Walking down the aisle

[dgelrod]

How do the pros get such good shots of the party walking down the aisle? I shot my first wedding a few months ago in a church with no outside light. I was using a Canon Digital Rebel, Sigma 24-60 2.8 and a 580 EX flash. I finally resorted to using the M mode and setting my shutter speed to 1/250 to ensure I got the movement stopped, but they ended up too dark.

Any suggestions?

Glen

[cdifoto]

You don't need that fast of a shutter speed to stop people walking slow. Usually 1/125th will do it.


Basic flash/aperture/ISO photography skills also still apply to obtain proper exposure.

[dgelrod]

OK, so maybe I still need help with the flash part. With the camera on Av mode the flash tried to make the shutter speed 1/60. Is that normal? Is there a way to not make it do that?

[cdifoto]

You should read this:

http://photonotes.org/articles/eos-flash/

[solinger]

How do the pros get such good shots of the party walking down the aisle? I shot my first wedding a few months ago in a church with no outside light. I was using a Canon Digital Rebel, Sigma 24-60 2.8 and a 580 EX flash. I finally resorted to using the M mode and setting my shutter speed to 1/250 to ensure I got the movement stopped, but they ended up too dark.

Any suggestions?

Glen

If you don't want the back ground to be dark, you either need a set up that will light the entire area (like strobes) or you need to expose for the background. At 1/250 or even 1/125 it would be tough to get any ambient light in a darker room. Slow your shutter as low as you can, open up your aperture and use the flash to compliment the light already there, don't overpower it.

I know it's not the most technical answer, but It's what I do. Someone is bound to fill in the technical details soon.

[CyberPet]

Well, people are walking and you're using a short DOF (f/2.8 as you mentioned) so if they move just a tiny bit too fast you'll lose the focus. They also say that 1/3 of the focus is in front of the focus plane and 2/3 of the focus is behind, so if you want to shoot people that walk towards you, a good idea is to pre-set the focus at a certain point and pull the trigger then. The AI Servo is not much help really - espeically with very short DOF's.

[tim]

Use the flash, M, F5.6, 1/250th, and ISO 400 or so, and the results should be ok. Prefocusing like Petra said can work well, I don't bother with AI servo either. Be very careful of shadows behind the people if there are walls there, make sure you use a flash bracket if there is.

Off to do a wedding now :)

[sapearl]

I'm still using film for my weddings, medium format square shooting, but the basic photographic principles are the same. (Will be adding digital to the arsenal soon - probably a 5D). As cdi stated, you don't need a high shutter speed to freeze action. From a lighting standpoint ("but they ended up too dark") this will actually work against you.

When the bride comes down the aisle, I'm shooting at ISO 400 which is a good speed for the indoor shots, 1/30 or 1/60 sec at about f8 with a Metz strobe set on auto. I also manually focus, prefocussing on exactly the spot where I want the picture to occur.

I will typically pick a point in the aisle next to a particular chair or guest. This is about 10' from where I am standing, prefocussed. When the bride and groom hit that spot - flash! I use a 60mm prime on my Hasselblad, which equates out to about 35mm in the ff digital world, and is just about the perfect focal length for my format. This works perfectly every time.

By using 1/30 second, the slower shutter speed will allow some of the ambient church light to enter the photo for a more pleasing natural effect. An aperture of f8 will give adequate depth of field and also assist in "gathering" some of that ambient light. You could use f11 and get greater depth of field, but the background will also go darker, making the shot look less natural. The same thing will happen if you bump up the shutter speed to 1/60. I'd only do that if the church was really bright to avoid blurred action.

Remember, good, solid photograhic principles don't change just because you are shooting digital. There are some great FAQ's here, terrific posts, and also about 100 years of great photographic books in the libraries and stores. :D The best flash photo looks like the shot that used no flash. Hope this helps out, let me know if you have any more questions.

Stu Pearl
Cleveland, Ohio

How do the pros get such good shots of the party walking down the aisle? I shot my first wedding a few months ago in a church with no outside light. I was using a Canon Digital Rebel, Sigma 24-60 2.8 and a 580 EX flash. I finally resorted to using the M mode and setting my shutter speed to 1/250 to ensure I got the movement stopped, but they ended up too dark.

Any suggestions?

Glen

[WeCamps Photography]

You should read this:

http://photonotes.org/articles/eos-flash/


This has been the absolute BEST! info in all of my forum wanderings for the EOS knowledge base!

This should be a read for ALL Canon EOS owners. Amature or Pro


Thank you for sharing this nugget of GOLD!
:)

[tim]

This has been the absolute BEST! info in all of my forum wanderings for the EOS knowledge base!

This should be a read for ALL Canon EOS owners. Amature or Pro


Thank you for sharing this nugget of GOLD!
:)

Perhaps you should read the FAQs in each of the forums - that one's in the lighting forum EOS FAQ :)

[SezzySue]

At my wedding we put out a flower petal on the floor and he asked us to stop on there and he snapped the shot. It worked out really nice and I was fine with that.

[tim]

At my wedding we put out a flower petal on the floor and he asked us to stop on there and he snapped the shot. It worked out really nice and I was fine with that.

Handy, if they don't mind doing it.

[sapearl]

Nice idea (just so long as it's not a moist petal on a tile floor that will act like a banana peel :) )

I usually don't ask them to stop - affects the spontaneity IMHO - I want it be a smooth flowing action on their part. You can also pick a position/pattern point on the carpet if it has a design and prefocus and aim at that. Several methods will work; just pick the one that's simplest and least intrusive to the ceremony.

At my wedding we put out a flower petal on the floor and he asked us to stop on there and he snapped the shot. It worked out really nice and I was fine with that.

[jdouglas003]

I shot a wedding last year where the wedding party came down separate isles. I had to move back and forth between the isles and could not prefocus. Drove me bananas. :)

[cdifoto]

I shot a wedding last year where the wedding party came down separate isles. I had to move back and forth between the isles and could not prefocus. Drove me bananas. :)

In my first wedding, the wedding party zig-zagged. I kid you not. THAT was nuts.

[Mark_48]

Don't think I noticed it mentioned yet, be aware the brides white gown may throw off your exposure with the flash and you may have to compensate a bit for that with FEC.

[cdifoto]

Don't think I noticed it mentioned yet, be aware the brides white gown may throw off your exposure with the flash and you may have to compensate a bit for that with FEC.

Yeah usually as high as +1 FEC, more if she's ubersparkly.

[tim]

Don't think I noticed it mentioned yet, be aware the brides white gown may throw off your exposure with the flash and you may have to compensate a bit for that with FEC.

Yep this is definitely something to practice beforehand. I need anything from 0 to +2, depending on how much of the frame the dress fills, and other factors.

[Mark T]

Cheers guys for some great advice. I was thinking of asking the same question but stumbled upon this old thread with the information that I needed.

[Ed Kanney]

Prefocused for 10+yrs w/our Hasies - results OK - but often someone 'blinked' - screwing up 'selling' the whole sequence. Better way is to AI servo (on a decent body)/center point focus/ ss 1/50/ apt. f5.0/ ISO 500. Crank off about 3-4 shots of each participant using a decent zoom w/loose full length framimg - works great.