Wedding compromise - Need help - new to digital

[ramon_pons1]

My sister in law is getting married and they ask me to take some shoots because it's going to be a low key wedding.

I want to do a nice work but I'm worried because I'm completely new to Digital.

I've bought last week the Nikon D300+ 17-55mm 2.8 + SB-800 and a CF 16GB card.The wedding is on the 12th

September.

My main concern is not to "lose the photos". My questions:

1- Which format/quality should I use?

2- Basic tips based on the equipment welcomed?

3-Flash tips REALLY welcomed.

 

Thanks

[ellis_vener_photography]

1.) Raw + JPEG. Don't throw away the raw files. As your skills in the digital darkroo mget better you'll be able to do learn how to get better results.

 

2.) Get a flash bracket and a Nikon SC-29 cable to get the flash off camera. Set Active D-Lighting on the camera to High and the camera to ISO 800 and Aperture Priority.

 

3.) Practice as much as you can before hand.

[cjogo]

Use your film camera ...........

[ellis_vener_photography]

"Use your film camera ..........."

 

Why? So if he makes a mistake or the lab screws up the film the results will be irredeemable?

[picturesque]

Shoot RAW unless you don't have any idea how to handle RAW files. If so, shoot Large/Fine JPEG. Use Program mode. Learn how to read a histogram and how to compensate 1) your ambient exposure and 2) your flash exposure. Use Single focus mode. Read the article at planetneil.com, under Techniques, about flash, but don't try to bounce or use modifiers unless you have plenty of time to practice. September 12 is pretty near. If you try to bounce without a LOT of experimentation in various venues, you may find, for instance, that you can't photograph the processional because your flash won't recycle fast enough. Keep things simple and concentrate on getting well exposed, in-focus, expressive images.

[johnmottershaw]

Shoot RAW, ask questions later!

 

If you shoot RAW, you can set white balance to auto and forget about it whilst shooting. Plus you get far more exposure

latitude and optimum quality.

[ilkka_nissila]

Ellis, I assume that C Jo made that suggestion because the original poster is new to digital I find that optimal flash

exposures are very different on digital vs. color negative film and with digital capture, a lot of retouching in post-

processing is needed in many lighting situations that occur when making close-ups of the face, whereas negative film

conveniently hides many of these under some grain and it's color response is different, whereas digital capture with flash

seems to see through the skin to reveal all sorts of things that you don't notice with the naked eye. Optimal light and

exposure with digital are different from what is optimal on C-41. If you don't get your exposures right and/or are a prodigy

with learning post-processing, you'll have a considerable effort before the prints are "just right". To take a jump like this

with only a few weeks practice ahead ... phew.

 

Practice the available light and flash exposures and test taking people pictures in different lighting situations. Go all the

way through to a 8x11 print including close-up of people to see if the blemishes are accentuated and practice what is

needed to change the lighting to minimize it, or fix it in post-processing. Look at the eyes and how they're lit.If you're

lucky and have interiors with white walls on site, take advantage of them. I love a crazy trick which you can do with high

ISO and digital capture but which I thought unthinkable in the past. Point the on camera flash backwards and slightly up.

Yes, just the opposite direction of where the subject is, into empty space. Set ISO to 1600 (maybe ISO 800 on the D300) and you have

suddenly created an enormous light source which has a quality that I like.

 

If you have to shoot group formals then you should get a second flash (E.g. SB-800 or SB-600). Borrow, buy, or rent.

Put it on a stand with a silver umbrella, position it to the right of the group and use the on-camera flash as the master. Set EC

+0.7 on the remote flash with umbrella and maybe zero or -0.3 on the master flash, experiment. This is the simplest way

to get reasonable light for a small group of people I can think of. The masters of flash use abundant in this forum may

chime in and blast my suggestion, so I am taking cover now. :-)

[david_schilling___chicago_]

Like C Jo, I would suggest that you shoot film. You're already accustomed to it and it has much more print latitude. Suggest that you over expose by one stop.

[david_schilling___chicago_]

"Suggest that you over expose by one stop......."

 

Course I'm talking about using print film and not transparencies.

[William Michael]

> I want to do a nice work but I'm worried because I'm completely new to Digital. I've bought last week the Nikon D300+ 17-55mm 2.8 + SB-800 and a CF 16GB card. <

 

And your other options are?: re gear you have available and your experience with it?

 

WW

[William Michael]

> My questions: 1- Which format/quality should I use? 2- Basic tips based on the equipment welcomed? 3-Flash tips

REALLY welcomed. <

 

1. RAW + JPEG (L/F): with 16Gb will give you about > 750 images, ( you should check my maths) if that is OK do

that.

 

2. Use (P) mode (Programme).

 

Digital has less Dynamic range than film. Learn what an histogram is, and how to read it in various different scene

types and generally expose to the right of it: in this matter, do not trust your camera`s display of the image, but trust

the histogram.

 

3. I am not suitably familiar with the Nikon gear to give in depth advice re settings. General comments: practice prior

to establish your flash fill compensations. Be aware that bounce / diffused flash can kill your recycle time which is

critical during Procession / Recession, especially for short aisles / large Wedding Party. I would use the flash on

camera. Have two sets of spare Flash Batteries. My overall point is to KIS (Keep it simple).

 

WW

[craig_shearman1]

From the sound of your initial question you are not only new to digital but also new to wedding photography. Wedding photography is not an art/skill/craft you learn in two weeks. The best wedding present you could give is to hire a professional. Watch what he/she does, maybe take your camera along for a few extra shots. But don't try to be the official photographer if you're not even sure of how to use the camera or flash. Even just on the technical end, one camera, one lens, one flash and one memory card don't even begin to cut it -- backup equipment is one of the cardinal rules of wedding photography for when something stops working at a crucial moment. You're setting yourself up for a lifetime of hearing "you ruined my wedding pictures." If you really, really want to do this, buy and memorize "Wedding Photography: Art, Business and Style" by Steve Sint. It's the best how-to wedding photogrpaphy book I've seen.

[lightsmith1]

If you want to get the highest percentage of keepers the safest way to shoot with a new DSLR, especially having not shot digital is to automate the functions. Use the Auto ISO setting and have the minimum shutter speed set at 1/80.

 

For the flash setting have a minimum shutter speed of 1/60. Shoot on Program Mode on the camera use matrix metering, and have the flash on TTL-BL. With the camera and flash on autopilot you can focus on shooting. Anything else is skating on very thin ice.

 

Shoot RAW and take an extra set of batteries so you start fresh at the beginning of the reception.

With your compact flash cards format them in the camera before the wedding and have a safe place to put them (on your person and not in your camera bag) as they are filled during the day.

 

Good idea to have the camera set to release the shutter only when in focus. Overall it will save you grief with OOF shots as will having the D300 (except during the ceremony) set to low beep when in focus. Not difficult to accidentally switch from "S" to "C" with the D300 and have the camera releasing the shutter even when the selected subject is not in focus.

 

All this will do is help maximize the percentage of shots that are in focus and properly exposed. If you are doing a free shoot for you friends that is the best they can expect. Anything more is neither necessary nor likely.

[35mmdelux]

Why shoot Program mode and not A mode?