Am I the wedding photographer?

[Steve U]

Good advice Jeff and Mark, very helpful.


I have been the post professional wedding photographer, ie. when the pro goes home and the bride and groom still want some shots when people are starting to let their hair down a bit. It is handy if the MC or groom let

[Fast Glass]

Some thing like this happen too me. My Mom says to her friend that I have a quote "good camera", I showed them my shots of birds and wildlife and they were very impressed to say the least, but it's hard to explain that I don't know how to shoot a wedding! Luckly they won't get married anytime soon so I have time to practice my portrait skills. I try to imagine that they are just large birds and that my 135mm prime is my 600mm with a 2X extender.[:P]


John.

[Kayaker72]

Thanks for the comments everyone and nice pictures Mark and Ade.


I spent last night trying some of the techniques mentioned and also going through "Mastering EOS Flash Photography." It is impressive what the different techniques do. Not suprisingly, it seems that you need very different techniques for different situations. My favorite light has been side bouncing light off a wall. But that had a very limited distance (<10 ft) and how often is there a wall where you want it? The sto-fen and index card also provided nicer light say <15-20 ft. But after that is seems that first the direct flash with diffuser and then a little further out the direct flash without the diffuser gave me my best light.


If I end up taking the group photos, I think I will have my wife hold the flash in slave mode. I tried the more gear approach.....she'll hold the flash .


Again, thanks for your help. I'll let you know how this goes, but I think this should be fun.


Brant


Edit: This is not the first marriage for either the bride or groom. That may be why having a professional photographer is less important to them.

[Kayaker72]

The wedding was Saturday and was a lot of fun. There were several other "friends with good cameras." I saw my first Gary Fong's and Nikon 7000 in action. So I let them set up the groups and I focused on candids, and the group shots once they were done.


As for the photos, the wedding and reception were in an old carriage house. So I had nice ceilings to bounce light off of, but I also used the the pop up card on the 580 EXII to help fill in the shadows. Also, suggested above, I set the white balance to cloudy and stayed with it, shot mostly in manual with E-TTL adjusting the flash.


While I don't have any shot that is amazing as some I've seen in this forum, I am very happy with the results. Almost all of my shots are usable and I like the lighting. Two quick examples:


The bride and her mother and sisters. 7D, EFS 15-85 @ 26 mm, 1/40, f/4.5, ISO 200, flash





Bride's son, brother-in-law and two sisters: 7D, 15-85 @ 42mm, 1/60, f5, ISO 200, flash





Thanks again for all your help.


Brant

[Richard Lane]

Congratulations.., from one guy with a "good camera" to another!


I

[CHRIS C]

I love this photo. The bit of editing ADDS so much to the shot.