my 1st weeding soon, how to use flash

[Sleepy]

My mate has asked me to be the photographer for his wedding next week. I told him i may not be that good but he didn't seem to mind as he's handing out disposables to everyone.

I only shoot motorsport and fireworks so don't have a clue about wedding and portraits.

I will be taking a D40, Tamron 17-50 f/2.8 and a SB-600. Its only a small do at a registry office with around 30 people going, Im also quite shy which doesn't help.

I feel i will be able to take some good pics but dont have a clue about flash?

What settings, modes anything that will be able to help me out would be much appreciated.

Thanks


Just seen i've put weeding i mean wedding

[Smiffy 2]

I thought I could help you out here as being a crap gardener weeding shots are my speciality.

But I know bugger all about weddings.

Sorry

Good luck by the way

[Mike.P®]

Originally Posted by Smiffy 2

I thought I could help you out here as being a crap gardener weeding shots are my speciality.

I wondered who was going to be first ...

[Smiffy 2]

Originally Posted by Mike.P®

I wondered who was going to be first ...

My bad

[JDM121]

I prime lens would be good, a nice f1.8 50mm.

[kBm]

Here's a starter for ten....

FAQ -about weddings

Similar question about weddings

Tripod or no tripod for a wedding

Similar event using D40x

Also try;
Digital Wedding Forum
DIY weddings

Plus between now and next week learn how to use your camera very well.
Look at lots of wedding images, all styles to get an idea of what you want to be taking.

[Motobug]

Hi Sleepy,

First off, well done for having a go and as long at your mate understands you can’t guarantee the end result; you should relax and enjoy the day.

The best advice I would offer would be to put the camera in 'P' (Programme) mode and set the flash to ttl mode. Using these setting get as much practice as you can before next week. Remember that using the flash directly on the subject can result in a wax look so using a reflector card or diffuser might help. Experiment bouncing the flash off ceilings and walls to create some interesting and more natural effects.

I see that you will have a 2.8 lens on the day, so fill in flash may be all you need.

Hope that helps a bit and good luck.

Moto

[kevin glover]

I would invest in something like a stofen diffuser for the SB600 or a Gary Fong lightsphere 2 as these will dramatically soften the flash and give a much softer, diffuse light than normal, you will however need to increase the flash output compared to the TTL levels.. personally I would steer clear of program mode and stick to aperture priority as you will want to decide upon your DOF at all times.
I would also try and get to the venue/s this week and look at your best spots and situations for photography and a back up indoors in case of rain, either way I would try and use any and all available light where possible and avoid flash as much as you can... I am not knowledgeable about the D40 but would guess you could push the ISO to 400 without getting to much grain to give you some chance of handholding wide open without flash. I would also borrow/hire a back up body and a longer focal length lens if possible as a) candid shots will be more natural if you are further from the subject usually and b) you are running a huge risk only taking one body to a wedding as the official photographer.
Finally, if you are using a lot of flash then play, experiment and read the manual every day this week as the bettre you know your kit the less time you will spend faffing with it on the day and hence the more shots you will get that are useable... good luck mate, hope all goes well.

[James Martin]

One quick tip - never point a flash directly, unfiltered at a subject. It results in "disposable camera" look. Bounce it off something if you can or deploy a fresnel filter if it has one... The lens sounds look a good bet though.

[Sleepy]

Thanks for the replys, all very helpful

i have a stofen diffuser but like the sound of the Gary Fong lightsphere 2

should i get clear or cloud for a wedding?

[Sleepy]

Well that was the hardest thing i have ever done (with a camera)

The lighting was bad with a white washed out sky and some rain.

I managed to get a few good shots but a lot of them where under exposed. One thing did learn though is that my tamron 17-50 f/2.8 is quite soft with a bit of CA.

Anyone know of any photoshop sites that show how to edit the image lighting and saturation?

[stevegreen]

Did you shoot in RAW?

[senu]

Originally Posted by stevegreen

Did you shoot in RAW?

...as you should have??

[Sleepy]

Originally Posted by stevegreen

Did you shoot in RAW?

no i didn't use raw. I shot jpg as i wasn't familiar with raw and didn't want anything to go wrong.

[senu]

Originally Posted by Sleepy

no i didn't use raw. I shot jpg as i wasn't familiar with raw and didn't want anything to go wrong.

Probably late now but with RAW you coud get even beter shot from he good ones and rescue poorer ones as long as it wasnt OOF or badly overexposed ect
It is possible to work with jpegs In PS but RAW is far easier to tweak
And
there is thee option of RAW +Jpeg