Help with exposure please

Pam7 · June 28, 2006

I voluntered to help a friend with some wedding shots. I am in way over my head (which he knows but is fine with it as long as I try) and hoping you folks can help.

I'll be photographing the bride's father and bride walking down the aisle. He is a very dark man, she is a caramel color and there will be severe backlighting. I'll also be shooting some ceremony shots where backlighting isn't a problem but low light is (the groom is also very dark)

I have a 20d with on board flash only, and I rented a 28-70 2.8L. I'm planning to shoot in RAW, M with high iso, and use onboard flash for aisle walk. Or should I go with Aperature Mode? No flash for ceremony.

Am I on the right track? What metering mode do I use , Partial?; . Of course my concern is I'll loose all detail in the shadows and blow out all the highlights.

Also is there any way I can make my 20d quieter. Seems like it might be a little disruptive.

Any tips will be greatly apprecitiated.

Thanks,
Pam

System · June 28, 2006

pam-

these are just my thoughts, so keep that in mind-

I believe others will be replying to you also-

keep everything as simple as possible-

know the settings you are going to use and make sure all the settings are ready to go (I'll forget flash versus awb sometimes)-

have your cards ready and available (and the first one loaded!)-

I would use the partial directed on the main subject-make sure you're set for exposure lock-

focus on the subject's eyes, holding the shutter button halfway to lock in focus and with your thumb, before you move the camera to frame, hold down the exposure lock, or when in av mode, if you move w/o the exposure lock, the shutter speed will change-

have your histogram on so you can take a quick glance to see if you're ok re exposure-

if you're taking an individual portrait, you should get some great ones with 2.8- need to close it down depending on what dof you'll need for 2, 3, whatever-

might practice with the adep mode for group pictures- it's supposed to utilize all the focal points to make sure you're covered re dof-

if the lighting's decent, you might get by with iso of 800 (don't let your shutter speed get below what, with IS, 1/25? 1/20?)-

if not very good lighting, go to 1600 and change your aperture if you need greater shutter speed-

do a little role play and pretend you're doing the wedding-

get your kids to model for you-

somebody else will need to cover the flash part-

and hopefully someone will doublecheck what I told you and fill in where it's needed-

best
george

gtc · June 29, 2006

overexpose
for dark skin you will need to overexpose a little-take a few shots and check your histogram and adjust EV accordingly.use partial metering if you can get them both within the 9%,if not use centre weighted.

the only way that you can really quieten your camera is to muffle it-most of the noise is caused by the mirror flipping up and down

pentax used to,a long time ago, have an eveready case that enclosed the body for quiet indoor shooting but you could experiment with foam rubber or wool or combo of both etc and wrap it somehow

Art Scott · June 29, 2006

Is there any way for you to rent a decent flash unit.....that would make your life so much simpler and the wedding shots so much easier and better in the end especially with the back lighting prob.

A trick from my film days was to place a spot of tape on the floor where I wanted to shoot the bride and father coming down the aisle , have a brides made or the bvride herself stand on the spot to set the focal length and test fire my flash to make sure it was working properly and giving the green light that all is in range.

Do the same on the other side of the aisle for the recessional.....

then I'd always shoot at the smallest aperature (usually between f5.6 and 11, depending on flash gun) possibe for that distance, that way if you cannot get the focus on theeyes do to speed of wedding party walking faster than they should you will still have enuff DOF to take care of it.

Also auto focus in a church can sometimes start hunting and you may have to quikly go manual focus.

Good luck

JimM · June 29, 2006

Pam, you are really going to want a flash. Where are you located? Maybe a nice dgrinner out there would loan you one or rent it for cheap?

RatPhoto · June 29, 2006

Pam7 wrote:

I voluntered to help a friend with some wedding shots. I am in way over my head (which he knows but is fine with it as long as I try) and hoping you folks can help.

I'll be photographing the bride's father and bride walking down the aisle. He is a very dark man, she is a caramel color and there will be severe backlighting. I'll also be shooting some ceremony shots where backlighting isn't a problem but low light is (the groom is also very dark)

I have a 20d with on board flash only, and I rented a 28-70 2.8L. I'm planning to shoot in RAW, M with high iso, and use onboard flash for aisle walk. Or should I go with Aperature Mode? No flash for ceremony.

Am I on the right track? What metering mode do I use , Partial?; . Of course my concern is I'll loose all detail in the shadows and blow out all the highlights.

Also is there any way I can make my 20d quieter. Seems like it might be a little disruptive.

Any tips will be greatly apprecitiated.

Thanks,
Pam

Well, wedding shots in general are tough and it sounds like you have some pretty tough conditions to boot. Still, at least you aren't the main and we all have to learn (and keep learning). I have a 20d so I am familiar with your camera.

1. In general on the 20d, if I'm shooting flash, I want to be in manual exposure mode. Your lighting conditions make me think that way even more. Glad to see you are thinking that way.

2. If you are forced to use the onboard flash (and I highly advise against it), you are absolutely going to have to use high ISO in order to get enough reach at a reasonable f-stop. Again, I see you are already thinking that way.

3. Set the camera to its lowest contrast setting if shooting JPEG along with the RAW. If shooting just RAW, that doesn't matter. That will give you your widest dynamic range.

4. Ahead of time, fiddle with you manual settings to get the exposure right. Get someone with similar skin tones and hopefully some white clothing (like the bride) and dark clothing (if that is what the bride's father will be wearing). Forget the strong backlighting. It is going to be blown out. Accept it. Just try to get the skin tones right without blowing out the bride's dress.

5. Do you know the bride? If so, beg, plead, do whatever is necessary to get her to go down that aisle slow. Preferably, step pause, step pause, step pause. This is something that should never be rushed anyway. People should be delighting in her beauty, dress, etc. And it sure makes your job as a photographer easier.

My wedding galleries are here:

http://ratphoto.smugmug.com/Weddings

I'm not a pro but do enjoy shooting them. I did walk into one of these weddings to find out they did not have a pro (the one for Jonathan and Alycia).

I have been asked to shoot others as the main but fortunately have talked people out of it. I really believe that Pros should be shooting these things. No knock on you as you aren't the main. Enjoy the experience and learn a lot. You will be amazed how busy you are and how fast the ceremony goes.

And please, get something besides that on board flash.

Pam7 · June 29, 2006

Thanks for all of your suggestions so far. Please keep them coming.

I can see that I really do need to have a decent flash. However, I don't know if I can rent one. Even if I can, I don't know if I'll have time to learn how to use it. The wedding is Sat. Probably should have thought of that earlier. Oh well it is a learning experience.

And yes I am very thankful that I am not the main photographer. It does take a little pressure off, but I sure would like to take some awesome shots.

Pam7 · June 30, 2006

Hooray , I was able to rent a 580ex flash. I've been playing with it. Some of the shots look good, some are totally blown out. I have it set to the ETTL mode, and I'm shooting in manual. I assume that the only way to tell how much Exposure Comp. I need, is to take a test shot and see how it comes out.

Is this correct? Is there an "easier" or quicker way? Again, thank you folks for all the input.

I've already learned so much.

RatPhoto · July 1, 2006

Pam7 wrote:

Hooray , I was able to rent a 580ex flash. I've been playing with it. Some of the shots look good, some are totally blown out. I have it set to the ETTL mode, and I'm shooting in manual. I assume that the only way to tell how much Exposure Comp. I need, is to take a test shot and see how it comes out.

Is this correct? Is there an "easier" or quicker way? Again, thank you folks for all the input.

I've already learned so much.

Too late since I think your wedding was most likely today. Anyway, the honest answer is that Canon E-TTL is tricky. One of the best ways to use it is with flash exposure lock but in a wedding that is pretty much out of the question except on the posed shots.

Pam7 · July 2, 2006

Well, I shot the wedding photos yesterday. The main photo I needed to take was of the brides father and mother walking the bride down the ailsle. It did not turn out as well as I had hoped but hopefully, it can be fixed a little in photoshop. (The people were dark and when I try to correct lighting in PSE4, it becomes a bit noisy.)

It was definitey a learning experience. Here is just a little of what I learned.

1. Professional Wedding Photographers really earn their money. I already knew that, but I really know it now.

2. One must really know their equipment and how to use it and change settings rapidly.

3. Shooting group photos with people ranging from dark skin tones to light skin tones wearing white tuxes is quite difficult.

4. Auto White balance gets tricked very easily.

5. Flash can be our friend but we must know how to use it.

6. Really need to have a "list" of poses etc. before one starts shooting.

7. Shooting with strong backlighting inside a church is a beast.

8. Shooting photos with an illuminated stain glass window inside a church is a beast.

9. The 20d is quite loud.

10. Photography is a lot of fun.

11. I really want/need to learn more.

12. Taking a correctly exposed photograph is very gratifying and saves a lot of time in post processing.

13. The folks on this forum are quite patient and knowledgable. And are willing to share.

Thank you for your input.

Pam

RatPhoto · July 2, 2006

Pam7 wrote:

Well, I shot the wedding photos yesterday. The main photo I needed to take was of the brides father and mother walking the bride down the ailsle. It did not turn out as well as I had hoped but hopefully, it can be fixed a little in photoshop. (The people were dark and when I try to correct lighting in PSE4, it becomes a bit noisy.)

It was definitey a learning experience. Here is just a little of what I learned.

1. Professional Wedding Photographers really earn their money. I already knew that, but I really know it now.

Pam

Sounds like you learned a lot and really, that is a great thing to take away from the experience.

As for #1, I so agree. I really have to wonder if those who complain about how much the pros are making on these weddings have every really attempted to do one. It isn't easy, and done right, you work hard.

I have worked with a particular pro who has been VERY kind to let me shoot along with them in various weddings at church. She knows she is going to get the better shots any way for a number of reasons (such as the people are looking at her).

I'm not a real fan of spending oodles of money on weddings. But when my son got married, I made sure he knew that getting a Pro was something they definitely SHOULD spend the money on. I was very happy when they decided to go with the pro who has been so kind in letting me shoot in the past. She does a great job and certainly earns her money.

Help with exposure please

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