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Wedding help
I was a secondary photog at a wedding this past Saturday. Good friends of mine. Fortunately, my shots weren't the primary shots. I've made some conclusions based on my results, and would like some feedback as to if my conclusions are sound.
1) I did well on the posed portraits. My ceremony shots were hit and miss. Focus issues were predominant. My conclusion was that I should have approached the ceremony the same way I shoot football. Its action -- its slow, but its action. People walking towards you, away from you. So pre-focus, and try to take a picture quickly. Don't go half-shutter and hope the camera focus-tracks them walking. I think this is what likely happened to me.
2) I should have shot a grey card for custom WB, and done so frequently. My Rebel just can't do AWB for crap.
3) f/4 for the posed portraits outdoors might have been too shallow to have been "safe". We had trees behind them that we wanted slightly out of focus (but not terribly so). I think it would have been better to go f/8, and move them further away from the trees.
Also, what type of hit-rate should one be happy with? I think I hit 10% really good, and about 33% good enough to be happy with. Some of that remaining 67% however would have been crucial had I been the primary photog. And I think that was the hardest lesson I learned. When shooting MX or football I don't care about any given photo as long as I shoot enough to get a good mix of good photos. But at an event like this I can't shoot the processional 10 times hoping for 2 or 3 keepers.
1) I did well on the posed portraits. My ceremony shots were hit and miss. Focus issues were predominant. My conclusion was that I should have approached the ceremony the same way I shoot football. Its action -- its slow, but its action. People walking towards you, away from you. So pre-focus, and try to take a picture quickly. Don't go half-shutter and hope the camera focus-tracks them walking. I think this is what likely happened to me.
2) I should have shot a grey card for custom WB, and done so frequently. My Rebel just can't do AWB for crap.
3) f/4 for the posed portraits outdoors might have been too shallow to have been "safe". We had trees behind them that we wanted slightly out of focus (but not terribly so). I think it would have been better to go f/8, and move them further away from the trees.
Also, what type of hit-rate should one be happy with? I think I hit 10% really good, and about 33% good enough to be happy with. Some of that remaining 67% however would have been crucial had I been the primary photog. And I think that was the hardest lesson I learned. When shooting MX or football I don't care about any given photo as long as I shoot enough to get a good mix of good photos. But at an event like this I can't shoot the processional 10 times hoping for 2 or 3 keepers.
Bill Jurasz - Mercury Photography - Cedar Park, TX
A former sports shooter
Follow me at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/bjurasz/
My Etsy store: https://www.etsy.com/shop/mercphoto?ref=hdr_shop_menu
A former sports shooter
Follow me at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/bjurasz/
My Etsy store: https://www.etsy.com/shop/mercphoto?ref=hdr_shop_menu
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I shot a wedding last friday. The pics aren't ready yet as I still have some post to do on about 1/3 of them.
I was the only photog there, as the couple was trying to save money. I told them no, I wouldn't do it and recommended three other people, but they kept comming back to me (family). Finally I agreed to do it but told them I never did it before and would not garauntee good results.
I did the groom and his groomsmen first. I had 1 1/2 hours to shoot the groom and his party, before going to the brides house for the ladies. The groom was 1 hour late for the shoot. The best man was 1 1/2 hours late. We shot outside at a local park. I got as many good shots as I could, faked the corsage (sp?) part as the groom already had it on. Then I rushed to the brides house, where the ceremony was to be held.
I was a couple of minutes late ... but the bride was not there yet. They ladies were 1/2 hour late. I did not get to pose them until 10 minutes before the ceremony.
The ceremony was ready to start and the lady in charge was still deciding who went where.
There was NO rehearsal so I didn't really know how the whole thing was going to go. Neither did they. It was an outside wedding on a bright sunny day with a mix of bright light and shade with dappled sunlight comming through the trees on the ceremony. Wow, it was tough. The brides veil completely blocked her face through the cerimony and made it hard to get good shots.
I did my best to get all of the key points, but missed some and the shots I got were not as good as I hoped.
By the time the reception was well under way I had not gotten many of the "key" points, cake cutting, father daughter dance, best mans toast etc. The light was fading fast. Finally I just started grabbing people and making them do stuff, drag the best man to the mike,.... tell him make your toast NOW. Grab the bride and groom... It's time to cut the cake. Now. So the evening went. By the time the bride danced with her father I was shooting in post dusk light illuminated 95 percent by my flash.
All in all It re-affirmed my "I dont do weddings" position.
The suprising thing is, as I am doing the post on them, I keep thinking, wow, they are gunna love that one. Maybe it didn't go as bad as I thought.
Just letting you know your experience in not unique.
Low cooperation + high expectations = a bad deal.
Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam
http://www.mcneel.com/users/jb/foghorn/ill_shut_up.au
Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam
http://www.mcneel.com/users/jb/foghorn/ill_shut_up.au
Thanks for the advice, feedback, encouragement. It is appreciated.
I actually liked doing the wedding for my friends. Was nervous, before and after. Becky ended up liking far more of them than I thought she would. I was a little disgruntled at the AWB on the camera. Was very happy I shot in RAW instead of my usual JPG. Might do that more often, though I need a better digital workflow. I love everything about Canon's File Viewer except how slow it is. PS CS is much faster, but there are things I don't like about it. So much to learn about RAW and about processing 200 photos at a time.
Would I do it again? Only if client expectations are low. For example, a couple on a tight budget, who knows full well I don't do weddings for a living but needs photos better than Uncle Jim will get. I don't have the stomach to do a full-fledged, high expectation for perfection wedding. I have enough stress in my day job.
A former sports shooter
Follow me at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/bjurasz/
My Etsy store: https://www.etsy.com/shop/mercphoto?ref=hdr_shop_menu
TML Photography
tmlphoto.com
My Rebel with a 420EX had primarily white balance issues. Exposure wise I did best in P mode, but I did ok in Av mode. Never tried Tv mode. I did have to adjust the exposure as well too often, not just the WB, so I understand what you are saying. I like to shoot JPG-in-camera as often as possible, but with flash I do not trust that. I would only shoot RAW if using flash.
Do I think you should do it? Depends on the friends. I have some friends that I would gladly do it for. They would understand that my experience is not in weddings and formal pictures. I have some friends who I would not do it for. Some friends will say they understand, but when they see non-perfection they would not be happy.
If your friends have little money and you can trust them to really understand if the photos do not turn out top-notch, then you will have a ball doing it. Stress, sure, but it will be fun. But if you don't trust them to not hold a grudge if the photos aren't $5,000 photos on a $500 budget, then find an excuse to not do it. With Becky and Magnus I had no fear of that.
And yes, both of us NEED a new 20D.
A former sports shooter
Follow me at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/bjurasz/
My Etsy store: https://www.etsy.com/shop/mercphoto?ref=hdr_shop_menu
TML Photography
tmlphoto.com
I never used the built-in flash so I don't know. The group shots were outdoors, about 5pm, with the sun to my right. Fill flash was almost required due to shadows, and I borrowed the groom's 420EX for the night. I would take two shots - one with and one without the flash. It also seemed to work better if I used the flash exposure feature on my Rebel, which sends out a tiny burst of light to read the flash reflection, calculates an exposure and flash power, and then takes a picture. This is useless for any photo other than the posed shots though, but it helps get those shots correct.
My past experience with the pop-up flash is it only really works in P mode, for whatever reason. Group shots was my 50mm/1.4. Everything else was my 28-135 with IS off.
A word about doing the "action" shots during the ceremony, with people walking up the aisle and everything. Treat it like sports photography. Go for fast shutter, and do not go half-shutter, wait, then full-shutter. Just press that puppy down, let the camera grab focus and then immediately capture the image. If your camera does not track moving objects well then your walking bride will quickly move out of the depth of field and become slightly fuzzy. Hindsight I wish I had used my 70-200/2.8 because it is L-glass and focuses so much faster and better, or borrowed Magnus' f/4 version if I wanted a lighter lens.
This was with fill flash, shooting into the setting sun:
A former sports shooter
Follow me at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/bjurasz/
My Etsy store: https://www.etsy.com/shop/mercphoto?ref=hdr_shop_menu
TML Photography
tmlphoto.com