What wedding shots to take?

[owen]

Hi guys. I have a wedding to shoot at tomorrow (no expectations of the bride and groom, i just offered to tag along and take some) so there's no pressure or anything. What I'm after is a list of ideal wedding shots that I should try to get - I remember seeing one on dpreview but can't find it now.

It'll be an outdoor wedding in the park and the forecast is overcast. I'll have with me the d70, sb-600, 18-70mm lens, 50mm 1.8, and the tokina 12-24 (don't foresee using this much.).

It will be a low-budget wedding so I don't think there will be fancy cars or anything like that... I guess I'll wait and find out.

So, if anyone has a list or any advice I'd love to hear it.

Thanks,
Owen.

[surenj]

Could do some wideangle shots with the 12-24 with the bride and groom in the foregound and forest in the background with distortion etc to set the scene....

[Matt. K]

Shoot everything that happens. Look for kisses.....glances and hugs. Shoot the guests, the kids, the bride and groom. Anything that makes you smile should be shot. Shoot the family groups....be sure to use some fill flash and don't cut the legs off groups. Get in close. Use the 50mm lots at f2.8. Up your ISO in the church. Move around a lot. Work hard.

[sirhc55]

But don’t under any circumstance shoot the wedding night

[owen]

Thanks guys, really good advice.

It'll all be outside in the park, no church so I should be right leaving the ISO at 200. It's fairly windy though... might pose a few problems but also might make for a few good candid photos.

[Geoff]

Good luck Owen - the best advice I can offer you is to:

Stay calm and relax
Be alert, at all times...catch as many 'moments' as you can.
Don't be affraid to position people to get the best shots...
Encourage (if you need to) a few romantic moments between the B&G (i.e a few kisses etc).
Check your settings (most importantly WB and ISO)
Be positive, quirky and light on your feet. You've received some great advice so far, but as Matt said - move around, and work hard...it will pay off

Did I mention - stay calm, relax and check your settings?

Can't wait to see some results!!

[owen]

Thanks Geoff.

Should I leave the WB to auto, or perhaps change it to cloudy to warm up the shots? I'll probably be using fill flash too... how will that affect the WB?

I tend to always leave it at auto thinking I can change it afterwards (Shooting RAW), is that my best option?

[owen]

Oh yeah, how do you guys meter at weddings? In the past I have spot metered off the bride's face and that has worked well, however is this what you guys do?

Cheers,
Owen.

[gstark]

Thanks Geoff.

Should I leave the WB to auto,

No.

Remember that you'll probably be shooting under a variety of conditions, but within each of the conditon sets, things should mostly be constant.

For instance, within the church, you won't be subject to changes in lighting.

And in the reception area, the same is true.

Shoot in raw.

For each condition set that you find yourself in, set your wb appropriate for the conditions, take a spot reading from something that is roughly equivalent to a neutral grey, chimop with your histogram and adjust as required, and then shoot manually using your adjusted metered settings.

Don't be afraid to use flash, and don't be afraid to turn it down by a half or two thirds of a stop and just use it to help you balance the contrast and conditions.

I'm actually shooting a wedding (almost, it's a reaffirmation) next weekend. First one I'll have done in maybe 20 years ...

I tend to always leave it at auto thinking I can change it afterwards (Shooting RAW), is that my best option?

I have yet to see a situation where auto wb is a best option.

Shooting in raw is always a good choice, but not because it affords you a backup plan in case you screw up, but because it gives you the greatest set of options and flexibility further down the track.

[gstark]

Oh yeah, how do you guys meter at weddings? In the past I have spot metered off the bride's face and that has worked well, however is this what you guys do?

Unless she hails from darkest Africa, that's about as good as you can get.

It's certainly how I would do it.


One other thing.

Look though your viewfinder and inspect the image you're about to make before you squeeze the shutter. Look at details; stuff like trees coming from the heads of people, and untidy backgrounds, are far easier to fix before you squeeze the shutter than afterwards.

[owen]

Thanks Gary. I'm going to be solely out in the park, no buildings but the ceremony is perhaps going to be under a shelter. I guess I'll try to find the most appropriate WB setting and leave it at that.

I'll definitely be using my flash, probably with the LSPJ2 attached.

Thanks for the help.
Owen.

[owen]

Well, I didn't think it would be over that quick. A very small and informal wedding, but hopefully they'll be happy with the shots. I'll post a few a bit later.

Thought I had a few problems with flash exposure, as it kept going from cloudy to sunny, but on PC they are much more forgiving than the lcd on the back of the D70 monitor.

[Matt. K]

Don't meter off the subjects face unless they are dark skinned people! Caucasion skintones reflect around 40% of the light. You must Add 1 stop exposure compensation. African/Negro skin reflects around 18/20% light. They Will always give you correct exposure. But you should use matrix metering unless the background is noticably lighter or darker than your subject. Nothing beats Nikon matrix metering most of the time! WB should be set to sunny...even if it's slightly cloudy....unless you are shooting by artificial light indoors. Keep it simple and don't mess around with your camera too much. Check the histogram each time you get to a new location and shoot RAW as previously advised.

[bumthology]

how did the wedding picture turn out?
are you gonna post any?
be nice to see how you went.
how was the weather and all?