Wedding Photography

[Justin.Polhamus]

Hello - Ive been given the honor of photographing my grandmothers wedding in May. I have a canon rebel XS and can normally take good pictures but i am uncertain about taking them inside of the church. I have the 18-55 MM IS lens, fstop min is 3.5. I am unsure if this lens will be suitable for the shots i want. I know i can use ISO 1600 and i do have a decent noise reduction program but i would rather not go that route. I will have an external flash for one or two portraits but i am not using any flash for the rest of the wedding. So my question is...what are my options?

Also, what are some good places to get some good pictures from. I plan on getting some from the center aisle, both side aisles, and if available the second floor in the back of the church of the whole church. What are some other good places for the wedding? I will take pictures of everybody later on in the after party. I hope this turns out well, everyone in my family is relying on me to take great pictures. They think i can take great pictures so i do not want to let them down! Thank you for all the help and tips you can give me!

 

[hankejp]

<----------------Quickly starts running for the door before the hail storm starts....:lmao:

 

[Justin.Polhamus]

oh no...what did i do?..haha

 

[McQueen278]

I would get a 50mm f/1.8 for about $80USD. It makes a nice portrait lens on a Rebel and it is fast enough to use a lower ISO and step the lens down to f/2.8 for decent sharpness and a blurred background effect.


Make sure you properly calibrate your white balance for the lighting in the church.

You'll have to play with this and take test shots to ensure your whites are white and not orange.

The 18-55mm plays nice with even the pop up flash so feel free to use that for your portraits. Have fun and just try and ignore it when people start flaming this thread telling you that you need to let a professional do this and that you are not ready.

 

[Justin.Polhamus]

Well my grandmother already said she didn't want a professional to do it. She wanted either me or some other family member with a point and shoot...
Anywho, i plan on going to the church soon to take some test pictures and see where some good vantage points are. Thank you for the advice on a 50mm lens. What are the benefits of that lens versus the 55mm end of my lens besides the fstop? Nothing right?

 

[Johnboy2978]

Right the f/1.8 would allow you to maintain a higher shutter speed in low light and possibly avoid the need for a flash.

 

[McQueen278]

Well my grandmother already said she didn't want a professional to do it. She wanted either me or some other family member with a point and shoot...
Anywho, i plan on going to the church soon to take some test pictures and see where some good vantage points are. Thank you for the advice on a 50mm lens. What are the benefits of that lens versus the 55mm end of my lens besides the fstop? Nothing right?

It is a MUCH faster lens and a good deal sharper.

 

[Lyncca]

</Running out of thread covering ears>

Get the 50mm for sure. Also get a off-camera flash if possible to bounce it off the ceiling or other wall to avoid straight on flash.

I've been a member of this forum for nearly a year and I am now terrified of weddings! I'm not sure I will ever do one now

 

[anubis404]

The 50mm pretty much owns the kit lens in every way (except zoom). The image quality is immensely better, the lens is a good deal faster, and its lighter. Another good lens to have when doing weddings is a 70-200. If that is out of your budget, I think a telephoto would be something that would help a lot. You wouldn't want to miss anything. Something that will help more than a lens is a flash. Bouncing it off of something will give you soft and good light, and it'll allow the use of a more speedy shutter. Even if you can't afford a fancy Canon flash, get something that will bounce and will allow the use of manual controls. I'm sure you can find a good one for around $100USD. A diffuser might also be in order.

I'm surprised the flaming hasn't started yet. In any case, I don't plan to be here when it does.

 

[Justin.Polhamus]

Thanks guys. I have a 75-300MM lens f/4-5.6. I will look into some 50MM lenses with low fstops. Would you say 50 or 35? Would 35 be too wide?

 

[Big Mike]

Welcome to the forum.

One problem is that it's typically dark inside a church...maybe not dark to our eyes but certainly dark in terms of photography. That will mean that if you don't want to use flash, you might have trouble with the exposure. You will need either a large aperture, a slow shutter speed or high ISO. Your current lens doesn't have a large aperture, a slow shutter speed will give you blurry photos and high ISO gives you digital noise. That's your dilemma.

Some have suggested the 50mm F1.8 lens. That will help to remedy your aperture problem (it's also a sharper lens than the 18-55mm, you will love it).
You can't really go with slow shutter speeds because you will be shooting moving subjects and you probably won't be using a tripod.
I don't know much about the Rebel XS or it's performance at high ISO. It's a newer model so it should be fairly good...but it's also the most basic of the current EOS cameras.
Don't be afraid to shoot at high ISO, but I'd suggest using this technique Expose Right

Of course, using flash can alleviate a lot of the exposure problems but making nice photos with flash is a whole art unto itself.

The important thing will be to watch your shutter speed and make sure you are using one that is fast enough to avoid blur from camera shake or subject movement. I'd suggest keeping it above 1/60 at least. Also, make sure you are focused on what you want to be. It can be hard to tell when the light isn't great...and if you do get the 50mm lens, the DOF at larger apertures will be much more shallow that you are used to...so you need to focus accurately.

As for where to shoot from...that totally depends on the church, the officiant and the set up of the ceremony. Sometimes you aren't allowed to be near them, or even moving around at all. Sometimes you are OK to move anywhere you want...but you will want to consider how intrusive you want to be...or they want you to be.

Good Luck.

 

[JerryPH]

Want to get discouraged? Do a search, your question has been asked and answered MANY times... LOL.

I am not getting into this one either.

 

[chrisburke]

i refuse to make any comment... what i've said in the past has been said by many.. do a search on weddings, you'll see what i mean

 

[Big Mike]

I think this situation is a little different from the typical "I'm shooting a wedding tomorrow, what do I do" type post. Firstly, it's his grandmother and he seems to have the right attitude about it.

 

[DRoberts]

Can't believe this made it to 14 post without the fireworks!

The 50mm is a great little lens. My only problem is it's range. You will need to be right on top of what you are shooting with that lens. As mentioned before the 70 - 200 f/2.8 is another option that would be great for you. You might check into renting one. It will allow you to get the close up shots without being "in the way".
If thats not an option then look for another zoom thats f/2.8. I think you will need it and in the end be glad you had it.
Stay away from the flip up flash!!!! Good luck.