lighting set in the church and found out the best ones were with the lights turned up and all of the over heads about the bride and groom on. I set my WB, ISO, Fstop and shutter speed to find out what looked the best in the lighting. I had the bride actually put on her dress and we did a mock ceremony so I could have everything perfect. I do not have any restrictions on the ceremony. I was told to move about freely and get the best shot possible. I would rather use my 50mm f1.8 for the ceremony, but I do not want to be right up on the bride and groom while they are trying to have their moment, so I am just going to use the "big" lens instead. I will shoot the before and after photos with the 50mm. I love that little lens!

 

L E- I want to say Thank you! Yes, I do know my strengths and weaknesses and there are way more strengths than weaknesses. I am very adaptable and a people pleasure, but at the same time, I know what I like and I know from experiance what I like is what my clients like. You are right, it is not my place to handle the MOB and the Bride, but if I can help calm there nerves I will, and I did. The MOB told me that all the bride wanted was a beautiful dress and beautiful pictures, and she has the dress and I will give her the beautiful pictures. Last night after I had already been home for hours the MOB called me and told me that she wanted to Thank me so much for coming to them and reassuring them that everything would be fine and it was still going to be beautiful. She said she was very excited now and she could not wait until next Sat. I do not doubt my ability as a photographer at all. I will do what I have to do to in order to give my clients the best memories of there day.

 

William W (retired) I have the Nikon 50mm f1.8 and do plan to use that. I am using my Nikon D200 and I did go out and by the Sigma 70-200mm f2.8 lens last minute. I have never really thought that I needed it and I bought it just for this wedding actually. It doesnt matter now because I have it and will use it more in the future. I also have great ideas for the bridal party. Including Bride and Groom there will be 12. The only reason I guess I posted the question was because of the way the MOB and the Bride were freaking out. I did not know what to expect and the way they were talking it was going to be horrible. It won't be horrible at all and I will do my job as the professional that I am and give this bride her beautiful wedding memories.

 

Bob Bernardo - LA area. You are right about the fun part of being a wedding photographer. When I actually got to the new location, I had to smile and laugh. My assistant and I looked at each other and we said, "What is wrong with this?"....lol We walked into the old chruch and actually fell in love with the location. The building it's self is actually 119 years old. When we took a deep breath and smelt the air in the church, you can actually smell the age. It is like you are stepping back in time and for a moment I could see this church in it's prime. There is history in this place and I would feel honored to have gotten married in such a historical church. What some people see as "Ugly" I see the beauty of what it is. I guess that is what make me a good photographer.

 

David Schilling, I love your story! That is amazing! I bet you got some really good shots from that wedding!

 

Nadia, yes I have shot in a dark church before, but it was my first wedding and I didn't know anything like I do today. That was over 5 years ago. I will never stop learing, because when I think I know it all is when I will no longer grow as a photographer. I know the "mind" of the camera and the lenses, and I know what looks good, but I still want to learn new and improved ways of doing things.<div></div>

[amanda_gammill]

I am also going to upload 2 images of what I think the best settings for the ceremony will be. Let me know what you think<div></div>

[neal_warren]

Amanda,

 

Keep in mind that VERY FEW of your ceremony shots will ever be seen larger than 8x10 - even if you're making a 10x10

album and use one full-length. So I think you can safely shoot the ceremony at high ISO like the 1600 sample you posted,

without worrying about noise or grain being an issue on smaller photos. The grain will virtually disappear. Couple the high

ISO with the use of a tripod or monopod, and you should get great shots.

 

Neal

[amanda_gammill]

Thank you Neal! I figured the high ISO grain wouldn't be seen with the image being small like 8x10 or smaller. I am probably not going to use a tripod because the bride is wanting me to go into the chior loft when the B&G are lighting the unity candle. So, I am going to have to be moving around during the ceremony. Which is fine with everyone. I did set some specific setting on my camera to allow me to be unable to relese the shutter button in case the image is not in focus. It just will not shoot until I get into focus..lol I can't complain on that. I also set Auto ISO max of 1600. That will be ok until I try to shoot manual, and then I will need to turn it off. I switch between S mode and M mode often. It depends on what I am shooting and if I have time to shoot M or not. The wedding will be July 12th so as soon as it is done I will post pictures on my website and everyone can check them out. I am excited and ready..just waiting on the day!

[think27]

Amanda

 

A note from the forum moderator:

 

Please read the guidelines about uploading images. Your best bet in this thread would have been to

upload your images to your Photo.net folder and directing people there. Also note the size and caption

requirements. Those instructions are there when you go to upload an image. Thank you.

[amanda_gammill]

Thank you Mary! I am fairly new to this forum and I will from now on upload the images to my folder. Thank you for the information!

[William Michael]

I understand more now. Thank you for responding / explaining.

 

Sometimes just blurting it all out helps to make sense of things better.

 

It looks like you are well on the way to do a great job.

 

WW