Oh no..? Yep, I've done it...

[misstwinklytoes]

Well, I can't afford to buy the 580 for sure. There's just no way (and I'm not making much off this wedding and only anything because she offered). I could theoretically buy the sunpak. I'd love to take you up on your offer, but I'm horribly paranoid about breaking the flash. Not so much me as the USPS.

I am going to try to buy a tripod (for wedding portraits), that flash, and an extra memory card as well as rent the lens I mentioned. That pretty much takes up all the $ I'll be making. I'll probably try to get a reflector and diffuser too.

 

[pbelarge]

The offer stands if you change your mind.
I am not so attached to anything material in my life, just the people...:mrgreen:

 

[misstwinklytoes]

I really appreciate it and I will definitely keep it in mind!

 

[Robin Usagani]

keep looking on CL too. I bought my 550ex for $240.

 

[misstwinklytoes]

I don't really do CL. I'm too paranoid. I am afraid I don't know how to pick out a good deal.

 

[timlair]

keep looking on CL too. I bought my 550ex for $240.

FacePalm...I payed that much for a 430...

 

[Robin Usagani]

I don't really do CL. I'm too paranoid. I am afraid I don't know how to pick out a good deal.

How to pick a good deal:

1. Login to ebay
2. search for the item
3. click completed items.

Since the seller wont pay for shipping, listing fee, and paypall fee.. i would try to get it lower than what the price usually is on ebay. And the best part is you get it right away and you can try it to make sure it is in good working condition.

 

[misstwinklytoes]

I don't have a local CL. Closest is a couple hours away.

 

[k10387]

saw this just posted on Boston CL, Canon 580EX =$270

 

[misstwinklytoes]

If only I could check it out and had $270. My husbands car just died. Literally about an hour ago. Yay.

Thanks for looking and thinking of me though!

 

[djacobox372]

I would plan to shoot as wide of aperture as possible, a 85mm at f1.8 would be ideal.

You'll want to do whatever you can to isolate the bride and groom from that horrible bomb-shelter looking of a church. :-0

 

[ababysean]

^^^^^what they said^^^^^

 

[bigtwinky]

If finances are an issue, I would skip out on the tripod for the wedding. I have never used one nor have I ever seen one used (my wife is half italian, so I have been to way too many weddings). Its just not practical. Pick a good spot outside for the group shots with good light, open shade. Don't worry about a tripod. You will have a fast shutter speed. If your shutter speed is too slow, people will be moving in the image and be blurry, and thats nothing a tripod can do to help.

As its your first wedding, first event shoot, you dont know your equipment, are renting a lens, using a flash for the first time... I'd also skip out on the diffuser and reflector. If I had to chose, get a reflector. If you dont have an assistant, look at getting a stand for the reflector (although husband as assistant can be fairly cheap )

The thing with the flash is that you can work in manual mode. You just have to take test shots to work out your settings. Again, hopefully with an assistant so you can practice on real people. But your best bet is a flash with TTL. While they are more expensive, it will help alot as the camera and flash will work together to establish what to do. You control camera settings and then the flash exposure compensation.

Do not get bogged down by your gear. Gear is important, but really, if you are focusing too much on getting new things and trying to use them, you wont have much time for the actual picture taking.

Focus on finding good places with good light to take the pictures. Again, open shaded areas outdoors work very well. Watch your background so that you dont have too much sky (which can make a blow out).

My first wedding I was also thinking gear overload. I kept it simple. I had a variety of lenses, had a 430EX II flash and thats it. No tripod, no diffuser / reflector...I was able to concentrate more on composition and making the B&G have fun and smile than where to place the reflector and what power setting to put the flash to.

Dont forget you will also be moving from one place to another. Pictures of them walking can be candid and nice as well. But if you have to run back to grab your gear, close it up, pick it up and move it, then drop it when you see a photo op, pick it up again... it just aint gonna work

 

[misstwinklytoes]

Thanks again for everything guys.

Wouldn't it be hard to use that 85mm in such a small church? I know that's a question that's probably "stupid", but I just figure if I have 2 sets of B&G up there it's gonna be hard to get both of them.

 

[Village Idiot]

Forget about using manual especially if you are still really new with flash. I would use TV mode and set it to 1/60 shutter speed. Set the ISO to 400. Use your flash on E-TTL mode if you have external flash. If you dont , then use your built in flash. Use the 1/60 shutter speed only when your subject arent really moving (standing at the altar). If they start to move around, change it to 1/200.

By doing that, you only have to worry about 1 thing, shutter speed. Dont use the P mode, your shutterspeed will be too slow at most scenarios.

If it's in TV, the aperture is going to fluctuate. Better to set it for manual and be able to adjust what you need to on the fly and let your flash do the rest of the work.