What mode do you shoot weddings in?

I now know how to shoot in manual but I am not the fastest at making adjustments.

I wanted to know what you pro's use?

I am thinking manual for portraits.

I am worried about being able to avoid blur during the ceremony. I need to be able to get ready for my pics quickly!

I know enough to be dangrous..lol Sometimes I confuse myself when I am adjusting quickly, however I am getting allot faster at it lately.

Don't worry..I know what your thinking...I don't get paid to take wedding photos..I just do it as a favor and would like to someday be able to get paid for it.

I most shoot in aperture priority. I typically shoot indoors without flash, so I'll use my lenses at widest aperture, and then use the lowest ISO setting I can get away with while maintaining a decent shutter speed for exposure.

Learning manual would serve you well but shooting Av should be safe. Just try to get 1/250 or better in shutter speed to avoid blur from camera shake. Adjust your ISO to accomodate this if at all possible.
What's your gear?

I shoot Av mode most of the time. Keep an eye on the shutter speed and adjust the ISO if it is too low. When shooting in the church with the flash, I use Manual ISO400 or 800 and 1/160 or similar quick shutter speed.

I shoot in manual. The more you get to know your camera, the quicker you will be able to change settings. You need to be able to change them without having to take the camera from your eye. Similar to typing without looking at the keyboard (which I still can't do!)

I shoot in manual and found that total control (I used to use Av) provides more consistent results and more keepers.

Mike R wrote in post #5914116
I shoot in manual. The more you get to know your camera, the quicker you will be able to change settings. You need to be able to change them without having to take the camera from your eye. Similar to typing without looking at the keyboard (which I still can't do!)

Agreed but unless you feel confident a wedding is not the place to be practising- you are better off to stick to Av then.

DStanic wrote in post #5917584
Agreed but unless you feel confident a wedding is not the place to be practising- you are better off to stick to Av then.

I couldn't agree more.

Manual 99.9 percent of the time and Av for about 30 shots this past Saturday (had my M settings for shade, but instead of trying to re-meter in literally a heartbeat, I flipped to Av with my EC already set - it was faster cuz I'm retarded).

Fully Manual, except for my flash and autofocus. I usually have it at various FEC depending on what the situation looks like.

A mix of M, Av, and P. M when lighting is consistent or i'm using flash as the main light, Av when i'm inside and the light is coming from the window, and P when i'm outside in direct sunlight. I could use any one of those modes all day and be fine, above is just how I find it easiest to get good exposures.

I don't get it. Manual mode is portrayed as the difficult mode not for beginners, even when used with an automatic flash.

That makes no sense for weddings at night or indoors. I put the camera on f/5.6 and 1/125, turn on the flash (my 550EX, but even a Vivitar 283--and I have four of them--will work fine in this situation), and shoot the whole event without a care.

If it's an outdoor wedding or if I'm doing bridal portraits or altar returns in daylight, then I'll use Av, and set the flash for -1 stop and use it to fill shadows. Even this can be a problem if the ISO is too high. On balance, in the sun I'd rather use a fold-up reflector than fill flash. Then, I can put it on Av and not worry about it. That seems to me a lot more to think about, and it would be worse indoors trying to make much use of available light.

If I use Av indoors, the idiot camera will try to still use the flash as a fill flash and give me an exposure for ambient lighting, even if that means a 5-second shutter speed. Who needs that? Just put it on manual and forget it.

Rick "who finds that the rules governing the automatic modes are not always consistent with the task at hand" Denney

I would have to agree with using M. Personally, I've found that with Av there's too great a possibility of "dragging the shutter" and you'll end up with some rather useless photos.

rdenney wrote in post #5922956
I don't get it. Manual mode is portrayed as the difficult mode not for beginners, even when used with an automatic flash.

That makes no sense for weddings at night or indoors.

Wedding photographers aren't beginners.

The drawback with AV, is that there might be TOO much shutter drag, causing the images to be blurred, despite the flash's effort to freeze the subjects. Before you go "but the flash freezes..." keep in mind that your subjects are moving during those exposures, and thus can be blurred! I try to avoid anything below 1/30th, if it's anything remotely close to action.

If it's simple candids and I know my subjects are going to be relatively stationairy, I can sometimes pull off shutter speeds as slow as 1/8th of a second with a flash, on a good day.

Besides, aren't we the ones who are supposed to be controlling the camera, not the other way around? M mode isn't always easy, but it's the mode I use because I want the most possible control. People say "it's too hard to understand, and I can't use the settings quickly enough for a wedding!" Practice, practice, practice. Know your equipment. And if you're a beginner at photography, you really have no business shooting a wedding, as harsh as it sounds.

The only thing I allow the camera to control is my flash and my autofocus, and sometimes not even that.