Blurry pictures when people walk down the isle for wedding...Help!

I have had my own business now for 1 1/2 years. I mainly photograph young children and families. Just this past year I was asked if I could photograph 2 weddings. I just completed my first wedding (good thing it was a friend of the family). I ran into an issue that I am not sure how to correct. I currently shoot with a Cannon T1 camera and a 70mm-200mm lens that has the built-in image stabilizer. I noticed when I was reviewing my images, all the pictures of everyone walking down the isle are a bit blurry. My camera will not allow me to go above 200 for a Shutter speed when using my 430exii flash. I was shooting at ISO 200 so there was no grain. What can I do to overcome this problem? Does anyone else have a certain setting they use in situations like this? I am so ashamed I dont know the answer to my own question. My next wedding is this Friday so I hope I can get some answers before then. Thanks for your help! T

Care to post one? My bet is simply that the autofocus can't keep up, or it's set in one-shot mode.

The blurry ones are still in Raw format. My computer is pretty slow. I can convert it and post it tomorrow. I do shoot in one-shot mode. Should I be shooting in continuous? I'm afraid my flash wont keep up then.

fuggerphotography wrote in post #13033374
Should I be shooting in continuous? I'm afraid my flash wont keep up then.

Odds are that the camera focused and they were already a step ahead of where it focused on.

Continuous and AI-Servo are different. If you're using back-button focusing, I would use AI-Servo at all times. Otherwise, switch when necessary between moving and stationary objects (people).

Try setting your camera to AI Servo for focusing, it's a continuous focus mode. Dial up the ISO if you need to, 800 will still give you nice results. 2nd curtain sync can also help if you are dragging the shutter to pick up the ambient.

Farley121 wrote in post #13033492
Try setting your camera to AI Servo for focusing, it's a continuous focus mode. Dial up the ISO if you need to, 800 will still give you nice results. 2nd curtain sync can also help if you are dragging the shutter to pick up the ambient.

Or depending on how fast everyone's walking and what lens you're using, I would just pre-focus ahead of them (manually).

TheBurningCrown wrote in post #13033531
Or depending on how fast everyone's walking and what lens you're using, I would just pre-focus ahead of them (manually).

Without a microprism, I hate manual on a DSLR

Farley121 wrote in post #13033557
Without a microprism, I hate manual on a DSLR

To each their own. Personally I trust manual far more than I would AI-Servo on a slow focusing body.

I would suggest some practice to see which works for you.

Get a friend or child to pretend to walk up the isle. Test the different AF modes and see which one returns the best result for you and your gear.

200 shutter is plenty fast as an experiment shoot with out the flash if the pic is all black then there is no ambient and the flash is stoping the motion. in door i usually shoot this at 100 shutter.
sounds like to me like it is an issue with focus. the TI is NOT a pro level camera. and in low light is probably not holding up. i would try ai focus or auto servo to track the motion

sounds like your a little over your head on this wedding thing.
I always show up with 2 bodies 4 lenses 3 flashes and a partner with the same. do you have a back up plan?
Its not always about me its about the bride and capturing the best images

My T1i has no issues keeping up with fast moving subjects. Youd have good luck using the center focus point, though this might present compositional issues. Shoot wide and crop to your composition. While the T1i isnt a pro level body, it can certainly track someone walking. Even more so with a 2.8 maximum aperture lens.

fuggerphotography wrote in post #13033314
I have had my own business now for 1 1/2 years. I mainly photograph young children and families. Just this past year I was asked if I could photograph 2 weddings. I just completed my first wedding (good thing it was a friend of the family). I ran into an issue that I am not sure how to correct. I currently shoot with a Cannon T1 camera and a 70mm-200mm lens that has the built-in image stabilizer.

Not really related to the problem at hand, but do you have a second camera? If not, get one.

fuggerphotography wrote in post #13033314
I noticed when I was reviewing my images, all the pictures of everyone walking down the isle are a bit blurry. My camera will not allow me to go above 200 for a Shutter speed when using my 430exii flash.

You've reached the max sync speed. That said, at 1/200 you should have been able to stop the action of subjects, so the problem probably lies in focusing technique.

fuggerphotography wrote in post #13033314
I was shooting at ISO 200 so there was no grain.

I wouldn't be too worried about shooting at higher ISOs if needed. Not really all that familiar with your camera, but I would assume ISO800 would still be acceptable. Raising ISO will allow you to mix in some ambient lighting, provided that's what you want.

fuggerphotography wrote in post #13033314
What can I do to overcome this problem? Does anyone else have a certain setting they use in situations like this? I am so ashamed I dont know the answer to my own question. My next wedding is this Friday so I hope I can get some answers before then. Thanks for your help! T

Difficult without seeing some samples with EXIF information and technique used for focusing. For the processional, I am in AI Servo mode. Depends on the church, but I try to avoid using the flash. I am usually at around f2.8, 1/120-1/160, ISO1600...no issues.

Post up some photos so we can better evaluate.

nicksan wrote in post #13035833
I wouldn't be too worried about shooting at higher ISOs if needed. Not really all that familiar with your camera, but I would assume ISO800 would still be acceptable. Raising ISO will allow you to mix in some ambient lighting, provided that's what you want.

ISO 800 on the T1i is plenty clean. It would also allow more error for focusing since youd have a larger depth of field from stopping down the aperture in order to keep your exposure.

OH BOY !!!! I hope these are friends of yours too.

Tough to tell your focus problems with no example. Your shutter speed is fine and you have IS. The T1i is not a pro camera and it may be missing focus. It could be technique as far as how you are holding the camera. Possibly a flash setting?
For Isle shots, I typically use the 24 to 70..F 2.8 @iso 1600

Good luck on your wedding and you may want to practice shooting someone as if they were walking down a isle.

fuggerphotography wrote in post #13033314
I was shooting at ISO 200 so there was no grain.

There's your problem right there. It is possible to shoot at much higher ISO's and get great results.

I shot this pic with the same lens you have at ISO 3200 @ 1/80 sec. Granted I am using a better camera but you should still be able to push yours much higher than ISO 200.

Try some test shots and see if you can't get good results without having to flash everything.