suggestions

[zsteph07]

Any pointers on how to zone my camera at a church setting .. I am a Beginner

 

[ADavis85]

First: Please clarify your question...specifics!

Second: This is not really the correct section for this. I'm sure you plan on taking pictures of people in the aforementioned church, however this is the Galleries section. May want to re-post in the Digital Q&A section.

 

[LuckySe7en]

What gear are you working with?
Does the church allow flash?
Do you even have a flash?
Why am I hungry when I just ate lunch?

 

[zsteph07]

What gear are you working with?
Does the church allow flash?
Do you even have a flash?
Why am I hungry when I just ate lunch?

Nikon D3100 ...

 

[WhiskeyTango]

What gear are you working with?
Does the church allow flash?
Do you even have a flash?
Why am I hungry when I just ate lunch?

Chinese food?

OP: What do you mean by "zone?"

Are you talking about shooting the officiant on the alter from the pews, or are you talking about shooting the Men's Club in the cafeteria, or the choir during practice, or the 1st grade catechism class? What options do you have for lenses and/or lighting?

 

[zsteph07]

Chinese food?

OP: What do you mean by "zone?"

Are you talking about shooting the officiant on the alter from the pews, or are you talking about shooting the Men's Club in the cafeteria, or the choir during practice, or the 1st grade catechism class? What options do you have for lenses and/or lighting?

For my daughters baptism... I have a Nikon D3100 and standard lens and also a 200 mm lens ... Inside the church while and after the ceremony

zsteph07

 

[zsteph07]

For my daughters baptism... I have a Nikon D3100 and standard lens and also a 200 mm lens ... Inside the church while and after the ceremony

zsteph07

I mean to how to set it up... Shutter speed and aperture .. Iso or Wb .. Im having trouble with that and all kinds of indoor light

zsteph07

 

[DiskoJoe]

A lens with a wider aperture would be really useful in this situation. Churches tend to have low bad lighting. But with your current set up I would say raise the ISO up and it should help you get a fast enough shutter speed to get a decent shot. I would say try around 800 iso, aperture as wide as you can get. Try to see if you can get a shutter speed around 1/60 at least.

 

[Mach0]

I vote for some new glass. Maybe the 50 1.8g? That should help you some. Churches can be dim.

 

[mcap1972]

It all depands on the light. If it's dark go with high ISO.

 

[LuckySe7en]

quickly run out and grab a 50mm 1.8 it should get you close enough on a crop sensor. You don't have enough light on that 200mm and you would have to be pretty far to get decent shots.
I would keep iso at 400 is possible, if not 800, no higher than that. I suspect a lot of movement and even at 1/60 you'll get blur. Try 1/80 or 1/100 if you can get away with it. It all depends on your lens. The kit lens will result in crap pics unless you can use flash. Then that just moves into another question, are you using bounce flash or pop-up?

 

[WhiskeyTango]

For my daughters baptism... I have a Nikon D3100 and standard lens and also a 200 mm lens ... Inside the church while and after the ceremony

zsteph07

I mean to how to set it up... Shutter speed and aperture .. Iso or Wb .. Im having trouble with that and all kinds of indoor light

zsteph07

"Standard" could be any one of several "kit" lenses, but I'm guessing you mean the 18-55 f/3.5-5.6.

As far as I know, there are only a couple of fixed focal length 200mm lenses for Nikon. One is an f/2.0 and the other is an f/4.0. The f/2.0 is a $6k lens. The f/4.0 is a $1,600 lens. If you've got either, it's the lens you'll want for during the ceremony.

I'm guessing, completely by the nature of your questions, however that those aren't the lenses you have. I'm guessing you have another variable aperture zoom that goes to 200 (like the Nikon 55-200 or 18-200).

Assuming your choices are the 18-55 or the 55-200, you're most likely going to want the 55-200 for during the ceremony and the 18-55 for after.

Depending on the church, you're probably going to want to shoot at ISO 800 minimum, and might need to go as high as 3200. I don't have personal experience with the D3100. I think you'll seeing noise in the images at 800, getting rough at 1600, and be fairly nasty at 3200 without post-processing noise reduction. Again, though, I don't have personal exp with that camera.

If you're comfortable in manual mode, shoot at the slowest shutter speed you can. Use a tripod or monopod if its available. Use the widest aperture your lens will allow for whatever focal length your at (i.e. f/5.6 at 200mm).

Shoot RAW and leave white balance in Auto.

If budget allows, consider getting better lens(es). Look for constant f/stop zooms like the 24-70 f/2.8 or the 70-200 f/2.8. Those are very pricey. If budget doesn't allow for that, look at the 50mm f/1.8G for about $200 or the f/1.4 for $450. You'll need to get close, but you'll be able to shoot much lower ISO.

 

[DiskoJoe]

^^^
I am almost certain she has the 55-200mm for a 3100.