Photographing a wedding

kfish2oo2

This coming September, my sister is getting married and she's asked me to take pictures. They'll have a pro wedding photographer for the day, but they asked if I would be kind enough to supplement his photos with what I think are usually referred to as "intimates" - pictures of the wedding guests enjoying the ceremony and reception in a less formal style. I'm used to this kind of thing, as I often take pictures of my friends when we're out and about and they all love them.

What I'm worried about more than anything is equipment. At the moment I have a Canon 500D with the kit lens (18-55 EFS f/3.5), a 50mm f/1.8 and access to a 70-300mm EFS f/5.6. I don't have a flash other than the pop-up flash, but for the most part I'd like to avoid the flash as this can often put people off. To that end I'll be relying heavily on the 50mm, but my parents have said they might buy me a new lens in advance as payment for the work. Could someone please recommend a well rounded medium zoom lens (something that would allow a decent zoom as well as decent portraits like something in the 35-250 range)?

As I said, I would like to avoid the flash, but if anyone has a different opinion please speak up - I really don't want to let my personal preferences get in the way of delivering decent shots for my sister.

pconn062

I think you have a decent bag of lenses there, I think you could get some great photos with them. If you wanted something new, I can't recommend one of these enough. http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Canon-EF-24-105mm-f-4-L-IS-USM-Lens-Review.aspx. Maybe a bit pricey but its my favourite lens. Hope this helps.

smelltheglove

Honestly I know you say you want to avoid flash but I think a flash is the best bit of equipment you can get yourself now. First off, you may need some fill flash if it is bright out, having a flash where you can manually control how much light is emitted will help you no end. For the dancing in the vening you will be hard pressed to get a decent shot on the dance floor even with a 1.8 and a bumped iso, using the flash on low power means that you can get those natural pics, with little light so as to ensure you are still caturing the ambience rather than just freezing the moment.

magicbastarder

are there any 30mm(ish) fast primes in the canon stable?
i'm a sucker for a standard lens with shallow depth of field.

pixbyjohn

I would agree totally with Rachel. A flash is a must for those shots on the dance floor. Lots of photographers can appreciate movement blur etc. in photos but the ordinary punter likes to see sharp crisp shots and thats where the flash comes into its own.

oshead

Look, it's not until September. Why don't you just go out to some events with your 50mm 1.8 and see if it works without the flash. There is no right or wrong way to do it, just different ways.

A few tips for working without flash.

• Use only these (native to your camera and cleanest) ISO settings, 160, 320, 640, 1250... Above 1250 on that camera is not too good.
  
• Try and keep the shutter speed faster than a 50th sec on the 50mm 1.8.
  
• Put the shutter on continuous shooting mode. Take the shots then quickly review and delete the worst from that burst.
  
• If you have the ST-E2 Speedlite Transmitter in the cameras hotshoe, you'll nail focus almost 100% or the time.
  
• Just a general tip, look for light direction and train your eye to be aware of it. So stand with your back to windows and other large light sources and you will get better full frontal shots. Also look for silhouettes, back lighting and dramatic side lighting.
  
• Because you'll have no real influence on colour of the light, you could plan to convert all shots to B&W.
  
• Shoot full sized raw and plan to adjust and crop later to preference.

I know you will want to get the best pics for your sis and no doubt you'll be putting yourself under a significant amount of pressure. Just remember that your sis has a pro there to cover the event so you should try and enjoy the experience, if you do then you will do well...

• If you have the ST-E2 Speedlite Transmitter in the cameras hotshoe, you'll nail focus almost 100% or the time.

Hmm.. Never heard of this Oshead (though I have started googling). Is it just essentially a flashgun's focus assist beam (without the actual flash head)?

oshead

It does that too. It's main purpose is to transmit ttl using IR to command other off camera Canon flashes. Works better indoors.

oshead

oshead wrote: »

It does that too. It's main purpose is to transmit ttl using IR to command other off camera Canon flashes. Works better indoors.

Well I use cheap-ass wireless triggers I got on eBay that have been going strong for me. It was more the idea of getting a better keeper rate for shots in focus at gigs and other such almost-pitch-black places that I was intrigued by.

At the moment, I've found that using live-view, zooming in and using manual focus is the best way to ensure sharp shots, but I find this awkward.


There's a good tip for you, actually, OP, if you have trouble getting focus in the church or such. (I can almost feel some people's heads exploding at the thoughts of using live view on a DSLR! )

pixbyjohn

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/st-e2.shtml

kfish2oo2

Devastating turn of events today; the front end of my 50mm fell out. I really should have noticed the signs, but I realized today that over the last two weeks the zoom ring has been stuttering slightly and I guess something in the focus ring must have been bent or broken. Its only a month and a half old so I'll return it for a fix or replacement ASAP.

As for your feedback - thanks a million! I have photographed a few gigs with the 50mm and felt the need for a flash sometimes - especially where the ISO was bumped up to compensate for light and for faster shots of the crowd. I think that may be the best route to go for at the moment, especially as I would like to round out my skillset a bit more and realize that imposing a no-flash rule would be restrictive in many ways.

That Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM looks absolutely beautiful, but unfortunately would be out of my price range. I'm thinking that €550 would be absolutely the maximum, and even that would be a stretch. The ST-E2 looks very intriguing as well - definitely something to consider.

Borderfox

Sigma 30mm f1.4 would suit really well or the Canon 28mm f1.8 too, try to be where the pro isnt (different angles but what his/her background) Personally I wouldnt worry about flash and just pick your moments and fire away. Dont worry about what ISO you shoot, once your shutter speed is high enough and the picture is sharp thats all that matter

PopeBuckfastXVI

• Use only these (native to your camera and cleanest) ISO settings, 160, 320, 640, 1250... Above 1250 on that camera is not too good.

Can you expand on this? Are these ISO settings 'better' than using say 200, 400 etc?

Borderfox

PopeBuckfastXVI wrote: »

Can you expand on this? Are these ISO settings 'better' than using say 200, 400 etc?

I have yet to see either in reports and through personal experience if thats true, I wouldnt have thought that the 500d does 1/3rd stops in ISO in anyway

kfish2oo2

Borderfox wrote: »

I have yet to see either in reports and through personal experience if thats true, I wouldnt have thought that the 500d does 1/3rd stops in ISO in anyway

You're right here - it doesn't do 1/3rd stops at all. It has 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, 3200, 6400 and H (which is 12800, and hideously noisy).

oshead

PopeBuckfastXVI wrote: »

Can you expand on this? Are these ISO settings 'better' than using say 200, 400 etc?

Apparently multiples of 60 is what's key. I tested it with the cap on and a 30th sec shutter to see the results and I was convinced. There is a post here of a 7D and a video here of a 5D MKII that shows the very same thing. Just one thing though. Some are saying that you loose 1/3EV of dynamic range. I understand their reasoning but have yet to see tests that show this.

Just another thing, Magic Lantern is an open source firmware you can get and install on your camera. It will give you the incremental 1/3 iso steps. It's third party and is not supported by Canon and will probably void your guarantee. Just thought i'd mention it.

kfish2oo2

oshead wrote: »

Apparently multiples of 60 is what's key. I tested it with the cap on and a 30th sec shutter to see the results and I was convinced. There is a post here of a 7D and a video here of a 5D MKII that shows the very same thing. Just one thing though. Some are saying that you loose 1/3EV of dynamic range. I understand their reasoning but have yet to see tests that show this.

Just another thing, Magic Lantern is an open source firmware you can get and install on your camera. It will give you the incremental 1/3 iso steps. It's third party and is not supported by Canon and will probably void your guarantee. Just thought i'd mention it.

I've been following magic lantern as I'm really keen on getting some expanded video options but can't afford to upgrade to a 550D. Unfortunately its still in a very early buggy stage for the 500D and therefore I'd rather not risk it, as awesome as some of the implemented features are.

Carrigman

If I were you, I'd stick to the kit lens you have - it's more than adequate to capture the pics your sister wants. I'd forget about flash too for that type of photography.


Regards,

John

kfish2oo2

oshead wrote: »

Look, it's not until September. Why don't you just go out to some events with your 50mm 1.8 and see if it works without the flash. There is no right or wrong way to do it, just different ways.

A few tips for working without flash.

• Use only these (native to your camera and cleanest) ISO settings, 160, 320, 640, 1250... Above 1250 on that camera is not too good.
  
• Try and keep the shutter speed faster than a 50th sec on the 50mm 1.8.
  
• Put the shutter on continuous shooting mode. Take the shots then quickly review and delete the worst from that burst.
  
  
• If you have the ST-E2 Speedlite Transmitter in the cameras hotshoe, you'll nail focus almost 100% or the time.
  
• Just a general tip, look for light direction and train your eye to be aware of it. So stand with your back to windows and other large light sources and you will get better full frontal shots. Also look for silhouettes, back lighting and dramatic side lighting.
  
• Because you'll have no real influence on colour of the light, you could plan to convert all shots to B&W.
  
• Shoot full sized raw and plan to adjust and crop later to preference.

I know you will want to get the best pics for your sis and no doubt you'll be putting yourself under a significant amount of pressure. Just remember that your sis has a pro there to cover the event so you should try and enjoy the experience, if you do then you will do well...

Just a quick question about the ST-E2 - is this the only Canon accessory that acts as an auto-focus assist device? It would be incredibly useful for gig photography (especially with the 50mm f/1.8 which has well documented focus issues in anything less than ideal lighting), but as a stand alone unit is very costly, and I couldn't justify its price without additional features. Are there any flashguns that offer the same auto-focus assist?

oshead

kfish2oo2 wrote: »

Just a quick question about the ST-E2 - is this the only Canon accessory that acts as an auto-focus assist device? It would be incredibly useful for gig photography (especially with the 50mm f/1.8 which has well documented focus issues in anything less than ideal lighting), but as a stand alone unit is very costly, and I couldn't justify its price without additional features. Are there any flashguns that offer the same auto-focus assist?

The 580 EXII has one built in. You can turn the flash off if you like and just use the infrared light to focus. Obviously you can turn the flash on if you want to kill the ambient too....