Shooting a wedding tomorrow and have a problem....

[WildWolf]

I took some preliminary shots yesterday. The wedding is called for 5pm (about 1/2 hour before sunset). I went out yest with the bride and groom to take some practice shots and figure out where we were gonna shoot the portraits. When I got home last night, I noticed that a lot of shots were over exposed. I used aperture priority with the sun coming from the side. Their faces were really overexposed. It didn't look like this on the back of the camera (lcd), although I did not look at the histogram. I was shooting at iso 200. How can I fix this issue? I was on the default metering setting. What should the metering be set at? Should I shoot manual instead of aperture priority? Thanks in advance for your comments. BTW I have the pictures on shutterfly- although I do not know how to post on this forum.

[i2iSTUDIOS]

Change the metering to center weighted and meter it off of the faces, you can leave it on Aperture Priority. Your camera should be able to correctly meter the situation.

[RichardtheSane]

The late sun from the side is a recipie for bad lighting in portraits.

You would need the sun from behind you, or at least illuminating all their face.

If you expose for the highlights you will loose detail in the shadows...

If you can't change the location/sun angle what would help is a reflector to bring some light to the shadows.

[WildWolf]

I always thought with the sun behind me, the bride and groom will be squinting. How do I avoid the squinting? I do not own a reflector.....where can I pick one up and how much should this cost me?

[Brianbar]

Have the Bride and Groom with their back towards the sun (no squinting) and use fill-in flash for back lighting, works great.
Just make sure you are NOT shooting directly into the sun.

Best of luck.

Brian

[WildWolf]

Thanks for the tip Brian! Just to Clarify, If the sun is behind them and it is close to sunset, how do I avoid shooting into the sun?

[.lf.]

Thanks for the tip Brian! Just to Clarify, If the sun is behind them and it is close to sunset, how do I avoid shooting into the sun?

put the church in between them and the sun... i use a lastolite tri grip refelector, works real well for redirecting sun light 60 bucks in B&H and meter off the ground. in shade use a flash with a sof-ten omni bounce 17 bucks from B&H.

[dsze]

Yes, shoot manually and use partial metering. Get a reflector at any camera shop to bounce some light back up into the dark side of their faces. Try to use that sunset behind them and fill-flash to light them in front of it. That is, expose for the sunset, and fill the foreground (faces) with your flash (diffused if possible). Good luck!

[Andy_T]

And shoot RAW, of course. That will give you more latitude later to recover the shots, especially if they are blown out.
Also check your 'contrast' settings ... a +2 contrast will be more likely to blow out the faces than the neutral setting. (OK, won't matter with RAW).

Best regards,
Andy

[badrotation]

also, you may want to shoot raw, so that if there are any minor problems, you can save them in post.

[Brianbar]

Have the sun coming in over their shoulder, but don't have the sun directly behind them.
Then take the light reading from the front of the Bride and Groom, which is now in the shade.

Hope this helps.

Brian

[lkorell]

Only use the LCD to check composition. For exposure ALWAYS use the histogram. I too just discovered the center weighted metering solution and it's a really good idea.

Lou

[Andy_T]

And keep in mind that the camera might think that the white dress is an 18% grey dress in partial metering... When in doubt, use exposure bracketing. The fast shot mode (don't know which camera? 5 fps on 20D) is great for that. Only thing I noticed is that the camera resets bracketing sometimes :shock: ... in doubt check after each series if you still are in that mode.

Best regards,
Andy

[dsze]

And keep in mind that the camera might think that the white dress is an 18% grey dress in partial metering... When in doubt, use exposure bracketing. The fast shot mode (don't know which camera? 5 fps on 20D) is great for that. Only thing I noticed is that the camera resets bracketing sometimes :shock: ... in doubt check after each series if you still are in that mode.

Best regards,
Andy


Andy, can you explain this to me? Why would partial metering make the camera think that white is 18% gray. You're probably right, I'm just wondering how/why this would happen and what the effect on the image would be. Wouldn't this matter mostly for WB accuracy?

thanks,

[WildWolf]

Also,

Can someone explain to me how to "meter".....I know that the camera has 3 metering modes (Rebel XT). How do I meter something if the camera is doing it automatically? (I did actually read the manual cover to cover 5 times and every time I read it, I think I understand 100% and later I still have questions!!!!!)

[robertwgross]

If you are using Evaluative Metering, then parts of the whole image go into the calculation. If you are using Partial, then it's more of the central parts that go into the calculation. If you are using Centerweighted Average, then it is only the center circle that goes into the calculation.

If you have fairly normal scenes to shoot, then Evaluative works fine. If you want to concentrate only one one subject in the very center, then Centerweighted might be a better choice.

Now, it gets tricky when you have the white dress and black tux problem. If you are using Centerweighted, and if it is pointed right at the white dress, then it will probably do the calculation to make the white dress look like 18% gray, and that is probably not what you want, and that is why exposure compensation comes into play. By the same token, if you have Centerweighted active and it is pointed right at the black tux, then it will probably do the calculation to make the tux look kind of gray, and that is probably not what you wanted, either. What you can do is to do a Centerweighted metering on the white dress, then remember that, and then do a Centerweighted metering on the black tux, and then remember that. Now, what do you want to do? Split the difference, with a little bias toward getting the dress right? Plug your values into M, if you want. Or use exposure compensation in P.

I am a believer in using the metering for information, but not to let it run everything with an iron fist.

---Bob Gross---

[Dans_D60]

I took some preliminary shots yesterday. The wedding is called for 5pm (about 1/2 hour before sunset). I went out yest with the bride and groom to take some practice shots and figure out where we were gonna shoot the portraits. When I got home last night, I noticed that a lot of shots were over exposed. I used aperture priority with the sun coming from the side. Their faces were really overexposed. It didn't look like this on the back of the camera (lcd), although I did not look at the histogram. I was shooting at iso 200. How can I fix this issue? I was on the default metering setting. What should the metering be set at? Should I shoot manual instead of aperture priority? Thanks in advance for your comments. BTW I have the pictures on shutterfly- although I do not know how to post on this forum.

Fill flash on?

[dsze]

Bob, I think you are right on and this is the way I try to meter, when time permits. When it doesn't, you just have to make your best guess and maybe bracket. However, I think you may have the terms, 'Partial' and 'Center-Weighed' mixed up. Partial metering is the setting that ONLY takes into account the center circle, which on my 10D's is the center 10mm, or 9% and 11.4 degree acceptance with a 50mm lens on. Center-Weighted takes the center area more into account (applies more weight to it), but also considers the remainder of the frame. If I am mistaken here, please correct me.

[WildWolf]

Fill flash was not on.

[ACDCROCKS]

**** It could be the LCD Brightness ***

[OceanRider]

Bob, I think you are right on and this is the way I try to meter, when time permits. When it doesn't, you just have to make your best guess and maybe bracket. However, I think you may have the terms, 'Partial' and 'Center-Weighed' mixed up. Partial metering is the setting that ONLY takes into account the center circle, which on my 10D's is the center 10mm, or 9% and 11.4 degree acceptance with a 50mm lens on. Center-Weighted takes the center area more into account (applies more weight to it), but also considers the remainder of the frame. If I am mistaken here, please correct me.

IMHO, I think you are right here. Rings a bell.

[robertwgross]

'Partial' and 'Center-Weighed' mixed up.

Correct. Partial is the one that is closest to a center-spot metering. Center-Weighted is one slightly broader than that.

---Bob Gross---

[dsze]

Thanks for confirming that Bob. I can't find either one of my 10D manuals anywhere, so I looked it up online, maybe this will be of use to someone:
http://home.comcast.net/~randomphotos/Metering.jpg

[robertwgross]

Yes, the Canon illustration is totally correct, of course.

I think of it with a different logic. In my mind, the order should be changed to put the center-spot last rather than in the middle.

---Bob Gross---

[dsze]

Yes, the Canon illustration is totally correct, of course.

I think of it with a different logic. In my mind, the order should be changed to put the center-spot last rather than in the middle.

---Bob Gross---

I agree. I think the indicators on-camera are confusing as well.

[OceanRider]

I agree, they missed the boat there, have been thinking the very same thing since I read the manual. Man theses guys!

[robertwgross]

I am a visually-oriented person. When instruction manuals lay out the technical facts in a way that seems logical to me, then I study it and semi-memorize what I see. When the technical facts are laid out illogically, or poorly explained, then my mental image is fuzzy. The trouble is that the manual writers don't know what kind of readers they are going to have.

---Bob Gross---