This is a continuation of "My first wedding" topic. Here is "Old City Chambers", where the actual wedding will take place. Any suggestions about how to take pictures? The ceiling is very high, so bouncing light off it is probably out of the question. The wedding will be in middle of the day, so the light would be very similar to what you see in the pictures.
My first wedding: registrar
- Thread starter Felisek
- Start date
Don Kuykendall_RIP
RIP :(
I bought one of these and it works great in high ceiling areas. YOu still point it up and just enough light goes to the front to just add enough light to fill in the shadows. I really like mine.
https://www.garyfong.com/products/lightsphere-collapsible-speed-mount
https://www.garyfong.com/products/lightsphere-collapsible-speed-mount
You'll be in luck if it's a bright sunny day outside. Looks like you still have room to up the ISO and get a decent shutter speed. I'm not sure if I would be using the 11-16 however, unless you have no choice. If you do go with that lens ,just remember to keep the vertical and horizontal lines straight as possible.
Another person using a Fong for situation like this.
Don, thanks for suggestion, I will have a look.
Blacktop, I only used 11-16 to show the entire room, I don't think I'm going to use it for the actual wedding. On the other hand, it make be useful to show the couple and all the guests in one shot. Or the couple and the room.
Blacktop, I only used 11-16 to show the entire room, I don't think I'm going to use it for the actual wedding. On the other hand, it make be useful to show the couple and all the guests in one shot. Or the couple and the room.
rocketman122
Senior Member
I dont know how the ceremony goes but do the couple stand/sit in chairs in picture 2/3? I only shoot jewish weddings and while Ive shot 2 christian wedding, this looks different so asking.
we do not have the same gear but its very clear how Id shoot this here. 2 light stands 12' high flashes running at 1/32-1/16 power. no battery packs needed. iso 3200 no problem at all. but im FF and here is the wall you will hit since youre DX. it seems you want to keep iso low and this will be a mistake. this is not film days and you should release yourself from the though of shooting at 400 iso.
the point is either you up the iso (youre not comfortable with), up the light in the room (not possible) or add tons of flash. but be aware, your flash will work very hard with low iso and recycling fast enough for multiple shots. you may miss critical shots. the answer? more than 1 flash on the camera.
heres how Id shot a typical situation like this and I do all the time.
2 light stand in the back raised high behind the seats. aimed towards the area between right after the 1st light in the picture (closest to us in the image-back of the room) it will bounce a bit to the back and mostly push it a bit more to the front. these 2 with one flash on the body as well. I now shoot in manual flash mode on camera. ttl may be better for you but you will need to use FEC
we do not have the same gear but its very clear how Id shoot this here. 2 light stands 12' high flashes running at 1/32-1/16 power. no battery packs needed. iso 3200 no problem at all. but im FF and here is the wall you will hit since youre DX. it seems you want to keep iso low and this will be a mistake. this is not film days and you should release yourself from the though of shooting at 400 iso.
the point is either you up the iso (youre not comfortable with), up the light in the room (not possible) or add tons of flash. but be aware, your flash will work very hard with low iso and recycling fast enough for multiple shots. you may miss critical shots. the answer? more than 1 flash on the camera.
heres how Id shot a typical situation like this and I do all the time.
2 light stand in the back raised high behind the seats. aimed towards the area between right after the 1st light in the picture (closest to us in the image-back of the room) it will bounce a bit to the back and mostly push it a bit more to the front. these 2 with one flash on the body as well. I now shoot in manual flash mode on camera. ttl may be better for you but you will need to use FEC
Don Kuykendall_RIP
RIP :(
I think there is. The thing I like about this is that the light goes in all directions. If you have ceiling to bounce off of you point it straight up like normal but due to the design part of the light goes straight to the subject so it help to fill in some of shadows that might be caused by the bounce. There are a number of YouTube videos on it that can give you some ideas of the different ways to use it.
Fat Fingers
Banned
This is the UK so you wont be using any flash because the registrars wont allow it ....would you want to anyway? do you want them to know you took 150 pics.....Its not just a bride and groom in there there are 100 people sitting facing you with kids and tears to photograph. You wont be setting up flash stands as there is probably another wedding 30 min before yours...and if you did you would need your PAT test certificates and pubic liability insurance ..same goes for the hotel ..oh what joy.
Looking down the aisle you will stand on the RHS so you can see the bride probably behind that rail , move the flowers a bit when no one is looking (it should be in your contract that you can do things like that if it affects the photography ) Stay behind the registrars eye line so you can move a bit. this assumes they will not do the wedding facing the congregation which is becoming more common and can catch you out.
Registrars get very upset if you "machine gun" as they call it and may ask you to leave so use a quiet camera preferably a D810..Some will restrict the photography to only coming down the aisle/rings/kiss others will not allow photos when anyone is speaking ( take the pic between the words !!! ) Photography of signing the register is not permitted by law so you will have to pose it up after. Some will allow photos if the lens is below table height. They will only sit to sign the register ..make sure the groom is on the brides RHS..move them if you have to ...I always use only one chair and make the groom stand. Make sure the groom is on the brides RHS when they come down the aisle and stop them for a kiss. Having the groom on the wrong side at any time is called "doing a Prince Charles" as he got it wrong at his wedding to Diana and is seen as bad luck.
Set your D7100 to f5,6 or 8 auto iso 200-6400 min 1/30 and off you go ..you will have no problem with the lighting unless of course there is a beam of sunlight across part of the couple !!!! Outside the service set shutter to 2 fps and take 2 or 3 of everything to avoid blinkers and tongue twitches.
18-xxx zoom essential to go from the whole couple to the ring finger. Primes or 55-xx not suitable. If using an on camera flash on the shoe only do landscape and crop later or you will get terrible side shadows difficult to remove from patterned wallpaper backgrounds !! Shoot in RAW and JPEG with sharp at at least +7. Expect to take 800-1000+ pics.
Looking down the aisle you will stand on the RHS so you can see the bride probably behind that rail , move the flowers a bit when no one is looking (it should be in your contract that you can do things like that if it affects the photography ) Stay behind the registrars eye line so you can move a bit. this assumes they will not do the wedding facing the congregation which is becoming more common and can catch you out.
Registrars get very upset if you "machine gun" as they call it and may ask you to leave so use a quiet camera preferably a D810..Some will restrict the photography to only coming down the aisle/rings/kiss others will not allow photos when anyone is speaking ( take the pic between the words !!! ) Photography of signing the register is not permitted by law so you will have to pose it up after. Some will allow photos if the lens is below table height. They will only sit to sign the register ..make sure the groom is on the brides RHS..move them if you have to ...I always use only one chair and make the groom stand. Make sure the groom is on the brides RHS when they come down the aisle and stop them for a kiss. Having the groom on the wrong side at any time is called "doing a Prince Charles" as he got it wrong at his wedding to Diana and is seen as bad luck.
Set your D7100 to f5,6 or 8 auto iso 200-6400 min 1/30 and off you go ..you will have no problem with the lighting unless of course there is a beam of sunlight across part of the couple !!!! Outside the service set shutter to 2 fps and take 2 or 3 of everything to avoid blinkers and tongue twitches.
18-xxx zoom essential to go from the whole couple to the ring finger. Primes or 55-xx not suitable. If using an on camera flash on the shoe only do landscape and crop later or you will get terrible side shadows difficult to remove from patterned wallpaper backgrounds !! Shoot in RAW and JPEG with sharp at at least +7. Expect to take 800-1000+ pics.
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Thanks a lot! There is a lot of things to digest. I have no idea what side the bride should be and I'm not sure if this particular B&G know about it. I will ask.
When viewing the room I had an impression that there is enough natural light and I might get away without flash. You have a valid point about setting up lights on stands: there might be no time for this is there is another wedding just before.
When we were viewing the hall, the lady who showed us in checked that the registrar wasn't assigned yet, so we couldn't ask about what is permitted and what is not yet. I will certainly do it later on.
Fat Fingers
Banned
The bride is always on the grooms left arm ....this is the UK what is done at weddings is not influenced by the War of Independence when everything was changed to be opposite to what George 111 wanted , beware what is correct in the US is not correct in the UK
from where you are taking the photographs the brides people are on the right and the grooms on the left .
the bride goes down the aisle on her fathers right arm ...that is the only right thing in a wedding (not done that way in the USA)
I PMd you my phone number but you did not ring
from where you are taking the photographs the brides people are on the right and the grooms on the left .
the bride goes down the aisle on her fathers right arm ...that is the only right thing in a wedding (not done that way in the USA)
I PMd you my phone number but you did not ring
Thanks again for explanations.
I prefer to discuss things on the forum, so everyone can benefit from the answers.
Fat Fingers
Banned
If I gave you a tutorial on posing based on the pictures you have posted I would no doubt upset someone ..eg your b&g picture ...where is the engagement ring ?? Somewhere around the back of the groom ....Why ?? you stood them the wrong way around...Wedding photography is having an eye for detail..like your camera bag in one photo you posted and a horrible air conditioner in another .
You need to buy a 18-140 not 18-200/300 its the best and cheapest at £200 and leave it on your camera for the whole wedding ..non of the lenses you list are suitable .You need to buy it now and use it a lot before the wedding or you will find the fine focus will drift during the wedding as it runs in ....
You need to buy a 18-140 not 18-200/300 its the best and cheapest at £200 and leave it on your camera for the whole wedding ..non of the lenses you list are suitable .You need to buy it now and use it a lot before the wedding or you will find the fine focus will drift during the wedding as it runs in ....
All the pictures I posted in these threads are only to show the venues. There was no posing, no proper light, no correct framing and so on. These are not rehearsal photos! I just took a few snapshots with the widest angle to show most of the room. And yes, I'm glad someone pointed out that air-conditioner, because I will remember it when taking wedding photos.
Thank you for your suggestion, but I'm not buying the 18-140. I already have two good quality lenses covering this range and I would find no use for it in future.
Just to explain: I'm doing this wedding for our friends, for free. They know I'm not a pro and they don't expect professional quality photos. They are more than happy with good snapshots. Also, I'm going to have help from another Nikonites member, and I'm going to borrow D610 with some lenses. We are going to have four bodies and a good selection of lenses and light together.
Thank you for your suggestion, but I'm not buying the 18-140. I already have two good quality lenses covering this range and I would find no use for it in future.
Just to explain: I'm doing this wedding for our friends, for free. They know I'm not a pro and they don't expect professional quality photos. They are more than happy with good snapshots. Also, I'm going to have help from another Nikonites member, and I'm going to borrow D610 with some lenses. We are going to have four bodies and a good selection of lenses and light together.
Fat Fingers
Banned
Excellent all organised then .good luck and we look forward to a selection of your best shots from the day.