Positioning in the church / Battery life

[joan_s.]

<p>Where do you prefer to be placed?<br>

I am shooting my first wedding as the main photographer (for free) on sunday. Before people pounce on me :) telling me I should attend photography school, purchase a flash, a back-up DSLR, 5 different lenses, work as an assistant for 5 years..... I am situated in Ukraine, and am doing this for a young couple with no budget, in an area where even the pros do not have much equipment (and those who do are simply unaffordable for the local population).<br>

I have little equipment myself, but my 450D (only kit lens as of now), tripod, Kodak Easyshare Z650 as a back-up, and possibly Panasonic Lumix TZ-3 borrowed from a friend, are up to date with local standards. I would have loved to rent a flash and better lens - but this option is not available here. I've done a lot of research and the couple are aware of what I can and can't provide them with.<br>

I am more of a social photojournalist, but enjoy shooting at friends weddings, however I've never been in a situation where I could chose my location in the church. My question is if given the choice, would you prefer to be behing the couple facing the congregation, or with the congregation facing the couple?<br>

I am familiar with the church, and while both options will probably be available, moving around will not. I will be able to use the on-camera flash thankfully, since the kit lens is bad in low light, and the church does have windows.<br>

I've also never used my (fairly new) battery for such a long period of time. Do you think it will last the day? (I will be at the brides house from 9am and shooting till the end of the party at around 10 pm)<br>

Would it be wiser to stick with the Lumix or Kodak for the outside shots and keep the Canon for the inside ones so I don't run out?<br>

Once again, buying another battery is simply not an option right now.</p>

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[williamting]

<p>As a fellow photographer once said, "Everyone's beautiful from the back of the church."</p>

<p>You could always hand off the Lumix for a family member to help out and take pictures from the back while you work from the altar to get more personal shots.</p>

<p>Your battery will not last all day. It will last roughly 300 - 500 shots depending on how much you use the LCD screen. If buying another battery is not an option make sure you bring plenty of replacement battteries for the Lumix then. Using the Lumix outside and DSLR inside is a good idea to conserve battery power.</p>

[aimee_pieters]

<p>The first thing you need to do is speak with the clergy and find out where you are allowed to be. They should spell this out clearly and also let you know if/when flash photography is permitted. You'll also want to find out exactly where the couple will be positioned and where they will be facing during their vows and exchange of rings. If they are facing each other directly, then the aisle from the back would be best. If they are facing forward, then you would want to be in a position facing them and it's more important to get a better view of the bride than the groom if this is the case. Sorry guys, that's just how it is.<br>

The best thing you can do is to attend the rehearsal and perhaps even take some candid photos then -they make a nice addition and you'll really be prepared.<br>

Remember the expression: <em>"If you fail to plan, then you're planning to fail"</em><br>

Good luck....-Aimee</p>

[picturesque]

<p>As Aimee says, find out how the couple will be standing in relation to the congregation, but even if they will never really turn fully toward each other, my inclination would be to choose the position 'with the congregation'. One reason is that if you choose the other, you will be stuck on one side or the other, as one normally cannot be directly behind the couple since the altar is there, or the officiator. Maybe in modern churches, where the altar is a 'round'.</p>

<p>In any case, one thing you can do is to ask the officiator or the couple or both, to turn fully toward each other during the vows and ring exchange. Remember, you can re-create some angles after the ceremony.</p>

<p>You already got your answer re the battery, so just figure out how to best save the battery for the ceremony.</p>

[joan_s.]

<p>Thanks for the answers :) Ok, I should have mentionned the couple will be facing each other, parallel to the congregation. So it's mainly an issue of what background I want for the photos - capturing the congregation's reactions but risking a busy background, or having the nice backdrop but less varied shots, I guess. You're probably right that it's better for me to be with the congretation, it'll be more discrete and I'll be less stuck in one place. I just wondered having recently attended a wedding where the photographer was behind the couple, and able to capture parent's reactions ect...<br>

Flash is definitely allowed, it's a very relaxed church where they probably wouldn't even mind if I was walking all around the officiants continuously. I'd prefer to do things as well as possible though.<br>

Ukrainian weddings are very, very rarely organised enough to have things like rehearsals lol ;) It certainly is not the case here.</p>

[aimee_pieters]

<p>Myriam,<br>

From what you descibe, you really have to be in the aisle as the clergy will block your view from anywhere else. You should be able to photograph the ceremony (AFTER the processional) without flash. It's certainly more discreet....-Aimee</p>

[jkiffmeyer]

<p>Make sure you bring your charger for the Canon SLR, and hook it up if you are using the other cameras or have a break in the action. Having said that, I suggest shortening the LCD post-shot review time as much as possible (or turn it off), and only turning on the LCD to check your exposure, etc. The on camera flash will suck the battery pretty fast, but you can charge it for 30-60 min while you eat lunch and dinner. There will probably be a break in the action sometime during the day to charge it, just be ready. Even if you are outside shooting with the P&S, keep the Canon handy for that "perfect" shot when you want a narrow dept of field and it is worth using the SLR.</p>

[joan_s.]

<p>Thanks. I don't usually use the LCD but I will look into shortening/turning off the post show review, that's a really good idea.</p>

[kiva]

<p>If you can get one long view of the ceremony from the back showing the bride and groom at the front and all the participants it's a great shot to have for the family. But, that shot can be boring if taken time after time and it does not really capture the feel of the critical moments like closer shots would tend to do for you.</p>

<p>Can you get the shot from the back of the church and then move to the front? If so, then I'd be doing that to capture the couple and have family faces in the background (merely my personal style). </p>

<p>Possibly <strong>worth checking</strong> : Does your camera have a battery rack (look in the box that it arrived in) that allows you to click in AA batteries in a slide in battery rack? If so, then buy a few packs of AA batteries and use the rack to extend your shooting time while the normal/regular battery is charging during the wedding. You might use the AA batteries prior to the ceremony then use the normal/regular battery for the ceremony ... but have another set of AA batteries ready if needed. <strong>Again, I don't know if your camera has such ability</strong> but it certainly is worth checking out. (The Canon battery grips have the ability but not sure about your camera; if you still have the box the camera arrived in then open it up to read the section on the battery.)</p>

[joan_s.]

<p>Thanks - no battery rack for me unfortunately. I've just arranged with my friend to lend her my tripod, and she will try and take pics of the whole congregation from the mezzanine at the back with her Lumix, while I do the details upfront. She will then lend her camera to me for the outside pics.<br>

I suspect I will probably be able to move around quite a lot, but I'm just trying prepare myself for the worst case scenario. Rushed around town today to all the shops that sell cameras in case any had canon batteries but unfortunately none do, although some sell the 40D! It's rather frustrating, I've been visiting all the camera shops I can find in the country but even in Kiev everything is grossly overpriced and unaffordable. I nearly got the Tamron 17-50 last time I was there but didn't have enough cash with me - now I really regret it. I havn't even been able to find a polarizing lens in 58mm lol! It doesn't help that Ukraine is a Nikon country, I didn't think when I got the camera...</p>

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[steve_carless]

<p>Why fight it, ditch the Canon and get a Nikon. The specs on your battery say you should get 500-600 shots if you don't use the flash or live view. If you use the popup flash or live view you can drop that to 200 shots or less.</p>

[savagesax]

<p>You need a flash. I don't care how you get one but get a flash. You can pick up something cheap like a Vivitar 283 or 285 for very little money these days. To me, a flash is so important I would not do the wedding if I didn't have one. When buying batteries for this flash, they take 4 AA's, have enough batteries. Plan on replacing the batteries every 100 shots. I would rather see you use a flash on every shot than no flash at all, because your chances of getting acceptable prints increases by 75 percent. Maybe more. I'm sure someone will disagree with me and someone may say they never use flash. Don't take their advice.</p>

[joan_s.]

<p>:) Bob I'm with you on the flash. I trust my battery to get me through more than 200 shots because the other day I shot a rehearsal and music school concert, all with flash because of bad light in the hall, and the battery was not done after nearly 400 shots. The battery is recent so the battery is still strong, I'd just never pushed it to full capacity yet.<br>

Unfortunately, you may be able to pick up a cheap flash in LA but I assure you that you find many in Rivne market.... ;) I've travelled to Loutsk and Lviv, but since I don't have a western budget myself, I was not able to affort the very, very overpriced Lviv shop that had a few things.<br>

I'm certainly not expecting my pictures to be of the quality someone can produce with all the appropriate gear - but the point of them asking me is that I can probably do a better job for free than anyone else they know. None of our other mutual friends even had a wedding photographer and just relied on pictures from guests, so it's not like their expectations are high. I just want to do my best.</p>

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[ruslan safin]

<p>In russian (ukrainian) churches it is not very bright. Use an open aperture as open as it can perform, use no flash, use no tripod, though an idea about a monopod would do good. As i was told by a priest "Move wherever, except behind me (you know why), and dont' be too close to the couple and me, just don't be a part of the ceremony". :)</p>