Wedding on Saturday

mortallis288 · Mar 4, 2008

I just found out that I am shooting a wedding on Saturday, and this will be my first wedding ever. I have 2 D-80s, 1 film camera, a 50mm 1.8, 2 Nikon 18-135, a 70-300 (quantaray), and a 18-75. I do not have a flash, and i cannot afford one. I am doing this pro bono. This is for family and they know i am not professional but i am wondering will I be ok with the equipment i have? Also, what about poses? Does anyone have a link where i could find some poses?

Big Mike · Mar 4, 2008

The equipment sounds fine.

It will really depend on the location as to how you can and will want to shoot. If it's dark, then stick to your 50mm F1.8 and crank the ISO as needed.

As for poses...I'd suggest you just browse wedding photography sites or magazines etc. Cut out or print the ones that you find interesting and use those as a guide.

mortallis288 · Mar 4, 2008

Thanks!

Peanuts · Mar 4, 2008

Ditto what Mike said, except I would highly highly highly recommend at least renting a flash or borrowing one from a friend. Even if you aren't familiar with how to use one - a 'flashy' looking image is better then a blurred one (I am thinking getting ready in the deep pits of a dank dark and stormy hotel room, even their family portraits)

mortallis288 · Mar 4, 2008

good news, i found a flash of my dads that ends up working on the D80, and old Konica flash works for it. Imagine that, i guess the photo gods love me. Now i just need to learn to use it...

jwkwd · Mar 4, 2008

Not throw a fly in your ointment, but I would do some research on the trigger voltage on the Konica flash, and using it with the D80. Worst case scenario, fried camera.

JIP · Mar 4, 2008

jwkwd said:
Not throw a fly in your ointment, but I would do some research on the trigger voltage on the Konica flash, and using it with the D80. Worst case scenario, fried camera.

I was just typing pretty much the same thing before I moronically deleted my very large post. You will also have to chech the pins on the bottom of your flash if there is more than one and they do not match your camera's contact you should not mount it to your camera again. Also I think an event like this is NOT a place to test out unfamiliar skills. You really need to figure out how by hook or by crook to get youself a Nikon-dedicated flash. A possible suggestion if you get totally desperate might be to go to your local big-box Wally-mart type place you know he one that has the very flexible return policy and sort of "borrow" a nice SB-800 and when you are done return it I really think omething like this is THAT important. If you go to a wedding especially this time of year you will be surprised how quickly you run out of light and if you are new at it you don't want to worry about stumbling your way through manual flash when you have so many other things to worry about when you are shooting a wedding.

Double H · Mar 4, 2008

jwkwd said:
Not throw a fly in your ointment, but I would do some research on the trigger voltage on the Konica flash, and using it with the D80. Worst case scenario, fried camera.

Yep, you need one of these: http://www.adorama.com/Reviews/pwr/...in-SSHSHS-Safe-Sync-Hot-Shoe-to-Hot-Shoe.html

Also, get good at boucning that vivitar off the ceiling or rear-wall.

AspiringArchitect · Mar 4, 2008

JIP said:
A possible suggestion if you get totally desperate might be to go to your local big-box Wally-mart type place you know he one that has the very flexible return policy and sort of "borrow" a nice SB-800 and when you are done return it I really think omething like this is THAT important.

It's people like you who ruin stores return policies.:thumbdown: to you.

mortallis288 · Mar 4, 2008

the pins set up is the same, it has three pins that match correctly to the D80 pin setup. and where would i find the trigger voltage?
Also, should just not use a flash? being a college student money is REALLLY tight and i have no altnerative, even buying one from a wally world is out of the question.

mortallis288 · Mar 4, 2008

The flash is a Sunpak auto 422 D thyristor

JIP · Mar 4, 2008

AspiringArchitect said:
It's people like you who ruin stores return policies.:thumbdown: to you.

I never actually said I did that just recommended it but really I do anything I can to stick it to Wally-mart

mortallis288 · Mar 4, 2008

ok, so what i have found so far is that the d 80 says

" Use only Nikon Speedlights. Negative voltages or voltages over 250 V applied to the accessory shoe could not only prevent normal operation but damage the syn circuitry of the camera. Before using a Nikon Speedlight not listed in this section, contact a Nikon-authorized service rep for more information."

http://www.nikonusa.com/pdf/manuals/noprint/D80_noprint.pdf (page 19)

and what i found on the sun-pak flash is that it is about 6v-12v
http://www.botzilla.com/photo/strobeVolts.html

So what i am assuming is that it is ok? But i would like another opinion on this.

Peanuts · Mar 4, 2008

To be safe I would rent a Nikon flash- you don't want to be inadvertently frying your cameras on the wedding day - that would be extremely hard to explain to the bride.

mortallis288 · Mar 4, 2008

ok, since i can't find a rental place in GA, would i be better off shotting in RAW and then editing the hell out of them if i have too in PS? or shooting in JPG and editing them? This is going to be w/o a flash more than likley.