1st wedding using digital

[aubie7]

I've done several weddings in the past using film. I have my first wedding this weekend using digital. It is an outdoor wedding at 6:00 pm, but they want me to start making pictures around 3:00. I'm having trouble working out my settings. Can anyone help me? Give me some tips?

Thanks.



Canon Rebel XT
50 mm lens
80 - 200 mm lens
Speedlite 580 EX

[Master Mason]

I am not a wedding photographer, but from you list, you don't have anything wider than 50, I would be worried about that

[aubie7]

I've not had any problems with those lens using film. My main worry is the bright sunlight and how to overcome some of the problems with that.

[Woogie]

I'd definitely look into renting some gear. Weddings are a one time deal for most couples. The 50 on a crop body definitely won't be wide enough for a lot of your shots.

[Woogie]

I've not had any problems with those lens using film. My main worry is the bright sunlight and how to overcome some of the problems with that.

50mm on your rebel body has a FOV of 80mm

[1kerry]

17-55 if you have money
17-85 if you are short....

[liza]

I've not had any problems with those lens using film. My main worry is the bright sunlight and how to overcome some of the problems with that.

Your film camera is full frame. The lens will behave as a 50mm on it, while on a camera like the Rebel, it will have a field of view x 1.6. This is called the focal length conversion, or crop, factor. I'd recommend that you purchase, rent, or borrow adequate equipment to get you through this wedding. The Canon 17-55 IS is probably one of the best lenses on the market for wedding photography these days. The IS really comes in handy in low light settings.

As far as shooting in bright sunlight, just meter for ambient light and shoot in manual exposure. Shooting with a DSLR is somewhat akin to shooting with slide film, if you need a basis for comparison. Using fill flash is important, so you're 580EX will come in handy.

I wish you luck. Again, I strongly recommend that you purchase, rent, or borrow adequate equipment. You need at least two bodies and back ups of everything else. If you aren't well versed in the use of a DSLR, then go back to film until you are. You don't want to use someone's wedding for practice.

[aubie7]

What mode would you suggest using? I'm mainly a sports photographer, so my frame of reference is with that.

[tim]

Why are you taking photos at the wedding if you don't know how?

[aubie7]

As I said, I've taken wedding pictures in the past, but for the last couple of years sports has been the main thing. I didn't say that I didn't know how to take the pictures, at least I don't think I did. All I asked was for some advice on settings for an outdoor wedding. This is the first outdoor wedding for me. I'm sorry if this is not the place to post a question like this. I thought the point of this forum was to help each other, not bash them. Maybe I'm wrong.

[remixity]

Try to find anything to bounce the flash, such as the underside of a tent or a wall. Also don't be afraid to boost the ISO to 1600 to capture as much of the ambient lighting until sunset.

Once it gets dark outside, there's not much that can be manipulated as far as lighting is concerned, so your flash will come in handy. Try dragging the shutter as long as possible to avoid the paparazzi photo look.

[aubie7]

thank you remixity for your helpful comment

[samnz]

If the entire wedding is outdoors, you shouldn't have too much problems with the lenses you have. Group shots will be interesting - NOT impossible though...just put on your big voice when cue-ing the crowd.

After the ceremony and formals, I'd ditch the tele and keep the 50 on for the rest of the afternoon/evening.

[Scott_Quier]

Here are some thoughts (some might be worth what you paid for them)

It appears, from the equipment list in your siggy, that you are under-equiped to shot the wedding. What happens if your camera body fails? What if your flash fails? What if your 50 wont close down or, even worse, will not open up?
The 50 on the XT will shoot like 80 on a 35mm film camera. Is this wide enough for what you need to do.
Rent a second body - just in case your XT fails
Consider renting/buying the EF-S 17-55 f/2.8 IS. This is a "go to" lens and will be (can be) used to shoot 90% of the wedding.
Digital has a much narrower dynamic range than does print film. Consider shooting RAW. This will give you a greater chance to recover under/over exposed shots than shooting JPG.
RAW will will also greatly simplify correting WB.
If you shoot RAW, do you have enough memory?
Seriously consider having enough memory that you don't have to re-use a card after down-loading images to an image tank or lap-top.
Do you have a sure-fired practice established to eliminate the possibility of re-using a card before the data has been downloaded? Something as simple as keeping all your unused cards in one pocket and the used cards in another will work just fine.
Balancing the sun with your flash to mitigate strong shadows. EC somewhere between -2/3 and -1/1/3 and FEC between 2/3 and 1 1/3, each moving to zero as the strength of the sun/shadows is decreased by increasing clouds.
As it gets darker and the flash becomes your primary light source, do you have a plan to avoid the ugly sideways shadows that will occur when shooting in portrait orientation? You can't rely on subject to background distance to completely solve this problem. Bouncing off the ceiling will help solve the problem.
What color is the ceiling going to be? Have you considered a way to ensure correct WB if you have to bounce off a colored surface?
Have fun!

I guess that's enough to start with.

As always, remember that information you get from any web source is worth almost as much as you paid for it. This post is absolutely no exception. YMMV.

[SuzyView]

I don't know what gear you have in mind to get, but really, get it now! For the wedding, get a zoom, something wider than 50mm. Weddings are so important, one day, no retake. Make sure you have the right lenses, the right flash, enough memory cards, etc. Make sure the B&G know you are new at digital and then spend the time beforehand to get the feel for the lighting and the camera settings. Make sure you bring your film equipment if you still have in just in case. Read the stickys here about poses and gear. There are a lot of really great wedding photographers here in the forum. Take their advice because they've done it. Good luck. You are a brave person, or you're crazy!

[mmahoney]

Denis Reggie started out as a sports shooter so you're in good company. Shoot RAW, use either manual or aperture priority on the camera and ETTL with your flash. Ride the exposure on camera and the FEC on the flash until both the subject & the background are exposed the way you want. Outdoors shadows are not too big an issue and many shooters just use the flash straight on.

You say you're having trouble working out your settings .. why don't you go today to the wedding site (or your backyard) and shoot a few frames and then post the files here so the exact problem(s) can be seen. Better now than after the ceremony.
Mike

[gateruner]

I would assume that being an old film shooter and having done weddings in the past you should be familiar with the technical stuff. So I would say shoot manual, use your meter to assist you in determining the appropriate settings to use in camera. I would shoot everything in RAW and that gives you a better chance to save an image if you were a little off. 3:00 pm should have the sun pretty high up. refer to the sunny 16 rules and use them to make sure you get the shots during that bright time. The ISO on a digital is really not that different in digital as it was in film except you are stuck with one ISO as you were in film. Think about how you would have shot a certain scene in film and do essentially the same thing with the digital. I know it isnt exact but it is similar. The beauty of digital is you can adjust you ISO on the fly to cover varying lighting situations.

At this point I would use the flash when needed with your camera in manual mode. Outdoors, bounce it if you can, indoors as much as possible. Use the auto (ETTL) mode on the flash and set it to high speed sync so it will sync with a potentially higher shutter speed, especially outdoors. The ETTL will do alot of the work for you and it doesnt do a bad job. If you shoot in AP then the flash will go into fill flash only and you may have some ugly lighting that comes with it. That is the reason that everyone says to shoot with the camera in manual with flash on.

Not sure what else other than I do agree with them on the lens. I would find the 50MM to long for my taste. Your style may not create an issue with it. I do agree with the backup equipment.

I recently worked a wedding and the second had only 1 flash and one body. He was an old film wedding shooter and his flash fried on him during the preshoot. He had no backup and really didnt have a fast enough lens to get by without the flash and had to borrow a lens from the lead photog. I assume he had his old gear with him if his Fuji camera would have gone on the fritz as well. I learned a valuable lesson that day and have doubled up on everything and I still bring my old A2 with a fresh battery and some film for the ultimate "just in case".

Good luck and post some shots when you get them.

[liza]

What mode would you suggest using? I'm mainly a sports photographer, so my frame of reference is with that.

I shoot both sports and weddings in Manual. Like I said, meter for the ambient light and set aperture, shutter, and ISO accordingly. The suggestion to shoot in RAW is an excellent one. It will give you some leeway if you err in terms of exposure and white balance. Also, make sure you have around 10GB of memory for the wedding so you don't run out of card space.

Good luck in your endeavor.

[aubie7]

It has been a busy week so I haven't had any time to post. The sunlight was very bad at 3:30 when the guys had there pics. By 4:30, the bride had a her pics, the sun wasn't as bad.

Here are a few to check out. Still needs some work, maybe this week I'll have time..lol.

I've never posted pics, so I hope this works.

[picturecrazy]

Well, looks like you survived it. With a 50mm on a crop body nonetheless. congrats. But you were shooting at ISO800 in bright sunlight! Turn it down to 100 for cleaner, nicer pics next time. Post more as you process them!

[jj1987]

On that bride photo, I would decrease the shutter speed, and increase the flash, so that the background isn't underexposed, and the bride has light on her face as well.

On the photo of the groom, I would find somewhere else to take the images than there, the background is very distracting.

And ISO800, you said you shot film before, didn't you know better?