Please help - questions on AWB usage and AF point selection

I'm just hoping to get some feedback on the following things...

First, how often do you use AWB vs. setting a custom or preset white balance setting? Is the DRebel smart enough to handle this 50% of the time? 75%? 25%? Is the 10D or Mark II better at this or is it pretty standard for these cameras?

Second, I'm entertaining doing a wedding shoot for some friends of my wife, and it would be a free deal - with a full disclaimer that I'm not a professional. I've shot a couple weddings before and the parties have been thrilled with the results (although they were on film cameras, and it's hard to match the color saturation of Kodak Portra 160 in a beach wedding!) Oh yeah, my questions... how often do you lock the AF point selection to center vs allowing it to auto select? I've found that when it focuses on the nearest point, it's not generally exactly where I want it. Should I set the AF to manual, center spot and use that for my AE lock and my focus lock - getting the area I want focused and exposure set, and then recompose the picture while holding those settings?

Finally, if I'm to shoot a casual wedding, indoors with plenty of light and no harsh sunlight, what should I add to my existing setup to aid the process? I appreciate your taking the time to read this and help out! I have two months until the wedding.

I am currently using -

- Canon Digital Rebel
- Battery / Vertical grip with extra Canon batteries
- Stock 18-55mm
- Tamron 28-75mm F2.8 constant XR Di - B+W MRC 010m UV/Haze, Softar
- Canon 100mm F2.8 Macro internal focus (just picked this one up for a great price, it's due in tomorrow)
- Canon 420EX flash (which I need something to soften the output. What do you guys use?)
- 512mb SANDisk currently, about to add at least a 1Gb Extreme card
- Big waterproof Tamrac Pro12 bag with a CP-200 printer so I can get some quick and instant satisfaction if I don't feel right looking at the display on the camera. It's small and fits nicely in the bag.
- 18% grey card which I still like for helping me with tough exposure situations

So I think that's it. I feel like I might need a 70-200 or something with a bit more telephoto ability. Not sure if that will be required in a small venue or not though. I'm a stickler for 2.8 and under, especially indoors, so that will probably be $$$. I also wonder if I should have additional lighting or if I should just adjust exposure and ask people to stand still

Any input or recommendations from you seasoned pros is greatly appreciated!

Take care guys,
Adam

Since no one else has responded, I'll give you what help I can. I have a 300D, too.

Never. I don't think the 300D AWB is anywhere near accurate, so...

I always use custom & it has never failed me.

If I have the time I use manual, center spot. You may have a problem using manual in low light conditions.

For the other questions, maybe you should search the forum. There have been a lot of questions similar to yours.
Good luck.

I can't speak for the DRebel but I have a D30 and 10D and I used AWB almost 95% of the time. The only time I use a custom WB is when I'm under tricky light or mixed light. I also shoot in RAW mode 99% of the time so if my white balance does come out a little bit off, I can still correct it with no problems. I think Canon's AWB is pretty good.

I have the center point set 99.9% of the time. I find it works better, both for metering and focus. I have learned to position the center point where I need to focus and meter, lock with a half push of the shutter button, re-compose the shot and take the picture. I also shoot in continuous one shot. I may get some out of focus shots because I don't let the button all the way up so it can re-acqurie focus (as long as the shutter is in the half down position it will maintain the first focus and exposure lock), but not any more than I do with AI, which I think is not very good on the D30 or 10D but works pretty good on my EOS 3.

I do a lot of action events for the most part.

Mike

Thanks... that's exactly what I'm looking for. I guess I need to start shooting RAW and suck it up and buy a 2Gb card to replace the 512s!

What's the best and/or quickest tool for converting the RAW images?

Thanks,
Adam

WAIT! Did you see this?
https://photography-on-the.net …topic.php?p=200​094#200094

WAIT! Did you see this?
https://photography-on-the.net …topic.php?p=200​094#200094

I did see that... definitely cheap. But I went ahead and ordered a Sandisk Extreme instead I have the standard 512mb card and I'm interested in seeing how the performance difference is. Plus rather than carrying a single 1gb I'd rather have a pair of 512s in case something happens to one of them.

Adam

The Canon 420EX flash should be adequate. The 550EX has a few more tricks up its sleeve. That is for when the light is dim.

For when the light is better, you would want a tripod. Especially for formal poses that must be perfect. Another tripod can be used as a light stand with a second flash on it, then couple via Canon wireless. That way, you can get a hair light, or a back light, or even do a proper 2 or 3 light portrait shot.

I would not worry with the printer. You will be too busy running around getting shots. Only if you have an off-line assistant doing the printing.

That one zoom lens might be adequate. I seldom use anything wider than 20mm for wide group shots, and I seldom have to use anything longer than about 100mm for long shots. We have some "signature" poses that we get, and one or two need 100mm or longer. The faster lens might be good if you are back into dim light again. A dance floor at a reception has dim lighting and lots of movement, so an f/2.8 lens is not a stupid idea.

---Bob Gross---

Thanks for the info Bob. When I shot my last wedding for a sister in law, I used the tripod for EVERYTHING, even though the lighting was very good in many of the shots. It was a film shoot with the Porta 160 most of the time, and I think I used about 10 rolls of 36 exposures in an hour or two time. Because of that I'm concerned at how much $ I'm going to need to drop on high capacity high speed CF cards. My 512's only get 55 pictures or so in RAW per card, so it looks like I'm going to be needing at least a couple 1Gb or 2Gb cards in addition.

Thanks again for taking the time to reply, I appreciate the advice.

Adam

First of all, if the wedding photographers use tripods, then that marks them more as professional. It is an appearance thing. If you were just standing there with a P&S camera, then anybody has a right to accidentally step in front of you to get their shot. But when the pro has his camera set up with a massive tripod and flash, then nobody dares step in front of him. We shoot both digital and film, and the film is either Portra 160 or 400. If you shot 360 exposures in an hour or two, that is not abnormal. We generally shoot 150-200 digital and 150-200 on film, but the time period tends to stretch out more. One wedding took us eight hours in all (park, ceremony, and reception).

As for memory, you have only a couple of options. One is to simply buy more CF cards. The other is to buy a portable storage drive (as we have discussed so many times in this forum). If you have an assistant, then you shoot one CF card, then hand it to the assistant to dump into the drive, then you shoot the second card. When the second card is full, you swap with the first card after it is done. I would not do this if I were all by myself, but I carry about 2.5GB in CF cards with me, and I have never run out on a wedding.

---Bob Gross---

Bob, I don't have an assistant and I take pictures and dump to an Image Tank G2 and I've not had a problem so far. I carry about 3.5 gigs of CF cards (my wife took about another gig when she took over my D30 that was replaced with a 10D) and on some events I'll take upwards of 1500 raw images. I had a choice of getting more CF cards or the storage device, which for 40 gigs was about the same cost as a 1 gig card (when I bought it).

I have the G2 in my bag that is under my left elbow (and makes a great arm rest) and when I swap cards I pop the filled one into the G2, start it dumping and set it back into the bag and continue shooting with the new one. I did this for about 20 gigs worth of raw files over a 9 day period last fall. And I also dumped my wife's CF card when she needed them.

If I take some paticularly important shots, I'll dump the card but I won't format it unless I absolutly have to because I've set other cards aside that were more important. I'll wait till I can dump the cards to my laptop and verify they copied. Although having an assistant is nice, I've never had the pleasure to be able to use one. And after all these years, I don't know if I could get use to using one either.

Mike

I shot a couple of weddings with the DR and this is my experience:
- Use all of the focus points, just make sure that 1 of them lit up on your subject. If you use the center FP only, you must do a Exposure Lock or FEL on every shot.
- Use Manual mode when shooting indoor with flash. Set the camera to f5.6-8, shutter 1/30-60 depending how much ambient light you want to get. Set the 420EX to E-TTL.
- Use Av mode when shooting outdoor with fill-flash. Set the camera to f5.6-8, use the exposure control to dial in the ambient light EV, the 420EX on E-TTL will provide the correct amount of light for the subject.
- The Tamron will hunt for focus and is less reliable than the kit lens in low light situations. Set the kit lens to f8 and your group shots, reception candids, and general images will look sharp as a tack. Shoot the formals or scenes that have adequate light with the Tamron. I use manual focus whenever I can or when the lens starts to hunt around. Push the ISO to 800, even 1600, to grab natural light shots with the Tamron.
- If it's your first experience shooting a wedding with a digital camera, shoot RAW. Of course, you'll need more CF cards or bring a laptop along to dump the files when the CF is filled. You may forget to change the ISO, the WB, or shooting mode to suit a particular location. RAW will save you (not always) at the end of the day. At least, you don't have to worry about WB during the wedding. You probably will get hook on RAW after the experience.
- Cover your flash with an amber gel while shooting indoor so your flash color will match the tungsten lights. Watch out for the video hot lights.
- Get a flash bracket for the 420EX. Nothing looks worse than a photo with the flash fired from the side of the subject.
- Get an extra BP511 battery. Walmart sells a "Digital" brand (1300maH!) copy for $20. Get couple sets of AA for the flash. The moment the cycling time seems to lag, change the battery. Get belt pouch to store the CF, extra batteries, and the lens.
Those are the few things that I think worth taking a look at. You mileage varies.

Regards,
Alan

Good points Alan

Although I do disagree about the Tamron hunting in low light. I do low light photography and it is one of my two preferred lenses. It is much sharper than the kit lens too!

RichardtheSane wrote:
Good points Alan

Although I do disagree about the Tamron hunting in low light. I do low light photography and it is one of my two preferred lenses. It is much sharper than the kit lens too!

When everything is right, the Tamron is a stellar performer. When the light is dim, but the subject is lit by a spot light, things remain OK. Once the contrast goes south, so does the Tamron. Yes it still manage to focus, but slower than normal, and often on the wrong focal plan. When it works, it' great. But from times to times, I got nothing but frustration. If I put the kit lens back on the camera, things start smokin'. Just my observation.

Regards,
Alan

Buy the 512 flash cards because if you get a fatal error you are only losing 512mb instead of 2gb of wedding coverage. I always use custom white balance. I have been shooting digital wedding for three years and ever since I learned to use the custom white balance setting with a kodak gray card as the target. My results have been 200% better. The only time I would ever use a preset is when I'm not getting paid and I'm just shooting for fun or if I don't have time to do a custom white balance. Custom white balance is an amazing tool. It is the equivalent to having every light correcting filter available with a film camera. You can correct color casts with virtually any type of light. You can also do this in photoshop after the fact if you find yourself in a pinch. I don't shoot in RAW. I have found that if you can get good color by using the custom white balance and you can get correct exposures then shooting RAW is just a waste of space. Shooting RAW doesn't make any more pixels show up. I just gives you a more adjustable uncompressed file. Do your adjustments on the front end by custom whitebalancing and you don't need that extra info.