Low Light Wedding Photography?!!

meg27

TPF Noob!
Joined
Aug 22, 2005
Messages
116
Reaction score
5
Location
Chichester
Website
www.mojocreative.co.uk
Hi I am hoping for some advice,

I have agreed to photograph my friends wedding this week, I have photographed 2 other weddings before but they have been during the summer with lots of outdoors shots or in light marquees.

It has suddenly dawned on me that this wedding is going to mainly in very low lighting conditions, as the ceremony is not till 3pm and it starts getting dark here around 5pm I think...

I really hate to use the built in flash, completely flattens the pictures.

Is there anything I can do to help? I am dreading comming home with a load of blurry pictures!! Or flat 'flash' photography.

I am going to take my tripod, but still people will be moving won't they!?

:(

Any tips at all greatly appreciated!

Meg
 
Sounds like you'll need a proper flash, possibly even two, and associate equipment to make the best of it. At a minimum a hotshoe flash ought to help but for 'static' pictures I'd consider something off camera.

That set I don't think on cam flash has to appear 'flat' although I understand what your saying looking back at low light/flip up flash images from my brothers wedding I think they came out very well.

2793509762_2e6fb8792f.jpg
for instance.
 
I think your right. I am just about to order a Gary Fong Puffer Pop-Up Flash Diffuser... which should hopefully help. And I have been looking at external flashes, I have been recommended the Nikon SB-600 Speedlight but really don't think I can stretch to that for this, as it is just a favour, I am not getting paid!
 
My off cam flashes are Nikon SB20's - SB24's and 26's are also good choices all available second hand ( the 20's is a bare minimum really ).
 
My off cam flashes are Nikon SB20's - SB24's and 26's are also good choices all available second hand ( the 20's is a bare minimum really ).
Do you think something like an SB400 would work in a pinch for this or is it too weak or limited?
 
Let me through out the obvious - lower your aperture, shutter speed, and higher your iso. It really depends on how low of a lighting situation you're really in, but those things may allow you to not need the flash.
 
Last edited:
Do you think something like an SB400 would work in a pinch for this or is it too weak or limited?

sb400 is no better than your on camera flash... i'm shocked that you've done weddings in the past and you dont have external flash, you really need at least 1...(more would be better) you really need something for this wedding, as it sounds like your still learning how to shoot in low light... a wedding isnt the place to practice.. you need to be ready to shoot with no problems... I would strongly recommend getting an external flash...go to a pawn shop, they almost always have something... i use sb50's and they work great.. a nice 600 would be prime though, do you have the finances to get one???
 
Save your money on the fancy tupperware; go here instead and make your own for a few bucks,

ABetterBounceCard.com

Spend the money instead on an external flash that can be rotated and swiveled so you can bounce the flash off ceilings and walls. Invest in fast (large aperture) lenses. Fast fixed focal length lenses will usually be cheaper than fast zooms.

Practice with high ISO (shooting and processing) so you know how high you can go, and still get usable photos. I find looking at actual prints is better than pixel peeping. I recently got a dozen 8x12s that were shot at ISO 3200 and higher. At 100% magnification on screen there is noise, but the prints look amazingly clean. It's probably not appropriate for the formal posed portraits, but most other wedding photos (candids, ceremony, reception, etc...) are not going to be enlarged much more than 8x12 or so.
 
You could always try to get your friend to chip in for a good flash. At my first wedding, I had a friend shoot it as a favor, He only requested that we help him buy a flash. This was much cheaper than paying for a photog. You might not get a SB600 but it is worth a shot to offset some or all of the cost of a flash.

Another option would be to check into renting one.
 
I really hate to use the built in flash, completely flattens the pictures.

Is there anything I can do to help? I am dreading comming home with a load of blurry pictures!! Or flat 'flash' photography.

Any tips at all greatly appreciated!
This web site is a good source of information on how to use on-camera flash (external flash, not pop-up) effectively so that it doesn't looks like you used on-camera flash. The guy, Neil van Niekerk, is a wedding photographer and he uses on-camera flash all the time. The pictures speak for themselves.
 
I think your right. I am just about to order a Gary Fong Puffer Pop-Up Flash Diffuser... which should hopefully help. And I have been looking at external flashes, I have been recommended the Nikon SB-600 Speedlight but really don't think I can stretch to that for this, as it is just a favour, I am not getting paid!

I have botht the puffer and the light scoop. I MUCH prefer the lightscoop over the puffer. my 2 cents.
 
sb400 is no better than your on camera flash...
Is this because it can't be used manually, is weaker than the SB600 and can't be tilted sideways? It can still be bounced upward, recycles more quickly and it looks more powerful than the built-in flash.
 
Has the couple hired a professional to shoot alongside you? If not, I would definitely ask them to pitch in for an external flash, an SB-600 at the least.

I assume you also own some fast lenses? A 50mm F1.8 at the least?
 

Most reactions

Back
Top