First wedding to shoot in digital

[kathryn_brittain1]

<p>Hi guys, This will be the first wedding i have shot using digital (my brothers wedding i might add, so not a paying customer). Up until now i have been shooting film and i'm after some digital advice.</p>

<p>- In terms is ISO settings, do you just vary according to your lighting situation? or do you usually try and use just one ISO setting for the majority of the time? Same goes for white balance.</p>

<p>- Do you shoot on your cameras raw setting for the entire wedding?</p>

<p>- I'm quite restricted for choice when it comes to lenses because of the 1.5 times "magnification" does anybody shoot their wide angled pics on film to get the "true" range of the lens?</p>

<p>Any advice is much appreciated :)</p>

[btmuir]

<p>yes to all three but I try to keep my ISO as low as possible unless I'm converting to b&w and want a gritty look.</p>

[jon rennie]

<p>ISO I change all the time depending on conditions. Always keeping it as low as possible. Anytime I forget to change it I want to shoot myself.<br>

Raw for the whole thing<br>

Depending on what lenses you are currently use. With my crop body I have a 10-20mm lens for the wide shots - but now I mostly use FF. I doubt many people use film just for the wide shots. It would drastically increase costs and workflow times.</p>

[mgk1966]

<p>The camera and lens companies have different sets of lenses for the crop cameras that will allow you to get out to the wider angles. </p>

<p>ISO noise varies with your camera. What model are you using?</p>

 

[l_e]

<p>- Adjust ISO all the time. I try to keep it as low as possible, unless I am going for something specific. White balance is on Auto.<br>

- Raw the entire wedding<br>

- I use full frame sensors so I don't worry about the crop factor. Since this is a one-off wedding you should be able to get away with using a film camera for wide angle shots. However, if you are going to photograph weddings regularly then you will realize how cumbersome switching to film could become.</p>

[sherijohnson]

<p>Your ISO settings would be very similar to shooting with film, everything you ever did with film remains the same with ISO, aperture, shutter speed, etc.</p>

[picturesque]

<p>1. I vary the ISO settings all day according to the lighting--more particularly so I can use my desired aperture and shutter speed--up to a point. I won't go extremely high ISO unless I have to. I use Auto WB, shooting in RAW and adjust later in post, except that I am very annoyed with Canon's auto white balance in the shade outside, so sometimes I use a preset.</p>

<p>2. I shoot in RAW the entire wedding.</p>

<p>3. I never shot on film just to get wide angle. If you really need extreme wide angle, get an extreme wide angle lens made for the crop sensors.</p>

[wedding-photography-denver]

<p>I vary the ISO through the day. I shoot raw and AWB, then set it later.</p>

<p>For wide angles I use a lens that equates to at least 24mm on FF/film. One I think works well for crop bodies is the Tamron 17-50/2.8 or the Tokina (same range) which I prefer.</p>

<p> </p>

[William Michael]

<p> <br>

Basically ditto Nadine’s answer. I can add a little opinion. . . <br>

<br>

1a. I vary the ISO settings to suit the shooting scenario and my required outcomes: not just the existing lighting conditions. <br>

The fact that digital allows ISO manipulation so easily, is one great advantage of Digital vs. Film for a Wedding Photographer. For example I can now work all day with only two cameras, (one if I really wanted to, but that is a different story), instead of four film bodies, loaded with four different films, and I am now a zillion times more “ISO flexible”. (slight exaggeration, zillion) <br>

<br>

1b. AWB is essentially used for Weddings. I use Degrees K. sometimes – similar reasons / situation as Nadine described. – I have the same model Canon cameras as Nadine – I have found similar issues. <br>

No disrespect meant: I advise you stick to AWB, unless you have time to analyse <strong ><em >your</em></strong> digital camera (assumed it is Nikon); have a good grasp of Colour Temperature and Mixed Lighting Techniques; and have thought through your post production workflow protocol. <br>

<br>

2a. RAW capture is used for my Weddings. (I actually shoot RAW + JPEG (L), always). <br>

<br>

3. No. I have wide lenses: but that neither addresses nor answer your specific situation. <br>

<br>

As an example, if you just need a wider lens to get one "All the Family Shot - 50 People”, then I would shoot that particular shot on film for this one-off gig. <br>

On the other hand if the widest lens you have is a 35mm lens (becoming FoV equivalent 53mm on your x1.5 Digital) - and there are Six in the Wedding Party and four Mums and Dads and two Grand-Parents, and they want some formal shots and it is a small Chapel, with a short Aisle . . . then I suggest you need to rethink what lenses you really need to get this gig covered with a only a digital camera.<br>

<br>

The point is, any limitations you encounter by the “1.5 factor” (and thus the decision to use film or not), are dependent upon the specifics of what lenses you now have; the number of subjects you will be shooting and the situations in which they will be shot: it is not simple generalized “yes” or “no” answer.<br>

<br>

WW</p>

[savagesax]

<p>In dark churches and dark reception halls, I tend to stay around ISO 400. Outside evening events I usually go up to 800. If I'm looking for a grainy B&W effect I like the high ISO setting, which translates to about 3200. Shooting in the shade I like ISO 100 because I want to take advantage of the shallow depth of field and keep the lens set to F4 or so, sometimes 5.6 if I'm using a long lens.</p>

<p>I think RAW is the only way to go for weddings. You have about a 4 stop latitude, compared to about 1 stop using jpeg. It's also a lot easier to correct WB issues.</p>

<p>You didn't state what camera system you are using. If you can get a wide angle lens thats a Canon or Nikon brand that would be my first choice. If money is tight you can't go wrong with a new or used Tamron. Most or all of their lenses come with a 6 year warranty.</p>

[gregory_c]

<p>DO NOT DO IT !!!! just kidding, watch your types of ambient light. If you are in a room of a lot of incadescent light, shooting auto white balance, your pics will be yellow. Try shooting a little higher F stop to decrease the ambient light effect.</p>