Pro Bono shoot for Missionary Wedding?

[picturesque]

<p>OK, I'm going to talk a bit about using Program. I am not going to get technical at all--just outline some of the simple things you need to know about before using the mode at a wedding. When I trained beginners to shoot weddings, I started them out with Program. I figure that without any input from the user, one could count on Program getting it right or close enough, 80% of the time. With some knowledge, you can perhaps increase that percentage.</p>

<p>With photography, you have 3 major variable to use to control exposure--ISO, aperture and shutter speed (I'm not going to talk about flash yet, and so this applies to ambient light exposure). The aperture and shutter speed are 'taken care of' with Program mode, but the ISO isn't. This is why, if you don't do anything else all day, you should be mindful of what ISO you are using, and change it accordingly. This is so that Program mode has a good range of aperture and shutter speed choices. Remember to glance at the line of info below the viewfinder image for the aperture or shutter speed blinking. This is to tell you that you have run out of good choices, so you need to change the ISO.</p>

<p>I would recommend you first test out Program mode in various lighting levels using differnt ISOs (no flash yet). Then take the images and download them to the computer and look at them. No need to use RAW for test, so just use JPEGs. For your tests, try ISO 100, 400, 800 and 1600. Then look at the images noting whether the image is well exposed (not too dark, not too light) and whether the subject is sharp and not blurred. If you care to, note the shutter speeds and apertures. For these test, make sure the compensation is set to 0 (remember, you need to read how to set that).</p>

<p>Remember that you should have your focusing mode set to One Shot (Canon) or Single (Nikon), and re-read the above concerning where to put the center focus point. Read your manual about setting focus and the focus point. The point of these tests is to familiarize yourself to the kind of ISOs that are workable for the light level. Also to perhaps notice what kind of shutter speeds are too slow and result in subject blur.</p>

<p>Let me know when you've had a chance to do some preliminary testing and what you found.</p>

[charlottenoir]

<p>Recent development.<br>

Amy has been ordered back to the states for thebeginning of their training and she is not able to be at the wedding, she is of course heartbroken that she will miss the wedding of her friends and she thanks you Nadine for giving so much of your time to this and we hope that Joanne will ask me to take over for Amy so that all of this has not been a complete waste of time but right now we don't want to assume anything. I will post as soon as I know anything. And I am still practising!<br>

Aoa</p>

[picturesque]

<p>That is unfortunate! Please don't feel you need to take on the task just because I've written some tips for you, if you don't feel you can continue.</p>

<p>Ann-Charlott, are you sure you can take this on yourself? If your situation is also shaky in the same way (i.e., your shedule is dictated by others), perhaps you all should consider trying to find a suitable semi-pro or upcoming wedding photographer.</p>

<p>In any case, I am perfectly willing to continue with the tips, but I do need input from you, Ann-Charlott, that you've practiced and know what I am talking about.</p>

<p>You will also need to rely on your other friend with the borrowed gear, as you now have lost some of your back up.</p>

<p> </p>

[charlottenoir]

<p>I feel very ambivalent about all of this. First of all I am VERY stubborn, I don't like giving up before having a proper go but then this shouldn't be about my pride, this is about Joanne. So I wrote to her, first to let her know that my husband and I have written permission to be here and fly out the day after (fligh ticket is booked and confirmed). And second, to ask her if she DOES want me to take over for Amy or if she has another option in mind, and of course I want to let her know that I want to at least look into costs of hiring a semi proffesional, considering Amy was asked as an honour this doesn't apply to me, now it's more about getting it done. Another friend got married a few months ago in that same area and she just posted her pictures so I am gonna talk to her and see who that was and what the costs are. However because Amy now doesn't need to buy new things she offered to by me a memory card and contribute to an external flash for me. But if what I would spend ends up being what the photographer would ask then I should be able to put my pride aside and hire the photographer.</p>

[picturesque]

<p>OK--keep me posted.</p>

[charlottenoir]

<p>Well, I spoke to Joanne about the things I would need for the wedding and costs and she has been in communication with her mom and... well, I will copy bit's of our conversation.</p>

<p>Me- For me the question is if it is worth paying all that money for an amateur? It is your wedding after all and as much as I would love to do it, I just want YOU to be the one making that decision. Not me being led by my pride and stubborness.</p>

<p>Joanne- Yeah but you can't always trust even professionals, I mean I saw pictures from my friends and they really weren't up to much. just because someone is a 'professional' doesn't mean they have an eye for people. So having someone I know, is a risk, but I have already seen your work and it is amazing!! Plus I know you pour your heart into things when you get passionate about something</p>

<p>(later I asked how the search for semi-proffesional photoagraphers were going)</p>

<p>Joanne- yeah I found cheaper ones but their sample pictures were really quite bad, anyone could take pictures like that. Amy told me she is going to make a donation towards the things you need, I am not sure how much but then after that I am sure we can cover the rest. So please be our wedding photographer!</p>

<p>So, it sounds like I'm it.</p>

<p>This whole situation has taken quite the turn but I am excited, and I am blessed by Joannes confidence in me. Oh, and may I just point out that the "Amazing work" she is referring to is my work within the organisation, shooting Plays and for events and the like. I don't have the right to those photos and so I can't post them here.<br>

So Nadine, if you don't mind I would like to continue to recieve advice if it is not too much trouble for you and I have some questions now, although some may be very stupid. </p>

<p> </p>

[picturesque]

<p>OK--what are the questions?</p>

[charlottenoir]

<p>Haha! I'm sorry I meant to come back to that sooner and not leave it like some sort of lame cliffhanger. Apparently when it gets windy here we lose the internet... Welcome to Poland.<br>

1. Why do I need the flash if I am outside and it's daylight?<br>

2. My camera (if left on Auto- which I won't do because I read what you wrote about changing it constantly) sometimes gets REALLY excited about uping the ISO and the pictures come out with a lot of noise, is there a good "roof" before that happens (I know the highest you mention is 1600)?<br>

3. It's England, it might rain, do you have some good tips (I am assuming-bring umbrella- is among them) about do's and don'ts?<br>

4. Now that it's just me would you still say that the front of the church (behind the pulpit) is the best place or should I keep to the aisle?<br>

5. I was practicing at a friend's "Game Night" and this may sound wierd but because of the colour of the walls (VERY orange) it effected (or affected) the light in the room and made it look like everyone were slightly sunburnt or just been eating way too many carrots. What can I do to compensate for wierd light situations like that?</p>

 

[picturesque]

<p>1. You need flash outside IF the contrast between the brightly lit areas and the shadows (on a person) is great. Example--it is bright sun outside at noon, and your subject is standing in the sun. That person's eye sockets will be in deep shadow, while the top of their head, nose tip, tops of the cheekbones and top of the chin will be in bright sun.</p>

<p>If you exposed for the bright sun, meaning that the brightly lit areas are nicely exposed, and not washed out due to overexposure, the eye sockets will be very dark--maybe you won't even see the eyes.</p>

<p>The flash is used to add some light to the shadowed areas. While you would think that would then totally overexpose everything, in reality, the light from the flash affects the shadows many times more than the already bright areas.</p>

<p>There is such a thing as too much flash--you cannot eradicate shadows, and if you use too much flash, your brightly lit areas will indeed be totally blown, or washed out and devoid of detail. You want to aim for just a little 'lifting' of the shadows--for instance, with the eye sockets--using enough flash so that you can see eyes without difficulty. Again, do not expect to eradicate shadows.</p>

<p>This will apply to your beach excursion, if the sun is bright. Also, one's external flash is puny in relation to the sun, so you will need to stay fairly close--within maybe 8 feet of your subjects, if you are expecting the flash to affect the shadows.</p>

<p>How do you know how much flash to use? This is where knowing how to compensate your ambient exposure and your flash comes into play. Most flash fill (or fill flash, whatever--this is what it is called) requires negative compensation. Basically, you test, see if the shadows look OK--if not, comp. Mostly negative comp, but sometimes, you need positive comp, for instance, if your subject is also backlit, which fools the internal meter.</p>

<p>If you are outside and you are in even shade, you may not need the flash at all. Even shade means there is no dappling on your subject, and the background behind the subject isn't harshly lit by bright sun either.</p>

<p>2. The Auto or green box setting is really for people who don't know anything about photography, and don't want to know anything about photography. The choices made by Auto are designed to save people from themselves. This is why the ISO goes up and you get noise because it is really too high an ISO (I don't really know what Auto's limit is) or the meter is underexposing anyway (did you look to see if the aperture or shutter speed is blinking? Or the setting Auto decided upon was too underexposed anyway. Underexposure makes noise look worse.</p>

<p>As far as I know, there is no way to put a roof on how high the ISO goes in Auto.</p>

<p>This is why you want to control the ISO yourself, and why you need to keep on top of it all day long. By controlling the ISO, you are controlling the quality of the images by giving the camera/Program mode a good range of settings for adequate exposure.</p>

<p>In my experience, ISO 1600 seems to be about the limit for modern Canon cameras, re ability to retain good quality, given some knowledge on your part. But if forced, use ISO 3200 but it can be noisy if you don't nail the exposure.</p>

<p>3. Stay out of the rain, as even a little will spot clothing. Rain is also not good for your cameras or lenses. If you are forced to shoot in the rain (I don't see why you would be), commandeer someone to hold an umbrella for you.</p>

<p>Other than shooting inside, look for areas at the venues where you have overhangs, and beyond the overhang, there are outside views. Use the overhangs. If it isn't raining hard outside, it can even look like the couple is outside. You may need to use fill flash. Windows can sometimes work if you keep the inevitable flash reflection 'inside' the subject's bodies.</p>

<p>4. The best place for you would be in the aisle. Looking at the layout, it does not look like you could conveniently and discreetly get behind the pulpit, and get out again. If you can arrange to do so, that would be ideal, but you would have to get permission from the officiant, and possibly from the church, to create a path for you. I don't know if guests are to be seated there, but if they are, realize that they can block you from doing what you want to do.</p>

<p>If you are not allowed to walk back there and out again during the ceremony, you can recreate the several views from back there after the ceremony by restaging for just a few minutes, the ceremony--the couple standing where they were, and the officiant standing where he or she was. These views should be close in--not wide shots (if recreated) because there will be no guests in the seats. These shots are ring exchange and close up views of their faces as they look at each other. Also as they face the officiant. If you are allowed to go back there during the ceremony, the wide views would be good to get.</p>

<p>I will talk about the Omnibounce cap for use with the flash a bit later--this is for use at the church, which is an ideal kind of environment for the Omnibounce--small and white.</p>

<p>5. There are two likely reasons the color balance was orangy. If the walls are orange, that color affects everything in the room. Then, if the lights that were on in the room are tungsten lights (your typical light bulb type lighting), the color is orangy (on top of the orange walls) because that is the color of tungsten lighting.</p>

<p>If you shoot RAW files, you can adjust color balance (to a degree) later in post processing. If you shoot JPEG only, you will not be able to correct the color as much.</p>

<p>If you use flash in such a room, whatever the flash 'touches' will be daylight balanced (which is not orangy) and so you will have a mismatch between the flash lit bits and the background, which will remain orangy. There are ways to match the different colors, but this is too much for you to worry about for the wedding, and possibly not applicable, based on what the reception venue looks like.</p>

<p>Have you gotten your 430EX and OmniBounce?</p>

[William Michael]

<p>Briefly, some Chapter Headings:<br>

<br /><strong>1. Why do I need the flash if I am outside and it's daylight?<br /></strong>Because Nadine (and others) would like you to use “Flash as Fill”. The Sun is actually a direct light and quite strong (when there are no clouds) and as such make hard shadows: the Flash is used to fill in those shadows.<br>

If there is Cloud then the Flash can still be used as fill to add a little “modelling” and or “depth” which helps to create a three dimensional aspect to the Photograph, which of course is only two dimensional. </p>

<p><strong>2. My camera (if left on Auto- which I won't do because I read what you wrote about changing it constantly) sometimes gets REALLY excited about uping the ISO and the pictures come out with a lot of noise, is there a good "roof" before that happens (I know the highest you mention is 1600)?<br /> <br /> </strong>It is unlikely that you will need to go to ISO3200, so I expect that ISO1600 will be adequate, it is likely that ISO800 might be adequate if you are allowed to always use Flash.</p>

<p><strong>3. It's England, it might rain, do you have some good tips (I am assuming-bring umbrella- is among them) about do's and don'ts?<br /> <br /> </strong>A big “Golf Umbrella” – and practice shooting one handed, better still have someone hold it for you.<br>

It is unlikely that you will need to do that for may shots – not many people like being out IN the rain on their wedding day. <br>

Also bring a few large plastic garbage bags and some tape, if it is really pouring down you can bag your camera if absolutely necessary.</p>

<p><strong>4. Now that it's just me would you still say that the front of the church (behind the pulpit) is the best place or should I keep to the aisle?</strong><br>

I am pretty sure the Pulpit Nadine mentioned is what I believe is a Lectern situated on the Gospel Side i.e, the Right Hand Side of the Altar, as the Congregation views the Church:<br>

If you are quick get the Aisle Shots (Processional) and then you could move to the behind that Lectern – that is what I would suggest – HOWEVER:<br>

a) I have not seen in the tread that you mentioned that you are allowed to venture ANYWHERE and EVERYWHERE inside the Church (maybe I missed the reference?): In some Churches (in England) you would not be allowed to stand at or beyond the Sanctuary – and that area is level with the Altar, which constitutes the Sanctuary – so you need to check.<br>

b) You also need to check in the Order of Service if the Minister (Priest?) is going to deliver the Rights of Marriage standing on the Alter side of the Couple and thus they will be facing the ALTER - alternatively or if the Minister is going to come forward and he (she?) shall be facing the Altar and thus the Coupe be facing the Congregation. The later has become popular in some progressive Anglican Churches: Noted Point in View Church is “Non-Denominational” hence “progressive” </p>

<p><strong>5. I was practicing at a friend's "Game Night" and this may sound wierd but because of the colour of the walls (VERY orange) it effected (or affected) the light in the room and made it look like everyone were slightly sunburnt or just been eating way too many carrots. What can I do to compensate for wierd light situations like that?</strong><br>

Hmmm?<br>

using Flash and bouncing it off the orange walls?<br>

or just using the room lights? –<br>

if it was using the Flash then bounce it off the (white) ceiling.<br>

If it was just using the room lights, then the walls COULD have had an impact, but it was more likely the colour temperature of the lights in the room, if those lights were incandescent.<br>

If you set AWB (Auto White Balance) and also shoot raw, (or raw + JPEG(L) then AWB will take care of most of it and then as a lighting set (all the images shot under the same lighting conditions) you could tweak the CT (Colour Temperature) in Post Production. </p>

<p>WW</p>

[William Michael]

<p>I was way too slow . . . !<br /> I will ask Nadine comment on my Point 4.</p>

<p>(The 60D is pretty good at ISO3200 - BUT exposure has to be nailed.)</p>

<p>WW</p>

[picturesque]

<p>Ummm...yes, the Lecturn. Here in the U.S., I've heard the term pulpit used to describe the area from which the officiant delivers his sermon, which includes the lectern.</p>

<p>Yes, Charlott needs to check whether she is allowed to move at all, let alone move behind the lectern. I'm not so sure I'd go behind the lectern and stay there. If you are allowed to move, but not behind the lectern, I would probably stay in the aisle, but I might ask the officiant if he or she has the couple turn directly toward each other (as in a profile of each as they face each other, and square to the officiant). Most experienced officiants will do so, but I've found some don't, so throughout, you see nothing but backs if you are in the aisle.</p>

<p>One of the reasons I might not choose to stay behind the lectern is I would be loathe to move around back there, as in cross from side to side. This is so I could get an angle on the bride's face, and on the groom's face, which would necessitate the 'crossing'.</p>

<p>Of course, if they are going to be facing the guests, as William W. describes, you will want to be in the aisle.</p>

<p>Thanks for keeping me straight, William. :^)</p>

[picturesque]

<p>I have another couple of questions for you, Ann-Charlott.</p>

<p>1. Have you read about and tested the comp controls?</p>

<p>2. Have you tested using different ISOs?</p>

[William Michael]

<p>Thanks Nadine,<br /> For clarity and enhancement of of my previous comments: my concerns are that the Church is really tight (small) so therefore shooting the Ceremony Proper will be at close quarters – which means (as you noted) ANY movement to get a good angle will be noticed and potentially distracting.</p>

<p>And as a Novice my (our) logic is to keep everything as simple as possible for Ann-Charlott. One key to keeping things simple is having knowledge of what is most likely to happen: and that’s why I honed in on the Ceremony – and the valuable k knowledge for that portion of the Coverage will be HOW the three (Minister Bride and Groom) will be positioned during that phase of the Ceremony.</p>

<p>IF the B&G are to be FACING the Altar for the Vows and the Ring Exchange and the Blessing (and etc), then I’d opt for covering all of that from the Lectern, (which is situated in the Pulpit Area!) - and I’d stay there until the Kiss. I understand that only gets the Face of the Bride, when the B&G will face other - but the Minister might allow one (and then return) quick scamper to the Epistle Side (Left hand side as the Congregation views) to grab the Groom’s face (if he is to be receiving a Ring? – another question).</p>

<p>So my main point being it is a really small Church and any movement will be noticed and it would be great to know beforehand what will happen re positioning for that Ceremony phase . . . and I have also noted that Ann-Charlott didn't mention her allowed movement and vantage positions. Also I expect (if there is to be - another question) an Hand-off or Presentation of the Bride (i.e. the “giving away”), the Dad & B will be pretty close to G and Minister, so the Lectern would be a good place to be for that.</p>

<p>WW</p>

[picturesque]

<p>Yes, absolutely--for the giving away of the bride, that would be the spot if there is an actual hand off. Sometimes you can get a good angle from the aisle, slightly to the right of the aisle in the cross aisle (see the groom's face, see the dad kiss the bride, see maybe some of the dad's and bride's hand in the journey to the groom's hand). Best to find out how it will be, Ann-Charlott.</p>

[William Michael]

<p>. . . also, one other element which biases my thinking is that I have been used to the trend of the Ministers / Priests NOT re-creating any Church Photos (i.e. NOT recreating any part of the Ceremony), which I note seems more "OK" to do in the USA: posing after the actual signing, for the Signing of the Register and Wedding Certificate is usual, but not any posing or recreation of the Ceremony Proper.</p>

<p>I have no idea about Pommy Land, except they tend to use the same words as me: but it does seem a "with-it" Church so conditions during the Ceremony might be very relaxed, which would be good.</p>

<p>WW</p>

 

[charlottenoir]

<p>Well, hello William! Nice of you to stop by :D<br>

I had the opurtunity this weekend to shoot indoors while Amy and Shane were rehearsing as well as outside during a church picnic. At the picnic the weather went from blazing sun to cloudy and finally rain, I stopped when the rain started. But I did get to practice changing the ISO and as I downloaded and looked at the photos I understand what both of you were saying about the shadows and sharp contrasts. While on that- no I haven't recieved the external flash yet, we had to be carefull where to ship it. (But enough excuses, sorry about that) I will let you know when I have it.<br>

William- I did ask Joanne earlier about restrictions about where to stand and the like and I thought I had posted that she said that there are no restrictions.<br>

I will send an email to Joanne with specific question to forward to the minister- asking about the SOP for the service, re-affirm the ability to move in and out from behind the Lectern, handing over of the bride and asking about the exchange of rings. This information will be good to have and I am assuming there'll be a rehearsal but I'll ask to make sure. I will post as soon as I know.<br>

However! I am greatly relieved that the advice leans towards the aisle, it is what I would be most comfortable with and I will ask Joanne to check the possibility of "restaging" taking into consideration Williams hesitation of rules and regulations in different countries.<br>

<br />Nadine- I have found and worked with both the comp controls and the ISO. Of course I need to hurry up and get the flash and the Omnibounce so that I can practice with it all.<br>

When I got the camera I also bought the "Canon EOS 60D Guide" by Tracy Hallett and it is a little less "dry" than the manual and I am trying to make that my discipline to read through and try what it says on ISO and exposure.</p>

<p>I might not be able to check and respond to posts for a little while, we are moving on today and I don't know when I'll have internet access again, it might take a few days. And this is not confirmed yet but yesterday I recieved some news from home and I might be going to Sweden for a few days, right now I am waiting for permission from the office. This is not a hinderance! It just means that my communication abilities may be a bit restricted for a little while, it is as I believe they say "the nature of the beast"(?)</p>

[William Michael]

<p>(I've been reading since May 4th)</p>

[picturesque]

<p>Ann-Charlott, how are you doing re the flash? After my little bit below about how to tell exposures, I will want to talk about the OmniBounce and flash. Also ask whether you know what kind of building the reception will be held in. As you may read on another active thread, the OmniBounce is not great outside, and my suggested use would be for inside the church and possibly during the reception. While not the best flash modifier, it is fairly 'set it and forget it', unlike white card and other types of flash bouncing. It is actually ideal for 'small, white spaces', and the church qualifies.</p>

<p>If you have been practicing with changing ISO and downloading, you must already be determining whether a captured image is adequately exposed. Most people use the LCD to determine this. Technically speaking, one should use the histogram, but since the wedding is coming up, I would not introduce histogram academics at this point.</p>

<p>What I would suggest is that you continue to practice, but note whether an image you thought 'looked OK' on the LCD was indeed OK, exposure wise, when downloaded to your computer. If you play with the image in post processing, note how much you lifted or decreased the exposure. After a while, you should get an idea of how much your LCD is 'off'.</p>

<p>Also to note is how Program 'sees' certain scenes. Do you notice that you need to comp a lot one way or another with certain scenes? This will become important when photographing at the beach that you showed above. Very contrasty scenes are difficult for automatic metering.</p>

<p>So practice with the above points in mind, and reply here with what you find. Also let me know if you have the flash.</p>

[charlottenoir]

<p>Hi, sorry it took me so long to respond. First of all I do have the flash (woho!) and I will copy, paste and print your last post so I can read it through as I go and make notes as questions pops up.</p>

<p>William- That may well be, but I can´t see those who just read, so sometimes it´s easy to think that I bored everyone :)<br>

How about this then- Nice of you to join in the talk (does that work for you?).</p>

 

[William Michael]

<p>Hi,<br /> <br /> The comment: <em>"I've been reading since May 4th</em>" was merely practical and advisory in nature. <br /> It was to let you know that the whole thread had been consistently read by me and that I was indeed in touch with all the detail such that at any time if it occurred to me that value could be added, it would so be added.<br /> The comment also served as an explanation as to why I had made no previous comment, particularly because the initially battery of responses was so comprehensive. <br /> My comment was placed in brackets - ( ) to indicate it was an aside and an explanation.<br /> Your comment <em>"Nice of you to stop by"</em> - was appreciated, upon reading it.</p>

<p>WW</p>

[picturesque]

<p>Hi Ann-Charlott... What flash did you get?</p>

<p>I also wanted to find out whether you understand focus-recompose as a focusing method, and that you are using One Shot focusing.</p>

[charlottenoir]

<p>Sorry, that is good for you to know- I got the Speedlite 430 EX II.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>I also wanted to find out whether you understand focus-recompose as a focusing method, and that you are using One Shot focusing.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>No. I look at the words and I understand them separately but as a sentence I might as well be reading greek. Sorry.</p>

[picturesque]

<p>OK, next week I'll cover focusing and begin on the Speedlite. Please read your manual about compensating flash, which is separate from compensating the ambient exposure.</p>

[picturesque]

<p><strong>Focus/Recompose using One Shot focusing mode.</strong></p>

<p>1. The center focus point is the most sensitive of all the focus points available. In fact, if using the outer focus points in low light (where focus point sensitivity is compromised), there can more focus errors. Consequently, some photographers, even wedding photographers, stick to a method called focus/recompose.</p>

<p>2. This is where you use the center focus point to focus on a contrasty part of your subject, then (holding the shutter button down half way), move your camera to frame your subject (be it off center now) as you wish, then press the shutter button down completely to take the photo.</p>

<p>3. There can be problems with focus/recompose, but I won't go into that at the moment. I believe that it is the best method for you to use, making sure your focusing is set to One Shot (see instruction book).</p>

<p><strong>How to Focus</strong></p>

<p>1. Place the center focus point on a contrasty part of your subject. This means an area having detail, not a plain, 'blank' area. Auto focus works with contrast.</p>

<p>2. The actual focus point is larger than the red squares marked in the viewfinder. What this means to you is that the focus can get 'snagged' on something behind the subject without your realizing it, if the focus point you are using is close to or on an edge of the subject. An example would be placing the center focus point on a subject's face, near the ear. Since autofocus likes contrast, it may 'decide' that it likes the contrasty green foliage just behind the ear, in the distance. Result, out of focus image.</p>

<p>Keep your focus points (the center one being used) in the 'interior' of subjects. It is common to focus on faces. However, this might be difficult to do, and cause focus errors if the face is smaller than the focus point. Use a place (for the focus point) that is well within the subject and not close to subject edges.</p>

<p><strong>Focusing for the Processional</strong></p>

<p>You might think that using AI Servo for focusing during the processional is a good idea. It might be, if there is plenty of light and you are shooting a lot of frames. Since your church is small, you may not have the ability to shoot that many frames, and while the example you show has light filling the church, you can't always rely upon having the same light level.</p>

<p>I personally use the following technique. I put the center focus point on the bouquet or suit where it makes the V against a shirt, and focus and shoot in one motion. I don't care if the subjects are off center--that can be adjusted in post. I rarely shoot more than 2-3 shots of the same processional subject. You don't want to rush the focus, though, and I am always aware that the focus has been achieved. This is something you will know as you practice this.</p>

<p>I suggest you shoot the processional in horizontal mode. The above is for the typical shot of the subject advancing square (more or less) toward you. You may want to practice on a willing subject.</p>