Wedding Photojournalists who choose to progress!

Wedding Light and all that jazz!

nobody@flickr.com (Jealous Of Stars.) — Mon, 13 May 2013 04:29:30 -0700

Hi guys,

I’m in a bit of a pickle!

I have a wedding to do in july and its just a laid back casual thing. The couple know I have never done a wedding before and are quite relaxed.

I have a few issues that I want to get right before the day and am hoping I get some advice on here.

Firstly: The ceremony is in an old room with a very high ceiling. I have a flash (one that only rotates up and down not side to side) and am realising that I cant bounce off the wall as it will be too high am I right?
Is there a way I can get around this? I’m not confident with low light photography as I normally do natural light stuff and don’t think I could do it without a flash. (I have tried and tried to do photos without it and have no luck - i dont know if my lens is really slow??)

Secondly: They want night time photos im guessing of everyone having fun. Now just with my flash again how do I take photos at night time with people having fun without it looking too tacky and “party” like?

And finally thirdly: It starts at 4.00 inside and I’m slightly worried about hard sun – normally I would use my reflector but cant really with a group. Is it a case of just put them in the shade?? (This may be an obvious answer but I have seen alot of people that shoot in the sun with a flash)

ANY advice would be great thanks!

Oh and I have a Nikon D5100 with a prime 50mm lens, a wide angle, the kit lens and a zoom one of 50-200 (I think!)

Reply to 24-105 or 24-70?

nobody@flickr.com (ArDee Lok) — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 12:31:43 -0700

ArDee Lok posted a reply:

24-105mm gives you the more versatile and mobility on a wedding day until you need to shoot a lot of the evening ceremonies, receptions, or ballrooms that are extremely under-lit....... some times cranking up ISO will seem difficult even using a 24-70/2.8.

so the bottom-line, weapon of choice for almost all shooters at wedding would be 24-70 and a 70-200 on a single body or shooting with a 2nd or partner. if you're running the show on your own and have to run 2 bodies, I would heavily suggest using a 16-35 on one and a 70-200 on the other.

so you got your wide and tele covered. for a mid range shot, just move closer using the 16-35....

Reply to 24-105 or 24-70?

nobody@flickr.com (PaulBartelsPhotography) — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 14:10:48 -0700

PaulBartelsPhotography posted a reply:

I do use both plus my 70 200 F2.8 IS, I have the 50 1.4 and the 85 1.8 plus I have the 16-35 F2.8. I carry two cameras 5d mark 3 and a 7D back up with 2 Canon 600ex-rt and a ST-E3-RT No situation I can't shoot.
paulbartelsphotography.com

Reply to Nikon 55-300 4.5 VR lens

nobody@flickr.com (TellaStory Photography) — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 18:36:43 -0700

TellaStory Photography posted a reply:

I use the 55-200 during the ceremony on most of my weddings. The end result gets the job done. Probably not my FAVORITE lens.

Reply to Wedding Photojournalists with or with off flash?

nobody@flickr.com (TellaStory Photography) — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 18:31:39 -0700

TellaStory Photography posted a reply:

I agree with Robert. My weddings are shot primarily without flash. I haven't run into any major catastrophes....yet (gulp). I love the 'in-the-moment mood colors, it adds depth & sometimes emotion. If the lighting is truly horrible, Light Room usually saves the day-- without over processing. When the flash comes out, you may lose out on the moment. As a 'sneaky' camera chic -- I prefer to remain incognito. Just my 2 cents...

Reply to 24-105 or 24-70?

nobody@flickr.com (Robert Mynard) — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 22:51:10 -0800

Robert Mynard posted a reply:

My 2cents would be to go for primes, they generally offer you sharper images and better light handling. Its not just for low light, wider apertures offer a larger range with depth of field and treat light flare/spill in a very different way making it easier to get a range of feels in camera, but its a lot easier working with them when you're using more than one body...
if you've only got the one body so you want the safety of a zoom to deal with changing situations then its worth noting that the longer the zoom the harder is is to get a lens thats consistent troughout the whole zoom (you might have an 18-200 but if your pics are only really sharp between 50-100 then whats the point) this is why most zoom users will carry a range to cover the spread 35-70, 70-200 reducing barrel distortion and softer images.

Reply to Wedding Photojournalists with or with off flash?

nobody@flickr.com (Robert Mynard) — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 22:21:57 -0800

Robert Mynard posted a reply:

90% of a wedding shoot for me is without flash and I'd rather boost the ISO and get a llittle grain than set up an off camera system. And if you've got a decent camera and you're shooting in RAW then you can get a much more natural looking shot without the flash, but you can never be sure how much light you'll have so I always have a couple of flashs in my kit bag
Usually I will set up a couple of off camera flashs for the first dance to switch between for different effects... Dragging the shutter etc.
i also feel that if your shooting reportage then after a couple of flash shots, the wedding guests are aware of where you are and you can lose some of your natural moments :-)

Reply to Wedding Photojournalists with or with off flash?

nobody@flickr.com (Mikko Vuorinen) — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 05:19:36 -0800

Mikko Vuorinen posted a reply:

I´d say that you are going to need flash because the poor light that often occurs in wedding shoots. Outdoor photos are a different thing but indoors it´s difficult to stop movement without flash. But try to reduce the power of flash so you get a good mix of natural light and flashligh.

Reply to Photographer wanted in Paris~

nobody@flickr.com (Anthony Posey SIR:Poseyal Desposyni) — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 17:00:26 -0800

Anthony Posey SIR:Poseyal Desposyni posted a reply:

not sure may be there around those dates have to look to see when our trip is

Photographer wanted in Paris~

nobody@flickr.com (Only Sequel) — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 01:08:16 -0800

Only Sequel posted a new topic:

Hello，everyone ：）

Me & my husband are going to travel in Europe sometime late April or early May. During the visit to Paris, we desire to share our marriage vows in a church. it won't be a formal wedding ceremony as our family members & friends are not coming with us.

In our case, we are willing to hire a photographer or a cameraman for at least 2,3 hours, a small symbolic ceremony(about 30 mins) then some pictures in a classical location by the Parisian way.

Based on our budget my husband and I want something simple but beautiful, we do not need you are work for PRO Photo studio. ALL we want is some unique pictures you shoot in a unique way for us!

If you are in Paris and will be available then please feel free to write to us. We'd like to meet someone nice, humor, experienced capturing emotions in photos. Thanks very much!!!!

My e-mail: antara@126.com