C&C please!
Justiceiro
Registered Users Posts: 1,177 Major grins
I don't normally shoot weddings, but a dear friend of mine for the last 16 years got married over the weekend, and wanted me to do the honors (she likes my work in other fields).
So I would like to get some input from you professional types here. I want to put up a few problem shots that I hope to save- I also want to ask for some advice for future situations, and I would like some C&C from some of the captures that I liked the best.
ADVICE
OK, so the location was a strong mix of good and bad. As a location, the place is beautiful. It was a chateau built outside of Prague in the 1920's (Ratbor, near Kolin). It's super Art Deco, my favorite of styles.
The place is now a hotel and conference center. The cool bit? Unlike most old places converted into hotels, it hasn't been modernized- rather, it has been restored. So it is still very 20s. The grounds are cool as well. The wedding was originally planned for the outside, but the day after we arrived (the wedding day) it poured rain. Here's were the trouble began.
The interior is dark. Super dark. Dark wood absorbs light, super high ceiings, and it can be cramped (for the 100 people or so that were there).
I was running a Cannon 430EX with a Gary Fong diffusor- it seemed to work nicely when I was close to the subjects- but I couldn't always achieve that. The crowding made movement difficult.
The shots of the approach of the bride and groom were where I felt this the most.
This shot truly sucks. I had to go B&W because the fill light from Lightroom makes the color noise ridiculous. If you are shooting this, how do you deal with it (moving is not an option, without climbing over the first row. We were really cramped). Should I have removed the diffusor and shot the flash straight? Is there a processing trick that can save this? (I have everything in RAW). Does the next grade up of Canon flash make a difference?
Do any of you actually set up off camera flashes with umbrellas and the like?
QUESTION ABOUT FLASHES
Are the dedicated Canon flahses really the best? I was working the hell out of my flash, as the place was gloomy, and most of the shots where it fired were good. But the recycle time of the 430ex in a high demand situation just doesn't cut it. Is the 580ex better? Are there non-canon flashes that have superfast recycle time? What are you guys using?
THE FORMAL SHOTS
These I liked the best. All in all, the wedding wasn't a disaster- I got the shots I needed. My friend is happy. (that's what counts). And folks had a good time, especially when getting the formal shots done.
The same handicaps applied, except for space. Here I was dealing with a cavernous, 3 story high stairwell clad in dark wood. But I brought my friend's portable studio lighting setup and it worked well.
Let me detail the setup, because it worked well, and it isn't expensive. It consisted of:
1 chinese transmitter and two radio slaves.
2 light stands
2 umbrellas
1 Mecablitz 30 BCT 4
1 Vivitar 285 (not hv)
1 motorcycle battery with power cord plug and fuse hand installed
I ran the vivitar off the motorcycle battery (It even sits inside its own case and looks super pro, but costs about $40). That vivitar, BTW, is awesome. Really great. I must get one of these. I've heard that if you mount them in the hot shoe, they'll fry your camera. (I'm sure it doesn't help if you have them hooked up to a motorcycle battery, anyway) but off camera they rule.
Anyway, here are the results, with this exceedingly bare bones setup.
My big beef is that the men in dark suits at the edge of the picture appear to be floating heads. Would a hot light or flash against the backdrop have fixed that? Or is it just too dark?
SOME ADVICE FROM MEI'm not at the skill level of many of the folks that post here, but I have gleaned two pieces of useful advice from my forays into the world of the semi pro. They are as follows:
1-Capitalize on Your Mistakes
Do you have an awesomely posed, well framed shot that is a classic? But your flash failed to fire? Take the bad points of the radically underexposed shot and make them work for you- Fill light can be your friend!
Blast some definition into the photo, pump up the contrast, desaturate it, and you have turned a piece of crap into "that classic old school look." Observe:
2. Don't be "too professional"
When I'm doing set shots I try to act like Sheffield Quigley: professional myspace photographer. Thick Bruno-esque accents. Loudly treat your models as if they are on the runway in Milan. Have them do crazy stuff. Smile all the time. If you are having fun, then they'll have fun. Everyone is, on some level, vain. Say "Darling" far more than is necessary. The results will be great.
If you take this shot first:
then they'll relax for the next shot, and you'll get this:
The technicals may not be great, but the models are having fun.
So I would like to get some input from you professional types here. I want to put up a few problem shots that I hope to save- I also want to ask for some advice for future situations, and I would like some C&C from some of the captures that I liked the best.
ADVICE
OK, so the location was a strong mix of good and bad. As a location, the place is beautiful. It was a chateau built outside of Prague in the 1920's (Ratbor, near Kolin). It's super Art Deco, my favorite of styles.
The place is now a hotel and conference center. The cool bit? Unlike most old places converted into hotels, it hasn't been modernized- rather, it has been restored. So it is still very 20s. The grounds are cool as well. The wedding was originally planned for the outside, but the day after we arrived (the wedding day) it poured rain. Here's were the trouble began.
The interior is dark. Super dark. Dark wood absorbs light, super high ceiings, and it can be cramped (for the 100 people or so that were there).
I was running a Cannon 430EX with a Gary Fong diffusor- it seemed to work nicely when I was close to the subjects- but I couldn't always achieve that. The crowding made movement difficult.
The shots of the approach of the bride and groom were where I felt this the most.
This shot truly sucks. I had to go B&W because the fill light from Lightroom makes the color noise ridiculous. If you are shooting this, how do you deal with it (moving is not an option, without climbing over the first row. We were really cramped). Should I have removed the diffusor and shot the flash straight? Is there a processing trick that can save this? (I have everything in RAW). Does the next grade up of Canon flash make a difference?
Do any of you actually set up off camera flashes with umbrellas and the like?
QUESTION ABOUT FLASHES
Are the dedicated Canon flahses really the best? I was working the hell out of my flash, as the place was gloomy, and most of the shots where it fired were good. But the recycle time of the 430ex in a high demand situation just doesn't cut it. Is the 580ex better? Are there non-canon flashes that have superfast recycle time? What are you guys using?
THE FORMAL SHOTS
These I liked the best. All in all, the wedding wasn't a disaster- I got the shots I needed. My friend is happy. (that's what counts). And folks had a good time, especially when getting the formal shots done.
The same handicaps applied, except for space. Here I was dealing with a cavernous, 3 story high stairwell clad in dark wood. But I brought my friend's portable studio lighting setup and it worked well.
Let me detail the setup, because it worked well, and it isn't expensive. It consisted of:
1 chinese transmitter and two radio slaves.
2 light stands
2 umbrellas
1 Mecablitz 30 BCT 4
1 Vivitar 285 (not hv)
1 motorcycle battery with power cord plug and fuse hand installed
I ran the vivitar off the motorcycle battery (It even sits inside its own case and looks super pro, but costs about $40). That vivitar, BTW, is awesome. Really great. I must get one of these. I've heard that if you mount them in the hot shoe, they'll fry your camera. (I'm sure it doesn't help if you have them hooked up to a motorcycle battery, anyway) but off camera they rule.
Anyway, here are the results, with this exceedingly bare bones setup.
My big beef is that the men in dark suits at the edge of the picture appear to be floating heads. Would a hot light or flash against the backdrop have fixed that? Or is it just too dark?
SOME ADVICE FROM MEI'm not at the skill level of many of the folks that post here, but I have gleaned two pieces of useful advice from my forays into the world of the semi pro. They are as follows:
1-Capitalize on Your Mistakes
Do you have an awesomely posed, well framed shot that is a classic? But your flash failed to fire? Take the bad points of the radically underexposed shot and make them work for you- Fill light can be your friend!
Blast some definition into the photo, pump up the contrast, desaturate it, and you have turned a piece of crap into "that classic old school look." Observe:
2. Don't be "too professional"
When I'm doing set shots I try to act like Sheffield Quigley: professional myspace photographer. Thick Bruno-esque accents. Loudly treat your models as if they are on the runway in Milan. Have them do crazy stuff. Smile all the time. If you are having fun, then they'll have fun. Everyone is, on some level, vain. Say "Darling" far more than is necessary. The results will be great.
If you take this shot first:
then they'll relax for the next shot, and you'll get this:
The technicals may not be great, but the models are having fun.
Cave ab homine unius libri
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