Alfredo … the same techniques and principles would apply with the ceremony – whether in how you handle your camera and lenses; choice of settings; and use of light and possibly flash.

The extra considerations are now timing and observation. Looking for key moments .. and still being stealthy.

And NOT standing in front of the guests, obscuring their view. (Hi there Mr Videographer!)

Neil vN

I have read what you’ve written on this blog about how you take your photos in the processional, the formal and the reception, but I have not seen anything that tells me as you take your photos during the ceremony. Can you show me the link to that part of your articles?

Regards,

Alfredo

You’re awesome for being so helpful!

That’s a tough call. As you may have noticed from this post, and from others on this website, I tend to take a number of options. In this case, I have the SD-9 and Quantum SC and Quantum 2×2 battery packs. So I might not be the best role model here. ; )

Of those three, I’d say the SD-9 is the best value for money, and the Must Have option of the three. Since the SD-8 takes 6 batteries instead of 8 like the SD-9, the recycle time is slower. And it doesn’t last as long.

Even though the Quantum SC might be a better (but spendy) choice then, I’d still say keep the SD-8. It’s small and light-weight.

Re the Quantum SC, I also clip this onto the camera’s strap, thereby releasing myself from carrying the battery pack on my belt.

Neil vN

“Re battery packs, yes you can connect a Quantum pack to your battery, especially if you want faster recycling. Mostly though, I get by with the camera manufacturers’ battery packs. They don’t recharge quite as fast as the Quantum 2×2 (although this might in fact be a plus point).

What I prefer about the CP-E4 / SD-9 battery packs, is that I can attach those to my camera strap and then free myself from a cable to a battery pack on my belt.”

Now that you say for the church, you swap over to the Quantum SC batteries, I’m wondering if I purchased the wrong thing.

I really value your opinion bc I am striving to have nice images like yours so could you please tell me if I should keep the SD-8 or return it and order the Quantum today? I can pay for rush delivery for it to get here by the weekend. The last thing I want to do is buy the wrong piece of equipment bc I’ve done that way too many times and wasted my money. If I should get a Quantum, which one?

Thanks again!

Toni,

I do change my aperture as the bride comes closer. I might start off at f2.8 and the dial the aperture 2 or 3 clicks as she comes closer.

Also, I peel away the piece of black foam to suit the situation. And I shape it. So it is quite possible that you had it positioned so that it was eating up a lot of the output from your flash.

You also need to zoom your flash-head to maximum.

In terms of stopping motion .. what was your shutter speed?

For the church, I do swap over to my Quantum SC batteries so that my flash recycles faster than it would with the SD-9. The SD-8A is slower than this. So that could’ve been a problem too.

Shooting like this does mean your flash is mostly working at (or close to) maximum output anyway. So it is working hard.

I hope this helps.

Neil vN

I tested the black foamie thing and all of the shots (except a couple when the subject was very close) were under exposed about a stop. I saw this in the histogram and would increase FEC up to +3 at times but still no consistent results. I realize now that I was shooting at iso 1000 or 1600 and a lot of yours are iso 2000 – 2500. I wonder if I wasn’t letting in enough ambient light.

As I recall, the ambient was more than 1 stop under exposed. Is that why the flash wasn’t exposing properly? More flash power or ambient light was needed? Many shots were iso 1000 or 1600, f3.2, 1/100th. I remember looking at the meter and the ambient being underexposed more than a stop (more like 2). Should I have increased the iso to 2500? I have a hang up of feeling safe under-exposing the ambient by 2 stops to freeze action with the flash.

On another note, I need to get a battery pack asap so I can fire a lot to get ‘the shot’. I called “the store” today and was told that all wedding photographers use
Quantum Instruments -Turbo Battery with 120 / 240VAC Charger and at $389, I told him that was too much.

He then recommended Quantum Instruments, Battery 1 Plus Battery Pack (6V) for $214 plus cable. Do I really need all of that power to shoot the way you do? I love your work!

The sales guy said the Nikon, SD-8A Battery Pack at $150 isn’t enough power to shoot weddings. What would you do because what you do is working!

Thanks so much for all of you help!

Hi there Emil …

1. your approach here is a correct one.
And you have to read that correctly. It is a correct approach. There are other ways of doing this.
Also, depending on the situation, you might just use fill-flash. Or no flash. It varies.
But the approach you mention there would certainly work.
But, as always, one should not be dogmatic about this, but adapt.

2. Usually, TTL flash will give you (what it deems to be) correct exposure.
As long as you’re within range of the flashgun’s capabilities of course.

So if your flash exposure looks under or over on a test shot or two, then you’d adjust your FEC.

You can easily figure out your flash exposure before the bride arrives. There should be guests sitting in the front rows at approximately the distances the bride will be in her closest approach down the aisle.

Neil vN

1. You meter for ambient light and underexpose by a stop?

2. How do you know how much power to dial in on the flash if you don’t have a subject to test on? Every church is different and bouncing your flash would give you different results? Do you rely on TTL to take care of the flash exposure? I know you like to adjust your flash power constantly … I can’t figure out what your procedure is for setting up the shot before the bride comes in. I greatly appreciate your work!

Corey .. if you’re not allowed to use flash during the ceremony, then your obvious and only recourse then are fast lenses, and high-ISO capable cameras.

You really need the f1.4 primes and f2.8 stabilized zooms then.
In my opinion, these are essential to wedding photography.

There is only so much one can achieve with an f4-f5.6 zoom lens, especially when coupled with a lower-end camera.

Neil vN