Wedding coverage advise needed


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yafoo82

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Mar 28, 2007
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Thank you for coming in and hopefully I can get some much needed advise from the old birds of wedding photography. Special mention of Melvin Ho here whose works are one of my favourites.

The day has come ... I got my first official AD wedding shoot as a main Photog. Well I have been a "kay-po" wedding photog at times (without blocking main photog), attended Canon workshop, read books on wedding photograhy and browse many inspiring albums on CS. But it will never feel right without some good experience in the bag.

A friend's photographer pulled out last minute and the wedding is less than a month away. Thus, I am asked to do it. So I hope to get some comments from here first as I prepare. :sweat:

My humble Setup:

Camera 1 (mine):
Canon 400D-Tamron 17-50mm f2.8- Canon 430EX- Demb Jumbo

Camera 2 (borrowed from cousin):
Canon 450D - Canon 50mm f1.8 - Nissin Di 622

Questions:

1. Is my lens set up adequate? I am thinking of getting a 85mm f1.8 for better quality pics for portraits and maybe some candid close up. Heard good reviews for this.

The Tamron should cover the table and group shots at f5-5.6.

2. For the 2nd camera where I prefer a prime lens, is flash necessary? since at f1.8 natural lighting should be adequate.

I must admit that I neglected my Primes most of the time.

3. Av mode v.s. Manual Mode. Usually I shoot in Av mode, but I find it not good as the shutter speed can be slow. I was advised to go Manual, set shutter to 1 of 100, aperture of between 2.8-8 according to the effect i want, and lastly and most importantly adjust my flash compensation acccordingly to get the best exposure.

Any advise on this?

4. How to politely let people know you are the main photograpgher and that they better not block you if they wanna do justice to the wedded couple? Carry bigger cameras, photog vest? Post signs on my shirt? Stare? :dunno:

The most challenging part to me is when the couple march in ..... as I try to shoot down the "Lane of bliss" .... friends and family crowd in the lane and snap snap snap.

Off the note, I'll ask the couple to take their own sweet time to walk down this lane and enjoy the scene, the musics and the well wishes. And in return I'll get more shooting time. I have seen some couples walk very very fast and don't even take time to look slowly look at the faces of friends and family members here to share their joy.

5. Is JPEG sufficient? I usually only do very basic PP on color, brightness, cropping and saturation tweaking. So I am probably going to shoot in JPEg only. I know RAW is better, but honestly, I have never adjusted white balance in PP.

Any photog uses only JPEG and managed to give high quality work as well? If time permits, perhaps I can quickly go learn :dunno:

Well I know there are many threads on wedding but I hope to start one to get opinions on questions bursting in me.

Thanks in advance for reading even if you have no comments for now.

Looking forward to anyone!!:D

CHeers!!!!
 

just tot i share some input..

Q3. Manual mode preferred. The consistent shutter speed and aperture is really useful when it comes to shooting people. Let the ettl of the flash manage the exposure for you.

Q4. Generally relatives and friends don't want to be responsible for the lost of key photos of the wedding by obstructing the wedding photographer. if i need to walk in front of those people, i will, but of coz with courtesy. If they are pissed, then it's really bo bian. The couple paid me to produce keepsake photos of themselves and not the back of some random heads with pns cams popping ard.

Q5. Raw pls. It is not just about white balance. Sometimes when your photos comes out under exposed in some areas due to a spotlight glaring down your lens and screwing up your metering or something, the data captured by the raw file will help you recover those seemingly diminished details. Of coz it's not magic, but enough to let u wipe off cold sweat during touch ups.

happy shooting :)
 

just tot i share some input..

Q3. Manual mode preferred. The consistent shutter speed and aperture is really useful when it comes to shooting people. Let the ettl of the flash manage the exposure for you.

Q4. Generally relatives and friends don't want to be responsible for the lost of key photos of the wedding by obstructing the wedding photographer. if i need to walk in front of those people, i will, but of coz with courtesy. If they are pissed, then it's really bo bian. The couple paid me to produce keepsake photos of themselves and not the back of some random heads with pns cams popping ard.

Q5. Raw pls. It is not just about white balance. Sometimes when your photos comes out under exposed in some areas due to a spotlight glaring down your lens and screwing up your metering or something, the data captured by the raw file will help you recover those seemingly diminished details. Of coz it's not magic, but enough to let u wipe off cold sweat during touch ups.

happy shooting :)

Hi stbob,

Thanks for the input!! :)

I think I'll go with Av during the day for brothers invasion and tea ceremony. I think with some natural light, Av works well. But for ballroom, I definitely agree that Manual is the way to go.

For me sometimes ETTL does not give sufficient lighting due to factors like ceiling height, nearest bounce surface etc. Does ETTL always works for you?

Hmmm I guess I better go learn about editing in RAW. I'll take in RAW + JPEG. At least the "negatives" are there should I really need to use them. Having said that, I think i got to go buy more memory.

Sharing one of my kay po wedding shot at my friend's party where I took over after the main photographer left after his "office hours". This is not a photo sharing thred , but feel free to C&C. Yup taken in JPEG like I always do.

4143590712_7d0c59598f.jpg


Manual, 1/50, f5.0, iso800, Tamron 17-50mm, Flash ETTL
 

Sharing one of my kay po wedding shot at my friend's party where I took over after the main photographer left after his "office hours".


During my days as a Wedding photog I stayed till am not needed anymore by the couple
and to think that there is 'office hours' for present day wedding photogs :think:
 

For me sometimes ETTL does not give sufficient lighting due to factors like ceiling height, nearest bounce surface etc. Does ETTL always works for you?

No, sometimes it fails me. But for key shots that i cannot miss i'll lock the exposure against some generally light to white surface like clothes, table cloth.. otherwise set my flash manually, bcoz generally key photos such as table shots and parting shot after the dinner places me at a fixed distance away from the subjects.

hope it helps :)
 

Hi stbob,

Thanks for the input!! :)

I think I'll go with Av during the day for brothers invasion and tea ceremony. I think with some natural light, Av works well. But for ballroom, I definitely agree that Manual is the way to go.

For me sometimes ETTL does not give sufficient lighting due to factors like ceiling height, nearest bounce surface etc. Does ETTL always works for you?

Hmmm I guess I better go learn about editing in RAW. I'll take in RAW + JPEG. At least the "negatives" are there should I really need to use them. Having said that, I think i got to go buy more memory.

Sharing one of my kay po wedding shot at my friend's party where I took over after the main photographer left after his "office hours". This is not a photo sharing thred , but feel free to C&C. Yup taken in JPEG like I always do.

4143590712_7d0c59598f.jpg


Manual, 1/50, f5.0, iso800, Tamron 17-50mm, Flash ETTL


Nice shot, but it looks 1 stop underexposed. Probably the Bride's white dress is throwing the ETTL off
 

During my days as a Wedding photog I stayed till am not needed anymore by the couple
and to think that there is 'office hours' for present day wedding photogs :think:

Why not? Time is $$$. Wedding photographers are no exception where work is concerned. They charge by per hour basis.

(I won't call it "office hours". That's a simplistic term used by TS.)

You must have shot weddings long long time ago!
 

Questions:

1. Is my lens set up adequate? I am thinking of getting a 85mm f1.8 for better quality pics for portraits and maybe some candid close up. Heard good reviews for this.

The Tamron should cover the table and group shots at f5-5.6.

yeps it should. use f5.6...

2. For the 2nd camera where I prefer a prime lens, is flash necessary? since at f1.8 natural lighting should be adequate.

well banquet shots the lighting sometimes can be a nightmare. 85 would be candid shots right? it would be enough if ur ISO is ard 1600.

3. Av mode v.s. Manual Mode. Usually I shoot in Av mode, but I find it not good as the shutter speed can be slow. I was advised to go Manual, set shutter to 1 of 100, aperture of between 2.8-8 according to the effect i want, and lastly and most importantly adjust my flash compensation acccordingly to get the best exposure.

only if u are comfy with manual and know ur cameras well enough, its a wedding. cant let anything go wrong or miss impt shots.

Any advise on this?

4. How to politely let people know you are the main photograpgher and that they better not block you if they wanna do justice to the wedded couple? Carry bigger cameras, photog vest? Post signs on my shirt? Stare? :dunno:

simple. just look like the main photographer. :D

5. Is JPEG sufficient? I usually only do very basic PP on color, brightness, cropping and saturation tweaking. So I am probably going to shoot in JPEg only. I know RAW is better, but honestly, I have never adjusted white balance in PP.

]shoot raw. safest!

Any photog uses only JPEG and managed to give high quality work as well? If time permits, perhaps I can quickly go learn :dunno:

]takes time lah....
 

Why not? Time is $$$. Wedding photographers are no exception where work is concerned. They charge by per hour basis.

(I won't call it "office hours". That's a simplistic term used by TS.)

You must have shot weddings long long time ago!


Sure did guess times have change ah...for me that time it's more
of a passion and dedication covering weddings seeing so many
happy moments rolling in front of me...well :)
 

yeah.. those were the good old times... :)

Also, these days, many wedding pics tend to look overly plastered with unnatural colours and editing.

Now everyone is pushing each other wanting to do weddings just cos they own DSLR and some even claiming falsely to be professionals. I must say digital has changed photography a lot. For better and for worse, be it weddings or others.

At the end of the day, no matter how the photographer justifies with sweet words, it's still about $$$.
 

Expectation of couples also changed loh. Ever heard of couples asking for express highlights of the morning event during dinner in the 80s?
 

Hi all,

Kiwi2 and Zeisser,

Yup I think there is no right or wrong w.r.t the "office hour" take. If I am doing photography full time, time is definitely of the essense eg. perhaps next day got another wedding to cover, or need to edit pictures for punctual delivery of pictures. Every hour is money. Business is business at the end of the day.

Pardon me but I did not meant to ridicule the main photog about it when I say office hour. He is a nice guy and I chatted with him. In fact I think he stayed an hour more than agreed.

(In case he see the couple in the picture and think I am bad mouthing him ;)) Peace!!

And hopefully I can come up with some quality decent shots and not be the Photographer wanna-be because I have a DSLR. I have waited for 2 years le ..... ;p

Midicity and stbob,

Hmmm so it's true that EETL does not work all the time. I think there is nothing i can do about white gown throwing off the ETTL then. Perhaps PP plays a big part here.

Any quick tips to better work with my ETTL. What do you mean by locking exposure to white surface?

Baekk,

Thanks. Noted of your advise especially on the f5.6 and RAW. This 2 aspect I think I better take note and carry out. Since I will have 2 flash units, I'll prob use it with the PRIME to play safe, though it will be quite bulky and cumbersome.

ANy bros used 85.. f1.8 for wedding? Any thread to intro where I can see pictures taken on this lens? May need to quickly get it or else it will be the 50mm 1.8 I'll bring.
 

My humble suggestion:

Camera 1 (mine):
Canon 400D-Tamron 17-50mm f2.8- Canon 430EX- Demb Jumbo --> Good

Camera 2 (borrowed from cousin):
Canon 450D - Canon 85mm f1.8 - Nissin Di 622

Questions:

1. Is my lens set up adequate? I am thinking of getting a 85mm f1.8 for better quality pics for portraits and maybe some candid close up. Heard good reviews for this.

I suggest get the 85, since 50mm prime is 'overlap' with Tamron 17-50. Yet, have you tried using any lenses with focal length above 50mm? Do you familiar / like it? It is important to familiar with the composition, since it is a prime. Go flicker to look for photos taken with this lens

The Tamron should cover the table and group shots at f5-5.6.


2. For the 2nd camera where I prefer a prime lens, is flash necessary? since at f1.8 natural lighting should be adequate.

I must admit that I neglected my Primes most of the time.

Flash is important, to me. There are times we need shutter speed of at least 1/50, and at the same time we cannot use large aperture...


4. How to politely let people know you are the main photograpgher and that they better not block you if they wanna do justice to the wedded couple? Carry bigger cameras, photog vest? Post signs on my shirt? Stare? :dunno:

Just friendly / politely tell anybody who blocked you / doing something that will make your photo not good, asked them to stop doing that.


5. Is JPEG sufficient? I usually only do very basic PP on color, brightness, cropping and saturation tweaking. So I am probably going to shoot in JPEg only. I know RAW is better, but honestly, I have never adjusted white balance in PP.

Both JPEG and RAW is better, just prepare more memory card.

I only have the experience on events, never tried wedding, but I feel, the rationale are similar. Just my 2 cents worth.
 

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