Wedding Help - The Basics

[LJBest]

Hi,

I'm going to be helping my daughter with a wedding project in a few weeks. The base camera will be a Canon 10D with a 28-135 USM, 20 USM, 50 USM, and if needed a 100-300. We will have a back-up 10D available, sharing the lenses listed above. She has a 420EX strobe, and a 580EX that will be here Monday. For group shots she has a pair of 750ws Calumet (aka Bowen) Travelites with umbrellas and stands that will be used with a canvas backdrop at the reception. The Travelites are trigered with radio links to avoid the cord mess.

My daughter (who is a student) has done some smaller jobs using film and lower end digital cameras, so this will be the first project on this scale. The people she is doing this project for have requested JPG images right off the CF cards, so we won't be shooting raw.

I am curious about the ISO speed settings that would be good to use as a baseline. there will be shots in the church with the 580 strobe, then shots at the reception using the Travelites, then the usual people shots with the hand held and 420/580. We have been doing some test shots at 400, but think that could be lowered to get better resolution. I know this is a pretty basic question, but this is one area where the other variables (shutter speed, F-stop, light intensity) are dependant upon a good baseline. Since this is a wedding, things tend to move quickly, and there is not a lot of time to experiment.

As far as the 420 and 580 strobes, I was considering a bracket to bring them up some and have read the threads on the options. For the group shots, the 10D will be on a tripod and we'll likely not be using the 580 with the Travelites.

Any tips or help on the basic setup for this would be appreciated. It's been a few years since I have done one of these, and that was with a Mamiya C330 and a Strobonar... so we need to catch up some.

Thanks,

Larry

[johneric8]

Hi,

I'm going to be helping my daughter with a wedding project in a few weeks. The base camera will be a Canon 10D with a 28-135 USM, 20 USM, 50 USM, and if needed a 100-300. We will have a back-up 10D available, sharing the lenses listed above. She has a 420EX strobe, and a 580EX that will be here Monday. For group shots she has a pair of 750ws Calumet (aka Bowen) Travelites with umbrellas and stands that will be used with a canvas backdrop at the reception. The Travelites are trigered with radio links to avoid the cord mess.

My daughter (who is a student) has done some smaller jobs using film and lower end digital cameras, so this will be the first project on this scale. The people she is doing this project for have requested JPG images right off the CF cards, so we won't be shooting raw.

I am curious about the ISO speed settings that would be good to use as a baseline. there will be shots in the church with the 580 strobe, then shots at the reception using the Travelites, then the usual people shots with the hand held and 420/580. We have been doing some test shots at 400, but think that could be lowered to get better resolution. I know this is a pretty basic question, but this is one area where the other variables (shutter speed, F-stop, light intensity) are dependant upon a good baseline. Since this is a wedding, things tend to move quickly, and there is not a lot of time to experiment.

As far as the 420 and 580 strobes, I was considering a bracket to bring them up some and have read the threads on the options. For the group shots, the 10D will be on a tripod and we'll likely not be using the 580 with the Travelites.

Any tips or help on the basic setup for this would be appreciated. It's been a few years since I have done one of these, and that was with a Mamiya C330 and a Strobonar... so we need to catch up some.

Thanks,

Larry

I think you will enjoy the saturation from using 200 ISO..

[Harry Settle]

Check out some of the information available at shootsmarter.com. There's a lot of good stuff there for you to digest.

[WestFalcon]

Put your light on a stand about 9 feet .Shoot right underneath the light. You can use this for all shots of groups and the bride and the groom. I shoot asa 200 usually and about f8. Works well along with a zoom lens. I love pocket wizards...Cords are a pain!!!

[mvonditter]

Hi,

I'm going to be helping my daughter with a wedding project in a few weeks. The base camera will be a Canon 10D with a 28-135 USM, 20 USM, 50 USM, and if needed a 100-300. We will have a back-up 10D available, sharing the lenses listed above. She has a 420EX strobe, and a 580EX that will be here Monday. For group shots she has a pair of 750ws Calumet (aka Bowen) Travelites with umbrellas and stands that will be used with a canvas backdrop at the reception. The Travelites are trigered with radio links to avoid the cord mess.

My daughter (who is a student) has done some smaller jobs using film and lower end digital cameras, so this will be the first project on this scale. The people she is doing this project for have requested JPG images right off the CF cards, so we won't be shooting raw.

I am curious about the ISO speed settings that would be good to use as a baseline. there will be shots in the church with the 580 strobe, then shots at the reception using the Travelites, then the usual people shots with the hand held and 420/580. We have been doing some test shots at 400, but think that could be lowered to get better resolution. I know this is a pretty basic question, but this is one area where the other variables (shutter speed, F-stop, light intensity) are dependant upon a good baseline. Since this is a wedding, things tend to move quickly, and there is not a lot of time to experiment.

As far as the 420 and 580 strobes, I was considering a bracket to bring them up some and have read the threads on the options. For the group shots, the 10D will be on a tripod and we'll likely not be using the 580 with the Travelites.

Any tips or help on the basic setup for this would be appreciated. It's been a few years since I have done one of these, and that was with a Mamiya C330 and a Strobonar... so we need to catch up some.

Thanks,

Larry

Thats a lot of setup for a wedding. Will you have the time for all that?;) As to ISO, the lower the better. IMHO, I would just use the two speed lights with a good defuser. Make the 420 the slave where you need it. I'd also shoot in Av mode. Especially in doors. You can run the f stop up and down as requiered. I'd agree with the previous post that f8 or f10 would be a good middle of the roader.

Have fun:lol:

[robertwgross]

I would say that the 10D is good with the 28-135mm lens. Most wedding photos I get are around 50-75mm (with 1.6 factor in the camera). A few big group shots will be wider than that, so I've used lenses as wide as 20mm. Once in a while, you'll be out to the end of the 135mm (or longer). Example, the bride and groom holding the knife over the wedding cake. Often, there are so damned many photographers crowding around that somebody has to take a step back. Any of those Canon flashes will work fine, and I would recommend to put one out on a flash bracket. Practice flipping from horizontal to vertical and back, just so you know what you are doing, what the camera is doing, and what the flash is doing.

---Bob Gross---

[Dans_D60]

The 10D should do the job nicely. Ah’ the beauty of digital. Remember to shoot everything! I missed so many shots in the film days worrying about changing film or the cost. We shoot about 1,500 RAW images on average for weddings and have used the 10D with good results. Currently all our weddings are done using 1D MK II bodies and 24-70 mm or 70–200mm lens. Out of the 1,500 we can post approximately 300 images that are good enough to make the “proof” magazine and website.
Here is a link to a few weddings we have done in the past few months, some with a 10D, where the couple has given us permission to show their proof website: http://www.danpettusphoto.com/examples/

Dan

[johneric8]

The 10D should do the job nicely. Ah’ the beauty of digital. Remember to shoot everything! I missed so many shots in the film days worrying about changing film or the cost. We shoot about 1,500 RAW images on average for weddings and have used the 10D with good results. Currently all our weddings are done using 1D MK II bodies and 24-70 mm or 70–200mm lens. Out of the 1,500 we can post approximately 300 images that are good enough to make the “proof” magazine and website.
Here is a link to a few weddings we have done in the past few months, some with a 10D, where the couple has given us permission to show their proof website: http://www.danpettusphoto.com/examples/

Dan

Your pictures are incredible dan !! I wish I could have hired you when I got married.. do you use a flash on your camera ? which did you use with the 20d what do you suggest for my 20d? I have a 5000af sunpak now.. It's not made to work with digital so it's a pain..

[LJBest]

Everyone,

Thank you for the great feedback and good pointers on the basic set-ups we will need. We are going to do some test shots later today with the complete setup. Based on some of the comments, I am encouraged that we are at least on the right track to getting this project completed with digital.

I'm still looking for a bracket for the 580 flash - and have read the threads on that topic. It looks like you can spend a little or a lot to get the basic feature of elevating the flash. I guess the trick is in having one that's flexible when switching between 'landscape' and 'portrait' mode.

Thanks again - and I suspect I'll be back with some more questions after we run through the basic setup.

Larry

[Dans_D60]

Your pictures are incredible dan !! I wish I could have hired you when I got married.. do you use a flash on your camera ? which did you use with the 20d what do you suggest for my 20d? I have a 5000af sunpak now.. It's not made to work with digital so it's a pain..

Thanks for the kind comments. I do use a fill flash except for the super long shots. The 580EX works great with the 1D MK II and should work as good with the 20D. Also found the Quantum 2X2 Turbo battery on a belt clip connected to the 580EX permits rapid fill flash sequences with typical recharge time of 0.1 seconds. And it will outlast the four AAA internal batteries about 20 times! Set the 580 Custom Function 7 to “1” that enables only power from external source. This allows the external source for recharge even if the internal batteries are exhausted.

Dan