Wedding aperture, ISO, and bounce flash technique

[acjeske]

I shot my first wedding yesterday, for a friend who couldn't afford a pro wedding shooter. And I'm in South Africa, where much of the population is happy with any image from an event, even a wedding, due to financial issues.

In any case, it brought up a few questions:

1. What aperture do folks usually use at weddings? I get the impression up to 2.8 on the regular zooms that folks recommend, but even there you have to pick what you want in focus, because even two people's faces are hard to get both crisp. This is not even mentioning wide open on my 30 1.4 or my 100 2.

2. What ISO? Yeah, I know depends on situation. I was using some diffused flash and some natural light. The hall had big windows and some flourescent lights on (good), but the ceiling was really high (maybe 30 or 40 feet) and everything was really spread out, so far away. I don't mind 800 on my 20D and 30D, so I tried to keep it there, but sometimes it didn't get me the shutter speeds needed. I use DPP and Neat Image to deal with noise, though I'm not too handy at it.

3. Bounce flash--the ceiling was so high I didn't even try. I stuck on an omnibounce diffuser, but was still getting shadows--is that just the best that can be done? I should say, too, that the walls were far away, too.

Thoughts on these areas?

Thanks.

Adam

[Mario.]

Well I shoot anything from wide open to f/16... that's a silly question to ask. Different photos and different compositions require different exposures and depths of field. That's like asking a quarterback how far he should throw the football for an entire game.

And same with ISO. My shots vary from ISO100 to ISO3200. I use Noiseware, and if a shot requires me to use ISO1250 or ISO1600, I'm not scared of it at all. My last wedding I was constantly flexing my ISO from ISO200 to ISO1250 for most the wedding.

As far as bounce flash, it's great... but it's not for every occasion. I scope out all my locations first and look at my limitations for lighting, whether it be during a ceremony, for the reception, or for formal/posed shots.

The questions you are asking are ones that really can only be answered with experience, in my opinion.

[howzitboy]

great answer Mario! yup, u use what ever aperture and what ever iso u need to get the shot u want! bounce the flash if it will help (or u have something white to bounce it off of) or if your flash can reach it!

[michelgauthierdesign]

I am no pro. But here is what I figured out when it comes to ISO and F stop.

F Stop: The eyes sees stuff at the equivalent of F 4.0. So put your standard there. From there, you open more, you close more, depending on the light available or effect needed.

ISO: it depends on your camera. Do some test at 200-400-600-800 and decide where ISO become visible on your standard print size (test with a 8X10). For me, 400 is the standard. If I have lots of light i put it down, if I have less light, i put it to 800. If the composition is more important than the quality then I might even go up to 1600.

So to answers you question.....F 4.0 / ISO 400 at a speed equivalent to your lens mm. But again, this is me. If you would have a Nikon F3, you could go F8/ISO1600 As standard.

From there, EVERYTHING IS COMPRoMISE..... you compromise on the Depth of Field (F), you compromise on the noise (ISO), you compremise on the sharpness (Shuttertime)

[pradeep1]

If you want reasonable DOF, shooting f/8 at maybe 400-800 ISO with a bounce flash will allow you to capture fast action in dim lighting relatively easily.