 Jenny M. Singleton |
Bride and Groom Coming Down Aisle I have shot about five weddings and the one shot I seem not to be able to do is to shoot the bride and groom walking down the aisle. They always come out blurred or over-flashed (I set the flash to TTL and a manual exposure of F5.6 at 60 ... I have also tried f8 at 200... etc., etc!). I use Minolta Dynax 7 with the Metz 54MZ4 with a Tamron 28-105 F2.8 lense and NPH400 film. Can anyone tell me what I can do to get a decent image!
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Kerry L. Walker |
First, let's handle your blur problem. Autofocus cameras have a tough time focusing quickly on things with little contrast - like a white bridal gown. Switch to manual focus, and focus on a spot about 4 pews away from you. Then, shoot when the bride gets there. Second, use a small aperture - f/11 if you are not using a softbox (or other type diffuser) or f/8 if you are. Your flash is plenty powerful enough to go with a smaller aperture. Have you tried shooting in AP mode with TTL flash? Are you sure it is too much flash and not just a bad print job by the lab you use? I don't know which lab you use, but sometimes mini labs can do a terrible job with professional-grade film, simply because they are not accustomed to it.
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Jenny M. Singleton |
Thank you Kerry. I will try these tips out and let you know how I got on!
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perry cooper |
You have two issues that need to be resolved. Make sure that the shutter speed you are using is equal to or faster than the focal length of your lens. For instance if you are using a 100mm lens and your meter reading is 5.6 @ 60th you have to change your shutter speed to atleast 125th to prevent camera shake and/or blur. Obviously you have to change you aperture as well in combination with your new shutter speed. This should fix your problem. Then just do everything else the same as far as ttl. That should fix your blur problem. As far as the over flash exp, You are most likely to close to your subject with a wider than needed aperture and shooting in manual or your ttl is not working properly. If ttl mode is not working for some reason then just switch to manual, set for between 10-20ft and use your highest shutter speed hopefully atleast around 125 at f/11 and shoot away within that range. If at a semi close distance with even I bit of over exposure any local one hour lab can print within a one to two stop range. Hope all this helps.
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Kerry L. Walker |
I will disagree with Perry a little. When shooting indoors, with little ambient light, the shutter speed does not necessarily need to be the reciprocal of the focal length of the lens. When you understand that the average flash flashes for anywhere between 1/1000 sec. (at full burst) to 1/50,000 sec. (at its shortest burst), that is the effective shutter speed you are using. Yes, a slower shutter speed will let in a little more ambient light so you don't need to have such a slow shutter speed that the ambient light can affect the exposure to a great degree. (Don't go so slow that you could shoot without flash. You will most certainly get camera shake.) A faster shutter speed will cut down on the ambient light, which you may not necessarily want. It will darken the background. I really think your problem is that the camera can't focus fast enough. The method I suggested is what I use on walking down the aisle shots at weddings. I will agree with Perry that you are probably too close at that aperature. The Metz 54 series flash is a very powerful flash. Even at its minimum burst, you are getting a lot of light. I use a Metz 44 with a softbox attached and shoot at 1/60 @f/8. The softbox cuts the light by 1 stop and I am starting out with less power than you have to begin with. You might want to get a softbox and shoot at f/11. That should help your overexposure a lot. It will also diffuse the flash and help eliminate the hot spots. One other suggestion - For weddings, stay away from local one hour labs and use a professional lab. I will use a mini-lab for my snapshots but I NEVER use one for weddings.
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perry cooper |
Append to Kerry's statement. I was just saying as a general photographic rule it makes good practice not to shoot at a shutter speed below the focal legth of the lens you are using in any case, unless you are out to achieve a specific effect. And by the way there are some very good professional one hour labs that do wedding work. Fotech in Fresno Calif is one of them. They actually take extra time to do weddings. So don't be fooled by the one hour marketing. I'm not trying to bag on anyone here just offer good sound photographic advice.
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Maria Melnyk |
Perry, if you always use a shutter speed of at least the focal length of the lens, you are unnecessarily underexposing the background and making it darker than it could be. I always drag the shutter. I take my "coming down the aisle" shots at f/5.6 at 1/30th, and I've never had blur. I don't want to use f/11 because then my subject won't stand out from the background, and the photos will look too amateurish. My focal length is about 70mm on my zoom lens. That way, if I for some reason miss a shot, or the flash doesn't fire, there is still time to zoom out and try again, or grab the spare camera. But even if I use my 200mm lens for certain shots at the ceremony, I'm still at 1/30th shutter speed for indoor weddings with flash. I would not use a faster speed unless the ambient light is bright enough that it would cause ghosting. About the blur issue, could it be that your lens accidently focused on the background instead of on the couple coming down the aisle? That would be the most likely possibility. It's happened to me too. Some cameras have their focus points in a straight line in the viewfinder, and when you're photographing 2 people coming down the aisle, the focus points end up right between them and focus on the back of the church. If your camera has eye-control focus, sometimes you can glance at the wrong place just before taking the photo, and again your subject will be blurred. One thing that helps if you use auto focus is to set your camera on the mode that continues to focus on a moving object - sports mode - or in Canon's case "AI Focus", something like that. But Kerry was right in saying that cameras have a tough time focusing on white bridal gowns or black tuxedos. This is more the case if your camera has only one or only a few focus points. Also, some cameras are less sensitive to focusing than others. For example, my Canon A2 focuses better on solid colors than my Elan 7N; therefore, I prefer using the A2 for "walking down the aisle" photos. But keep that shutter speed between 1/30 and 1/60. And don't go smaller than f/5.6 or f/8 for these photos.
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perry cooper |
Maria, When you get down to it the only thing that is important is that the predominant subject matter is properly exposed and that the MOMENT is captured. Anything else is a matter of personal photographic preference. Whether you want to match the ambient light or leave the background darker. I would never tell anyone to shoot at a 30th unless they new what they were doing.
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Kerry L. Walker |
I agree with Perry on that. Dragging the shutter can be beneficial but you need to know what you are doing but capturing the moment (composition) is by far the most important thing. You can also use a couple of small slave flashes to light the background if you wish. Maria is also correct that the camera may focus between the subjects. You only get one change (OK, more if you back up as they walk) so I suggest you not trust the camera to be able to achieve focus. Just focus on a spot and shoot when they get there. Back when I was in high school (ages ago), I shot sports with a manual focus Rollie TLR and that is what I did, and it worked. Believe me, football players are moving a lot faster than the bridal party. When I first started shooting weddings, I used a manual focus Mamiya TLR and shot the same way. Works every time. Have to disagree with Maria on the f/stop. That is a potent flash you have and you may blow out the subject if you shoot too wide open. Get a couple of friends to meet you at the church and practice zone focusing and using different f/stops. record your data and see which f/stop works best for you. Don't wait until your next wedding.
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Kerry L. Walker |
"I seem not to be able to do is to shoot the bride and groom walking down the aisle." A shotgun works well. You can get them both with one shot.
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Maria Melnyk |
Oh, well, there is more than one way to take a good photograph. However, the "Moment" captured also includes what's happening around and behind the bridal couple. Perhaps that background includes the parents, tearfully watching their son and daughter say their vows. Wouldn't you want that to show up in your photo? I don't know about the rest of you, but I don't believe my clients would like pictures that look like they were photographed in a black hole; that's why I use 1/30. This still does not match the ambient light, though, so there is no problem with ghosting. If the church or reception hall is very bright, I go down to 1/60. I merely shoot the way I do because the photos turn out nice. But Jenny, do follow Kerry's advice and try different f/stops (and different shutter speeds as well).
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perry cooper |
Yeah or just skip the flash altogether and go buy some tmax p3200. Ha!
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Pat Wimpee |
Kerry, do you have an on camera flash or are you usung slaves set up with a soft box? I'm planning on trying a wedding and I'm not sure about the lighting.
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Maria Melnyk |
Hi, Pat. I know your question was directed to Kerry, and I apologize for "butting in". Kerry will probably give you the best advice, but just as a small thought, if you're "trying" a wedding, perhaps it would be easier and leave less room for possible error if you used on-camera flash the first time until you have a chance to try out that set-up when there's no real wedding going on. I will also add one more thought. While I was packing up in a church after my last wedding this Saturday, another photographer was setting up for the next wedding. He set up two large soft-boxes in the side-front of the church to light the bridal couple and bridal party nicely during the ceremony. The trouble is, any wide angle shots taken from the back would show those "ugly" things in the photos! I took some great ones from the back and from the balcony, and I would not have wanted those softboxes there for my shots. OK Kerry; any thoughts?
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perry cooper |
Hey All. I know it doesn't hurt for additional ideas / angles so.....Pat I recommend that you go down to your local photo store and buy a basic strobo frame. It is a camera - flash bracket highly praised by wedding & portrait photograpers. It mounts your flash above your camera for a more desirable lighting effect on and behind your subjects. Do not use an on camera flash as it can cause red eye as well as unwanted shadows. Only way to make do with the on camera flash is to use a bounce reflector attatched to your flash like an omni-bounce or other. That basically disperses the light and spreads it out and will help prevent any red eye. Only problem there is you lose about two stops of light. Hope I have helped, Thanks.
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Maria Melnyk |
Thanks, Perry. I myself wanted to make the "flash bracket" suggestion, but every time I do one of our readers knocks me down. So I left it off this time, but as long as you're behind me, I'll gladly stick with my belief. So here it is: Pat, when I said "on-camera flash", that translates to "use a flash bracket". ...with a cord, of course.
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Pat Wimpee |
So that would be different than a speedlite? I have a 420 that I use right now.
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Robyn Gwilt |
This is getting interesting :) what exactly is a strobo frame? Is it just that frame that makes the flash sit on the side of the camera? Do you guys use tripods in the church - or is it moving around quietly and basically 'getting' the best angle - then trip-pod would be too cumbersome? What is a soft box that attaches to your flash - I have a SIGMA ttl 500 for my EOS 350D - and a Canon 540 or 550 can't remember, but I can't use it TTL, but if I power it down in Manual its ok, so its a bit of dilema. But where/how does the soft box thing work? Thanks
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Kerry L. Walker |
I agree with Maria and Perry. Don't start trying anything new until you are comfortable with it. However, I wouldn't consider the bracket necessarily something new as it doesn't really alter the function of your flash. It just provides a place to put it other than on top of your camera. I like the Stroboframe Flip Frame. Others like the Camera Flip. (With a MF camera, it's a lot easier just to flip the flash.) Pat: I use both a flash on a bracket and, sometimes, slave flashes for the coming down the aisle shots but not the way you probably think. For an evening wedding when the church is dark, I often set up my slaves on the floor facing the back of the church, behind the subject. I simply use them to light the background so it won't be so dark. With an afternoon wedding, like the one I shot this weekend, I don't use them because there is enough ambient light coming through the windows to help light the background. Robyn: A Stroboframe is simply a bracket that you mount your flash on (with a sync cord going from the bracket to the hot shoe). It allows the flash to be well above the axis of the lens. With the Flip Bracket, you can flip the flash to where it is always above the axis of the lens, even when you are shooting vertical. It is really simple to use (it must be since I use it), so you don't get red-eye or side shadows when you go vertical. I use a tripod sparingly - or not at all if fhash is allowed during the ceremony.
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Maria Melnyk |
I use a tripod for wide-angle available light shots, like those taken from the back and from the balcony, and I'll also do one (if I can) from the front showing all the guests. If I use flash for a shot like this, the guests in front will be well exposed, but I will get tremendous flash fall-off with each subsequent row of guests. My shutter speed is sometimes 1/2 second if I stop down to f/5.6, so I can't hand-hold these shots. I use the Stroboframe Quick-Flip, and "Stroboframe" by the way is the brand name; the general term is "flash bracket". Oh, and about the slave flashes, I sometimes put one high and off to the side, facing the front of the church. This allows me to sidelight the processional and give it nice modeling, and to also backlight the bridal couple once they're up front. In either case, it's a radio slave not an optical slave, because I don't want guests' snapshots to be setting off my flash.
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Pat Wimpee |
Thanks guys, for your info. I ordered a stroboframe today. Can't wait to play with it!
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