Equipment for Nighttime Wedding?

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kcmatic

Senior Member
rocketman122 said:
that statement is contradicting.

When I shoot weddings outdoors (almost always at night) I use 2-3 light stands with flashes set at 1/32 power connected to 622n slaves. indoors theyre bounced, outdoor lifted at 13' and pointed down. 42" photoflex umbrellas for formals. I use the D3s at up to 12800 if I need but mostly between 3200-8000 and the D3 till iso 5000

Tripod? never used a tripod yet for weddings. why do you think you need it?

lightstands need to be beefy. people may tip it over and you might get sued. off camera flashes? doesnt matter. I used an SB28 til it died recently. consider the YN565 or even a cheap 560III
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Let me put it this way, bluntly so: These folks are self-proclaimed rednecks having a tiny little wedding in their small country-like backyard. Great photos but aren't expecting AMAZING out of this world photos. Of course I will give them my best, no doubt, but I'm not going above and beyond with a lot more equipment than what I have (can't afford it yet, just bought the D800 a few months ago, still learning haha). I did rent a faster lens 24-70mm 2.8 and got a nice Manfrotto tripod. If it weren't for me, they'd probably just get someone to bring in a little cheapy Point and Shoot camera, ha. I still want to impress and get the experience in.

Reason I want to take the tripod is because there will be decorative lighting at night, but limited. I have a work light I am taking along, in case, because... why not. ha

Also I figured after carrying this thing around all day and still getting used to it, my hands will be getting a bit shaky towards the end of the night.

It may even rain around 7 PM.

Thanks for all of the awesome tips. Great info!!
 
R

rocketman122

Senior Member
kchromatic said:
Let me put it this way, bluntly so: These folks are self-proclaimed rednecks having a tiny little wedding in their small country-like backyard. Great photos but aren't expecting AMAZING out of this world photos. Of course I will give them my best, no doubt, but I'm not going above and beyond with a lot more equipment than what I have (can't afford it yet, just bought the D800 a few months ago, still learning haha). I did rent a faster lens 24-70mm 2.8 and got a nice Manfrotto tripod. If it weren't for me, they'd probably just get someone to bring in a little cheapy Point and Shoot camera, ha. I still want to impress and get the experience in.

Reason I want to take the tripod is because there will be decorative lighting at night, but limited. I have a work light I am taking along, in case, because... why not. ha

Also I figured after carrying this thing around all day and still getting used to it, my hands will be getting a bit shaky towards the end of the night.

It may even rain around 7 PM.

Thanks for all of the awesome tips. Great info!!
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What I will recommend is shoot your ass off. im not talking about machine gun spray but when you come to shoot, shoot 2+ pictures. the more people in the group the more you shoot. especially important pics like groom or bride dancing with family members. when doing family formals. take your time, be confident. shoot 2-3 pics, look at the screen, then continue and so forth. make sure its done right and adjust. youd be surprised and it has nothing to do with skill but ive shot family groups of 10 and more members. shoot 10-12 pics and 2 are useable because of funny faces, closed eyes, or attention wasnt to the camera. so shoot like crazy. many here will say shoot raw, personally, the tiny benift is minimal and if you want more peace of mind for editing and u have the storage space and processing power, by all means, please do.

if its outside in a backyard, consider bumping the iso a bit to 2500 so you mix ambient with the flash. grain is minimal and hardly noticeable. just overexpose by 1/3-1/2 stop. the screen isnt always accurate in the camera and usually shows more exposure than what the home monitor really is.

what flashes will you be using? btw, youre going in with one camera? I hope not. thats kamikaze. I have shot a wedding with one camera, but there was another stills photog who had 2 so we were set.
 
F

FastGlass

Senior Member
kchromatic said:
Let me put it this way, bluntly so: These folks are self-proclaimed rednecks having a tiny little wedding in their small country-like backyard. Great photos but aren't expecting AMAZING out of this world photos. Of course I will give them my best, no doubt, but I'm not going above and beyond with a lot more equipment than what I have (can't afford it yet, just bought the D800 a few months ago, still learning haha). I did rent a faster lens 24-70mm 2.8 and got a nice Manfrotto tripod. If it weren't for me, they'd probably just get someone to bring in a little cheapy Point and Shoot camera, ha. I still want to impress and get the experience in.

Reason I want to take the tripod is because there will be decorative lighting at night, but limited. I have a work light I am taking along, in case, because... why not. ha

Also I figured after carrying this thing around all day and still getting used to it, my hands will be getting a bit shaky towards the end of the night.

It may even rain around 7 PM.

Thanks for all of the awesome tips. Great info!!
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Your probably right. And if there was a diff in images, they probably would't notice anyway. Neighbor of mine has a family member with a camera. My neighbor thinks the family member is some great photographer. Till she saw the images I produce. Not saying i'm some great photographer but most people think because someone carries around something bigger than the "in the pocket " point and shoot the images are automatically better.
 
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