wedding photography - need some advice

[Isaiahfortythirtyone]

hi all, i will be a backup photog soon and i'm hoping to get some advice here on a few issues:

1) how much EC or FEC must be used? cos the bride is in white, groom is in black, camera's meter will go haywire, so usually what is the compensation like?

2) Should i use neutral, faithful, or standard picture style (am on canon system)? i'm guessing neutral right to preseve the highlights on the bridal gown

3) should i shoot RAW or JPEG? i've got about 12GB of CF memory. will be bringing along a laptop also so that i can load in photos as i shoot.

4) I have a lightsphere Clear with dome and a homemade bounce card. i'm leaning towards using the LS. any thoughts on this? If the ceiling is really high, will the LS still work?

5) since im the 2nd photog, i'm thinking of going solely on primes. i have the 50/1.4 and 85/1.8. i had a wild idea of shooting purely with natural light. good idea? should i try this?

thanks all

 

[midicity]

hi all, i will be a backup photog soon and i'm hoping to get some advice here on a few issues:

1) how much EC or FEC must be used? cos the bride is in white, groom is in black, camera's meter will go haywire, so usually what is the compensation like?

2) Should i use neutral, faithful, or standard picture style (am on canon system)? i'm guessing neutral right to preseve the highlights on the bridal gown

3) should i shoot RAW or JPEG? i've got about 12GB of CF memory. will be bringing along a laptop also so that i can load in photos as i shoot.

4) I have a lightsphere Clear with dome and a homemade bounce card. i'm leaning towards using the LS. any thoughts on this? If the ceiling is really high, will the LS still work?

5) since im the 2nd photog, i'm thinking of going solely on primes. i have the 50/1.4 and 85/1.8. i had a wild idea of shooting purely with natural light. good idea? should i try this?

thanks all

1) I think you if you are unsure, shoot in RAW. EC can depends on how much groom and bride are in the picture etc. Shooting in RAW will allow you more leeway to adjust

2) Shoot in RAW, then picture styles won't affect your pictures. Can always do a batch adjust during post processing. If you're using 40D, can also use the highlight tone priority to prevent blown highlights ( at the expense of slightly more noise in underexposed shots)

3) Shoot in RAW if unsure. 12GB should be enough. Plus laptop, definitely enough. What's more, you're shooting as 2nd photographer

4) I would use the LS. For high ceilings, I tilt the flash forward a bit or increase ISO to 800-1600 depending on situation. Will be noiser, but will have a more natural look. If you want to be safe, will be direct flash or with stofen

5) 50mm f1.4 will be ok if you can use ISO 800-1600 (depending on how bright the ambient lights are). 85mm will likely be too long for a 1.6 crop for indoors. f1.4 also gives quite a bit of shutter speed vs f1.8 for your 85mm. If you use a 5D, 85mm would be a better range though.
You can attempt this, but if you want to be safe, can have your flash mounted as well.

Action is likely to be fast and furious, so you'll not likely to have time to change lens much.
Good luck and have fun
:thumbsup:

 

[subxero]

Action is likely to be fast and furious, so you'll not likely to have time to change lens much.
Good luck and have fun
:thumbsup:

Just curious, if the action is to be fast and furious, wouldn't a zoom lens be a "better" choice? How about a 17-55mm f/2.8 :think:

 

[kelccm]

Just curious, if the action is to be fast and furious, wouldn't a zoom lens be a "better" choice? How about a 17-55mm f/2.8 :think:

Zoom is indeed a better choice, but for TS case, since he is the back up photographer, I think he can afford to be more creative in maximising the use of his prime lenses, and perhaps get some interesting angles, other than the standard stock shots.

 

[midicity]

Zoom is indeed a better choice, but for TS case, since he is the back up photographer, I think he can afford to be more creative in maximising the use of his prime lenses, and perhaps get some interesting angles, other than the standard stock shots.

That's my idea. Anyway, Threadstarter wanted to try some 50 f1.5 natural light. For 17-55 f2.8, best is still to use flash as usually, there's not enough light

 

[Isaiahfortythirtyone]

thanks all. i have a 17-55 f/2.8

will try to use my fast primes

 

[iboey]

Try to take 2 bodies along with u. One with prime and the other with yr wide zoom plus flash Will be too fast for you to change any lens. Dun bother to carry yr laptop to upload pics. You do not have time for that. Careful when u use bounce flash. Observe carefully on the ceiling paint color.

This is my first time as a backup photographer for the tea ceremony.
http://joy.iboey.com
* The outdoor and studio pics were not done by me. I only did a BnW conversion =)

One golden rule for backup photographer = do not obstruct the main photographer ! hehe