Asked to do another wedding :/ Help

[Eventer]

Okay i did want to decline to be quite honest, but no im going bite the bullet, splash out, upgrade my gear and really try. (Again im going it for nothing, just experiance)

Currently have a Sony entry level and two kit lenses - 75-300mm and 18-70mm. The last wedding I borrowed an addictional camera with a 50mm 1.8

Im 18 so I dont really have a huge amount of money behind me and cant splash out too much. BUT Im thinking I will go for the Nikon D7000 and get a 50mm f/1.4 to begin with for the wedding and then have my sony and the big zoom aswell. If this isnt a good idea can someone advise me otherwise?

Then I was thinking, Do i need a flash? Im thinking yes but i really dont know where to begin with that sort of stuff - Ive only really focused on outdoor sports photography ive been a bit chucked in the deep end with portraits!
Can someone one point me in the right direction?

The same lady has also asked me to cover a 21st a few weeks prior - assuming the situtation i will definatly need a flash for this right?

Help - ANY advixce appreciated I have 2 months to get organised

 

[lyonsroar]

Anyone want some?

 

[Eventer]

Ha! Yeah another noob attempting weddings right?
Well reagrdless - Just wanting to know what is good gear for indoor portrait photography? and I dont know anything about flashes soo... - Advice?

 

[cnutco]

Flashguns are not really something you can just jump into. I hope you have enough time to get one and play with it.

I do say to buy the best flash your funds can handle. So, if you are getting the D7000, you might as well get the SB900. Jump in with both feet!

The best photos from a wedding that invole flash are the ones that you can not tell that a flash was used.

 

[Eventer]

Thanks! Sb900 sounds expensive lol - But ill look into it sounds worth it - Im hopng i have enought time to get used to it too

 

[Eventer]

E-TTL Speedlite flash for Nikon cameras - YN-465 | Trade Me thoughts on this? Cheap for a reason right?

 

[Kerbouchard]

You can get an SB800 used for around $300 and with the 5th battery, it actually recycles a bit faster than the SB900.

In any case, yes, you need flash. If you are going to go the Nikon route, you need an SB600 at the bare minimum although it is a bit under powered for a wedding.

I know I will regret this, but after you buy your new camera and flash, put the camera in manual, dial in 1/100th of a second shutter speed, an aperture of f/4, ISO 1600, change the exposure compensation on the flash to -2/3, leave it in TTL, point the flash at a wall or a ceiling slightly behind you, take a test shot, check the exposure, adjust flash, aperture, shutterspeed, flash angle, etc from there. That should get you in the ball park of a typical indoor, nighttime reception with ceilings that are less than 20 ft high and not painted black. And don't forget to turn off any beeping that your camera or flash makes.

Obviously, please, please try to show up at the venue a week or so prior and take some shots with a friend and post them up here with EXIF data attached so that you can get some feedback prior to the big day.

Regards,
George

 

[Nykon]

Im no pro here, but my suggestion is to get the SB900 (I own it, too), and get the D7000. Read the books so you know what it is capable of doing, then go out and just shoot pics of people. All the time! Friends, family, different environments, everything and anything! Do portraits for people for free to get your experience. Believe me, it pays off! Look at other pros and see what kind of pictures they are taking, learn what looks good or bad, find out what people like. I use a D90, 80-200mm f/2.8 lens, 18-105mm kit, 35mm f/1.8, and my SB900. I believe I take decent pics and people love them for being self taught. If you are the type to use post-processing, learn all you can about that as well! That takes longer to learn than taking pictures.

So for a conclusion to this, practice practice practice!

 

[Eventer]

Im looking into the sb800 and sb900 both seem pretty good - How would I go about diffusers etc? - Like i said ive only ever been outdoor sport, so new to this side of things!
As soon as i get the knew gear Im going to like you said Nykon, just take lots of photos of people! and try get used to it - definitely for free ill rally up some kids, teenagers/ firends and family shots etc ill try my hand at everything and hope im a fast learner!
im pretty good at reading manuals - so ill definatl read them thoroughly! do the flashes come with manuals? I hope so! lol

 

[Kerbouchard]

The thing about bouncing your flash off a wall or a ceiling is that you don't need a diffuser. The wall becomes your light source and you get a large diffused light coming back at your subject. Ideal for photography. If you pay attention to natural things to bounce your flash off of, you can probably get away with shooting most of the reception that way.

For the ceremony, you are on your own...ISO 1600 or the highest you feel comfortable with. Shoot wide open and pray for a shutter speed higher than 1/60th of a second. You probably won't get it, so just work on gently pressing the shutter and lay off the coffee in the morning. In any case, talk with the officiate before hand, flash probably won't be allowed for the ceremony and down south, it's kind of in bad taste anyway. Don't be disruptive, and try to get the key shots. If you miss one, since you are doing this for free, maybe ask the couple if they want to restage it. Don't make excuses, just say you didn't get the shot you wanted and were wondering if they want to have another go at it. If the couple doesn't know you aren't experienced and might make mistakes, you shouldn't be doing the shoot in the first place. If they do know, they should have no problem working with you when you do make them.

Now, for the formals, you are going to have trouble with just one speed light. It just isn't going to be powerful enough to light a large group. Your best bet for the formals is to find a place outside in open shade with a background that is not distracting and hopefully, also in shade. That way, the sky will be your main light source, the shade will block the harsh shadows caused by direct sun, and you can use direct flash from your speedflash to kind of add some pop. For that, you will want to dial the exposure compensation down to -2 or even further. Your camera settings will be about a half stop shy of under exposure for your subjects and the speed flash will just fill in the tad that is needed.

As far as a good place to learn, I would recommend reading all the topics covered on the right side of this link... http://neilvn.com/tangents/flash-photography-techniques/

Good luck to you. Oh, and save yourself some money. There really isn't a reason to get the 50mm 1.4 over the 50mm 1.8. It's not worth the extra price point at this point in your photographic journey.

 

[cnutco]

The thing about ISO... is to use the lowest setting as possible. And yes, learn how to master the bounce flash.

 

[Eventer]

Yeah the couple know I'm not a not a wedding photographer at all - I dont advertise it! but the bride was the hair dresser at the last wedding, that how she knew I did a wedding - She must have been happy with the results she saw. But i did emphasize im not a wedding photographer at all.

I like the bouncing flash of walls thing, I can see how that would work - There so different sort of difusers out there i wouldnt know where to start, but im glad i can get by without for now
I think the D7000 has a pretty good ISO thats where my other camera failed me a bit, it as soon as to get past ISO400 it was noticable so i missed alot of important shots i think.
Im worried for the ceremony i wont be able to get many good shots with the 50mm prime - Due to the lack of zoom etc, and having to remain undisruptive - my other camera with big zoom has a crappy as ISO which wouldnt cut it. Can I get by with the 50mm?

So for all the outdoor shots, use the flash there all the time there too? - Sorry if thats a dumb question - I assumed I would but what would I know!

Your right about the f1.8 thing too - I used a 1.8 at the last wedding and i found that DOF to shallow for alot of shots too - Will go for the 1.8 instead of the 1.4

 

[Kerbouchard]

Read the link I posted about how and when to use flash. It's a wealth of information for free and that way I don't have to regurgitate what is already out there. It was probably one of the most influential links when I was learning the basics.

And, no, you can't shoot an entire wedding with just a 50mm prime.

As far as the lenses go, you really need a 24-70 2.8, a 70-200 2.8, and a macro lens at the bare minimum to do it right. The cheaper version would be a 35-70 2.8 and an 80-200 2.8. Since that isn't in your budget, consider renting a 70-200 2.8 for the ceremony and formals, and do the reception with the 50mm 1.8 or a 35mm 1.8. A tripod wouldn't be bad to have, either in case the ceremony is darker than anticipated.

FWIW, since you didn't ask for this gig, AND you are doing it for free, AND they know you aren't a wedding photographer, I wouldn't be opposed to asking the bride if she will cover the rental for the 70-200 2.8. She knows you don't have the experience or the equipment and you are already making a pretty large financial outlay for a new camera body, flash, and lens. I think it would be reasonable for the couple to pay the rental fee for a lens that will make a world of difference in the final output.

 

[Eventer]

Ah yes sorry havent had time to read the link yet - Im at work!

Ahh yes those lenses look rarther nice - Unfortunatly i dont have enough for them and ive never been able to find a place that rents lenses here...

The onyl other lense i have it a 18-70 kit lens... which i dont think will quite cut it really!

 

[Kerbouchard]

I typed Lens Rental New Zealand into google and got 6,820,000 results. I have a feeling you may not have looked too hard about finding a place to rent lenses.

Honestly, I can't, for the life of me, figure out why I tried to condense years of experience, hundreds of books, thousands of photographs, a mentorship, and thousands of hours practicing into a single thread. I guess I just hoped you weren't the guy who just wanted to be spoon fed information about an event he agreed to shoot and was in over his head. I give up. Like I said in my first post, I knew I was going to regret this.

Good luck to you.