First off, thank you for even reading this post and thank you in advance for commenting if you do. Here is my dilemma:
I am going to be shooting my first real wedding (real meaning I don't know this person) Saturday. The bride is picky, hopeful and a normal bride... she is getting married in a Catholic church that is HUGE and of course, VERY DIM. There will only be minimal candle light and the room is extremely large and dark. By church regulations (I had to sign all kinds of paper work) I can't move from one designated spot and I can have NO additional lighting on my camera, no lights - reflectors, umbrellas... NOTHING>
I'm peeing my pants thinking, "Crap, all her pictures are going to be blurry!" Her walking down the aisle, her kiss, everything is movement and in this dark cave with no light how am I going to get even a decent picture????
If anyone has been in this predicament and prevailed, please let me know the secret. I'm going tomorrow to the rehearsal to see how open I can get my aperature and how I can adjust my camera to get the best picture but I'm still scared out of my mind. I warned the bride to move slow and explained the issue a bit (didn't want to make her nervous) but I need help.....
Thanks again if you know any suggestions.
(Also, if you're in a criticing mood - I just put up some new preggo shots in my homicide section).
Yes - I have a 300 mm and that is it. :( I looked at renting and that is WAY out of my budget (keep in mind, I normally charge 1200 for a wedding and this is a friend of my sisters at work and I'm doing it for her for only 600 because she needed someone last minute and I could use the money).
Catholic!!! Yeeeeeeeee!!! Ask the priest about the following rules and restrictions, some are more lenient than others, but as far as I know:
Don't use flash, they may have you removed from the building.
Don't get near the altar, see above statement.
Those are 2 things to remember above all else. Again, check with the priest to be sure.
Rent a lens for the weekend if you have to so you can get the shots you want. Practice practice practice beforehand with the lens and the light you will have to work with. I seriously cannot stress that one enough.
Good luck!!
ETA: If you don't think you can do it right, be the bigger person and turn it down.
Yes - I have a 300 mm and that is it. :( I looked at renting and that is WAY out of my budget (keep in mind, I normally charge 1200 for a wedding and this is a friend of my sisters at work and I'm doing it for her for only 600 because she needed someone last minute and I could use the money).
:(
Gawd. You better find some local photogs on DPC to loan you something faster and something wider...
Can you get in and practice in the Church? Try some different ISO settings, bring a friend along to act as the bride to get a sense for how it will be to shoot the motion...
I can loan you the Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8, a decent all-around wedding lens, if you want to pay for overnight shipping... But I would think renting would be cheaper.
I got to say you have taken on quite a task for yourself given your limited lens selection. At $1200 a wedding you should have had some fantastic looking glass to shoot with. Good luck.
From a pro, not me, in a similar situation. Dress up as one of the guests and sit there snapping away like a shutter bug. Then change cloths and be the photographer after the ceremony. I don't think they kick out guests for using flash.
Well being a full time student and working a job as well steals all my time and money and this is something I'm buildig from the ground up. When it comes to the equipment, there is no lie - Photography is expensive. I mainly do portraiture and erotica and have never needed any more lenses and I figure I shouldn't buy what I don't need. I've always been a fan of learning the equipment I have before digging a deeper hole of debt and equipment.....
I just got my new Cannon (about 3 year ago all my cameras got stolen along with ALL my equipment in a break in, and no insurance didn't cover it). So.... when this woman requested me as a photographer, I was honored. I was going to use my flash and an umbrella and was fine until the church told me not only can I not MOVE at all during the ceremony - but I can't have ANY lighting at all. :(
Its two days away and I'm frantic. I have an asistant with a decent lens but neither one of us have a lens worth finding light in a black hole. I was hoping someone could give me advice to work with what I have..... anyone?
I'm going to the rehearsal tomorrow and plan on taking notes on how I can adjust my camera the best to work the best and I'm going to pray while I'm there too. ;)
I got to say you have taken on quite a task for yourself given your limited lens selection. At $1200 a wedding you should have had some fantastic looking glass to shoot with. Good luck.
MattO
Well, with that price I can afford to rent a lens.... renting around here (IN Kansas City, at least that I've found) is about 150 starting a day. Very doable ..... 600 bucks is not worth cutting in half to get lenses for the day. :(
From a pro, not me, in a similar situation. Dress up as one of the guests and sit there snapping away like a shutter bug. Then change cloths and be the photographer after the ceremony. I don't think they kick out guests for using flash.
Its two days away and I'm frantic. I have an asistant with a decent lens but neither one of us have a lens worth finding light in a black hole. I was hoping someone could give me advice to work with what I have..... anyone?
All you can do is shoot wide open at high ISO and pray. At the rehearsal see what shutter speeds you get at the different ISOs. If you can use a tripod, you can get away with 1/30 sec in weddings, the church part anyway. 1/60 would be fine, don't need anything faster. If you can't use a tripod you have a problem.
I agree with renting lenses. I didn't for the longest time, but will from here on out, until I buy the 16-35 and 70-200 I've been renting.
Talk to the church people at the rehearsal. Tell them you would like to use flash when the bride is walking down the aisle, but will not use flash "out of respect for the Church" during the rest of the ceremony. Most people go for this and expect you to use a flash during the march in (as nothing official has happened yet).
Then, follow the rules throughout the ceremony. When it comes time for the kiss, presentation and walk back out as bride and groom...USE YOUR FLASH. Everyone else (in the pews) will be! And they can't/won't stop a ceremony that is already over. If the kiss is in the middle of the ceremony (as some Catholic weddings are) then you might still be able to use flash...again, everyone else with their point and shoots will be from the pews...why can't you? Just make sure the papers you sign don't damn you the hell or something similar if you break rules...or am I thinking of Baptists? (I'm Baptist, so it's ok for me to joke.)
Finally, there is also a trick about high ISO and under expose to freeze motion then pushing in post (I think it works best shooting RAW) and you have to clean up the noise.
I just read you are in KC. If you are up for a 6-7 hour drive tommorrow, they rent lenses here is St. Louis for $30 a day. And if you pick it up Friday afternoon and have it back Monday morning, you get the whole weekend for one day's rental! (Schiller's, Creve Coeur Camera, I don't know if Wolf rents).
A shorter, cheaper drive would be to Columbia. Columbia Photo rents lenses...fairly cheap if I remember.
-drew
Edit: $30 rental plus full tank of gas ($50) = $80 plus 7 hrs on the road!
Finally, there is also a trick about high ISO and under expose to freeze motion then pushing in post (I think it works best shooting RAW) and you have to clean up the noise.
-drew
That will be the understatement of the year.
I would go to the church TODAY and I would ask if you can just take some sample pictures in the sanctuary. Look to see if shooting is EVEN POSSIBLE. Recalling that you have a lens that is 75mm at the widest you are looking for about 1/100th for handheld. If the church is what I'm imagining, I'm not even sure you are going to get close to that. MAYBE at ISO 1600, but those shots are going to be so noisy as to make enlargements difficult.`1
Then, if fears are realized, you have at least two days to talk to the bride and explain you cannot do it with the lens you have and that you need to rent a fast lens. See if she's willing to split the cost with you.
I just see a huge disaster in the making and hoping for the best isn't the way out of it. (Sorry to sound so negative, but I'm really worried about you here.)
I found a 120300 Sigma lens for 40$ a day. Doable? I think so.... any of you neigh sayers think I should decline as this is going to be the only one I can find not already rented in KC for Saturday?
...All you can do is shoot wide open at high ISO and pray. At the rehearsal see what shutter speeds you get at the different ISOs. If you can use a tripod, you can get away with 1/30 sec in weddings, the church part anyway. 1/60 would be fine, don't need anything faster. If you can't use a tripod you have a problem...
or, at least, an inconspicuous collapsible monopod with a sling or a bean bag even. The cheapest fast lens, of course, is the EF 50mm f/1.8.
