 Bryan |
How to Repair Relationship with Church/Minister I read some of your valuable comments on aperture/flash/shutter settings on a Nikon 35mm camera.I have an N90s with 35-135mm Nikkor lens and SB-26 flash. My assignment is to do a wedding in a dimly lit church (ceremony in indoor portraits). As a part-time newbie to the profession, I'm real certain of what I should do. Nervousness gotten the best of me and I ended up using a combination of 1/8 and 1/13 shutter speed and flash during the ceremony at f5.6 based on suggestions from other photographers. (Haven't got the results back yet.) Since the bride wanted sharp pictures during the ceremony, I used a combination of half flash and non-flash during the ceremony. (The bride had gotten special approval from the minister and church planner for this wedding.) Following the ceremony, the minister chewed me out and told me that I will have to make other arrangements if I was to work with him again. He indicated that I was moving around too much. This chapel is called the Morris Chapel located on the University of the Pacific campus in Stockton, CA Having a minister making these comments to me affected me personally and emotionally. I felt really small. Since I don't do weddings regularly, I would like to formally apologize to the minister. What approach would you recommend and how would I be able to earn my confidence of this minister and planner of the chapel if I do go back to the Chapel on a future occassion? Plus, I would like some guidance and feedback on my panicky shooting set up using Portra 400VC in the church. Hopefully, I would like to gain more confidence as I progress and not feel so demoralized as I did today. Thanks,
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John A. Lind |
Bryan, I always ask the bride/groom for the name of the person officiating their ceremony and what the photography policy is at the ceremony location . . . basically whether flash is allowed or not. I also discuss what is and isn't allows with the officiating person before the day of the wedding. Usually it's the night before at the rehearsal, but it can be before that if the bride/groom have some special requests. In the absence of that, I call and ask to speak to the person who will conduct the ceremony. In addition, I also advise the bride during an interview well before the ceremony that the person officiating and/or whoever owns the location have the absolute "last word" on restrictions. Regarding your current situation, call and make an appointment to see the minister. If you haven't already done so, apologize and state that it wasn't your intention to cause any problem and that you want to fully understand what the limitations are to ensure there isn't one in the future. Be up front about wanting to discuss the details of what the policy is so you don't run afoul of it again. Be certain to get clarification about anything that sounds ambiguous. Example: Mention . . . very tactfully . . . that some of what you were doing was an attempt to comply with very specific requests by the bride, and that special request of one type or another are not uncommon. Ask if they have a written photography policy. If there is one, ask for a copy of it for future reference. If there isn't one, suggest that they write one, make it available to photographers on request, and that give it to bride/groom during their interview/counseling . . . that this can help prevent photographers from getting requests for specific types of ceremony photographs from bridal couples that cannot or should not be done based on their policy. You may still get dressed down some for not contacting the minister yourself before today's wedding . . . if so, just acknowledge it was something you should have done and then let it go. BTW, I got caught in a cross-fire between requests for very specific ceremony photographs and a priest's unpublished photography policy a week ago. This was discovered the night of the rehearsal. The priest and I worked out a compromise with the understanding that it was a "one time good deal" and what I was being allowed to do would not be allowed again. It ended up being less than the most desirable conditions for the specifically requested photographs, but it at least allowed getting them. The priest did have some understanding of my situation . . . the bride made reference to some of her specific requests during the rehearsal. Unrelated to your specific situation, but one other thing can get wedding photographers in trouble . . . -- John
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Maynard McKillen |
Dear Bryan: It is a mark of your integrity that you seek to redress an error made without malice. Perhaps you may even let yourself see this incident as an ultimately positive event. Yeah, I know, it's a stretch right now. In the future, plan to speak with the minister before the ceremony. Before could mean thirty minutes before the ceremony begins, it could mean a phone call a week ahead of time, it could mean calling the church and leaving a message in which you identify yourself and ask what guidelines the church has for photography before, during and after a wedding ceremony. What you're doing is proactively making contact, demonstrating that you want to work with the minister and the volunteers who help him or her, and that their policies and preferences matter. Yes, during that initial contact, you will ask if flash is allowed during the ceremony, where you are allowed to stand and when, and you'll ask questions to clarify what you hear. And you'll thank the minister for the information. Once a few years back, a church where I was soon to be photographing a wedding sent me a full page list of restrictions. They were specific, which was helpful, and they were, oddly enough, almost punitive. I suspect they were a response to wedding photographers who had not sought out information about decorum. (I could almost feel the sting of the cat o' nine tails on my back! And the wording of the list was, at one level, a punishment meted out to all wedding photographers for the sins (!) of a few.) Collect your thoughts, compose a letter of apology in which you acknowledge your mistake, and explain that in the future you would seek out him/her in advance for specific guidelines. State your desire to make right what bothered him/her. This may be hard to understand, but if you do take this step, and write the letter, you'll be empowering yourself. And this next statement may be even harder to understand. Even if the minister responds negatively to your overture, and doesn't give you another chance to work with him/her, it doesn't matter. Your effort to make amends is what matters. Make it sincerely, in good faith (sorry, sounds like a pun), and vow to be proactive about asking for wedding photography guidelines. Perhaps you'll consider one more action: forgive this minister for his/her deportment. Though I still recommend you take the active roll in learning church policy, if this minister had previous experiences with wedding photographers that troubled him/her, he or she was free to approach you and simply describe how to conduct yourself during the service. This is not to say you can fault the minister entirely. It is to say you can help the ceremony run smoothly by learning and following the guidelines any minister will be glad to share. Indeed, the minister will appreciate your concern for decorum. You send a message that you respect the space in which you are working, a space in which the bride and groom make life-changing vows before witnesses. Oh, and forgive yourself, too. You're new to this way of working. Read up on what other wedding photographers do to help their social interactions run more smoothly. Now, as to the technical portion of your query, can you describe in more detail exactly what you did, that is, how you set up your equipment?
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Bryan |
Hi John, Thank you so very much for responding to my concern and experience I had at the church. As I reflect back to yesterday's event, I would like to inform you that I did in fact had the opportunity to talk to the priest beforehand (about 15 min. before the ceremony began) in regards to pre-arrangements the bride had made with him in regards to flash photography during the ceremony. The priest acknowledged with agreement and additionally pointed out to me restrictions to where I cannot stand druing the ceremony. With that mind, I respected his expections and proceeded with the assignment with diligence and trying to capture the desired shots the bride indicated on her list. The gripe the priest threw at me after the ceremony appear to focused on the fact that he indicated that there was too much movement on my part during ceremony, in which I imagined he felt disturbed. From previous weddings that I've done (outdoors on the lawn) I have always been quick and mobile to capture different angle shots. At one point during the ceremony, I rewound the film in my camera during the ceremony and didn't realize how LOUD the noise was until then. I must admit it felt tense will much of the audience staring at me in the middle of the aisle with my tripod and camera. Well, anyway, since this assignment is over with, I will take your (and Maynard's) advice and compose an apology note to the priest. I will convey to him with the deepest sincerity and assurance that I will consult with him down to specifics not do anything in the future that will upset him again. (I would hate to start out in a new profession with a tainted reputation.) It never dawned on me how delicate weddings can be and how finicky some priests can act. I must admit, the discouraging experience I had almost made me decide to quit this altogether. However, both you and Maynard's confident-building words of wisdom and encouragement have made me look at weddings in a whole new different fashion. You two gave me insight on being able to anticipate and avoid common mistakes beginners make. I thank you so very much and with all probablity as a newbiem, you can anticipate future correspondances from me (hopefully they will be positive ones)
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Bryan |
HI Maynard, I would like to thank you equally for your valuable response and advice to help me remedy my newfound mistakes as a newbie in wedding photography. You and John have provided me with refreshed and newfound confidence to pursue my passion of photography, despite errors(unintentional)and downfalls. I must admit I have little and limited experience and have never done a wedding in such a dim-lit church before without flash. I was extremely nervous and concern about capturing good available light images. In fact, I couldn't sleep very well the night before thinking about the next day. I even contacted three photographers whom I know who shot weddings at this church and received all different advice. 1)Jack told me to set my camera (tripod) at f-5.6 at 1/15th, 2) Joe suggested I set my camera at f/8 at 1/8, and 3)Mary asked me to go to the rehearsal and meter the light at where I plan to photograph, confirm it with my N90s TTl meter, and then shoot it at manual settng with my SB-26 bracket-mounted flash (on tripod to highlight the fore subjects and bring out the ambient background lighting. I only done a few outdoor weddings and none of them had so many restrictions. For the most part, the few outdoor weddings I've done allowed me to freely circle around (360 degrees)the officiant and the wedding couple to capture tight and intimate moments without problem. To give you an idea of what I did on this wedding, despite these many advices, I shot the processional and recessional hand holding my N90s with a bracket mounted SB-26 (set at TTL)aperture set at f5.6 (Aperture preferred). In fact, I think I shot "some" at that setting during the ceremony. During the ceremony, I moved around with my tripod (Bogen with a Joystick quick release plate)to various locations to capture various facets and angles of the ceremony. The settings I made on my camera while my camera was situated on the tripod were set at f5.6 @ 1/8 sec. I alternated to 1/13 sec. compromising on 1/15 sec. suggested by Jack. I also alternated turning the flash on and off on various shots, in hopes to get some good exposures. At one point, my autofocus hunted so much, I had to switch to manual. If you talked about panic, nervousness, have lack of sleep and confidence, that was me. Uncertainty certainly drove me down into the ground. I hope me results yield some satisfactory images of the ceremony. What is you prediction? During the formals, I shot pretty much everthing on tripod with my SB-26 tilted at 45 degrees with the built-in reflector pulled out in hopes to avoid wash-out faces, with aperture set at 5.6 and shutter at 1/8 sec and 1/13 sec. alternating, taking two exposures for each pose. Following the formal, I went outside in bright sunlight to wait for the wedding couple to run out through two surrounding lines of bubble blowers. While I was outside, while I was prepared to shoot, my camera registered HIGH (set at f5.6 on Aperture preferred) The next agenda was to walk to a rose garden to take pix of the children and the wedding couple. Until after I took the picture, along with pouring sweat and blurred glasses and time-pressed, I thought I was shooting at auto-focus, but it was on manual focus. Wow.....the rest is for you to imagine. Have I overwhelmed you with a bad day? Hope you can respond to this to help me avoid such nightmares and develop more technical skills in the future. Sincerely,
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Maynard McKillen |
Dear Bryan: If your subjects were still during the times you used slow shutter speeds, I suspect you can look forward to many saleable images. If, during the altar formals, your groups ran several rows deep, and they might for a family photo, f/5.6 might not provide sufficient depth of field. I'll guess that I look at my camera and flash settings at least fifty times during a wedding day, to make sure they haven't been inadvertantly changed, and that they are correct for the shooting situation. I consider it a benign form of obsessive-compulsive disorder. I agree heartily with John Lind that planning is vital to success. Know ahead of time what you are going to do, technically and creatively, plan alternative strategies to adapt to weather conditions and accommodate human whimsy, carry back up equipment, and document in words and pictures your successes and failures in diary/scrapbook form. A decision to systematically evaluate your images, compare then to others you clip from magazines, learn and expand a repertoire of poses you can teach to your subjects, pay attention to the mood of any given moment and capitalize on it, is a decision to grow.
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Bryan |
Maynard, Thank you so very much for the words of wisdom on planning and technical tips. As a newbie to doing indoor weddings, I have much to learn, however, with caring and concern coaches such as you to offer invaluable professional advice, I will persevere, learn and continue to practice to succeed. As of this point, I feel that I need to learn and overcome the anxiety that associates with uncertainty. As you noted, documenting my outcomes to learn from certainly makes common sense. I have finally picked up my prints from the wedding. As you predicted, my f5.6 setting in the dim lit church did come out a bit shy of sharpness on the formal posed portraits. Plus, I had some shadows on the faces. When I shot the formal on tripod, I set my flash (SB-26) at a tilt of 45 degree with the white built-in reflector pulled out from the flash housing, in hopes to cast a softer bounce lighting. Apparently, or maybe it didn't throw far enough to illuminate the faces. I didn't want to aim the flash head directly toward the subjects in fear that the faces might become too hot. Do you have some alternate suggestions on how I can produce a soft and subtle lighting on the these altar formal shots without the harshness of direct strobe on the subjects? Plus, since my Nikon N90s is appearing to be acting up, what other Nikon SLR film camera model you would recommend I invest in? I was planning to get another body and use my N90s as a back-up, since I don't have a backup except my new digital Nikon Coolpix 5700, which is awfully slow. Thanks again for you response. Bryan
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