Wedding White Gown and Black Tux

[mary_mchenry]

Marc- Thanks for your clear explanation of "light balancing". I wanted to know what "HSS mode" means on the 550.

 

Thanks, Mary

[fotografz]

Mary, HSS stands for High Speed Sync.

 

When set to HHS, the flash will sync with the camera shutter speeds beyond the normal 1/

250th top setting. In some lighting circumstances, if you set a fast lens aperture

the shutter speed required for proper exposure will exceed the normal sync speed of 1/

250th. Normally, this would force you to stop the lens aperture back down to a setting

that requires a shutter speed of 1/250th or less. However, if you WANT the wider aperture,

HSS can be engaged to allow flash use with shutter speeds exceeding 1/250th.

 

The primary use and value of this feature is when you're shooting in bright conditions,

want a wide aperture to limit depth of field to isolate a subject, but want some fill flash.

 

Here's an example where I used an 85/1.2 @ 1.2 outside. To use f/1.2 with the camera set

to AV Mode here required a shutter speed of 1/1500th which is well beyond the normal 1/

250th normal sync speed. HSS allowed the flash to be used to fill the groom's coat and

balance the light with the background. If I had NOT used flash and metered to retain detail

in the coat, the background would have been much lighter or blown out.

 

Just another example of using the camera's shutter/aperture combination to expose for

the background, and the flash to expose the foreground subject to bring them more in

balance. Mike is correct that digital benefits even more from this "light balance" technique

than film does because digital has less exposure latitude.<div></div>

[fotografz]

On a Canon 550EX flash, here's how you set the High Speed Sync.

 

#1, you press both buttons marked "flash symbol & H" with the link below the two

buttons, and hold them until...

 

#2, the " flash symbol & H appear in the LCD window.

 

Even though it is said to draw more power, I leave the flash set to High Speed Sync at all

times. You can still use slower shutter speeds if you wish, but are ready to move from the

dim church interior to the bright outdoor exit scene without fiddling with the flash.<div></div>

[edgreene]

<i>Subject: Wedding White Gown and Black Tux<p>(SNIP)<br>At these occasions I have put the camera in program matrix metering and set flash to multi sensor matrix ttl, and been very pleased with outcome of photos, but my concern at a wedding with high contrast white gown and black tux is will matrix in camera and multi sensor ttl in flash be able to handle these either together or singley in close ups or should I figure on compensating for white when it is filling the frame or the same with black.</i><p>Your Nikon SB flash should work very similar to my EOS gear. Remember, just plain TTL worked for years. But for your question: yes your gear wil do just fine, with litlle if any adjustments needed.<br>Remember to, there is only one meter reading that really counts in weddings and that is <i>properly exposing the Bride</i>. So walk up to the Bride and make an ambient reading <i>of her face</i> (which in the end, is the only reading that counts.)<br>Tom, remember, <i>hundreds of thousands of weddings were shot with the old medium format wedding formula of (f/5.6 @ 1/60th sec.) years before TTL metering and "fast" film</i>.<p> Unless her dress is terribly detailed/textured, you will find that only you and not the Bride is concerned in that <b>The Groom's Tux, unless it too is highly detailed, (usually not), is superfluous.</b>.<br> *In the one shot of the Groom beside the Bride coming down the stairs, we see <i>no</i> details in the Groom's Tux, like 99% of most such shots.<p><i>"Also if compensating should I use the exposure compensation on the camera to compensate both ambient and flash which I believe is the default, or just compensate the flash itself when one color is dominant in the frame".</i><p><i>No compensation at all</i>. Someone who shoots Nikon can correct me here, but I am certain your Nikon system works similar to my EOS gear when using flash. EOS gear <i>always exposes for the ambient expousre meter reading, using the flash for automatic fill</i>. That is, if you shot that old MF format formula of f/5.6 @ i/60th sec. your gear too should use only as much flash as as you have dialed in. On EOS gear, you can dial in plus/minus two, on some EOS flashes up to three whole stops <i>in 1/3rd stop increments</i>. Probably the same or very similar for your Nikon gear. <p>Remeber too that just plain old TTL flash took care of weddings. Today, we have (<i>A-TTL & E-TTL flash in EOS</i>) and whatever TTL systems Nikon uses. today, both systems nail simple portraiture nearly 100% of the time.<p><i>"I normally would not consider shooting someones wedding pictures without knowing exactly what I am doing, but this is a small informal wedding for a close friends daughter and I have shot a lot of getogethers with this family and they understand I am not a pro and will only be doing candids which is fine with them".</i><p>"Umm", will there be a "Pro" shooting the wedding while you concentrate on candids? I ask because my curiosity is raised: who will shoot the formals if yours will only be candids? And why worry about "balancing" since only the lucky photographer ever has enough light to do accomplish ? <p><i>"I just want to try to get the best shots I can and am not sure if I can depend on the camera and flash or if I should be compensating the same as I would for ambient exposures outside. Any advice would be apprieciated</i>".<p> No <i>exposure compensation at all</i>.<br> Trust your gear, since you already know how it functions outdoors. It is the same gear you successfully use to make those very good outdoor shots. <br>If all you will be shooting is the candids then, and with your gear with which you are familiar, you have nothing to worry about.<p> I don't shoot weddings anymore, just special events since retiring. But my long time PJ experience (37 years) taught me a few things: since 1995, I only shoot ISO 640 (Kodak Ektapress unitl discontinued) or Kodak Supra or Portra ISO 800 film (both medium contrast print emulsions) in events/weddings. <bR>Today's modern (since 1999-2000) print emulsions make <i>grainless</i> 4 x 6 prints (<i>assuming proper exposure and processing</i>.) You have to take them up past 11 x 14 to see "objectionable" grain, if then.<p>I am suggesting you shoot Kodak Portra (short for Portraits)or Fuji ISO 800 film throughout.<p>I shoot ISO 800 Kodak Portra indoors for events, usually setting my camera body(s) on Tv (shutter priority) at 1/60th sec. (<i>1/45th sec. if a really dark venue</i>), letting the EOS exposure program handle the rest.<bR>Your Nikon system probably does nearly the same as my EOS system, exposing for the ambient (background) reading when using flash, utilizing the camera's computer program to apply proper (automatic fill for EOS) for proper foreground exposure. That's for ordinary shots.<p>For this wedding, <i>meter the Brides face</i>, set that shutter speed in TV mode, turn on your flash, set maybe -1/3rd to -2/3rds stop FEC and and shoot. Ought to be just fine.<p>**<i>In every Bride/Groom shot submitted in this thread, including the one with the Groom's back is towards us as they dance, <b>note there is no details in their Tux</b>; none, nada.</i><p>Ed Greene, author, "<i>Manual Fill Flash For Dummies, 1997</i>"

[fotografz]

"**In every Bride/Groom shot submitted in this thread, including the one with the Groom's

back is towards us as they dance, note there is no details in their Tux; none, nada."

 

Sorry Ed, if you are referring to my shot of the groom with his back to the camera,( ** )

there most certainly is detail in the Tux, ( not that I disagree that the groom is secondary

to the bride). Perhaps differences in monitor calibration?<div></div>

[think27]

All readers should take into consideration that they are using different equipment from others, may have different taste in

results and there is no subsitute for testing "methods" in different light situations to find what works best for you. <p> One

way to judge the varied answers on the forum is to check out the

work of other photographers giving advice. Either click on the

names to check the portfolios - or go to the list of wedding photographers with work on Photo.net. There is a thread in the wedding forum that will lead you to all the wedding photographers on Photo.net that have work posted here.

[bruce_rubenstein]

There are a number of really good photographers, who are not very good technicians. They have arrived at technical solutions that work for them and their style of photography. It's based on rules of thumb and lots of experience; just the way the great catherdrals in Europe were built. Since what really counts is getting a great image, it's a case of what ever works.