Another wedding post!

[kathyt]

This is one I took in low light at a fam. memb. wedding. They are very grainy
IMG_6554 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Your ISO was 6400.

 

[Stacylouwho]

Before I started doing weddings I was a second shooter for a long time. Before I was a second shooter I would say I was relatively strong in my skills, and I was able to produce consistent results in most situations. Now a few years later I am still challenged with each wedding that I shoot. Experience is the best advice I can give you, and at this point you do not have it. If I were you I would hold off on shooting this one and take the time to gain the experience you need and then maybe consider weddings in the future.

I understand where you are coming from as I have read a lot of wedding posts on here. I love your work by the way... I am not going to claim to be a wedding photographer by any means.. I am just doing this for a friend and I know I can do a better job than the people she was going to hire. She really would like to not spend 800$ on a photographer with unimpressive work. I already told her I would do it, and I still have a while to prepare.

 

[Stacylouwho]

This is one I took in low light at a fam. memb. wedding. They are very grainy
IMG_6554 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Your ISO was 6400.

What should I have done different with low light and no flash?

 

[kathyt]

This is one I took in low light at a fam. memb. wedding. They are very grainy
IMG_6554 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Your ISO was 6400.

What should I have done different with low light and no flash?

Thank you for the compliment. without a flash? Hmmm, you have some light there. Your camera was most likely set to evaluative metering. I would have repositioned them, to the best of my ability, with their faces closest to the main light source and then spot metered directly off their faces. Then I would have filled in the shadows in post. It would be a dramatic image, but I tend to like those. Here is your problem though. If you have to reposition your bride and groom for every shot that you are incapable of getting because of lack of technical skills and/or lack of proper gear, then you are going to miss those authentic moments. Your roll throughout the day should be to capture the moments as they unfold and not interfere with the flow of the day.

 

[jowensphoto]

Grain isn't always the enemy! I honestly love it, and never shoot below ISO400.

 

[Stacylouwho]

I just recently purchased an external flash and I didn't want to use the on camera one because I thought it would be too harsh. I know what you are saying. I am just trying to figure out what things I would need and so it can go as smoothly as possible. And I know I still have a lot of learning to do.

 

[Stacylouwho]

Grain isn't always the enemy! I honestly love it, and never shoot below ISO400.

I guess it is perception. I saw a prof. photog. website and they were legit! lol Most of their shots were grainy... I was like WHAT.....?.?... but some people do love it! I do to a certain extent. but I really like to get em as clear as I can.

 

[tirediron]

Before I started doing weddings I was a second shooter for a long time. Before I was a second shooter I would say I was relatively strong in my skills, and I was able to produce consistent results in most situations. Now a few years later I am still challenged with each wedding that I shoot. Experience is the best advice I can give you, and at this point you do not have it. If I were you I would hold off on shooting this one and take the time to gain the experience you need and then maybe consider weddings in the future.

I understand where you are coming from as I have read a lot of wedding posts on here. I love your work by the way... I am not going to claim to be a wedding photographer by any means.. I am just doing this for a friend and I know I can do a better job than the people she was going to hire. She really would like to not spend 800$ on a photographer with unimpressive work. I already told her I would do it, and I still have a while to prepare.

That puts rather a different light on it. $800 is not much of a budget for a wedding photographer. Is it a case of the couple can genuinely not afford to spend the money, or that they have a totally unrealistic expectation of what a quality wedding photographer costs?

 

[Vtec44]

Grain isn't always the enemy! I honestly love it, and never shoot below ISO400.

I like grain. Chroma noise on the other hand is ugly.

 

[Stacylouwho]

That puts rather a different light on it. $800 is not much of a budget for a wedding photographer. Is it a case of the couple can genuinely not afford to spend the money, or that they have a totally unrealistic expectation of what a quality wedding photographer costs?[/QUOTE]

They have seen quality work, one of our mutual friends just got married and had a great photographer. I think she was going for small $ because there is not a large budget for the wedding. They would have probably spent it if I were not involved.

 

[gsgary]

For some reason it won't let me upload a previous picture from a family members wedding. They had an outdoor wedding, but the pictures were super grainy. I am going to see if I can get it on here so you know what I am talking about. Anyway.. thanks for all the advice! very helpful!

It was probably super grainy because your exposure was way off

 

[gsgary]

Grain isn't always the enemy! I honestly love it, and never shoot below ISO400.

I always though you got grain in film :er:

 

[Stacylouwho]

For some reason it won't let me upload a previous picture from a family members wedding. They had an outdoor wedding, but the pictures were super grainy. I am going to see if I can get it on here so you know what I am talking about. Anyway.. thanks for all the advice! very helpful!

It was probably super grainy because your exposure was way off

So what settings would you have used for the shot I had?

 

[TCampbell]

The T3i isn't so much a problem. I've done lots of weddings and I wouldn't cringe at the thought of a T3i. I'd cringe at the thought of not having a POWERFUL external speedlite and the right lenses.

But weddings aren't JUST about equipment. If that were true it wouldn't matter what photographer you hired as long as they had a cameras and lenses with at least four significant digits in the price tag.

Weddings are about knowing the flow of the event, anticipating them, knowing what settings work best for "what's coming up next" and having the camera dialed in before you even raise the viewfinder to your eye. It's like a sport... the athletes aren't reading the rules of the game while they're out on the court/field... they've got the rules ingrained in their brains and their bodies are trained to respond like "muscle memory" without really thinking about it -- a reflex action.

I'm sure a lot of sports teams would rather not pay hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars to sign a pro athlete when some kid would take the job for free or minimum wage. But since the team wants to win and winning is what brings in the fans, they know they have to pay the athlete what they're worth. They can't pack the seats if all their team ever does is get creamed.

Couples on a budget have this impression that they can save money by getting a friend to take their wedding. These things .... usually don't end well.

Honestly... every time I hear of a couple who decided to save a few bucks by getting a friend (who isn't an experienced wedding photographer) shoot their wedding... they're disappointed. I have yet to hear of even a SINGLE experience where a bride said "I asked my good friend to shoot my wedding because I couldn't afford to hire a pro... and OH MY GOD did those pictures ever turn out fabulously!!!!!"

That's why the "I've never shot a wedding before but my friend asked me to be their photographer" threads get such reactions -- not just here -- on EVERY photography forum.

 

[Stacylouwho]

I know.. I have read many of them. If you knew just how laid back these guys are... I told her I wouldn't do it by myself. I will have help but guess I shouldn't have posted when I see the same thing over and over again. My bad. I have already agreed to it. And I am going to prepare myself for it and that's all I can say and do. They know I am not really experienced like a lot of the pros on here but everyone has to start somewhere right.. I want to do portraits mainly, weddings were not on the agenda. But I am willing to do it for her big day..