VOTE: Bright Outdoor Wedding Plan

[Photon Phil]

Situation:

Wedding at the park, next to the lake, possibly bright sun, little to no shade, Early Summer 4pm.
No fancy scrim or assistant.


Problem:
(Without HDR) How to get balanced shot with out blown out dress or dark facial shadows.


Current thoughts:
Neutral Density Filter?
Fill flash(of course)


YOUR THOUGHTS.....NEEDED.

[Photon Phil]

Situation:

Wedding at the park, next to the lake, possibly bright sun, little to no shade, Early Summer 4pm. 20D and 580EX
No fancy scrim or assistant.


Problem:
(Without HDR) How to get balanced shot with out blown out dress or dark facial shadows.


Current thoughts:
Neutral Density Filter? (No?...well then tell my why)
Fill flash(of course) BUT will I KILL my 580EX?


YOUR THOUGHTS.....NEEDED. Please address my 580EX concern also.;)

[Photon Phil]

I'm sure perfection would mean several BIG lights but what can get GOOD?

[timnosenzo]

The only thing an ND filter will do is give you a slower shutter speed, its not supposed to change the scene.

I'd say your best bet is to use fill flash, shouldn't kill your flash. You probably want an external battery pack for it though.

[Photon Phil]

ANy thoughs on a polarizer, I know it will not change light /shadow, but it is by the lake.

[-MasterChief-]

polarizer a definite must. expose for the background and use fill flash -- you would be surprised what the 580EX can do, and it doesnt have to be cranked up. you might even use a little negative FEC. also, -- LOTS OF CHIMPING -- watch the histogram! GOOD LUCK!

[Photon Phil]

So far, I've got a Polarizer and 580EX power adjustments in hand. I will be watching the histogram to enure no blown stuff.

(No light meter, I suppose if I had a 40D I'd just spot meter on the dress shoulders and lock in that value in Manual)

I had thought about a white reflector at my feet angled up????? (Hmmm. Wind)

ISO Reccomendations anyone.

[Photon Phil]

THis is a tough one. A real classic.

[cheritapictures]

base on my experience having a wedding done in the bright day light...

1- I use CPL
2- Reflector and holder
3- Shoot in RAW *off course...
4- Some fill flash or CLS * underexpose the ambient for about 1stop while fill the subject accordingly .

Out of all, i'll prefer the last option, but you'll need a light stand for that since you do it alone... But, certain cases, all method is applied... :D

some sample on how the last method works + CPL (but not a wedding though)
261922

[SuzyView]

I think a CPL is just fine. Make sure it's a good one. Fill flash if you need it with diffuser. So, that is really all you need. Otherwise, you'll be carrying too much stuff.

[RodneyCyr]

The only solution I see is to add supplemental light - your 580EX or a reflector. A polarizer or ND filter won't help the contrast but it might allow a larger aperture for reduced depth of field. Note that in sunlight, the "sunny f/16" rule gives an aperture of f/11 at 1/200s or f/10 at 1/250s, the maximum flash-sync speeds for Canon DSLR's. The maximum distance will be limited by the power of the flash and the f/11 aperture.

You can use a larger aperture with the ND filter or by using "high speed sync". I believe that both the 580EX and 20D support this. But this will not help with the maximum distance as you will lose effective flash power with the high speed sync.

I suggest shooting RAW and keeping an eye on the histogram. The white of the wedding dress should be just below the maximum on the histogram.

[Mr. Clean]

If all you have is a 580 and a reflector...Well. Then that's what I'd bring. And a f-load of batteries just in case. Really there's a few 'better' ways to get it done but not with the aforementioned equipment.

[Double Negative]

Fill flash, possibly with high-speed sync thrown in.

[kennykodak]

my concern would be the direction of light that i couldn't control such as shadows in the eye sockets. fill flash for sure, ND would be useless with close-ups of people, and reflectors are always handy.

[amccomis]

My vote was the ND filter. The general rule of thumb for outdoor is f/16 and 1/{your iso} - so ISO 100 settings would be 1/100, f/16 outdoors. Of course you can slide that up or down, so ISO100, f/11 @ 1/200, etc... But you can use ND to stop down a little without having to shoot at 1/1000 all day long. I would use either a ND2 or ND4. I would experiment too! You have plenty of time.

You will need a fill flash either way.

Just be careful of sunshine/direction/shadows.

[johnstoy]

Rotate posers slightly away from having sun directly behind them...

I shot a September wedding outside at around 5PM... The lake was behind them and no fill flash was used... Had to lighten up their faces slightly in Photoshop. The pics were real good, but took some extra post processing time.

Next time, I'll try fill flash with my 580EXII, and pose them at a slightly greater angle to the (lower) late afternoon sun...

[amccomis]

Early Summer 4pm.


I'm not sure what "early" summer is - - if that means close to June 21, forget this... because you'll be done, but if you get to use the "last hour of daylight" it can be total magic - the skies are gorgeous.

You can also somewhat plan ahead for this last hour of daylight by looking at a sunrise/sunset chart where civil (nautical) twilight is listed. wunderground.org, for example, shows it for any day of the year based on your location.

[Davidoff]

I think this would be a problem at noon or 2 pm, but at 4, isn't the light directional enough already ? Anyway, sure, fil flash if the sun is anywhere but in front of them, and why don't you use some high speed sync to be able to open up the apperture ?