D2H for wedding - which flash settings?

[simon_t__ireland_]

<p>Hi Folks,<br>

I have been asked by my friend to take some informal/documentary shots at her wedding. I am planning to use my D2H, 28mm f1.8 and SB-600 gear (BTW I also will be taking my F90x and Tamron 17mm f3.5 and Nikkor 105mm f2.5 as well for backup and for shooting tight group shots, plus YONGNUO 465 flash + Panny G1 just in case). I also have Gary Fong's diffusion dome with amber or chrome covers.<br>

I am a rookie when it comes to using electronic flash. My question is, for indoor shots at the registry and reception would this seeing be appropriate?<br>

Raw quality for all shots<br>

ISO 250 - max ISO 640, depending on distance.<br>

Aperture - f4<br>

Flash - this is where I am stuck. Which one should use? standard TTL, or BL TTL or TTL with rear curtain sync? <br>

I am reading up on a number of books at the moment, including Joe Buissink's tips.<br>

Thanks for the advise.</p>

<p>-Si.</p>

 

[bob_h]

<p>Simon, will there be an "official" wedding photographer at this wedding in addition to yourself? Depending upon the lighting conditions, you may be able to shoot without flash for these informal/documentary shots. For your flash shots,the SB-600 and the Fong dome should be fine on TTL.</p>

[orcama60]

<p>Simon, there is a website with an extensive articles related to wedding photography and by the way, the owner of the website, is one of the most experienced wedding photographers in the world. I do suggest to review it and learn from him. It did help me a lot.</p>

<p>www.neilvn.com/tangents</p>

[simon_t__ireland_]

<p>Hi Bob and Maurice,<br /> No, for some strange reason, my friend do not want any Pro around asking her to do poses? So it kind of puts a little more pressure on me. But I will make sure she understands the "risk". <br /> Thanks for the tips. I have just got his book now called "On Camera Flash Techniques for Digital Wedding and Portrait Photography"</p>

<p>Cheers.</p>

[Jerry_]

<p>Be a kind friend and contribute some $$$s to hire a photographer.</p>

<p>No one on Photo Net has the fortune-telling gene (as far as I know....) and as such, no one can estimate the indoor lighting you will have at the wedding. Each wedding needs *flash* added but in varying amounts for decent images. Some indoor weddings have odd-color ceiling lights, some have floodlights, some have spotlights....</p>

<p>Your friend may not be your friend if you manage to create wedding images that are not exactly what she expected from you.</p>

<p> </p>

[simon_t__ireland_]

<p>Well, I do appreciate your insights. But let me put it this way to you...If I had refused to do it, then she only has friends and families who will take the shots. So which would be worst, someone like me to take the shots, or hope for best for the photos taken from compact cameras taken by friends and family??<br /> What I will do is to discuss in detail and openly what her expectations are and what I can realistically achieve for her. Can't do better than this.<br /> I never really like shooting with flashes, and I have already shell out some funds to buy more equipments for the event. So, really my friend can't ask for more.<br /> BTW I am not a complete rookie. I have take many images for some years, and I have won two local photographic competitions twice already. Also to be fair, my question is reasonably specific.<br /> Here are some examples:<br>

<br /> http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u161/stingOM/OM%20Zuiko%2050mm/Tarmonbarry_1.jpg<br>

<br /> http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u161/stingOM/Image00001-1.jpg<br>

<br /> http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u161/stingOM/Image00001-2.jpg<br>

<br /> http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u161/stingOM/Photo%20Competition/LoughSallaghCoLongford.jpg<br>

<br /> http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u161/stingOM/Yashica%2015mm%20Fisheye/Dromore.jpg<br>

<br /> http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u161/stingOM/Mamiya%20Sekor/mamiya135mm_3.jpg<br>

<br /> None are portrait shots. But I have some experience last year taking shots at a BBQ.<br /> I am only looking for some general helpful tips on wedding photography using D2H and SB-600. I don't expect miracles and I know the risks.</p>

<p> </p>

[Karim Ghantous]

<blockquote>

<p>What I will do is to discuss in detail and openly what her expectations are and what I can realistically achieve for her. Can't do better than this.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Indeed. Why pay for some other photographer? Your friend is well informed and if she's still happy then that's all that matters.</p>

<p>BTW I have a few things to say about flash. I once spent not more than 30mins playing around with a flash and a DSLR and learned quite a bit. You should practice a little bit and try different flash compensation settings. Some people find that underexposing flash by a fixed amount works 90% of the time. It's also quite fun and needless to say, testing is 'free' with a digital camera. :-)</p>

<p>This may be helpful:</p>

 

<blockquote>

<p>I also like the ease with which you can set fill flash with the Nikon cameras. The late adventure photographer Galen Rowell wrote often about <strong>the magic fill number (set -1.7 on a Nikon flash head)</strong>, and having watched him in the field and tried the same techniques myself, I now swear by fill flash for many, if not most, situations I encounter. (As Galen always said to his students: it's easier to control contrast when you're taking the picture than it is after you've processed the film.) The N90s and SB-26 make a great combination. I leave my SB-26 set on standby and the magic fill number</p>

</blockquote>

<p>http://www.bythom.com/N90.htm</p>

[lex_jenkins]

<p>I've used the D2H and SB-800 for a wedding and many other events. Not quite comparable to Simon's SB-600 but close enough. Also, I try to use a bracket whenever possible, tho' they're heavy.</p>

<p>When I have enough time to set up I'll use manual exposure settings for shutter speed and aperture and let the TTL flash do the rest. BTW, at least for me, the BL option doesn't consistently work well for most indoor situations. The BL option works best for fill flash in daylight.</p>

<p>I'd tend to agree with the suggestion to try a little minus EV flash compensation. I seem to get the best results at -1.3 or -1.7 EV, usually with either the flash head aimed directly forward with the pop-on diffuser dome or with bounce flash (no diffuser). However with rear-facing bounce flash it's usually best to use a neutral flash exposure compensation setting. Rear- facing bounce works great in relatively small rooms with bright reflective surfaces - white or off white walls and ceilings no more than 10-12 feet high. It doesn't work as well with dark surfaces, ceilings taller than 12' or colored walls and ceilings (especially green - makes it look like bad fluorescent lights).</p>

<p>If I'm in a rush and don't have time to set up I'll trust the camera in Program mode and flash in regular iTTL mode with a little minus EV comp, around -1.3 or so. Yeah, it's snapshot mode but it works.</p>

<p>I'm not fond of the dragging the shutter or rear curtain tricks, mostly because I can't hand hold steadily enough anymore to use those tricks effectively. But if you're confident enough to handhold steadily at 1/30th or slower shutter speeds, give it a try. When it works it looks pretty good. But some folks don't care for the partial ghosting of subject motion blur. It's the sort of effect that people tend to love or hate. When in doubt, be sure to take plenty of conventional "flash-frozen" photos just in case the couple or family don't care for the slow shutter flash look.</p>

<p>Try to stick with ISO 200-400 on the D2H. By ISO 640 you'll see some chroma noise in shadows - it can look pretty ugly in the shadow areas under the jaw line, etc. But if you absolutely need the speed the D2H is okay up to ISO 800, but be prepared to use noise reduction during post processing. Personally I don't mind the grainy look of the luminance noise from the D2H - I won't quite compare it to film (tho' the D2H noise at ISO 3200-6400 converted to monochrome resembles Delta 3200 film grain), but it doesn't bother me. However the chroma noise can be ghastly. I'll use Noise Ninja or Noiseware, fairly heavy on the chroma noise reduction and very light on the luminance NR.</p>

<p>Or try a monochrome conversion. I've had to do this a few times when the mixed artificial lighting made it impossible to get a neutral color balance. The problem is aggravated by the D2H sensitivity to near IR - it can make for some odd skin colors under some artificial light, especially metal halide and fluorescent lights.</p>

<p>One of the easiest ways to convert to monochrome is with the freebie Picasa. The b&w emulation filters aren't bad at all. The red filter option is very forgiving with folks who have red facial blemishes. The conversions resemble a pseudo-IR film look. But it can also make folks look rather pale. There are also several other ways to handle monochrome conversions, including stuff from Alien Skin and others. I usually roll my own by tweaking the various channels in combination with selective use of brushes - very time consuming tho'.</p>

[simon_t__ireland_]

<p>Hi Lex,<br>

That's extremely helpful tips. Exactly what I am looking for. I will give all of those settings a try.<br>

However, regarding the minus flash compensation. I doubt it will work in my case as I will be using a cloud version of Gary Fong's light sphere with amber dome. So in my case I think the power of the flash is already much reduced. But I will check the exposure curve.<br>

Cheers<br>

Si.</p>

[simon_t__ireland_]

<p>Just found this blog which is great for explaning the behavuour of the Nikon speedlight system:<br>

<a href="http://desmond-downs.blogspot.com/2010/07/flash-direct-flash-ttl-bl-vs-ttl.html">http://desmond-downs.blogspot.com/2010/07/flash-direct-flash-ttl-bl-vs-ttl.html</a></p>

[lex_jenkins]

<p>Interesting results. My own results were exactly the opposite to his, with iTTL consistently delivering better results indoors than iTTL/BL. However most of my own comparisons between iTTL and iTTL/BL indoors were with white walls and against bright windows. I'll have to retest using conditions similar to his and see what happens.</p>

[simon_t__ireland_]

<p>Another great resource:<br>

<a href="http://nikonclspracticalguide.blogspot.com/2008/01/nikon-flash-two-separate-metering.html">http://nikonclspracticalguide.blogspot.com/2008/01/nikon-flash-two-separate-metering.html</a></p>