BetterPhoto Q&A
Category: New Answers

First Paying Wedding

1)I normally would use a tripod for all of my posed shots, but the last wedding I went to, the pro never touched one! What's your recommendation?

2)In a wed photo book I purchased, I saw a LOT of long exposure times with telephoto lenses (ie 250mm lens with exposure of 1/60/5.6) won't this cause camera shake, or is that only if it's handheld?

3)I'm planning on only using my zoom lens for the candid reception shots (it's not very fast and I'm not THRILLED with the results, but it's not terrible, either) but, I have had problems with the flash sync not working with speeds over 1/125... will that be fast enough with 400 Portra?

4)These are the filters I have: star 8, double exposure, polarizer, and soft. Any recommendations or things to remember with these filters? I'm particuarly nervous about the double exposure... I know I'm supposed to under expose a little on the first exposure... I need to read up on this~ any sites you can give me?

I'm using 160 and 400 Portra NC, and I think I'll buy a roll of 400 B&W, too. I'm mostly worried about actually getting the shot~ the last wedding I did I had quite a few that were blurry because of too slow a shutter speed. I normally use aperture priority, but after that wedding, I'm leaning more towards shutter priority! With A, it almost always gives me a shutter of 1/60. I'm using ProShots for proofing, which I've debated about because it's so expensive, but I won't have time (or a good enough scanner) to scan that many images. Already have my Topflight proof albums with order sheets, too.

I think that's all for now, as if that's not enough! I haven't been nervous at all until last night after I got off the phone with the bride, again. She's expecting $1k + coverage for $400 and I have to keep explaining that. What have I gotten myself into?? ;) Don't answer that.

5)OH! I remember! They would really like a sillouette shot. I know I need to take it in a fairly dark place with a light behind. My background light is a slave! a) will the light fire if it's behind the bride and groom? b) how do I expose for the shot if it doesn't fire until I take it??? c) should I forget the background light and go with a regular industrial-type worklight and expose by metering directly into the light and then stepping back a touch???

Thanks!!!

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August 08, 2002

1. Shoot the way you're comfortable. I'm a pro and I shoot all my MF formals on a tripod. Do what you think is best for the situation.

2. 1/60 with a 250mm lens on a tripod is no big deal. The only concerns on a tripod at longer shutter times are mirror shake or subject movement. 1/60 is no problem.

3. If the reception is inside and the lights aren't overly bright I would think 1/125 would be fast enough. In fact I would consider slowing down your sutter even more to allow some of that ambient light to record. This will help keep the shots from being black in the background.

4. I hate filters (generally speaking). As I stated before, a wedding is no place to start experimenting with them. There are books available that address the use of filters. If you have Photoshop you can duplicate the effects of most (if not all) filters.

5. If you're using your flashes to light the sillouette you need a flash meter to expose for the background. Whatever you do you need to expose for the background.

Mostly I would say to stand your ground and remind the bride she is getting $1k service for only $400. Do what you do best. If you try to shoot the wedding the way she would you will only be sorry. I'm not saying you shouldn't try to give her what she wants within reason. But you can only do those things within your realm of mastery.

Good luck.

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August 09, 2002

Friendship is one thing and bussines is another one!..Learn that with this mistake!...

Stick to the usual pics so you can get those better (based on your experience with weddings), and the ones w/special effects leave them as an experiment if you don't know how those are going to come up!...If she doesn't like the pics with the effects, that's why you have to tell her before hand that you don't feel right with this ones!...

I agree with Jeff!

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August 09, 2002

Sounds like she's taking advantage of you through her friendship with your sister, and it has slipped from being a pure business relationship as a result.

Some remarks about various parts of what you're planning to use:

(1) I've never used a tripod at a wedding except to shoot available light during the ceremony using slow shutter speeds in the 1/8th to 1/15th second range with slower films. Everything using flash has been hand held. The biggest, heaviest camera I've used is an M645 with a hand grip. It's not nearly as bulky and heavy as Jeff's 6x7. Using a tripod or not is a tradeoff among time required to do the altar returns, agility for varying camera angles, and camera shake (there are likely more factors affected too).

(2) I've never used anything longer than 105mm hand held at a wedding, and that is quite rare. I've done entire weddings with nothing but a 50mm standard lens on the 35mm format camera and an 80mm standard lens on the medium format. I can see using something in the 85mm or 100mm range in 35mm format (about 150mm in medium format), but am having trouble imagining using something as long as your 240mm zoom at the long end. Bottom line is what Jeff already mentioned: using what you're comfortable with and doing what you've done with it before. BTW, my flash syncs are all at 1/60th second. Never has been a problem, even at 105mm.

(3) Your flash has a reasonable amount of power, even with Portra 160, *if* you keep your working distances within reason, about 20 feet or less, and keep your apertures at about f/5.6 for closer shots and nothing wider than f/4 if you're working at 20-25 feet. If you can use NiMH cells in the SB-28, do so, and have at least two extra sets of charged cells.

(4) Like Jeff, I'm not a huge fan of filters, but have used a 4-point star for a few photographs. Under some conditions, such as many candles on the ends of the pews and at the altar, even a 4-point can overwhelm the photograph. An 8-point seems a bit much. This is a personal opinion; some people like the effect. In traditional use, a double-exposure "filter" requires a tripod and careful setup to get it to work right. I recommend against using it unless you have the time to work it carefully and methodically. I also recommend not using the "soft focus" unless you've used it often enough before to fully understand exactly the effects it will produce with different lighting, focal lengths and lens apertures.

(5) If the double exposure uses the "filter" so that a portion of the frame is exposed in the first shot and the rest of the frame is exposed in the second shot, set exposure for each shot as if you're shooting the entire frame in one shot.

(6) For a sihlouette, direct the light at the background and shield the subjects from it as much as possible. They will be backlit some by indirect light from the background. Provide physical separation between subjects and background to keep them from being backlit too strongly by light that reflects from the background. The closer they are to the background, the stronger they will be backlit by it, and the greater the risk some will bleed around the edges of the sihlouette.

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August 13, 2002

There are several things that I would suggest, first of all go for the money shots. these shots are your standard shots before, during, and after the wedding. Weddings move too fast to experiment, if you are going to use filters use the Cokin filters because you can hold them in front of the lens and shoot a pic and take it down, and besides, there are only a few shots in a wedding you will use a filter - a star filter for the unity candle and when they come down the isle holding a candle. A polarizer would not be used unless you were outside and a soft focus for a select few.

Like John, Jeff, and Leo said, 1\60 is usually the norm for shutter speeds, and I use 3 cameras for a wedding, (2)35mm and 1 m645 and I use a 28 to 105 on both 35mm and 80mm or 150, not the m645. The 35mm's for candids black and whites and the m645 for the photos after the wedding.

Final thought is to know the strength and limitations of your light sources (flash) - this will be the deciding factor in the out come of your wedding photos. GOOD LUCK

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August 17, 2002