Down the Aisle

[iND]

My least favorite shots when doing a wedding are the wedding party going down the aisle.
I always take them but I rarely want to include them in the final set. The light is never good and the pairs 4x out of 5 do not complement each other well. I usually feel obligated to get a good one of each pair (3-8 pairs) and invariably there are at least 2-3 pairs that do not photograph well. My best shots are from the balcony when I have have a second photographer. The bride and her father are a completely different story and I have lost a lot of sleep over some prewedding planning when the lighting situation just not seem to have any solution.

Anyone want to take stab at suggestions?

[crosbyharbison]

I think your going to have to buy more strobes if the lighting is always as bad as you say it is. Place at least 2 off camera and set them on a different channel as the other ones you have set up. Use AI servo and Burst mode to try to get good smiles/eyes open from them while they are walking.

[Dallasphotog]

The dang aisle...


I feel your pain brother. Just getting a good picture of the bride and her father can be a real challenge. I use the EF24-70mm f/2.8 and set Tv mode with a shutter speed at 1/200. Then I take the ISO up until I see f/2.8-f/4.0. I like a little margin of error on DOF if at all possible.


Nothing you say before the ceremony will get people to stop looking at their feet. For that matter, I alsoseem to have no luckin stopping people from jumping into the aisle in front of me withcell phone cameras.


One thing that has helped my lighting is to add a slaved 430EX opposite of me and the 580EX. Some times you canhide it in the flowers on the end of the pew directly across from where you are shooting.