Wedding reception

[laura-elliot]

I've been asked to take pictures at my friend's wedding reception....I have a Canon 450d camera and wonder if anyone has suggestions of the best lenses to use and flash... I already have a flash which is pretty slow, so may need to invest in a new one!!

Thanks,
Laura

 

[big soft moose]

I've been asked to take pictures at my friend's wedding reception....I have a Canon 450d camera and wonder if anyone has suggestions of the best lenses to use and flash... I already have a flash which is pretty slow, so may need to invest in a new one!!

Thanks,
Laura

Is this as main photographer ? - or is a paid one going to be there too ?

(if its the former think carefully about saying no - cocking it up could ruin a freindship)

That aside I'd say use the crispest and fastest lens you've got ( I used to use a 28-135 IS but i also had good results with my tamron 90mm macro f2.8 ) also while fill flash is going to be needed some of the time i'd try to keep it to a minimum - the reception is about couple and guests having fun lots of flash bursts wont help the ambience. As an alternative you could crank up the iSO and ameliorate the resultant noise by converting shots to B&W (do check with your freind first tho)

Also think about putting a diffuser on your flashgun , or at minimum a bounce card to avoid that red eyed rabit in the headlights look.

 

[lensflair]

I've been asked to take pictures at my friend's wedding reception....I have a Canon 450d camera and wonder if anyone has suggestions of the best lenses to use and flash... I already have a flash which is pretty slow, so may need to invest in a new one!!

Thanks,
Laura

It sounds like your friend maybe has booked a wedding photographer during the day but not the reception? So it doesn't sound like you'll have too much pressure and can enjoy it.

Can I ask what your current flash is?

I'm not sure what the ISO performance is like on your camera, is that the rebel? But I expect you can safely go to ISO 800 with flash. This is what you need to do or your flash is going to work too hard. If you keep a low ISO setting the flash will need to dump full power every shot if its dark, it will take too long to recycle, it will potentially overheat and the flash dump will get annoying to guests.

Think about gelling your flash if its bathed in tungsten or candle light. Use fastest lenses you have. Bounce the flash because direct flash sucks.

 

[Jackwow]

I've been asked to take pictures at my friend's wedding reception....I have a Canon 450d camera and wonder if anyone has suggestions of the best lenses to use and flash... I already have a flash which is pretty slow, so may need to invest in a new one!!

Thanks,
Laura

Hopefully your friend has employed a professional photographer and you're there for backup? :shrug:

 

[maomao55]

If it's not paid no need to invest lens just to do the wedding. You might need a 430 flash as the 450d does not perform well in low light condition.

 

[POAH]

I've been asked to take pictures at my friend's wedding reception....I have a Canon 450d camera and wonder if anyone has suggestions of the best lenses to use and flash... I already have a flash which is pretty slow, so may need to invest in a new one!!

Thanks,
Laura

buy a 430ex2 + stofen and then set exposure to manual say 1/30s f4. use ISO accordingly and snap away. most importantly have fun and ignore all these are you getting paid comments.

 

[admirable]

buy a 430ex2 + stofen and then set exposure to manual say 1/30s f4. use ISO accordingly and snap away. most importantly have fun and ignore all these are you getting paid comments.

I agree and what is it with these wedding threads that bring out all the eejit answers?

 

[lensflair]

I agree and what is it with these wedding threads that bring out all the eejit answers?

I think plenty of good advice is being given here. I think the reason people get a heated response to some of these wedding threads is two fold. A lot of professional wedding photographers on the forums and the crazy number of ill prepared people calling themselves wedding photographers and subsequent mess that results.

People often say things like they just want a few nice pictures but expectations change quickly. Some wedding photographers also get ticked off with people doing work for free or very little and doing a half baked job because some couples think they are saving money and don't actually realise what they will end up with. But the end result is they don't hire a pro.

I personally don't care about that aspect, I think its a problem for people who are competing on price alone. Quite a few of my clients and their friends and family turn out to be owners of nice gear and are into photography as a hobby, they usually talk to me about it when that's the case. But they don't assume their friends and family would give them the same service so

 

[admirable]

She asks for advice on lenses and a flash and gets irrelevant answers that are nothing to do with the question and certainly are no business of the answering posters.

It's pure bad manners

 

[lensflair]

She asks for advice on lenses and a flash and gets irrelevant answers that are nothing to do with the question and certainly are no business of the answering posters.

It's pure bad manners

All the replies except one gave her answers to her question, only one other person and yourself haven't.

 

[big soft moose]

She asks for advice on lenses and a flash and gets irrelevant answers that are nothing to do with the question and certainly are no business of the answering posters.

It's pure bad manners

To be fair the question of whether she is main or second camera does have a direct bearing on what advice is given

if she's going to be the main camera she needs a second body and probably a greater ranger of lenses and other kit (and if she's being paid she needs insurance as freinds or not these things can go horribly omelete shaped if the pictures arent up to spec)

If on the other hand theres going to be a pro to take care of all the formal stuff and she's just there to take a few candids and extra shots of the festivities then one body, one mid range zoom or couple of fast primes and a flashgun - and dunna worry bout a ting...

I agree theres no need for some of the abrupt posts - chances are one or two posters are drunk in charge of a keyboard last night - but the question itself is germane which is why i mentioned it in my original reply.

 

[admirable]

All the replies except one gave her answers to her question, only one other person and yourself haven't.

I agreed with POAH so my answer was the same as his.

Is this as main photographer ? - or is a paid one going to be there too ?

(if its the former think carefully about saying no - cocking it up could ruin a freindship)

This is the type of comment that I'm referring to, absolutely no need for it.

 

[big soft moose]

I agreed with POAH so my answer was the same as his.

[/COLOR]

This is the type of comment that I'm referring to, absolutely no need for it.

the mods havent said anything to me about it - if you've a problem maybe you better report the post , Quasi modding adds nothing to the thread and helps the OP not one jot or tiffle.

and i'd stand by it as fair call - if the OP is a relatively inexperienced photographer or even an experienced one whose not done a wedding before (e.g one who's not sure which lenses to use) and a freind asks them to cover their wedding/reception I'd really suggest they think long and hard about it before they say yes

( imagine a worst case scenario - when you download you find dirt on the sensor, you find the card was corrupted, you forgot to take the wB off sodium, you inadvertently selected the wrong focus point, you blew the whites in the dress, you accidently selected jpeg small etc etc - all of us make mistakes from time to time and its bad enough if you do it with a strangers big day - but imagine explaining that to your best mate... "well its like this, the reason you havent got any decent wedding photos... " )

if you screw it up you could easily ruin a freindship and worse case possibly wind up with a nasty liability bill to boot.

Even as an experienced photographer who has done a fair few weddings for strangers I'd shrink from doing it for freinds - i'd rather work out a quid pro quo with a tog mate than put myself in that position.

and IMO its fair advice to give to someone who might be in that position - particularly as I also went on to answer her question - which is more than you have done !

and in order to answer the question as posed (ie what lenses etc she needs) one needs to know if theres going to be a pro in attendance as well or if she's doing the whole shebang

 

[admirable]

I give up

 

[SimonTALM]

Looking at your current kit I think you'll be fine as a guest. Personally I prefer the longer lenses to get shots of people without them realising it, but take both as the 18-55 will get some great context shots on the dance floor.

Flash wise I'm not sure what you mean by slow (other than perhaps recylce time and if it's that then don't worry). I'm guessing the one you have is eTTL so makes life easy for you as the camera / flash works out the exposure and it can bounce and tilt then it will be fine. If not then a new flash could make your life easy (but not required)

Techniques wise assuming it is actually dark at the time the look at getting some ambient light in the shot (it will appear more natural); the best way to do this is to put the camera on manual, set the shutter speed to about 1/60th - 1/125th, the aperture about f5.6 and the ISO to something that keeps the background a little darker than normal, letting the flash and the TTL get the central bit right.

Don't worry too much about gelling the flash, the dark orange glow in the background from underexposed tungsten lights is actually quite nice when you get it right.

 

[swanseamale47]

Laura I thnk we need some more information, what flash do you have, whats your level of experience and are you the main photographer or just a guest.
It's hard to advise without knowing exactly what sort of pics your going to be taking.

 

[big soft moose]

Techniques wise assuming it is actually dark at the time the look at getting some ambient light in the shot (it will appear more natural); the best way to do this is to put the camera on manual, set the shutter speed to about 1/60th - 1/125th, the aperture about f5.6 and the ISO to something that keeps the background a little darker than normal, letting the flash and the TTL get the central bit right.

One other possibility if theres a dance floor and stobe light is to go for a long exposure and let the strobe take the pictures - not ideal for everything but an interesting technique for mood shots.

the other thing is to try and get up high - for some of the shots - even if its just standing on a chair .or for that matter get down low for some up shots - generally try to vary the angle to capture the mood

and thirdly with regard to flash if you can work an off camera flash or a second flash on a slave unit it makes a big difference to the ammount of red eye etc

 

[Jelster]

Not that I've tried it myself, but there was at least one pro on here who once said that when using flash with a Canon, stick it in Program Mode (the green box) and it works a treat. Have yet to be in a situation to try it out, but as long as you have a half decent flash unit you should be fine.

Steve

 

[lensflair]

Not that I've tried it myself, but there was at least one pro on here who once said that when using flash with a Canon, stick it in Program Mode (the green box) and it works a treat. Have yet to be in a situation to try it out, but as long as you have a half decent flash unit you should be fine.

Steve

I think it would depend on how you are using the flash and what result you would be happy with. I'm sure it will work but don't know how consistent it would be, the camera will tend choose very slow shutter speeds due to low ambient light. My advice for on camera bounce flash would be similar to advice already given. Camera in manual mode, ISO 800, stick to f5.6 and wider, around 1/125 shutter speed. Flash in TTL and ride FEC to adjust flash to taste. Reduce shutter speed for mire ambient in the mix.

An off camera flash or 2 bounced into the ceiling or a corner triggered by a radio will help lift light levels in the background. But the OP hasn't given any feedback on experience or how big/dark the venue is etc. so don't really know what to advise.