 Glenda Bickford |
Shooting Wedding Ceremony Without Flash I am getting ready to shoot a wedding this weekend for one of my family members. I am concerned about not being about to use flash during the ceremony. What speed film should I use and what kind. Should I use a 80A filter to take care of the yellowish color from the lighting. Any information would be appreciated.
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John A. Lind |
Glenda, Wow . . . you don't have much time left. Hopefully you can get to a large camera store that carries some professional film. Forget about the filter! You need all the light you can get and an 80A eats a signficant amount. There's no guarantee the lighting will be close to 3200K studio "hot lights" either. When flash is prohibited (or the family requests it not be used), I use Fuji Press 1600 during the ceremony for color photographs. The same film is also called Fuji Superia 1600. This is a true ISO 1600 film and even though it's a "daylight" film, it isn't that hostile to shooting under man-made lighting of various types. For best results though, have it printed by a pro lab. They're accustomed to the "more than normal" color balancing that will be required. Don't expect daylight results . . . they will be a little warmer, but if printed by a lab that know's what it's doing, it won't be objectionable. For B&W, I use Kodak TMax P3200 (TMZ). This is not a true 3200 speed film, although its emulsion was designed to be used at 1600, 3200 and 6400. Whatever speed you choose, you must shoot the *entire* roll at that same film speed. The film's true rated speed is approximately ISO 800 (I don't recommend using it at that speed though). Thus, the film must be "push" processed and this can only be done by a pro lab. There will be an additional fee for this, but it should be modest (less than $5.00). Push processing changes developing times to compensate for the "underexposure" and because of this it must be run separately from other film. This is the reason for the additional "push processing" fee. You must tell the lab what speed you used it at (1600 = Push 1; 3200 = Push 2; 3200 = Push 3) so they know how much to adjust their film developing. Once developed, it can be printed normally like any other B&W negatives. I recommend using it at 1600 if possible (which requires overriding your camera reading the DX coding on the film cannister). The latitude will be a bit wider, it won't be quite as contrasty and it won't be quite as grainy. At 1600 it looks similar to Tri-X Pan used at 400 (Tri-X's rated speed). The more a film is pushed, the less latitude it has, and both contrast and graininess increases. I also DON'T recommend using TMax P3200 outdoors in daylight at 1600 or 3200. For some reason, outdoor daylight seems to be hostile to this film.
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Maynard McKillen |
Dear Glenda: Although you may not be allowed to use flash during the ceremony, check and see if you can use flash during the processional and recessional. Often the church policy or the minister permits flash at those times. Do you have a 50mm lens? And can you approach the bride and groom, discreetly, during the ceremony? If so in both cases, even Kodak's Portra 800 film can work. I still tend to park the camera on a tripod and wait for moments when the bride and groom are not moving much. Fortunately, such is the case when they exchange rings, light the Unity Candle, kiss, and are introduced as newlyweds. You may still get sharp photos by choosing your moments carefully, even if you have only a zoom lens with a maximum aperture like 4.5. Consider this: can you recreate any important moments after the ceremony, i.e., when most of the people attending the service have left, is there time to step back into the church and take flash photos of the bride and groom posing as if they were in the middle of the ceremony? I agree with John: skip the 80A filter. It will cause you to use even slower shutter speeds, and increase the possibility of blur caused by the subjects moving while the shutter is open. And yes, a pro lab can do a very respectable job of color correcting daylight balanced film shot under tungsten lighting.
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John A. Lind |
Glenda, Are you the "official" photographer for this wedding? If so, and if you have never done a wedding before, I have a "survival guide" on my web site: http://johnlind.tripod.com/wedding/ Use what you can and do what you can in the time you have left. Most important is having a PLAN that covers how you will handle the event and mentally walking yourself through what you will do. Attend the rehearsal if at all possible to familiarize yourself with the flow of the ceremony. Don't underestimate how much film or how many batteries a wedding and reception can consume. How much you do use will depend on what their expectations are and how much coverage you want to provide.
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Glenda Bickford |
Thanks to both of you for responding. I will take all the advise I can get. Yes I do have a 50 mm lens and I will use that also. Wish me luck...
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Gregg Vieregge |
I have been shooting weddings for over 27 years. The ceremony is sacred and flashes should not distract from this part of the wedding. Assuming your using a tripod from the balcony or the back of the Church I suggest Portra 400. The most common setting 95% of the time is F4 @ 1/4 speed. Another option is to set your camera to aperature priority and open the lens wide open and the speed will adjust. Buy a cheap cable release also to furthure reduce camera shake. With todays advanced film having as much as a 4 stop latitude in exposure adjustment you'll be OK with the lab. I feel any film above 400 may leave 8X10 reprints appearing grainy. Good Luck!
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