I want ( one day) to shoot wedding and I want to assist with weddings to start.I own a nikon D70s. I have been taking photography classes. We did a mock wedding the other day. NO help! The teacher was to busy taking his own pictures. I know that different lighting is different settings but I also know that all the weddings photographers I have seen just shoot and go. I am guessing that the printing coumpany they use repairs their photo's. Also, What is a good printing coumpany to use?
What setting would you put your camera on if you were shooting a wedding?
You are really getting a broad range of answers here, some of which are very good, others... well....
It does sound like you need a better teacher. Also, if all the wedding photographers you have seen just "shoot and go" then I don't feel you have seen any really good ones.
Unfortunately, today too many brides are cheaping out and letting unskilled people shoot their wedding, with the expected results.
I have done weddings for several years, and still after every one, I feel I could have done this or that a little better.
A wedding is an ever changing event. I know of NO pro photographer who keeps his camera on AUTO. It might be useful for a quick shot where you have no time to think, but even then, the results can be risky.
I can only tell you "my" setup. For indoors with flash, I use Shutter Priority. I do what is called "dragging the shutter". That is, I set a fairly low speed to allow ambient light to enter into the scene. I usually have settings of Shutter at 1/30, (the camera selects aperture), ISO at 400, and my flash with EV value of +1. The flash will freeze anything other than fast action, which can actually look good to show movement. Here is an example of what I mean. The flash froze the dancer, but her dress is obviously in motion.
http://www.parrottimaging.com/-/parrotti...
I use a Canon, and when in shutter or aperture priority mode, the flash is actually acting as a fill light. So the photo will have a nice look without the harsh look of flash. I also use a Gary Fong lightsphere to soften and spread the light, and so I can avoid having to wrestle with using a flash bracket. These settings are more for the candid type of shots.
For posed shots, I will use Aperture Priority. Depending on how much DOF I need, I will usually set the f stop to f8 for group shots, again at ISO 400. I sometimes will use flash, sometimes not, but will usually always need a tripod.
Outdoors I will reduce the ISO to 100 and use Aperture Priority of f8 to f11.
Receptions may sometimes require higher ISO, something like 800 if I am trying to get a shot in darker ambient light, again usually using shutter priority if hand holding.
As for printing, I must strongly disagree about doing your own printing. The look is just not the same as a GOOD online lab, plus the cost in time, paper, and ink will add up very quickly.
I have used http://www.mpix.com for years for prints. However, with weddings, I create the album page designs in Photoshop, then have the pages printed as 11 x 14 inches. I use the Renaissance self mount albums which hold fourty 11 x 14 pages.
Actually, you can probably get as many different answers to this question as there are people answering it. I suppose what works ok for some would be unthinkable for others.
"MY" way is certainly not the holy grail of "wedding settings". It is just what works for me.
I have, however, seen lots of unhappy brides after they get their wedding photos because they let a friend or "Uncle Bob" do it, so I do wish more brides would give this aspect of their wedding much more serious thought than they are doing now.
A fancy camera does NOT make someone "a photograher".
steve
Reply:I would set fasers to stun, then hit on all the hot chicks.
Reply:auto @400asa.Look 2 test shots to see what you get.Anything above 400 asa and ehe noise starts to show(at least on my D70)
Reply:There is no setting to use for a wedding, other then keeping the ISO as low as possible.
It depends on so many factors, from portrait with a shallow depth of field, to group photo's, to the wedding itself. The reception is also important.
I assume you will do this in digital in the future. The beauty with digital is you can shoot to your hearts content. It is only limited by the digital storage you have.
I did wedding back in the film days with a medium format camera, 20 rolls of film with 20 photo's on each roll. That was the budget and that included the reception. Never 35 mm. Now with the advent of digital, I could take 1200 photo's without batting an eye or worrying about running out of film.
As far as not worry so much about the exposure, that is only marginally true. A bad exposure with digital is hard to work with and sometime impossible to make it right. The whites get blown out, the blacks turn gray and while it is far easier to get a decent print from a bad exposure with digital then film, nevertheless, it takes knowing the tricks of photoshop to do it.
Have you proofs done at walmart, cheap, and you can send the files to them via the net. Plus, the online walmart lab has their equipment calibrated better then the store labs. The finished product depends on what the customer wants. Walmart quality to state of the art digital reproduction that can cost $50 for an 8x10
My advice, learn how to use photoshop rather then depending on the lab. You have the image in your minds eye, the lab can only give a approximate representation of what that maybe.
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Life is so simple, but we insist on making it complicated
Confucius
551 - 479 BC
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Peace
Jim
Reply:sepia definitely
Reply:There are moments in a wedding when there is a need to set the camera on an auto setting for speed and flexibility and there are times when manual is the best call. I never had an automatic camera until the 90's and shot weddings since '77. I really enjoy being able to concentrate on other things sometimes and going auto!
Mpix, Millers, Dotphoto....lots of labs!
Reply:if you are asking this, I would set every thing to auto till you get more confidence with your camera or set the camera to "S" and set the speed to 80th sec to be on the safe side. you need to know your camara if before you start using it an "M" for work i think
This may help you with wedding stuff
http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/sM7PR1i_Op9...
and
http://f1.grp.yahoofs.com/v1/sM7PR_69SmZ...
good luck
Reply:any proffessional would without question measure the light prior to taking any and all pics, repairs to images take time and money to fix and cut into the photographers margin so are avoided, dont even try to go there, buy yourself a weston master light meter they are bomb proof and work
Reply:As a dedicated film user I just attach my Minolta X-700 (loaded with Kodak Portra 160NC film) with motor drive to my Minolta Power Grip II with my Minolta 360PX flash. Set the camera to Auto (aperture preferred) and the flash to TTL. Since the camera is metering the light from the flash directly off the film i know the exposures will be good. Usually I'll have my 85mm f1.7 lens attached and for most of the pictures it will be at f8 - unless I'm using bounce off a ceiling and then I'll open up a stop. Group pictures will be taken with either my 35mm lens or the 50mm, depending on the space I have to work with. At the reception I'll switch to my 28-85mm or 35-70mm zoom, again depending on the size of the room. If the ceiling is suitable for bounce flash I'll keep the f-stop at f5.6.
For pictures during the actual ceremony I'll use the XE-7 loaded with Kodak Portra 400NC film and the 70-210mm zoom and usually a monopod. I use this camera in case I decide to make a double exposure - perhaps a wide view at 70mm and then one of the couple at 210mm. The XE-7 also has one of the quietest shutters ever used on an SLR.
I use a pro lab for processing and printing. All prints have the roll number and frame number on the back. Any unacceptable prints are tossed and their negative X-ed out.
So that's how I do it. Hope this has helped in some way.
Reply:For shoot and go, outdoors for example, the best mode to be in is the auto-exposure mode with program shift, or programmed auto (P on your mode dial). I have found it to be the best general shooting mode to be in as you can just snap and go. If on the off chance you need to achieve a different effect, you simply shift the program. You can also use exposure compensation, and it is recommended that you also use auto ISO (especially if your D70s is like my D80 and you can choose a lowest shutter speed, highest ISO program). Shoot a custom WB, in the light you will be in most, and you're pretty much good to go unless your light changes. Indoors can be trickier, especially with suplimental light. If you're using studio lights or some other form of off shoe flash or strobe you want some ambient light to balance your main light so ulitilize your camera's slow sync capability (shoot in manual exposure) and choose a shutter speed of 1/30, perhaps 1/15 to get ambient bleed into your exposure (that way, it's not obvious you're using flash), use diffusion wherever possible and try not to shoot from the same position all the time.
I'm no pro wedding photographer, these are just things I've heard and read about. As far as the shoot and go ability, I shoot in programmed auto most of all the time.
Reply:Pic size Max 2560, quality tiff, try not to zoom as you can crop later, Microsoft have an excellent photo studio that you can use to repair your own pics, google has Picasso for free %26amp; its not bad either
Reply:Your question implies you need to learn the absolute basics of metering and exposure (inside out)... after you've mastered those it'll be time to get more principles on weddings - appropriate aperture / lens combinations to keep groups sharp, or to throw backgrounds out of sharpness on portraits.
Good wedding photographers DON'T just shoot and go - on the contrary, a decent one will juggle about 15 factors in their heads for every single image... and they will pay attention to any fluctuations in the lighting levels (if the sun goes behind clouds for example) at the same time. In fact it's the opposite - they DON'T work on automated settings and meter manually - aiming to get EVERYTHING perfect at the time of exposure.
I'm not impressed by the sound of your teacher - they ought to be teaching you surely? They should be covering all these issues and others including group composition, organisational strategy, posing, lighting strategies for different situations (indoor, outdoor, contra jour, reflectors, bounce flash, fill-in flash etc.)
Try this for exposure:
http://www.image-nut.com/spip.php?rubriq...
This for lighting tips:
http://www.image-nut.com/spip.php?rubriq...
This for quick tips - inc lighting:
http://www.image-nut.com/spip.php?rubriq...
Reply:Your right about the shoot and go, I have a Nikon D50, and have shot only one wedding in my life, and I was only a guest not the main photographer. There won't be a predetermined setting just for wedding shots the setting you pick will be entirely based on the situation. Is it indoor, outdoor, what is the lighting like, where is the sun, the style of wedding, is it traditional, is the bride in white or another color...
As far as printing companies you can print photos just as good at home with a photo printer, and in the age of information technology digital editing tools are right at your finger tips. If you take a ton of photos and want an easy way to edit and organize mass amounts quickly and professionally...then I would recommend getting Adobe Lightroom. The shots i took at the wedding were great to begin, but with Lightroom the difference is comparable to night versus day.
And if you are a student, you get a very nice discount
http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshopl...
All you can do is shoot weddings, and learn from your mistakes...and whatever you do don't be afraid to make mistakes. Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment.
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