 Rhonda Carrigan |
indoor church wedding with no flash I kinda got suckered into doing a wedding this weekend for a friend, she knows I am not a pro, and most of the cameras I have ever owned have been p&s. I recently got into macro and loved it, and purchased a canon d60 with 5 lenses all different types. I have spoken with the officiator about what I can and can not do during the ceremony. He says I am not allowed to use the flash. I have no idea what to do here. I have taken a few test shots of the sanctuary "before" and they are horrible. I know nothing about apature and time exposures. I purchased a few books for dummies, but still dont quite grasp the concept of the settings. How do I (in simple terms) get enough light into the camera to get a correct exposure? I also have a tripod and a remote to prevent camera shake. Thanks in advance!
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Nancy Grace Chen |
That's a difficult situation. It's great that you have a tripod and remote, because you'll need them for every shot. It looks like you're using a digital. You're going to want to set your ISO to at least 400 (or higher). The higher ISO is more sensitive to light. Also, set your white balance to tungsten (that's what I'm guessing the type of lighting will be in the sanctuary). Also, find out what the fastest shutter speed you can use is. You'll have to do this at the sanctuary. If you use a speed too low, your shots will be blurry because people will have moved during the shot. Go back and do some practice shots and make sure you can do at least some decent ones at the sanctuary before the wedding, because if your practice shots are looking awful before the wedding, you won't get any good ones during the wedding. Click here for some shots I took at a recent friend's indoor wedding. They're not the greatest, but they're decent. Let me know if you have any other questions! Nancy
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Nancy Grace Chen |
Oh yeah, a couple more things. You're going to want to use the biggest aperture possible (remember, big aperture equals small number, like 2.8) and fastest shutter speed possible. I'm by no means a pro, so if anyone else has any better suggestions, please jump in! Nancy
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John A. Lind |
I've never been able to shoot hand held reliably inside a church with anything slower than ISO 1600. Since lighting varies from church to church, and in different areas inside some churches (due to spotlights around the altar area), lens aperture is f/2.8 or f/4 and shutter speed is 1/60th or 1/125th. From f/2.8 @ 1/60th to f/4 @ 1/125th is a three stop variation and being able to stop down to f/4 while keeping shutter speed at 1/125th doesn't happen very often. ISO 400? -- John Lind
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Nancy Grace Chen |
Just to follow up... I remember now that it was late afternoon, and there was some natural light coming in through the windows and there may have been a skylight at the top. Follow John's advice. (: Nancy
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Rhonda L. Tolar |
When I am asked to photograph a wedding and the official will not allow flash during the ceremony, I just explain to the bride and groom that there will be no pictures of the actual ceremony. I am always allowed to use the flash before and after the cermony. The officials just seem to think that it distracts from the cermony to have a photographer running around flashing. And I tend to agree with that to a certain extent. I sometimes wonder if the congregation may be watching me instead of the ceremony. They should look into a videographer to record the cermony.
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- Gregory LaGrange Contact Gregory LaGrange Gregory LaGrange's Gallery |
another case where the "official" seems like it should be the bride, and if she dosen't mind, that other "official" needs to take a back seat.
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Rhonda Carrigan |
I have gone back to the church and took a couple more shots. I asked the pastor too why they didnt like flash... his response was "it is a religeous ceremony and God doesnt like bright lights." He was kidding of course, but again said it was a religious ceremony. I can deal with that. I forgot to mention the HUGE stained glass window behind the alter. There are only a few windows on either side of the pews.
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John A. Lind |
Gregory, Let there *never* be any doubt in your mind *who* is in charge of the ceremony itself: the officiant (minister, priest, rabii, cleric, etc.). It is their ceremony, and they have the absolute last word. Even with civil marriages by a Justice or Judge there is a required "liturgy" to be followed that typically has some optional sections for the bridal couple. Unless the officiant is a "guest" to the sanctuary (not part of the clergy there) they're also the *owner* of the premises and you along with everyone else is a "guest" there. Bottom line . . . ultimately the officiant isn't *required* to officiate the ceremony and that is what gives them the final say. The bride has the "next to the last word" when it comes to the ceremony. I make this abundantly clear to the bride. Indeed, I had a Catholic wedding last year in which the priest was adamant and made abundantly clear his photography restrictions in addition to the time limit we had afterward. The bride didn't agree although she didn't take it up with him directly . . . she slipped to me that it wanted me to disregard his instructions. If I had listened to her? I would never have been allowed to set one foot in that church again (believe me; they can do it)! -- John Lind
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- Gregory LaGrange Contact Gregory LaGrange Gregory LaGrange's Gallery |
Thought catholic church just reassigns people when they do something wrong.
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John A. Lind |
Hmmmm . . . I won't touch that one . . . Discovered that day that priests are human too. Took the brunt of past sins committed in his church by other photographers with a 5 minute very stern lecture about all the disrespectful things they had done to his church and the solemnity of the ceremony. Some of them were clearly beyond the bounds of what a photographer should do (or how they should do it), even with zero restrictions . . . e.g. standing on a white cloth upholstered chair for elevation to shoot some of the groupings. After he got done we had a very rational discussion about what I would do and how I would do it . . . and got permission to do a couple special things by asking politely and showing him how I would choreograph my movements to remain very discreet about it (moving down the side into concealment behind a large pillars). All he needed was some respect that he hadn't always gotten in the past. For Rhonda's benefit (a) The entire processional and the handoff of the bride by her father (usually there's a hug or kiss) with that as the last flash shot at the beginning. (b) A flash shot of the bride and groom "first kiss" near the end followed by presentation of them to the congregation and their recessional. Exact location of "first kiss" in the liturgy for the ceremony can vary; there may be a couple short things that follow before the benediction. With film, I stage another camera preloaded with high speed film before the ceremony begins . . . in a safe spot where it's convenient to pick up and use after the "handoff" is complete. Keeps from having to unload and load film twice, and remember to change the ASA setting on the camera when doing so (the camera with flash is on a "not all that small" flash bracket too). -- John Lind
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