What are your "GO TO" wedding settings?

Shot my first wedding yesterday, and I ran in to some issues with, what else, lighting.

I started out shooting in AV mode, at 800 ISO, which resulted in shutter speeds ranging from 1/60 down to 1/6ish.... I just was not working out for me, so I bumped up to 1000 ISO, and still, I was having trouble, then when to 1600 and still trouble.

So I went to manual mode to try and speed up the shutter speed and just planned on fixing it in lightroom if needed.

My real error, was the fact that I did not have much experience in flash photography, and I totally spaced out on the fact that what the meter shows is not taking the flash in to consideration.

The light in the space was not that bad, so I'm still trying to figure out why I had so much trouble. I have seen some great wedding shots, in low lit rooms, shot at 500iso at 1/60 with no trouble at all.


I was using my 40d, with 17-55 2.8 is usm and a sigma flash with a gary fong ligthsphere II...


My confidence has been stomped on a little bit.

I will work on the images this week and post them so you can get a better idea as to what I am talking about.


Additionally, I was having some focusing issues, I had no problem taking tight shots, they came out fine as far as the focus is concerned, it's the larger shots I was having trouble with. While I know DOF is a big contributor to that, how can I stop down in a low lit room and get a decent exposure? Going to 5.6, or even more stopped down even at 1600iso would still result in a slow shutter speed, so I am really confused here.

Thanks again for your help and comments.

"P" (aka professional) mode is a good fallback if you're having exposure problems. It usually does ok.

mezorn26 wrote in post #4160985
I have seen some great wedding shots, in low lit rooms, shot at 500iso at 1/60 with no trouble at all.

If your definition of low lit is the same as my definition of low lit, they were definitely using flash.

I think you summed it up. Your fault was lack of flash and lighting experience. It's beyond time to invest in a mobile rig that will take care of any situation, a light meter and a lot of time to learn how to use the equipment correctly in a wide variety of situations. I only hope you have not botched a wedding job and suffer repercussions for it.

Your exposure should always be as near as possible, fixing it in lightroom really is asking for trouble, IMHO.

What location are we talking about reception or ceremony?

Learning flash and mastering it are essential for wedding photography. Practice, practice, practice Metering off something neutral helps alot in ETTL

Have a good read of how the flash is used in different modes. In AV the flash will act as fill and will do little to keep your shutter speeds up.

If you feel you are failing then accept that it probably isn't the time to be learning from your mistakes and swith to 'P" mode.

'P" mode works great and i often find myself switching to it if things are moving too quickly for me to spend the time calcualting settings. The only downside is that you have no control over dof.

I know a Pro that shoots exclusively in P in all situations and his pictures are great.

For 80% of my indoor wedding stuff (getting ready, bumming around, NOT the ceremony or formals) I shoot in manual mode, set to 1/60, f4.0, iso400 and let my 580ex do the rest (5D, 24-70). As long as I am able to bounce off of a wall or the ceiling (the best thing to do with flash when possible), or in a crunch shot horizontal with an Omnibouce and the flash at a 45% angle, I love my results. Another thing to keep in mind is flash exposure has a very limited DOF. Try and frame shots in a why that keeps your main subjects at an equal distance from you.

I HIGHLY suggest you spend as much time as needed to get comfortable shotting with flash before tackling a wedding. IMO there is not much that looks more "amateurish" than flash shadows and blown out white skin from hard flash lighting. Take your camera and a friend and go to random places shotting with flash in poor lighting. It helps a lot.

I use AP mode. drop down to lowest # ( 2.8 ). and shoot away

I agree with Tim, if you're having a hard time fall back on P mode. Shooting a wedding is not a time for experimenting with unfamiliar lighting techniques.

~mp

My "go to" setting is manual for camera and ETT-L for flash. I'm "driving the bus" in M and have learned how manipulating aperture, ISO, and shutter speed allow me to get the image I want (generally). I encourage you to try it when not pressured with a paid shoot.

Kevin

I had the same issue that mezorn26 two week ago, the result was a lot of pict with to much noise, and now I considered for next time shot in "P" indoor.

mezorn26 wrote in post #4160985
I started out shooting in AV mode, at 800 ISO, which resulted in shutter speeds ranging from 1/60 down to 1/6ish.... I just was not working out for me, so I bumped up to 1000 ISO, and still, I was having trouble, then when to 1600 and still trouble.

So I went to manual mode to try and speed up the shutter speed and just planned on fixing it in lightroom if needed.

I sympathise with you, I didnt know much at all about flash when I shot my first wedding for free and I look back on some of the things I did back then and cringe ! Ive spent a lot of time learning flash in the last year and still have an awful lot to learn but I certainly feel better equipped these days than I did back then.

Regards shooting at high ISO theres one thing I learned pretty quickly and that is that its imortant to get the exposure as close as possible when you shoot at high ISO as any pushing and pulling of the files in PP afterwards will magnify the noise very quickly !

I would have to say try manual on your day off. When shooting in dim situations, shooting in manual and letting your E-TTL flash do the rest is not that far from shooting in "Green Smiley Face Mode" anyway. Although it really helps to know ETTL's quirks like reflected light. Experiment walking around your house at night with a few ambient lights on around, but not everywhere. It will be around the same light as what you will get in a dim reception.

Set your camera to 1/60th f4 - f5.6 or somewhere thereabouts - ISO400, and let your (hopefully) 580EX (but 430/420EX will do) do the rest.

The only way you will learn is by trying. I am serious. Do it around your house when you are not experimenting with someones wedding, and you will be 10000 times more confident with it next time.

Rob

I agree that you need to work on learning flash. But as a simple answer to your original post is a fairly useful setting as follows.
1/60 ISO 400 F 2.8-4, Flash on ETTL and spot meter and hold FEC on the brides face. (assuming she is caucasian) That becomes a pain in the rear at times.