Can some one tell me what aperture to use at a wedding this weekend?

radiorickm

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Well, I got your attention anyway, didn't I. (LOL)

If you have been on this forum for any time, you've probably read this or a similar question about 473,187 times. So, I have taken it upon myself to answer this question ONCE AND FOR ALL.

The answer is, ALL OF THEM .

We (me and my girlfriend who I have been teaching photography to) were invited this weekend to shoot a wedding as a 2nd shooter, not by the photographer, but by the family involved. It was a Native American-Jewish-Wicken- Country wedding. What a combination. The ranch is about 50 miles from the nearest town. I felt it appropriate to introduce us to the main photographer, so we stopped by his studio and introduced ourselves. During the wedding, we made EVERY effort to stay out of his way, and still get the shots we wanted. As a mater of fact, we did not even pass out business cards. When he as doing the "formal shots" we actually went away and sat down so he could do his thing.

I am not yet into the position to shoot competitively, so here was my set up for the event. Canon 40D, EF-S 70-300 (Kit) Lens, Oolong flash; Canon 50D EF-S 18-55 (Kit). Also had a "nifty fifty" EF 50mm 1.8 handy the whole time. My girlfriend was carrying a T1i, EF-S 55-250 IS lens (with her own EF-S 15-55 IS in reserve). Nothing hi-dollar here, just good solid equipment that we are very familiar with, and very comfortable using.

The wedding was SUPPOSED to start at 7:00 PM sharp. We arrived at 5:00 PM, an just got the pictures of the decorations and such before they were disturbed. The Groom's mother was MIA and over 45 minutes late. It worked out that it happened just about sunset, on the night of a full moon. Due to a raging forest fire about 20 miles away, there was large amount of smoke in the air, which diffused the sunlight very nicely and shooting was not that bad. Most of the pre-wedding shots were made in P(rogram) mode on the 50D (100 ISO) as we were moving rapidly from open sun, diffused sun, partial shade, and full shade; and TV on the 40D (400 ISO) to keep the shutter speed above 250 for the telephoto. Where I knew there would be issues, such as strong backlighting, I added Exposure-Compensation as necessary.

For the ceremony, I was actually able to stand behind the "preacher" and capture the expression on the bride and grooms face. I had the 18-55 on camera, and it worked out great because during the ceremony we were in deep shadow under the "smoke cloud" and right as they began, the sun came through and illuminated the surrounding mountains just beautifully. I knew the primary photographer couldn't deviate and include it easily, so I positioned myself to get the glowing mountains in a few shots.

After the primary guy did all the formals, and they got through all of the "toasts" it was going on dark-thirty. Dinner was served on a very long porch, under a couple of incandescent lights, but mostly clear "Christmas tree" lights wrapped around the porch. Trying to use the flash was a mess, so it was all available light-hand held (but braced). I think that's where I bumped up the ISO on the 50D to 400. Seems like shots were in the 1/4 to 1/8 second range under the very dim light.

The party moved around back into a barn for dancing. LOW light-need I say more. Bumped up the ISO to 1600 for some hand held shots full manual. The building had a NEW tin roof up about 20', so I was able to reasonably bounce flash off of it back onto the dance floor.

So, all throughout the day, things were changing and adjustments were necessary. Here's what I used in the end.

Quality: RAW
ISO: 100, 400, 1600
Exposure Mode: P, P+EC, TV, TV+EC, M
AF POINTS: ALL, #3, #5(Center), #8
Metering: Evaluative, Spot
Drive: Single Shot, Slow Continous, 2 second delay
FOCUS Mode: AI Servo, Single Shot
White Bal: Auto, cloudy, incandescent
 
Ever sit on your nuts?
 
"F/8 and don't be late", or something like that.
 
But neither you nor anyone else answered what aperture I should use at the wedding =I= have next weekend!

Right after I commit suicide for even THINKING I want to do a wedding! Or is it commit my self to the funny farm?
 
:raisedbrow:
 
It was a Native American-Jewish-Wicken- Country wedding.

That would be Wiccan! Might want to spell that right, some people get sensitive about such things... although most Wiccan's are pretty easy going! ;)

Look forward to seeing the images!
 
Have you got any pics ,Id like to see what you did.Interested in your thoughts of taking pictures of functions.

Im fixin to start taking pictures of functions at a place right around the corner from me .Im by far not a pro,But they liked my portfolio i have.Not much in it though,just 300 pictures of my camera tricks.lol


Id like to see some of your shots you did.
Thanks.
 
Have you got any pics ,Id like to see what you did.Interested in your thoughts of taking pictures of functions.

Im fixin to start taking pictures of functions at a place right around the corner from me .Im by far not a pro,But they liked my portfolio i have.Not much in it though,just 300 pictures of my camera tricks.lol


Id like to see some of your shots you did.
Thanks.

D4 (in your sig!)? Really? How you liking it?
 
'f8 and be there' was the press photographers' adage. I've found that to work as well as anything sometimes, but I don't know about in this case.

I learned to go early, stay late; but in this case I might have gone early, gotten my photos - and with losing daylight and Christmas tree bulbs, maybe would have been done for the night... Sounds like quite the adventure.
 
A few f/stop ditties that I am just now going to make up on the spot.

"f/2 gets rid of the bars at the zoo!"

"f/2.8 and don't be late!"

"F/4 and get in the door!"

"f/Five-point-six, and a lotta pretty chicks!"

"f/8 and don't hesitate."

"f/11 is landscapers heaven."

"f/16, and it focus everything from here to there and in-between."

"f/22, focus all the way through".
 
Is there any other .I was into low light taking .And that went on the way side .So the D4 is just setting to the side.lol

Im still playing with the D-4.It seems to be a good tool.

I buy cameras out of boardum,for something for me to do.They dont mean a thing to me at all.i use them and give them away to friends after a while.

Im on to a different thing
[h=2]AG-HPX600 P2 HD Camcorder with AG-CVF10 Color Viewfinder[/h]
 
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