Advice on shooting a Night Wedding in a church

[Visual Bride]

Hi All,
I have been hanging around for a while. I only have a few wedding under my belt. I am stepping in for another photographer. The bride & groom could afford wedding photography, so this is a warm up for next season.

I am shooting on one of the shortest days of the year. Sunset is at 3:50pm and the ceremony is at 3:00pm in the church.

I am not shooting bride prep as the bride doesn't like having pictures taken. :(

So by the time the ceremony is over it will be dark. I am shooting with a
5D, 24-105mm F4 and a 70-200 2.8 IS. 580ex I also have a 350D.
I am up for buying or hiring another lens.

Any suggestions on lenses and settings? Any suggestions welcome for this less than ideal situation!

[sapearl]

Hi Visual - nice set of gear you have there. I assume that you will be using he 580 in the church. Your best bet will be to set the 5D on Manual, and let the flash do it's thing on Auto - ETTL. That's how I go about doing mine when I'm in similar circumstances, and this will suit you very well for the processional, recessiona, group shots and other moments when you will be permitted to use flash that won't be intrusive. I've got some prior threads on on it but can't find it for the moment.:rolleyes:

You may be able to get some adequate shots with the 70-200 on the 5D if there are some bright spots or floods, with ISO at either 800 or 1600. 3200 will work too with decent results as long as you are not underexposed.

First, I shoot everything RAW, and adjust WB later on in ACR. I will make some test shots using a Lastolite white disk for my index. Remember, the 5D prefers the white side as opposed to the gray, although both will work.

Basically I want to drag the shutter at around 1/30 or 1/40 to allow some of the ambient church light to seep in for a pleasing warm effect. ISO will be at 800, and aperture manually set somewhere between f/5.6 - 7.1. I wider aperture will work, but then your DOF becomes more critical. I like to bounce the 580 whenever possible, with the white card extended. Sometimes I'll subsitute the Lumiquest pocket bounce diffuser in it's place.

For the processional and recessional though, I will usually have the flash aimed directly at the people, with the diffuser panel in place to soften things a little. Don't worry, it shouldn't blow them out at f/5.6 - 6.3, but you may have to adjust FEC + or - on the flash after chimping the image a little.

I think I've pretty much covered the generalities - let me know if you have specific questions.:D - Stu

[Visual Bride]

Wow, thanks for taking the time to write such a comprehensive post. I am disappointed I didn't buy the 24-70 2.8 instead of the 24-105 F4.
I am worried that the F4 won't be fast enough.

Your suggestions are very useful. Fortunately I am allowed to use flash sparingly. Phew!

One thing I was worried about is the light falloff from the flash on group shots and procession shots. I think the ceiling is going to be too high for bounce flash.

[THPhotography]

In my opinion your 70-200 IS will be your bread and butter, depending on the light. I have been able to shoot that as slow as 1/15th without blur and is tack sharp. The 5D with minimal light will shoot 800ISO with very little noise. I have squeezed 1600 out but wasn't as pleased with that.

I try not to use the flash unless absolutely neccessary.

If the ceilings are dark, you are correct that the bounce will not do you much good. Consider a stofen bounce and trying to set your flash to a manual mode and trying a couple. It's a lot like shooting bare bulb. I have been able to light the whole front of the church with very little drop off with that setup.

Good Luck!

[sapearl]

Stoffens work great under the right circumstances, but they need ceilings and walls really close by to be effective. They work by bouncing off nearby objects. Coming done the aisle the only thing the Stoffen will do is reduce your output, according to the description of the church.

.......I try not to use the flash unless absolutely neccessary.

If the ceilings are dark, you are correct that the bounce will not do you much good. Consider a stofen bounce and trying to set your flash to a manual mode and trying a couple. It's a lot like shooting bare bulb. I have been able to light the whole front of the church with very little drop off with that setup.

Good Luck!

[sapearl]

You'e welcome Visual - glad I could help :D.

I've done fine with flash in dark churches with the f/4. There really is only 1 top difference between 2.8 and f/4, and the IS on the 24-105 makes a difference. And with the extra reach for candids and portraits it makes for a stellar performer.

As for the large group shots, try to stack people in several rows, and take a short 2 or 3 step ladder with you. A 20-30" elevation makes a tremendous difference in effectively deal with groups that size.

Wow, thanks for taking the time to write such a comprehensive post. I am disappointed I didn't buy the 24-70 2.8 instead of the 24-105 F4.
I am worried that the F4 won't be fast enough.

Your suggestions are very useful. Fortunately I am allowed to use flash sparingly. Phew!

One thing I was worried about is the light falloff from the flash on group shots and procession shots. I think the ceiling is going to be too high for bounce flash.

[Visual Bride]

You'e welcome Visual - glad I could help :D.

I've done fine with flash in dark churches with the f/4. There really is only 1 top difference between 2.8 and f/4, and the IS on the 24-105 makes a difference. And with the extra reach for candids and portraits it makes for a stellar performer.

Didn't think about the IS. The flash shots should be fine. But if I am to use the flash as little as possible, I either have to take fewer pictures or hire a 24-70?

Or is there no point because using a 2.8 at a useable Fstop for DOF of between F/4 and f/7 won't benefit me any more than a 24-105? Or am I embarrassingly misunderstanding a major principle?

[fmyers711]

No you are correct, on your technical assessment. I use the 24-105 F4 IS with the ISO cranked up on my 5D all the time for ceremony shots without flash. With IS I can almost always slow the shutter enough to get the shot.

The nice thing about shooting F4 is that when you are shooting couples; procession, recession, ushers escorting family members, etc., at an angle that extra DOF is helpful in keeping both of them sharp. 2.8 limits you to nearly straight on which is not always possible or even always desirable.