Another wedding thread, lens advice and flash

on a 40D, i doubt you'll need a 70-200, it is nice but I found over the weekend i didn't need it. It didnt leave my bag once, just used 2 lenses, 16-35 and 24-70. And thats 70mm on FF so on crop its even longer. I find anything that long 100mm+, you start getting portraits shots, just shoulders and above with the head. It's nice when you catch someone laughing but it is without context, and context can make or break the shot. In a wedding I found context is really important, and the lighting too, the surroundings give you that lighting which can only improve on the phot.

I just had the 24-70 on most of the time, and changed to the wide angle when needed, didn't miss anything as you can guess what the next "event" will be and you have the lens on for that.

but because you have the 24-70 on a crop....I'd would need to carry 2 bodies...

one camera with the 10-20 and the other with 24-70.

Personally I'd hire the 17-55 2.8 IS and put that on the 40D, and stick the 10-20 on the 400D. And trust me, you will have the 40D in your hand a LOT more than the 400D, because of the lens.

And also, a tip. Speak to the Bride, tell her don't worry about the weather (she will), tell her if you laugh, the photos will be fun, and today WILL be fun ! And speak to the best man, ask him to organise the group for you and get people together. Ask the best man what's next if you are not sure. At the church speak to the father about his rules regarding photos in his church, you don't wanna annoy him, he can stop you taking photos all together ! And if someone caught you taking a candid shot of them, SMILE back, and show it back to them on screen. People like that a lot.

In the evening dance, WIDE angle! and keep moving, bounce the flash and carry lots of batteries !
 
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Hmmm, you're giving me a lot to think about Raymond, and I do trust your advice as I've seen your results and the fact I know you have experience.

I have read a lot of good things about the 70-200mm for wedding use though, although I do appreciate i'm on a crop sensor. I think it will boil down to what style of photos I want to achieve, and as you said, some head and shoulder shots of a person, or a group of people are what I am after.

I have a week or so to think about it though. One other reason for the 70-200 is that I'll have it for the weekend so I wanted to make the most of it and do some portrait shoots whilst I had it :p
 
True, its just for me, personally, I get right in there and take the photos. Candids needs context IMO, and portraits less so, depends what the bride want (first and foremost) and what you want.
 
Raymond Lin said:
True, its just for me, personally, I get right in there and take the photos. Candids needs context IMO, and portraits less so, depends what the bride want (first and foremost) and what you want.
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I've been meaning to do this, but haven't done it yet. I have a Sigma 70-300mm which I never use, but I'll put that on tonight so I can see how the 70-200 range works on the crop.

Thanks for your advice so far Raymond, and it was useful seeing your most recent shots for a bit of inspiration.

Quick question, do you shoot in Aperture priority most of the time?

I am used to having time to fire off a few test shots before getting my final snaps, whereas here I will need to be on the ball all of the time to avoid missing anything.
 
I used Av when I don't use the flash, and manual when i do.

With flash, here are the rules.

Aperture control flash power.
Shutter speed control ambient light. (along with ISO, so higher ISO = faster shutter speed).

Using ETTL, the flash will light your subject for you, even if you bounce it. The question is how much flash power you are using, and high ceilings = more power needed when you bounce.

You can still fire off some test shots, i do as well, and most importantly, shoot in RAW.
 
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Just hired two lenses from them, came today for the weekend, packed really well.

Have great reviews on POTN too, seems like a great company!

16-35L 2.8 and 24-70L 2.8, I dont want to send them back! beautiful lenses!
 
In the same situation... couldn't decide between hiring the 16-35 or the 17-55.... went for the 17-55 in the end, as I have my 11-16 for the extra wideness
 
I used lensesforhire.co.uk last year when I needed a lens for my sister's wedding. I used a 20D, 24mm f/1.4 L and my 430ex hand held. Worked out quite well. It was my first time using a wide prime and I didn't miss having the ability to zoom at all. I certainly never thought "I wish I had a 70-200mm". But then that's not my style, I'd rather get involved. There's a gallery from the day here.

I think the most important thing is to be relaxed (I found champagne worked quite well :p). If you can be friendly and relaxed then people will respond well and the photos will flow easily.
 
Thanks for the link oly, really nice gallery there. As you go through them one by one you really get a feel for the day, and that is exactly what I want to do.

Quick question, did you use your flash hand held for most photos? If so, how were you controlling it? In ETTL?

Did you use a diffuser and/or bounce the flash a lot?

Thanks

PS. I am feeling like I want to get more 'involved' shots so am tempted to just go with the 10-20 on my 400D and a rented 24-70L on the 40D. This is near enough what Raymond recommended but I think if I ditched the idea of the 70-200, I want want that little extra reach from the 24-70L rather than the 17-55.

Would my flash be better on the wide angle or with the 24-70?
 
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Just be aware that your 10-20 will make people look horrible with distortion, people dont appreciate having a stretched face :p If I were to use my 10-20mm I would use it 20mm and leave it there probably but at F/5.6 it isn't really fast enough inside and you wont get nice bokeh.

For flash I use cheap Ebay radio transmitter and have the flash in manual. I only started to use flash once it got dark so I wasn't messing around with ambient light during the day and I just set an exposure that worked at night (the photo of the baloons was the test shot to test the exposure).

The diffuser I use on my flash is a homemade affair, I just cut a flash head shaped hole in the lid of a small (about 10-12cm diameter), round, kitchen tupperware tub. It's fairly thick/cloudy plastic so knocks quite a few stops off the flash but seems to give an even enough spread of light. I just hold it at arms length and point it generally in the direction of the subject.

I was pretty drunk by the time it got dark enough to use flash but the exif for the shots of the first dance were 24mm, 1/100th, f/1.6 and I'm guessing the flash is at 1/4 or 1/2 power.
 
Thanks mate.

Good point about the 10-20 and not letting enough light in. Hmmm, I need to do some thinking about what I want to achieve and decide on lenses from that.
 
I shot a wedding last year using 2 X 350D, Tamron f/2.8 17-50 with a 430EX and a Canon L f/4 70-200.

I mostly used the 17-50 which was great. It was a very bright day and shadows were harsh so I used the 430 (on full auto) and got some great results. The 70-200 too around 15% of the total shots and was mostly used for candids on leaving the church, while everyone is milling around.

I've got another wedding lined up where I'll be using the same kit with the addition of a 40D as the main shooter.

I really need to learn about using the flash controls.
 
Orange Peel said:
I shot a wedding last year using 2 X 350D, Tamron f/2.8 17-50 with a 430EX and a Canon L f/4 70-200.

I mostly used the 17-50 which was great. It was a very bright day and shadows were harsh so I used the 430 (on full auto) and got some great results. The 70-200 too around 15% of the total shots and was mostly used for candids on leaving the church, while everyone is milling around.

I've got another wedding lined up where I'll be using the same kit with the addition of a 40D as the main shooter.

I really need to learn about using the flash controls.
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I would be really interested to see the photos if you happen to have them online somewhere?

I played with a 50D in PC World last night and my lord it felt nice, can't wait to try out the 40D properly for a whole day. Will no doubt make me want to upgrade my 400D, which I simply cannot afford.......ever! :(
 
ScarySquirrel said:
I would be really interested to see the photos if you happen to have them online somewhere?

I played with a 50D in PC World last night and my lord it felt nice, can't wait to try out the 40D properly for a whole day. Will no doubt make me want to upgrade my 400D, which I simply cannot afford.......ever! :(
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I'll sort some examples out for you ASAP. Going from the 350D to the 40D was great. Can't wait to use it for the next one :)
 
ScarySquirrel said:
Thanks dude, would be mighty helpful :)

Do you have a website or Flickr or anything for your other stuff?
I always like seeing what other OcUK'ers are snapping :)
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I've only just signed upto Flickr and only have 3 pictures so far lol.

I'll be adding more over the weekend.

I think my account is www.flickr.com/photos/neilshawphotography

I'm getting some of the wedding pictures from facebook. They're all unedited as the best man posted them from the backup CD before I did any edits.
 
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Must stress that none of these have been edited, don't even think I've cropped any. First wedding as a backup to the Pro just in case he missed anything.


Only one I could find in the church taken from the 3rd row with the 17-50 ISO100!!

wed1.jpg



All taken with the 17-50

wed2.jpg


wed3.jpg


wed4.jpg


wed5.jpg


wed6.jpg


wed7.jpg


wed8.jpg



Taken with the f/4 70-200

wed11.jpg


web10.jpg


web12.jpg


wed13.jpg


wed14.jpg


wed15.jpg


wed16.jpg
 
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