HELP please! 7D + 580EX II.. best settings for wedding this afternoon.

[Deleted member 9479]

Hi all. Been off the togging thing for a while due to work and family stuff, but I've been asked by a friend to take photos at their wedding this afternoon.

I strapped my 580EX II to my 7D the other day to get back into things, but can't seem to get to grips with the flash. I'm either very over exposed, or a it dark. With a bit of faffin about I get something ok, but could really do with some advice here please.

It's a civil wedding inside a room in a hotel at 4pm so not a lot of natural light available, hence flash. Only about 12-15 guests which is why he has asked me to do the photos.

Any help here would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Rob E]

It's going to be difficult to do at such short notice. Have you worked at the venue before? It might be worth popping down beforehand and try out a few shots and settings

 

[Phil V]

Have you caught the FEC by accident?
Are you shooting with it on ETTL?
Keep HSS on by default - it'll mean you don't need to be checking it when you go outside
Set the flash metering to CWA - I find it's much more relaible than Eval.
Always shoot Manual as soon as you're inside with flash - leave the flash on ETTL and adjust to taste with FEC (mine's usually at 1/3 - 1 under at weddings).

 

[Deleted member 9479]

Hi Romper, yes I went down there on thursday to take a few shots and get the feel of the room, which is how I discovered my flash skills weren't what they should be

Phil, thatnks for the tips - I'm just going to set everything as you said and take a few shots indoors here to see the results.

Am I correct in saying that even in Manual, ETTL takes over and sets what it feels is needed.? Read that somewhere. My concern about shooting in manual is that you can't use the Exposure Lock. The groom is in black, bride in white, room is red and gold. Oh deep joy

 

[Deleted member 9479]

Ok, this has proved to be really helpful Phil, thanks..

Have you caught the FEC by accident?
Are you shooting with it on ETTL?
Keep HSS on by default - it'll mean you don't need to be checking it when you go outside
Set the flash metering to CWA - I find it's much more relaible than Eval.
Always shoot Manual as soon as you're inside with flash - leave the flash on ETTL and adjust to taste with FEC (mine's usually at 1/3 - 1 under at weddings).

No FEC issue - I did check that and we're all good there.

I shot with ETTL anyway, so have just tried with HSS on, and set metering to CWA as suggested, and all looks good.

I shot on AV so that I could use Exposure Lock and it allows me to adjust the DoF. Looks good so far.

 

[Phil V]

Ok, this has proved to be really helpful Phil, thanks..


No FEC issue - I did check that and we're all good there.

I shot with ETTL anyway, so have just tried with HSS on, and set metering to CWA as suggested, and all looks good.

I shot on AV so that I could use Exposure Lock and it allows me to adjust the DoF. Looks good so far.

Inside I use M so that I don't have to worry about the SS dropping or doing anything strange, usually just under correct exposure but allowing the flash to crisp them up a bit, AV freaks me out indoors.

The IS on the lens will let me use much slower shutter speeds than I can set as a safety feature on the camera, and knocking off the safety feature allows the camera to drop to silly low speeds if I'm not careful.

And I'm generally an AV shooter.

 

[Deleted member 9479]

Just wanted to say thank you to Phil V for your advice. It worked a treat and I got some great images for them. I will say that I was so bloody nervous it was un-true. I now know I made the right decision never to do weddings! Thanks again

 

[Phil V]

Just wanted to say thank you to Phil V for your advice. It worked a treat and I got some great images for them. I will say that I was so bloody nervous it was un-true. I now know I made the right decision never to do weddings! Thanks again

No worries. Glad it went well.