A little Wedding Cake Advice

My brother is getting married in July. He and I live in TX but they are getting married in upstate NY because that's where she is from.

They have a wedding photog but are only paying him up to the point of the cutting of the cake. They love my photos and just want me to take those pics. Since I am the best man, I can't really say no.....

The only problem is, it's an important part of the event (maybe not so much to them?) and I am worried about lighting and lenses of course.

So given a typical cake setting, what is the slowest shutter speed I can use while still keeping the photo sharp? I suppose I should use my 50 since it's my fastest lens, but it's on a 7D so it may be too long. Should I use my on camera flash? I do not want to bring lighting to NY....

Any advice? I'm not really equipped to do this but I also want to give it a go. I'm really not interested in examining the highs and lows of a wedding photog's ability, reasoning for dismissing the paid one, etc. This is a shutter speed, lighting, lens thread. Thank you!

I mean the shutter speed and lighting should be the same as if you were shooting any other subjects. Only thing that could be tricky is making sure not to clip the highlights in the cake and wedding dress while keeping the tuxedos well exposed. I would recommend bringing the 24-105mm and 50mm f/1.4 along with a good flash. Try and take some test shots in the room before the cake cutting to see which will suite better to that situation. If had enough light to get good shots at iso 800 and below, I would personally use the 24-105 just so I was sure to be wide enough to get them into the frame. Bounce the flash on the ceiling and you should be good to go. If you don't have a flash, get one if you have the time. The Yungnuo yn-468 purchased from Amazon will arrive much faster than from Ebay.

Hope this helps and good luck!

1. The slowest shutter speed to use will be dictated by the available lighting, focal length used at the time of the shoot, and your ability to hold the camera steady.

2. I believe you are correct in thinking the 50 f/1.4 may be too much for a short distance. Back up and you'll probably have people stepping in the way to fill the gap you left.

3. I would not use on camera flash. The lighting will be too flat.

Personally, if you really wanted to make the shot, I would get a external speedlite, mount it on the hot show and tilt the head up so you are bouncing the light from the ceiling while using the EF 24-105 lens. You can then shoot at acceptable shutter speeds, properly illuminate the image, and get some acceptable shots.

When I first looked at this thread " A little Wedding Cake Advice" I thought you was asking how to make one on a Camera forum!,

And you said

it sounds to me that your not happy!

Surf the wedding forum. You will find help there as well.

CanonEOS wrote in post #12498451
When I first looked at this thread " A little Wedding Cake Advice" I thought you was asking how to make one on a Camera forum!,

And you said
it sounds to me that your not happy!

No, I couldn't care less where the wedding is, I was just saying it will limit the stuff I can bring. I guess this is a good excuse to pick up a speedlight.....I'll make a thread in the light section to figure out which one....

I was asking what the minumum shutter speed I might want to use to freeze movement well and keep the pics sharp. If it is too fast for my lens and camera body to achieve in low light, I will have to get a speedlight.

I was hoping to hear something like 1000 or 800 or 1500 or something like that so I could try and gauge it. Especially if the recommendation is to use the 24-105....

I guess I will just buy a flash.

Just try and get 1/60th at the least. there is no way you would need 1/1000th or 1/800th. Try and get the highest possible, but nothing less than 1/100 if you can. with the 24-105 you have IS so it's not as critical to stop motion blur, but freezing action still requires 1/60th at the least.

I grew up in upstate NY (Cooperstown) until I wandered off to college (California). It's usually dark there, bring a fast lens and buy a flash.

Higgs Boson wrote in post #12498570
No, I couldn't care less where the wedding is, I was just saying it will limit the stuff I can bring. I guess this is a good excuse to pick up a speedlight.....I'll make a thread in the light section to figure out which one....

I guess I will just buy a flash.

I use the 430ex II speedlight, but other might say get the 580ex good luck with your brother wedding

I'll just get the 580....

So knowing nothing about flash photography, I was thinking (uh oh). Can I set Manual F4.0 and 1/500 then let the flash adjust the light output to achieve proper exposure without regard to ambient light? If so, that's pretty cool.

Higgs Boson wrote in post #12498681
I'll just get the 580....

So knowing nothing about flash photography, I was thinking (uh oh). Can I set Manual F4.0 and 1/500 then let the flash adjust the light output to achieve proper exposure without regard to ambient light? If so, that's pretty cool.

You have one month to learn about the 580ex before the wedding

or look here to help you a bit
http://photonotes.org/​articles/eos-flash/

CanonEOS wrote in post #12498707
You have one month to learn about the 580ex before the wedding

or look here to help you a bit
http://photonotes.org/​articles/eos-flash/

Thank you.

Pop into live view with the histogram displayed and set something white in the scene (table cloth, dress, cake) to the far right of the graph. This will give you as much latitude as possible for the other tones. The 7D is capable at higher ISOs so try 1/60 to 1/125 and plan to shoot at a pause in the action (knife touching cake, cake entering mouth, kiss, etc.) for minimal blur.

Must be an honor to be postulated in the Standard Model.

Higgs... check out this site http://neilvn.com …h-photography-techniques/ there are plentyyy of usefull tips/tricks !!