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10-11-2009, 06:55 PM   #1
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Under cover wedding shots

I am doing the photos for a friends wedding. It is very small and she has no money for a photographer. I have no worries with the 'getting ready' inside shots as will use my prime lens which is 50ml and goes to 1.4. But she is having the event in her under cover area which will be some shade and light. So I will use my flash (hotshoe). Here I am a little worried about what settings to use. I Will be using my 28-80mm lens for this. I have tried a few shots under my own patio and can't seem to get it right. I would like to get some low depth of field due to trying to blurr out some of the hanging baskets and such, but not sure how to do this with the flash. Should I just go for automatic in this situation, or step back and use the zoom in the hopes that the flash will still fill in the shadows. Any help very much welcome.

10-11-2009, 07:22 PM   #2
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G'day Trishy.
My first bit of advice to you is practice, practice, practice.
It seems you have some way to go to get the results you're after, so start now.
Shallow depth of field demands a large aperture, and should be OK to use with flash also with some knowledge of balancing ambient and flash light.

Simplest method to me is to meter the scene without flash looking to expose for the background. Use an ISO that will allow the background to be adequately exposed at the aperture you've set and a shutter speed of around 1/180sec. Then switch on the flash in P-TTL mode at 0 FEC and go to X mode on the camera (or M mode setting the shutter speed as 1/180 and the Av and ISO as previously metered). Test the settings and see if you get a reasonable exposure. Adjust FEC accordingly.

If the background is too bright even at ISO 100 at the aperture you want, then you will need to set the flash to high-speed sync mode and set the shutter speed to the value you want to expose correctly.

There are other ways but just find the way that's best for you.
Hope this helps.
10-11-2009, 11:14 PM   #3
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Im in the same boat as you are - learning! ^_^. In case you arent getting it right in the time frame before the wedding (when is it? tomorrow or next month?), then maybe you can also look into recreating a shallow depth of field post processing.....photoshop or something, and shoot at smaller apertures.

note...i am not suggesting this is a good idea whatsoever....just in case you arent ready by D-day, then its better than nothing!
10-12-2009, 08:28 AM   #4
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I think your best bet under those conditions is to use the flash and camera in manual. Once you get used to it, it will greatly reduce the number of improperly exposed shots. In manual you don't have to worry about the camera in P-TTL, or flash in Auto, taking foreground or background into account in when it picks the exposure (flash duration). Memorize the appropriate guide numbers and practice judging distance. Once you get the hang of it your subject will always be properly exposed. (well, nearly always. You have to allow for an occasional brain fart.)

10-12-2009, 08:56 AM   #5
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Here are some great articles on using flash, both as primary light and for fill.
http://www.planetneil.com/tangents/flash-photography-techniques/

His "More Articles" link has more good reading as well.
http://www.planetneil.com/tangents/flash-photography-techniques/further-pages/

Good luck.

Tim
10-14-2009, 10:02 AM   #6
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Just a tip - although your lens is capable of shooting at 1.4, at least with my copy I find that stopping down to at least f/2 increases the image quality significantly! I would much rather boost the ISO and stop down the lens about one half to one stop then risk soft images with a razor thin "in focus" area.
10-18-2009, 08:22 AM   #7
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SIMPLE, use high sync flash, use flash at any shutter speed hence any aperture

10-18-2009, 09:22 AM   #8
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You are likely to get a lot of different answers here as ...different strokes for different folks! My thoughts are that if you are shooting in open shade, using a camera mounted flash is a good idea to give your photos some Pop ...the question is can you get a large enough aperture to get the selective focus you desire and still stay under 180 sec sync speed.

You may want to experiment using the hyper program mode, your sync speed will automatically be reduced within 180. I use a difusser on the flash, you can try a layer or two of facial tissues held on with a rubber band, works well. This will have the effect of difussing the flash and also reducing the output to allow those larger f stops.

I only go manual when shooting in very low light and wish to drag the shutter at 1/15 or 1/30 for instance. Not necessary in your situation and dangerous as the ambient light will be your basic exposure ...your flash will just give your subjects some pop and fill in the shadows in the eye sockets etc..
10-19-2009, 05:47 AM   #9
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Some great advice already concerning flash use. I would add to code4code5's reply. Be careful with wide apertures in this instance, I'm with you on the background, but if you shoot everything wide open and miss focus on your subjects you will be disappointed. For a wedding my first priority would be get some good crisp shots. Unless, of course, you're solid in your focusing abilities wide open.
10-21-2009, 05:30 AM   #10
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How high is the overhead and what color is the underside of it? If it is white and your flash is capable of bouncing, then as much as possible bounce the flash off of it to avoid harsh, unnatural, flat lighting that comes from straight-on hotshoe flash.

By way of example, here are a couple of casual shots I did recently by ceiling bouncing a flash (AF280T) in auto mode:






Pentax K20D
Cosina 19-35/3.54.5
Pentax AF280T


Bouncing the flash really makes a world of difference compared to straight-on.

If you can have access to the area then grab somebody to go with you over there and practice practice practice shots beforehand at the actual location.

Last edited by Mike Cash; 10-21-2009 at 05:36 AM.
10-22-2009, 08:33 PM   #11
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when i look at your thread title i thought you are gonna be an undercover or something...
huge disappointment now =(
10-28-2009, 02:38 AM   #12
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hmmm I do have probs with terminology. I don't even compute 'stopping down' or 'up' only understand bigger or smaller (I know and I am not even blonde!) Now as to the confusion about 'undercover' so sorry I knew this would suggest exciting frilly type ideas. Now, I will not be using flash with the f2 lens. That will be for the inside 'getting ready' shots. Thanks for the 'bounce' yes that I can cope with, or use my handy little bounce card. I will be using a diffuser so that part is OK. Lots of your other advice lost me in technical language. Taff just slowly give me that info again. High sync flash? Then any shutter speed? Just pretend I am challenged mentally (Oh, I am.) Ta, now I shall have a look at the recommended sight. Ooooh, one more thing. What centering thingy should I be on? I think I am on centre weighted at the moment. Nice pics Mike. And now just to confuse me more, we are marrying in the park, then going undercover.
10-28-2009, 04:11 AM   #13
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Stopping down = reducing aperture size, i.e. f/stop number increasing
It all depends on what flash you use as to whether you can use high sync flash, which increases flash intensity to allow for a faster shutter speed than Pentax cameras' flash sync speed of 1/180secs.
You were referring to metering mode. You need to know what metering mode suits what scenery, but in general I'd suggest sticking to matrix metering (the green one).
Seems there's a lot of the fundamentals for you to learn, so I'd strongly suggest you read up on the basics of the exposure triad, flash techniques and metering modes. Any basic photography book or website should help you there.
10-29-2009, 04:06 AM   #14
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From the title of this thread, I thought you were a secret agent
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