2 weddings, 1 weekend

KTBoom2006-E510 · July 16, 2008

I have 2 weddings coming up in one month. Both of these will be on the same weekend. 1 wedding is outside, and the other in a church...

I need some pointers for doing a wedding with only an external flash. On the camera.... Any help would be wonderful. I am scared to screw this up. Oh ya, the wedding outside will be at 2:00 AHHH

aktse · July 16, 2008

Use the dgrin search features....

There are many posts on this subject.

Shima · July 17, 2008

What flash will you be using? I use a 580 EX II on camera as my only flash for my weddings. Bounce flash is your friend... and diffusers are your friends.

Scott_Quier · July 17, 2008

Katie,

As a first approximation, ready my "Thoughts on photogarphing a wedding" (see link below). Most of my advice is there.

Above that, get a good flash bracket, one that will allow the camera to rotate under the flash. The choice is yours, but my favorite (for ease of use and low weight) is the Newton Di100FR2. This will allow you to better keep the shadows created by the flash hidden behind your subjects. Mounting the flash directly to the camera works well if you never rotate the camera to portriate orientation. When you rotate, you get ugly shadows to the side of your subject.
Check out A Better Bounce Card. You can make about three of these for less then $2.00 - and they are soooo useful. Anymore, they one of two light modifiers I use on my external flashes. The other one is this one for when you have high and/or dark ceilings. Costs a bit more to make (about $5.00) but works quite well....
Don't be afraid to use your external flash during the afternoon weding. You will, most likely, need it to fill shadows.
If your camera supports it, get an understanding of High-Speed Shutter Synchronization. This will allow you to use a shutter speed that is faster than your camera's x-synch speed.
If you are going to be outside for the "after the weddig formal/family portraits" - remember that the sun is a light source and that it doesn't have to be the main light. You can (should?) face your subjects away (or at an angle from) the sun and use your flash to fill shadows on your subjects' faces.
When trying to decide on exposure settings - follow the money and expose for the gown (remember, the bride paid hundreds/thousands for her gown and the groom just rented his tux). Don't blow out the detail on the gown. If you expose for the tux (or try to compromise) you will loose detail in the gown - not a goodness! It might be worth your time to get a model (son/husband/SO/friend) to wear a white shirt and dark pants so you can practice - of course, doing this at the same time of day as you expect to photographing the wedding.

Hope this helps. I'm looking forward to seeing your wonderful work (I have confidence that you'll not (to quote you)

screw this up

KTBoom2006-E510 · July 17, 2008

Scott_Quier wrote:

Katie,

As a first approximation, ready my "Thoughts on photogarphing a wedding" (see link below). Most of my advice is there.
Above that, get a good flash bracket, one that will allow the camera to rotate under the flash. The choice is yours, but my favorite (for ease of use and low weight) is the Newton Di100FR2. This will allow you to better keep the shadows created by the flash hidden behind your subjects. Mounting the flash directly to the camera works well if you never rotate the camera to portriate orientation. When you rotate, you get ugly shadows to the side of your subject.

Check out A Better Bounce Card. You can make about three of these for less then $2.00 - and they are soooo useful. Anymore, they one of two light modifiers I use on my external flashes. The other one is this one for when you have high and/or dark ceilings. Costs a bit more to make (about $5.00) but works quite well....

Don't be afraid to use your external flash during the afternoon weding. You will, most likely, need it to fill shadows.

If your camera supports it, get an understanding of High-Speed Shutter Synchronization. This will allow you to use a shutter speed that is faster than your camera's x-synch speed.

If you are going to be outside for the "after the weddig formal/family portraits" - remember that the sun is a light source and that it doesn't have to be the main light. You can (should?) face your subjects away (or at an angle from) the sun and use your flash to fill shadows on your subjects' faces.

When trying to decide on exposure settings - follow the money and expose for the gown (remember, the bride paid hundreds/thousands for her gown and the groom just rented his tux). Don't blow out the detail on the gown. If you expose for the tux (or try to compromise) you will loose detail in the gown - not a goodness! It might be worth your time to get a model (son/husband/SO/friend) to wear a white shirt and dark pants so you can practice - of course, doing this at the same time of day as you expect to photographing the wedding.

Hope this helps. I'm looking forward to seeing your wonderful work (I have confidence that you'll not (to quote you)

What metering system would I use. And how to I get the camera to focus the lighting on the dress? Is that where the metering comes in? My flash I have right now is an Olympus FL 36 that rotates and does different angles. But I probably still need a braeket right?

Scott_Quier · July 17, 2008

KTBoom2006-E510 wrote:

What metering system would I use. And how to I get the camera to focus the lighting on the dress? Is that where the metering comes in? My flash I have right now is an Olympus FL 36 that rotates and does different angles. But I probably still need a braeket right?

Metering Mode: For most situations, evaluative will get you close. Take a shot, chimp, adjust.

If the bride's gown is pretty much filling the frame, you will need to increase exposure by about a stop - camera will want to expose the gown as 18% gray - not a good idea
Likewise, if the groom's tux is pretty much filling the frame, you will want to decrease exposure by about 1 stop as the camera will over-expose the frame to get that black suit to something approximating a gray.
If you have a light meter and are doing portraits, set the camera to manual, settings to match what you light meter returns. Take a shot. Chimp. Adjust to taste.

Bottom line - don't be afraid to chimp a bit (or a lot). To really mangle a turn of phrase, "It's better chimp a lot and be thought an amateur, than to not and not be able to deliver the goods!"

Getting camera to focus in on gown - How about using your zoom to fill the frame with her gown and then take a reading (thus turning your camera into a spot meter). Now, set your camera (manually) to those settings. Take a shot. Chimp. If necessary, adjust and take another shot.

Flash bracket - I would recommend one (or always shoot with the camera in landscape orientation). The bracket will allow you to keep the flash above the lens at all times.

P.S. - I just took a quick look at the specifications for your flash. Hmmmm, powered by 2 AA batteries and an guide number of (at best) 36 - you might not have enough horse power there to get the job done. If the flash does produce enough light, it will probably be at full power. With just the 2 AA batteries to recharge it - how long does it take to recharge - "less than 8 seconds". You are in serious danger of missing a shot waiting for the flash to recycle - or you are going to have to be very selective of which shots you take and be sure to get it right with just one exposure.

KTBoom2006-E510 · July 17, 2008

Scott_Quier wrote:

Metering Mode: For most situations, evaluative will get you close. Take a shot, chimp, adjust.
If the bride's gown is pretty much filling the frame, you will need to increase exposure by about a stop - camera will want to expose the gown as 18% gray - not a good idea

Likewise, if the groom's tux is pretty much filling the frame, you will want to decrease exposure by about 1 stop as the camera will over-expose the frame to get that black suit to something approximating a gray.

If you have a light meter and are doing portraits, set the camera to manual, settings to match what you light meter returns. Take a shot. Chimp. Adjust to taste.

Bottom line - don't be afraid to chimp a bit (or a lot). To really mangle a turn of phrase, "It's better chimp a lot and be thought an amateur, than to not and not be able to deliver the goods!"

Getting camera to focus in on gown - How about using your zoom to fill the frame with her gown and then take a reading (thus turning your camera into a spot meter). Now, set your camera (manually) to those settings. Take a shot. Chimp. If necessary, adjust and take another shot.

Flash bracket - I would recommend one (or always shoot with the camera in landscape orientation). The bracket will allow you to keep the flash above the lens at all times.

P.S. - I just took a quick look at the specifications for your flash. Hmmmm, powered by 2 AA batteries and an guide number of (at best) 36 - you might not have enough horse power there to get the job done. If the flash does produce enough light, it will probably be at full power. With just the 2 AA batteries to recharge it - how long does it take to recharge - "less than 8 seconds". You are in serious danger of missing a shot waiting for the flash to recycle - or you are going to have to be very selective of which shots you take and be sure to get it right with just one exposure.

If I buy the battery pack would that be better? Or am I in trouble and need a better flash? I was told by the store that the FL 36 wasn't far off from the FL 50.... That's not good. I did notice it takes it awhile to recharge. And when you say "chimp" I am guessing you mean look/glance... Right? Now I don't know what to do about my flash

frg · July 17, 2008

Hi Katie .

Haven't done any weddings but have been doing a little research on using a flash and came across this website on on-camera flash

http://planetneil.com/tangents/flash-photography-techniques/1-natural-looking-flash/

*Great Tips Scott , thanks

jeffreaux2 · July 17, 2008

Since you have accepted these two...I assume you have sorted out the focusing issues you were asking about? What was the culprit?

Scott_Quier · July 17, 2008

KTBoom2006-E510 wrote:

If I buy the battery pack would that be better? Or am I in trouble and need a better flash? I was told by the store that the FL 36 wasn't far off from the FL 50.... That's not good. I did notice it takes it awhile to recharge. And when you say "chimp" I am guessing you mean look/glance... Right? Now I don't know what to do about my flash

A battery pack will get you more battery life. It may, depending on the voltage delivered to the capacitors in the flash, reduce the flash recharge time. You need to do the research on that.

My other concern with power of the flash itself. According to the specs, yours has a guide number of, I think, 36. The FL-50 has one of 164. Now, if you believe the manufacturer's numbers, this makes your flash 4 stops (if I have the math correct) less powerful then the FL-50. That's a lot of light!

By way of example, I use Canon and the 580EX flashes which, again if you trust the manufacturer, has a guide number of 192. There have been times when I've taken one shot and had to wait for the flash to re-cycle. I fear you will be hugely disappointed by the performance of your flash.

So, how do you make a decision? You run your own tests. Work with your flash in environments similar to what you expect to encounter at your weddings/receptions. Take a friend with you to the hotel and talk real nice (even guys have to learn how to talk nice) to the management, asking to set the ambient lighting as it will most likely be and see if you can make reasonable images of your friend from more than 10 or 20 feet away. If you are happy with the results, ignore all the above

If not, then you may need to re-evaluate your need for a more powerful unit. Also, be aware that, in all likelihood, Oly is not the only manufacturer that makes dedicated flashes for your camera. Finally, please understand that neither I can nor anyone else here can tell you what you need to do. Only your testing and research will give you the information you need to make a reasonable and informed decision.

Chimping - See this link. As I used the term, I was referring to the habit digital photographers sometimes have of looking at the LCD on their cameras to determine if they got the shot and if the exposure is good. There is such a thing as too much of this - you spend so much time looking at your camera that you miss the shot. Then again, you can do too little as well - you get the shot, but the exposure is wrong, making the image unusable.

urbanaries · July 17, 2008

Scott_Quier wrote:

Chimping - See this link. As I used the term, I was referring to the habit digital photographers sometimes have of looking at the LCD on their cameras to determine if they got the shot and if the exposure is good. There is such a thing as too much of this - you spend so much time looking at your camera that you miss the shot. Then again, you can do too little as well - you get the shot, but the exposure is wrong, making the image unusable.

You've gotten a lot of helpful advice from Scott. You got to get in there and shoot with your equip, have your friend wear all white, and that will tell you volumes.

Just want to add on the chimping, that the LCD can NOT be trusted for exposure accuracy, only the histogram, which is the most useful thing about having a digital camera if you know what it is telling you.

Scott_Quier · July 17, 2008

urbanaries wrote:

You've gotten a lot of helpful advice from Scott. You got to get in there and shoot with your equip, have your friend wear all white, and that will tell you volumes.

Just want to add on the chimping, that the LCD can NOT be trusted for exposure accuracy, only the histogram, which is the most useful thing about having a digital camera if you know what it is telling you.

I forgot to add my mantra and urbanaries came through for me. Use the histogram (and the blinkies in the image) on the LCD to determine exposure. You can use the picture on the LCD only for judging composition.

urbanaries · July 17, 2008

Scott_Quier wrote:

I forgot to add my mantra and urbanaries came through for me. Use the histogram (and the blinkies in the image) on the LCD to determine exposure. You can use the picture on the LCD only for judging composition.

Hiya Scott, been a long time

I do believe you were instrumental in my own histogramducation.

KTBoom2006-E510 · July 17, 2008

jeffreaux2 wrote:

Since you have accepted these two...I assume you have sorted out the focusing issues you were asking about? What was the culprit?

Well I took some shots of my little one a couple days ago and it seemed fine. I had it do a self clean a couple times, so I am going to be taking a lot of pictures to make sure it isn't the camera or the lens before the wedding. I hope hope hope that it was just something as simple as that.

joshhuntnm · July 17, 2008

KTBoom2006-E510 wrote:

I have 2 weddings coming up in one month. Both of these will be on the same weekend. 1 wedding is outside, and the other in a church...

I need some pointers for doing a wedding with only an external flash. On the camera.... Any help would be wonderful. I am scared to screw this up. Oh ya, the wedding outside will be at 2:00 AHHH

if I coiuld have done one thing different on my first one it would have been to great real familiar with editing raw files before the wedding and shoot RAW. RAW covers a multitude of problems.

consider dialing up the ISO when using the flash indoors. It will get more of the background in the shot. Get familiar with what level of noise your camera creates at what ISO annd what you can live with. I shoot with an xti and can live with 800, but prefer to stay at 400. My son has the 40D and can go one or two notches up.

try to relax and catch the emotion.

carry lots of batteries and lots of cards (20 gig of cards) two extra sets of batteries for each device

have a back up camera.

wear comfortobale shoes!

Have fun. that was my big surprize: i had no idea how much fun it would be.

LensCap · July 18, 2008

Scott_Quier wrote:

I forgot to add my mantra and urbanaries came through for me. Use the histogram (and the blinkies in the image) on the LCD to determine exposure. You can use the picture on the LCD only for judging composition.

Scott,
You gotta write a book or something...:D

2 weddings, 1 weekend

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