Help with adjusting my d700

[k.andy_photos]

<p>I have a d700 that I use as my main camera during a wedding ceremony. Is there a good setting that will expose my photographs evenly when I cannot use flash? Adjusting color temp, and to be less grainy? Some of these photos you see are flawless and they don't use flash! I don't get it. I can spend several minutes editing my photos and make them look pretty good, but honestly, after seeing some of these photographers work, I have a ways to go. What settings would you use? Or would you invest in a camera like a D3x or something? </p>

[Matt Laur]

<p>What lens(es) are you using when you're shooting in low-light situations like that? When you say "grainy," are you referring to high ISO noise? Give an example or two of info from your EXIF data on an image you don't like, so we have something to go on, understanding your current situation.<br /><br />When it comes to white balance ... just shoot RAW, and batch-adjust later, for each scene or lighting situation. When it comes to quality: don't underexpose.</p>

[leslie_cheung]

<p>PP is part of the game. Several minutes isn't too bad...what am I missing? There's no mode, setting for perfect exposure every time... </p>

[SolaresLarrave]

What type of light will you face? Is it tungsten, neon tube?

 

I have shot without flash at times with my D700, taking advantage of its excellent performance at high ISO settings. You will have to arrive at the location early, check the light temperature, choose the setting you need according to your WB and the ISO that will allow you maximize depth of field, not just photograph with the lens wide open.

 

BTW, what lens are you using?

 

As for WB... my approach is to trust the Automatic WB feature, but if I have a chance, I set the light temperature myself. Go to your D700, turn it on, push the WB button and turn your main command wheel to the right until the little K appears in the lower right corner of the LCD. That's going to be the light temperature that will help you reach a good white balance under very "hot" lights (tungsten and neon). Set it to 2200 or 2500 degrees and snap a shot with something white, middle gray or black in it. Check your monitor and see if that particular item appears rendered as white, gray or black, of it it has a yellowish cast. Adjust temperature until the object (white, gray or black) appears more or less "normal" or with a relatively low color cast. Yours-truly has his camera at 2500°K all the time. If I shoot indoors under tungsten lights (the regular light bulbs), I don't have to worry about a color cast, as this setting "cools" the exposures right away.

 

Complicated? Perhaps, but then, it saves you the time spent fixing the white balance in every shot later.

 

Good luck!!

[Jerry_]

<p>A suggestion: use the 'S' mode and a SB-800 or SB-900 on a flash bracket. The SB-800 flash will 'blend in' with the room light, giving even lighting on your wedding images. (Taking time to go into a custom White Balance, then switching to something else at a wedding may be good or not-so-good.)</p>

<p>Using 'no flash' in a darkened room is not easy to fix. Photography involves light, and a high-ISO setting may work well, but a moderate amount of light to work with would be better.</p>

[elliot1]

<p>"to be less grainy" Low ISO is the key to less noise. A fast aperture lens helps a lot (f1.4 or f1.8). Slower rather than faster shutter speeds (eg. 1/60, 1/125 vs 1/320 or 1/500) will also help keep the ISO as low as possible and give you cleaner looking images. </p>

<p><em>"after seeing some of these photographers work"</em> whose work are you referring to?</p>

[Andrew Garrard]

<p>Active D-lighting will try to "expose things evenly". However, I agree with others - shoot raw, fix it in post-processing, review with histogram on-screen to make sure you're not clipping anything important (a white wedding dress is famously awkward, especially if the groom is in black - I recently attended a family wedding in which the groomsmen wore cream and stood in direct sunlight, and the bridesmaids were in deep purple and standing in the shade; there was some gnashing of teeth).<br />

<br />

As for keeping the ISO low, I used to use aperture priority with auto-ISO set to keep the shutter speed fast enough to avoid lens blur. This is a pain with a zoom lens, because adjusting the shutter speed in this way is fiddly; I recently learnt to shoot in manual with auto-ISO, and adjust the shutter speed as I zoom to avoid the ISO being higher than I need (but you need to watch out for hitting the ends of the ISO range). I may be the only person who hadn't already worked this out, but just in case...<br />

<br />

There's lots of advice on the wedding forum (I'm only an amateur who's attended weddings with a D700, I don't claim expertise). Trying to get faces lit by reflected light from the bride's dress is good, especially if you can't wave a large reflector around. Oh, and practise a lot in advance, at least if you're the official photographer, because a wedding shoot is something you don't want to go wrong in an avoidable way. Good luck.</p>

[richardsnow]

<p>There is no "magic setting" that allows you to get perfect pictures every time, especially if you have a penchant to shoot sans flash.</p>

<p>Here's some suggestions:</p>

<ul>

<li>Do not shoot in <strong>P</strong>rogram mode</li>

<li>Use Auto-ISO with a max setting of 1600 or 3200 (I use 3200 regularly on my D700)</li>

<li>Shoot in <strong>A</strong>perture Priority if you are trying to isolate your subject using wide apertures</li>

<li>Shoot in <strong>S</strong>hutter Priority if you need faster shutter speeds for long lenses/fast subjects</li>

<li>Expose correctly or overexpose by 1/3-1 stop. Underexposing increases noise in dark areas.</li>

<li>When in doubt, <em>bracket 3-5 shots </em>to ensure you get one that's properly exposed.</li>

<li>Use of wide aperture lenses, (f/1.4 - f/2.8) allows for faster shutter speeds and lower ISO, but you need to watch your depth of field to keep your subjects in focus.</li>

<li>Spot meter rather than relying on the camera's matrix metering system, (although the D700's is very good)</li>

</ul>

<p>To get crystal clear, sharp images in poorly lit areas, without flash, you need practice, excellent technique, proper exposure, and, (I can't believe I'm saying this), the proper equipment. Attempting this with a super-zoom or a kit lens won't cut it. There's a reason pros pay top dollar for big, heavy, wide aperture lenses...and you've discovered it.</p>

<p>Please post a sample or two of the type of shots, (unedited if possible), that you are having difficulty with...also let us know what lenses you are using to determine if that's one of the issues.</p>

<p>RS</p>

[k.andy_photos]

<p>The Lenses I use are a Tamron sp 17-50 f/2.8 and a Tamron af 75-300 1:4-5.6</p>

<p>I want to upgrade but due to a slumlord situation, money had been very tight. But the 17-50 is my favorite lens to use at a wedding, it produces very nice and sharp images yet still allows me to create softer images as well. </p>

<p>Here's a couple of shots, they are from an older wedding, one which I assisted, but the Ceremony photo was taken with the 75-300. And the group shot was taken with the the 17-50. Luckily these were weddings where I assisted so I was able to play around with my camera, but obviously the settings are way off in my opinion. And thanks everyone, I really appreciate all of your input. Any further input is appreciated also. 8)</p>

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[k.andy_photos]

<p>Here's the Second.</p>

[k.andy_photos]

<p>Having trouble loading. Trying again.</p>

<p> </p>

[richardsnow]

<p>Personally I think a lot has to do with post processing. Here's my take on your first photo after post processing:</p>

<p>(EDIT: BTW, I'm not sure about what you've done, but it looks like you've already processed an underexposed image...that's the only thing I can think of that gives this much noise in what appears to be a properly exposed image)</p>

<p>5 minutes of post processing on my end:</p>

<p> </p><div></div>

[k.andy_photos]

<p>So to smooth this out even more, did you just use a filter in photoshop? I guess this is what I am confused with because my images never turn out this clean. </p>

<p>It's possible this images was post processed. Honestly it's been a while so I cannot remember if I adjusted any of the original files or not. </p>