Semi-pros wedding nightmare

[BLINN]

Hi all, I have been not been shooting weddings for long however they are picking up.(5 wedding in past 5 months) I do however have a wedding at the end of this month and I am very nervous about it. I live in northern Ontario and it gets dark early, I'm talk like 4:45pm. The clients are getting married at 7pm and the cerimony is to be candle lit only. They don't want many traditional formal shots however they do want some out in the snow. (Yeah and the pitch black) I do not have a studio and said they are very happy only getting candid shots from their reception. Do any of you have techniques to help me shoot in these poor (no light) light conditions. I am shooting with a Canon 300D 420ex flash with bracket and tripod. I will be test shooting at 7pm this weekend to see what kind of results I will get. These clients were very happy with their engagement photos, and are expecting the same quality of photos for their wedding. Any help would be great. Thanks.:banghead:

 

[emayd]

Hi, may be it help you.

Put candle view inside cadr frame. Turn over camera with flash. Put smal reflector somewhere on bottom. Point flash on this reflector. Do two(or) more shuts with different exposure. One for faces another for candles and combine two pictures in PS.

 

[LizM]

Part of doing this kind of work is occasionally having to tell clients "you're f----ing nuts!". Maybe not in those words but you get the idea. Photography has its limits and a big part of those limits is light. Photography is light and what they are wanting combines low light with live subjects...and live subjects NEVER stand still enough.

If they want the shots to look like their engagement photos they will probably have to re-create the ceremony with better lighting to suppliment the candles. You will still be able to capture the candles and it won't look like your great-aunt Matilda's snapshots from last Christmas!

 

[ajmall]

i agree with liz on this one. obviously is hard asking someone to change plans for their wedding but if they want decent photos and no doubt a lot of them then they will need to have more than candle light

 

[craig]

Test shots will be a must. Bring a couple of friends holding candles. Concentrate on slow or rear flash exposures. This will provide a good mix of available light and flash. Try a white card for bounce. Seems to me that there are plenty of moments when people are standing relatively still.

Looking at the shoot as a nightmare may be the wrong approach. Look at it as a challenge. You will get some dramatic effects. Not a lot of people have night shots in there wedding portfolio, so that will help you down the road. I imagine there is a good a reason why they want there wedding at night outdoors. I would not stray from that. We are hired on our ability to photograph an event or whatever. Asking the client to change the concept is fully out of the question.

I can not wait to see the results.

I should also mention that I have never shot a wedding.

 

[BLINN]

Thanks for all you ideas and support. I do look at this as a chanllenge however it is a nightmare. I normally take many shots (like hundreds) and I know that I will get some very nicely composed shots. I had a final consultaion with these clients and they are not expecting much as far as photos goes. It still baffles me why they paid $1000.00 for me to shoot what they want, but I do intend to rock their socks off with at least one or two out of this world shots. The wedding is on Dec 30th, I will post some pre and post PS shots in the early newyear. Once again thanks. Oh and emayd I have no idea what you are talking about...maybe you can repost. Thanks again. MB

 

[peterjshearer]

Our first wedding was in January in the UK, gets dark around 4pm, and the wedding was at 4pm !

Full of enthusiasm we ran tests using 400 asa film, showed to B&G who said they were great and no problems with grain. Shot the wedding (technically challenging), presented the shots and guess what? B&G thought too grainy !!!!!

Lesson learnt test, test, show B&G, explain carefully to B&G any issues. And lastly if any doubt avoid !

We did learn a lot, first wedding in the dark, second on very wet day showed us that its not in the least easy !

 

[Rob]

That's what I get my Carl Zeiss T* f1.4 85mm out for. You've got some challenges there, but as mentioned, practise first. (not on a wedding!!)

Can I make a recommendation for a shot? Get a table and sit bride and husband at the table. They should be at about 45deg to each other with both elbows on the table, rings showing, and looking at each other slightly and smiling. Lots of candles on the table, but not in the shot. I reckon that'd look great!

Good luck and post your results (if you're allowed).

Rob

 

[markc]

Test shots will be a must.

Agreed, and I'd do it before the day arrives. Try a variety of techniques and see which work and when.

I'm not sure what your skill level is, but...

If you want the entire environment lit with only candles as available light, you'll need several flashes/strobes on stands. Don't put your main light source on the camera or the lighting will look horrible, and don't rely on just the built-in flash.

Try some shots using a fast prime lens, like a 50mm f1.4 or an 85mm f.18, and no flash. You'll have to adjust the color balance, but you should get some romantic shots.

Try the above with just a little fill-flash.

Make sure you record what you did in a notebook (I'm horrible at this) so you know exactly what you did for each shot. What worked and what didn't? A lot is going to depend on the equipment you have available. If you just have a zoom lens and an on-camera flash, it's going to be very hard to get good results.

 

[ShutteredEye]

Good luck!!

You can probably get some really cool "ghostly" looking shots, and candles make great star filter shots. LOL.

I'd definitely get some test shots and SHOW them to the B&G so they know what the shots will be like.

You can rent strobes and such for the weekend down here in the States, maybe up there too?