Modes for things such as weddings

jryans10

jryans10

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Hi all,

Firstly, I'm not going to be taking pictures of a wedding hehe but I would like to find out from those of you who shoot weddings: which mode do you use? The reason I ask is because I was under the impression that it would've been manual but am also starting to think that this would take longer and you may miss the shot you want.

I'm beginning to think that it would be aperture priority?

Just curious really.

Thanks :).
 
People have different ways of working, and weddings are far from a 'set and forget' scenario.

At a wedding we shoot macro, low light, action, posed and unposed solo, couple and group portraits in natural light, with on camera flash and off camera flash, still life, architecture, interiors and other stuff we can't predict.

What 'mode' would you suggest?
 
If you use a hand held meter then manual would be the thing.
If you want semi auto then Aperture priority would fit the bill.
If you like scene modes then perhaps you are not ready for weddings.

Actually manual settings do not take long, Your exposure settings stay as they are unless you alter them, and unless the light falling on the subject changes you do not need to. The contrast range in weddings (in the sun,) is rather high between the brides dress and the dark suits. you can balance this with flash fairly easily. But a camera can make some pretty wild exposure choices in these circumstances, depending on the proportion of white dress to dark suit in a particular shot. With a resulting under or over exposure.
 
It really is about time the camera manufacturers put a Wedding mode on their cameras.
 
I generally used AV , but sometimes Manual , occasionally TV, and sometimes (whisper it) P.

As with speeds, iso etc , it really depends on the situation and the brief
 
av to control DOF and TV to control movement, manual for flash (dragging shutter) - the same as any other type of photography
 
true but you can equally use AV to control movement (ie set a large aperture forcing the camera to set a higher speed) or TV to control dof - setting a low speed to force a narrow aperture , or vice versa

and you can use any of the PASM modes with flash,

so that doesn't really add a great deal to the discussion
 
[QUOTE="big soft moose;5646435"

so that doesn't really add a great deal to the discussion[/QUOTE]

the OP asked what people used, I told him what I use. so what is your problem?
 
I don't have a problem - I'm just saying that telling him its the same as any other sort of photography doesn't add a lot to his understanding
 
Phil V said:
People have different ways of working, and weddings are far from a 'set and forget' scenario.

At a wedding we shoot macro, low light, action, posed and unposed solo, couple and group portraits in natural light, with on camera flash and off camera flash, still life, architecture, interiors and other stuff we can't predict.

What 'mode' would you suggest?
Click to expand...

What Phil was trying to say was full auto ;-)
 
big soft moose said:
I don't have a problem - I'm just saying that telling him its the same as any other sort of photography doesn't add a lot to his understanding
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It is really though, a lot of people seem to get hung up on wedding photography like it's something exceptional but as said in reality it's just the same as other forms of photography underneath.

As for asking what settings people use it's a pretty pointless question as you will no doubt get responses that vary from P to manual with most togs using more than one mode during the day!
 
I've never really understood P mode, how is it different from either Av or Tv, the other setting adjusts to give "correct" exposure whatever mode is used.
 
a1ex2001 said:
It is really though, a lot of people seem to get hung up on wedding photography like it's something exceptional but as said in reality it's just the same as other forms of photography underneath.

...
Click to expand...
Exactly.
There's nothing unique about wedding photography, it requires the same skills and understanding as lots of other jobs. More importantly though, it requires many of them. Whereas some other parts of the industry will require a detailed knowledge of a single type of job, wedding photographers are a 'jack of all trades' (as per my first post).

Which makes it either easier, or harder depending on your personality. But it's what also drives the frustration of wedding photographers when people pose questions like the one above:nuts:

Even if there was only 1 way of getting a camera to produce identical results in a given situation (which is a ridiculous premise), there are still dozens of different situations and photo requirements at one wedding.

So questions about, lenses, metering types, focus modes, etc for weddings spring from a point of complete ignorance of the actual situation. if you understand the question, you should know there's no right answer.
 
artyman said:
I've never really understood P mode, how is it different from either Av or Tv, the other setting adjusts to give "correct" exposure whatever mode is used.
Click to expand...

P mode can change after aperture and shutter mix after each shot to give correct exposure whereas A or S fixes aperture or shutter and it never changes until you change it.
Obviously if you choose to program shift up or down it has same effect as change aperture or shutter anyway.
 
All my DSLRs have a Wedding mode. It's clearly marked....

20130622_112053_.JPG


It serves well for Watersports and Wildlife too. :D
 
I've done a few weddings, I am far from a 'wedding photographer' But I was requested, and obliged. If I didn't feel up to it I'd have politely said no. I think if I had to ask this question I'd have turned it down saying I'm not up to it, it's not my area.

I treated them as if they were a series of portrait shoots, both candid and posed. Just go with the flow, know your camera and lenses inside out before even attempting one, have plenty of back up and never panic.

If you are about to shoot one, then I'd imagine you are pretty confident in your abilities already. You probably shouldn't need to ask a question like this.
 
Phil V said:
Exactly.
There's nothing unique about wedding photography....etc..
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Except - if you make a muck of it you end up with heap plenty enemies and as popular as a rattlesnake in a lucky dip :lol:
 
Full manual and set scenarios on the custom 1,2,3 for fast access
 
arclight said:
Except - if you make a muck of it you end up with heap plenty enemies and as popular as a rattlesnake in a lucky dip :lol:
Click to expand...

Overstated by pro photographers and winds me up:eek:

Serious question;

How many 'wedding photographer' websites have you seen this year containing appalling photos?

I appreciate 'appalling' is subjective and we ought to have higher standards than the man in the street, but if people are advertising their services with those photo's, someone thinks they're good enough to buy:gag:
 
ernesto said:
It really is about time the camera manufacturers put a Wedding mode on their cameras.
Click to expand...

:lol:

I am sure it is just a matter of time before Samsung or Apple put it their upcoming pro gear
 
cymruchris said:
'P' for Professional mode everytime!!

:bonk:

:lol:
Click to expand...

I was told by a wedding photographer that he use P mode a lot and that is not the only one.
Can't say the name but is very well known and is stuff is pretty impressive.
 
Personally I have found the best option to be shoot in Aperture priority unless I'm in a tough lighting situation like indoors with bright windows, or shooting into the sun or if I want to go hi key etc.. In see situations I use Aperture and compose the shot I want, take a test shot to see where I need to be with my settings and the flick into manual to adjust.

I find that manual makes life 10 times easier than exposure compensation because when you recompose the shot or move a little you might now include more sky or more of the window allowing in more light into your frame. In anything other than manual the camera will try to compensate this so your shot will darken and then you need to add more +ive compensation to balance it out. With Manual, when you've set to the current conditions you're good to go until you change location.

The only tough part of shooting manual is (like I had on a wedding recently) when shooting group shots into the light and a cloud comes over you will need to adjust your camera settings. However, as I change my composition a lot I'd rather do this than use the cameras light meter and constantly be either adding compensation or using the AEL button for every photo.
 
fred2511 said:
I was told by a wedding photographer that he use P mode a lot and that is not the only one.
Can't say the name but is very well known and is stuff is pretty impressive.
Click to expand...


Using P combined with exp comp is not really any different than manual as you are manually overriding to get what you want (difference being that if you program shift if will revert back to what camera decides after the shot)

As per Mark's post above it all depends if you want to fiddle with program shift and exp comp or just fiddle directly with shutter or aperture. That is down to personal preference and has no bearing on how the photos will look as they will ultimately look exactly the same.
 
arclight said:
Except - if you make a muck of it you end up with heap plenty enemies and as popular as a rattlesnake in a lucky dip :lol:
Click to expand...

This is one of those classics that everyone hypes up but to really cock it up your going some! You might not be 100% happy and think you've missed a few shots but the chances are the bride and groom will never even notice unless you deliver them a blank disc or an album full of shots from the disposable cameras on the table they are probably going to be fine!
 
True.

On a wedding I would typically give the customer less than 40% of the photos that I take. Doing the candids is the easy part. To know if you are ready you need to be confident that you can nail certain points of the day in one go.

Entrance of the bride being the main one that you won't get a second chance and it has to be right! If you're not confident of this then don't do it.
 
I've also seen some pretty bad wedding photos in the past and the couple are always happy. I'm not one to point out other people's mistakes to their client as if they don't see a problem I'm not going to make them aware of it.

I am always far too critical off work though. I wouldn't deliver some of the things that I've seen.
 
I posted this in the business forum the other day but it didn't get much of a response, probably because most people sneered at the idea of P mode being useful, but its a good video none the less, worth a watch.

[YOUTUBE]00K7pBWOInk[/YOUTUBE]
 
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