Tips..

peterk675

Hi guys,

I've a communion coming up next weekend any tips in advance? It will be a very small church, with a rather large family, and as im no professional is it still worth my time bringing the tripod only for a few shots? :pac: I've a cannon 600d so any recommended settings would be appreciated too:) Ive searched this forum for advice but it's quite dated now.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

mdebets

Don't bring a tripod, takes too much time to put it up, and will most likely be in the way of someone. You also don't really need it.

What pictures are you expected take, just some group shots after the ceremony, or are you expected to shoot during the ceremony as well.
If it's just the group shots after the ceremony, get a flash and try and practice some beforehand, especially with the flash and indoors (see if it is possible to do some test shots in the church).

If you are expected to take pictures during the ceremony, go and talk to the priest first, to see if he actually allows you doing it, and if he does, to see, where and when you are allowed and not allowed to shoot.
If the group didn't have their rehearsal yet, see if you can attend it, to see the order of events and see, from where you can shoot the best, without distracting the ceremony and the congregation. If you can't attend the rehearsal, try and get the order of events off the Priest and try and do some test shots in the church, to get your best settings.

dakar

My son made his yesterday, so I can relate!

By and large, I'd suggest not worrying about taking shots during the mass. Certainly nobody was encouraged to do so during ours. So your focus should be on getting the family/group shots afterwards and a few nice little detail shots.

Your biggest problem will probably be light. The on camera flash tends to look pretty harsh, so softening it (even with a bit of tracing paper or small piece of tupperware) often helps. The alternative is to push your ISO up and go with the available light, but I'm not sure how far you can push a 600D and get decent results (I'm lucky enough to have a D700, so I can get away with a lot). If you have, or can borrow, a 50mm f/1.8 lens or similar, you'll find you can get some lovely shots in lowish light.

I wouldn't rule out the tripod entirely, but wait until the place clears out a little at the end. Are you expected to be in the group shots? If so a tripod and self timer, or a willing button presser should do the job after you have everyone lined up. Settings wise, something like f/8 should give you enough depth of field to keep everyone in focus.

Our local pro was in attendance, so I was happy to leave the 'official' group shots to her, and a few family portraits. I stuck to informal documentary shots of my son and his buddies.

Anyway, here's what I came up with

peterk675

Hi guys, thanks for the replies,Im expected to get group shots, so is the tripod a necessity for these,even if I don't need to be in them? And shooting during the ceremony is not expected so it should be just a few shots in doors.

Corkbah

peterk675 wrote: »

Hi guys,

I've a communion coming up next weekend any tips in advance? It will be a very small church, with a rather large family, and as im no professional is it still worth my time bringing the tripod only for a few shots? :pac: I've a cannon 600d so any recommended settings would be appreciated too:) Ive searched this forum for advice but it's quite dated now.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

are you being paid for the job ? or is it a family thing ?

theres a couple of images which are almost essential - but you may need to discuss the matter with the priest if you are allowed to photograph during the ceremony.

stuff like the child actually receiving communion for the first time (tongue out and eyes closed), kneeling before the priest, blessing themselves (the child not the priest), a wide of the interior of the church.

pics with their school friends outside the church, pics with the priest if he is willing, pics with the family.

As regards settings that depends on the amount of light available and the equipment you have (ie. lenses etc) ....for most of the pics you should only be using a mid-range lens 24-70, you might need a 70-200mm to do the interior church pics so you can stay a distance away and not interrupt the ceremony, I would not recommend flash unless its a dull day, the people have sunken eyes or if its a really bright sunny day (sun casting shadows over the eyes)

peterk675

No its a family thing so i dont think im expected of much, i just dont want to end up with bad shots on the day. I own a 18- 55mm and a 55- 250 mm lens, which should I be going for considering I wont be moving around much
?

dakar

The 18-55 will probably be more use for what you need. The 55-200 is quite tight for indoor spaces for the type of shots you want to take.

All the shots I took were at 50mm on a full frame camera (equivalent to about 30mm on a crop body)

peterk675

I will go with that so, I appreciate your help

condra

Don't be scared to lash up the ISO a bit.
Don't shoot slower than around 1/60th, ideally, faster.
Get down low and zoom right in.

dinneenp

These are some bits of advice I gave someone shooting their first wedding (I'm an amateur, have only shot two weddings)
Some tips might be OTT as it's a family thing but you still want to do a good job

Can you borrow a 17-50 f2.8 lens from someone? It'd be much better for indoors that the kit lens.
Know how high you can go with ISO before it's too noisey.

Talk to your family, ask them what kind of photos they want (casual, formal, groups of people, what are the most important shots to have, what are the most important group photos).

Get the most important group photos before ye leave the church (or outside it, better light) because later on it can be hard to get all the people together.

Before and after the ceremony is good chance to get
casual/candid people photos.

Visit the location beforehand and take some sample shots to determine how bright/dark it will be. Try to figure out what’s the slowest shutter speed you can work with.

Figure out where you’re going to stand during the ceremony, so you can get shots of the couple, crowd etc. Ask the priest if you can move around during the communion, if he says yes they don’t feel shy to move around.

If they have a booklet ask them for one beforehand so you know how long the ceremony will be, what’s happening.

Use continuous burst for kids walking up the aisle

Don’t forget you’re the photographer so, to some extent, you can control stuff. E.g. after the ceremony you can tell family, kids etc. to stand at alter for group shots.

Bring a spare battery just in case

I shot without flash and it worked ok. Flash is very helpful for low light but there’s a steep learning curve to a flash, mightn’t be allowed to use it in the church.

Know what’s the highest ISO you can use before the grain gets too bad. If you do have shots a bit grains convert them to B&W, sometimes you can ‘get away with it’.

If you have any friends who own a Canon borrow it from them. I used two bodies, much better than having to change lenses.

Wear comfortable clothes, bring a light jacket/windsheeter in case weather is bad.

Bring a bottle of water with you; you’ll probably be nervous and thirsty. Make sure you’ve eaten beforehand cos it’s a long day.

I brought my tablet and backed up the photos when it was quiet & used new memory cards just to be safe.

Good luck with it and may God be with you!

peterk675

Wow , thanks for the great advice, I feel confident going on Sunday now

peterk675

I said I would post a picture of how I got on, considering the great support I received. Thanks again guys. http://omg.wthax.org/5dAnwc.jpg

Corkbah

well done .... for future - try to keep the subject(person) out a bit from the wall to help reduce the flash cast-shadow, if possible reduce the power in the flash or use a diffuser