Set ups used in a church

[piggyxiaozhu]

A friend of mine will be having her wedding run through at a church in the morning 9am.

wat kind of settings should i choose to get the best portraits / candids?

:grin:

[Splendid Warrior]

A friend of mine will be having her wedding run through at a church in the morning 9am.

wat kind of settings should i choose to get the best portraits / candids?

:grin:

I'm assuming your question is in regards to equipment. I'm no wedding photographer but if I were you I'd bring my 12-24, 28-70 and 70-200 or a 18-200.

The 12-24 is great for shooting the interior of the church as well as big group portraiture if you have limited space. You can use a 28-70 lens for normal portraiture and the tele-zoom for discreet candid shots. The 18-200 zoom would just about cover all your needs if you don't wanna bring 3 lenses. Oh and don't forget your tripod, flash and the extra batteries cos the interior of a church could be dim. Happy shooting. :)

[piggyxiaozhu]

thanks!

hmmm my fren's husband is in army so there will be sword bearers and all. He is engaging his own camera / viz crew so there will be lighting and all in the church. Since there are lotsa white, means i should set my exposure over right? any preferred F/stp?

will be bring my 17-70mm f2.8 only cos i more like the xtra... enough? i got this 28 to 200mm f4.5 shld bring?

i asked a friend of mine and he was telling me tat since i m a newbie, i should set to P mode and let it do the talking. u all think?

sorry too many questions.... :p

[Splendid Warrior]

thanks!

hmmm my fren's husband is in army so there will be sword bearers and all. He is engaging his own camera / viz crew so there will be lighting and all in the church. Since there are lotsa white, means i should set my exposure over right? any preferred F/stp?
No, you do not need to over exposed on purpose to fool your camera's meter. This only applies to a scene that is predominantly white. i.e. a snow covered landscape. Soldiers in their dress whites hardly qualifies. :grin: What aperture settings to use will depend on what you wanna achieve.
Go for a F2.8 or F3.5 if you want a shallow depth of field for your half body or head shot portraits but go wider to F5.6 to F8 for your group shots. Anything smaller than F8 and you'll use up your battery life real quick. Since you say there will be lots of lighting in the church, do remember to check if the official photographer is using infra to trigger his lights. He would be pissed if your flash keep trigerring his lights off before he take his shots.

will be bring my 17-70mm f2.8 only cos i more like the xtra... enough? i got this 28 to 200mm f4.5 shld bring?
If I were you, I'd bring it along. Another lens shouldn't weigh too much.

i asked a friend of mine and he was telling me tat since i m a newbie, i should set to P mode and let it do the talking. u all think?

sorry too many questions.... :p
P mode is the safest but you'll lose a lot of control. No different from shooting with a compact imo. If you have no confident to shoot in full manual, I suggest you use Aperture Priority instead. With AP you'll still retain depth of field control but the rest is taken care by your camera, giving you time to think about your composition and other stuffs. :)

[espn]

If it's a run through, then experiment and try for yourself to see what suits you. You won't be the main anyway, take it as a learning experience rather than stressing yourself.

[piggyxiaozhu]

thanks all!!! :clap:

[littlegenie]

The 12-24 is great for shooting the interior of the church as well as big group portraiture if you have limited space. :)

Sorry for the hijacking, piggyxiaozhu.

Won't the faces be distorted if you used it @ wide?

[Splendid Warrior]

Sorry for the hijacking, piggyxiaozhu.

Won't the faces be distorted if you used it @ wide?

Yes, but only when you shoot your subjects up close.

[espn]

Yes, but only when you shoot your subjects up close.
No, only when you are not at level with the subject.

Ie: You're tilting downwards or upwards but not on level with the subject. Also, distortion will appear at the extreme sides of the frame if you place a subject too near to the sides.

[piggyxiaozhu]

the distortions will onli appear at the extreme ends right? if not should not be distorted right?

[Splendid Warrior]

No, only when you are not at level with the subject. Ie: You're tilting downwards or upwards but not on level with the subject.
I disagree. Barrel distortion of varying degree will occur with wide angle lenses of different focal lengths no matter what angle the camera is pointed at. It is more obvious when image is shot up close or when camera is tilted (up close as well) like you mentioned.

Also, distortion will appear at the extreme sides of the frame if you place a subject too near to the sides.
Yes, barrel distortion is more obvious near the edges of a wide angle image. So like I said earlier, don't go too close to your subjects and you should be okay.

:)

[piggyxiaozhu]

how bad will the distortion be?

[Splendid Warrior]

how bad will the distortion be?

How bad it is will depend on the focal length used. The wider the lens, the more pronounce the distortion will be. However, it should be okay in the context of capturing group shots in a wedding.

Look at this pic: It was shot at 15mm (22mm @ 35mm format). You can clearly see that the left hand of the man on the right of the image is not proportionate to his body but otherwise acceptable for this genre of photography. Since you have a 17-70mm lens, you should use it to check the results yourself.

[piggyxiaozhu]

so meaning wider angle + shorter focal length = higher distortion at the side?

i got to try it out! :clap:

[Splendid Warrior]

so meaning wider angle + shorter focal length = higher distortion at the side?

i got to try it out! :clap:

wide angle=short focal length=distortion
wider angle=shorter focal length=more distortion

Got it? :grin:

[piggyxiaozhu]

ming bai le shi fu!

[AncientMariner]

A friend of mine will be having her wedding run through at a church in the morning 9am.

wat kind of settings should i choose to get the best portraits / candids?

:grin:If you want only portraits and candids, people may be giving you the wrong advice here. Forget the wide angle and attach a fast telephoto zoom. However, unless you know the church well, I would suggest you go to the church and assess the location and work out position, focal lengths and angles in advance. It would be a bonus should there be another function being held as you would get a better idea of the real-time lighting conditions.

[littlegenie]

Thanks for sharing...

[espn]

I disagree. Barrel distortion of varying degree will occur with wide angle lenses of different focal lengths no matter what angle the camera is pointed at. It is more obvious when image is shot up close or when camera is tilted (up close as well) like you mentioned.Yep, this I agree with you, but it's very much dependent on the glass used, eg: AF-S 17-35 f/2.8 ;)


Yes, barrel distortion is more obvious near the edges of a wide angle image. So like I said earlier, don't go too close to your subjects and you should be okay.

:)In short, don't frame them too near the edges, either that, zoom in a bit.

[TATBOO]

try F5.6, iso 200 to 400
take a few test shots for the correct ISO setting :coolnod:

[Splendid Warrior]

If you want only portraits and candids, people may be giving you the wrong advice here. Forget the wide angle and attach a fast telephoto zoom. However, unless you know the church well, I would suggest you go to the church and assess the location and work out position, focal lengths and angles in advance. It would be a bonus should there be another function being held as you would get a better idea of the real-time lighting conditions.

Care to elaborate which are the wrong advice given Jacky? Please share cos we'd all like to learn something from you. :)

[miniUltraman]

try F5.6, iso 200 to 400
take a few test shots for the correct ISO setting :coolnod:

f5.6 is perfect if you use flash... without flash indoor with f5.6 is a little of a challenge unless you have really steady hands or compromise with higher iso (noise).. well but u say church well-lite.. then ok lo.. I have shot 2 different churches... I use my prime 50mm f1.4 (at f2.0 - f2.8) and 70-200 at f2.8 during certain times when flash is not allowed and I still feel quite a challenge... so do access the actual ground condition.

[piggyxiaozhu]

ya lor... dis guy is paying alot and getting the whole camera crew .... tinking i can steal the light... den can shoot at f5.6

[miniUltraman]

ya lor... dis guy is paying alot and getting the whole camera crew .... tinking i can steal the light... den can shoot at f5.6

army officer so rich arh :clap:

[piggyxiaozhu]

y i dun have.... snort... wahahahhaa

[miniUltraman]

y i dun have.... snort... wahahahhaa

continue to find la.. you say whole army is coming with sword.. just pick one from there :victory:

[piggyxiaozhu]

hmmm dat day i beta wear nice nice...

[harrynkl]

army officer so rich arh :clap:

got pay increase mah

and i work like a :dog:

[harrynkl]

hmmm dat day i beta wear nice nice...

u can take with them too, i can follow u and help u shoot with them

[piggyxiaozhu]

got pay increase mah

and i work like a :dog:

my dog life so good... no need to work.. i slog he slp...

wahahahaha

cannt lah... wait i go spoil pic den i kena :knock1:

:grin:

[EFG]

A friend of mine will be having her wedding run through at a church in the morning 9am.

wat kind of settings should i choose to get the best portraits / candids?

:grin:

Hi, for your original query, if you want to capture natural candids, I think you might be better off with a fast lens (small f stop).

Candids are best captured without people noticing sometimes. It's the flash that spoils the fun.

Also, depending on church denomination, during the dry run, best ask pastor (church seniors or leaders) whether flash is allowed in the worship hall. Otherwise, the church leaders may feel offended during the actual wedding day with the use of flashes.

Fast lens is quite affordable especially for the 50mm. Eg, 50mm f1.8 makes a good compromise for budget shoots and getting the shot without the need for flash.

Well of course, if you very the rich, then the 85 f1.2 (or 85 f1.4) would be very good to have for photo jounalistic style candids.

Oh, and the debate on single focal length prime lenses versus zoom lenses will never end... LOL.

[piggyxiaozhu]

i din think of bring my 50mm f1.8 now that u mention... i better bring too!!! thanks!!!! :rofl:

[EFG]

i din think of bring my 50mm f1.8 now that u mention... i better bring too!!! thanks!!!! :rofl:

Yes, it does not hurt bringing the small 50mm.

But you have to plan what you want to do if you are there to shoot. A fixed lens wont give you time to swop to a wide angle zoom to give you the instantaneous reach - unless you have 2 cam bodies.

If you are not the main photog, it would be less stressful on you and you can roam around while you anticipate for moments to capture. Bump up your iso so you can compensate for any incredibly low light situation.

If you are the main photog, then this is the best time to exihibit all the tips you'd learned from people.

There are many good photographers in here to learn from. I am, however, just a beginner in this hobby and am sharing as I learn.

[miniUltraman]

i din think of bring my 50mm f1.8 now that u mention... i better bring too!!! thanks!!!! :rofl:

Remember not to block the main photographer when you are moving in and out while using your 50mm :grin:

[piggyxiaozhu]

i diet 1st ok? den i block less... hahahaha

i planning on candid... :clap: