wedding dress detail (Page 2): yes..I didn't mean to imply that you meant shoot sloppy and fix in post...I was just mentioning the meter. :)...

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

MtnMan wrote:

Well, if you want you can meter the incident light by pointing your camera the right way to meter or you can use a gray card. But if you REALLY want to get it right you might also bracket.

Using RAW is good not only for the reason given above. It is good because you can adjust the white balance later easier. I use for important shots...and this qualifies.

yes..I didn't mean to imply that you meant shoot sloppy and fix in post...I was just mentioning the meter. :)

billozz Loc: Birmingham, England

it must be great to not have to ask advice, i wonder how people managed to shoot their first wedding, you cant practice really can you,the wedding dress so i have heard is very difficult to get right hence the question, shooting on a rainy day is also difficult iwas just looking for ideas not on exposure or any of the technical sides of shooting on a rainy day but some ideas about shots to take.
thanks to all for the answers anyway
bill

Solomon Loc: Australia

many years ago. (showing my age) We found out that by putting a UV filter(in the form of a film) over the FLASH helped with the detail in the white wedding dress. The dress will have been washed. In the soap powers there are emzines, these are in there to make the material glow..make your clothes/colors look stronger more vivid The UV filter OVER THE FLASH cuts out the UV light from making the clothing glow and there for burn out the fine detail.also under expose by at least one stop will help

Solomon Loc: Australia

BUT I also agree with some of the comments.. Yes we all had a first wedding at sometime,, but its not a good idea to ''learn'' on your friends wedding. (better you learn as a 2nd shooter ).if you do a good job your lucky, however if you make a mess you will lose a good friend. easiest is to ring and say your camera has gone in for repair and may not be back cos of a parts problem,so they had better get some one else, cos you don't want to let them down at the last moment, I've done wedding photos for over 30 years.. but I still make a mistake here and there

Bobbee

This is some Photography site! Post after post, when someone sez they are doing a wedding and not up to charging 5k, everyone imed. jumps on them and tells them to not do it and that then takes over the theme of the post. Wow, some site!

Granddad Loc: UK

Annie_Girl wrote:

can I suggest you back out gracefully? Not to be ... (show quote)

Spot on Annie.
Dave.

Granddad Loc: UK

Bobbee wrote:

This is some Photography site! Post after post, when someone sez they are doing a wedding and not up to charging 5k, everyone imed. jumps on them and tells them to not do it and that then takes over the theme of the post. Wow, some site!

You miss the point in your assumption on the people on here who tell somebody not to take a wedding on when they are asking basic questions. The person is asking how to expose for a wedding dress which if your a competent photographer you would know how to get the exposure right. It can destroy you as a photographer doing a wedding and not knowing what settings you should be on, there is no retake if you miss a image. Also while you are fiddling around with your camera the guest who are waiting around become impatient, believe me. I don't think you can tell someone how to take a wedding on a forum post.
Dave.
I will give you my settings but they will only be a guide as the light conditions for you may be totally different.
I used manual settings on the camera with ISO 400, it was a Canon EF 17-40mm f/4L lens, FL 29mm F/7.1, flash was ETTL, FEL 1EV and SS 1/60

Wedding Dress

BboH Loc: s of 2/21, Ellicott City, MD

On of the recommendations that I've seen for getting white snow is to increase your EV to +2. This may work with the white of a wedding dress also???

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

EstherP wrote:

If you're talking "traditional white" we... (show quote)

Would using remote flash at an angle to the dress help to bring out the detail?

sueyeisert Loc: New Jersey

Read the following book.On-Camera Flash Techniques for Digital Wedding and Portrait Photography [Paperback]by
Neil van Niekerk

http://www.amazon.com/On-Camera-Techniques-Digital-Portrait-Photography/dp/1584282584/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1384002356&sr=8-3&keywords=neil+van+niekerk

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

jerryc41 wrote:

Would using remote flash at an angle to the dress help to bring out the detail?

Off-camera, the light will be coming from an angle, will create shadows of the details, so yes, that could help. Head-on, you get flat light.
Just make sure it's flattering to the subject as well.

Dewar Loc: Summer in MN & Winter in FL

Ask any pro wedding photographer ...., getting the bride's white dress exposed correctly is a major, major problem. If you can get to the dress ahead of time, experiment by shooting it in different lighting situations.

floridamet

Esther is right on. If you muse front light it becomes very flat. You will loss all detail.
What I did in the past (before digital) my light person would hold the main light (not by the camera)
My radio control would fire both lights. The one on the camera was the fill lights.
This way you had shadow for shape.

herb99m Loc: Georgia, USA

rpavich wrote:

I know that some will slam Annie Girl for her rema... (show quote)

I took this advice a few years ago. I am a hobbyist and shoot a lot of fun events for friends. Baseball games, dance, tennis, pets, all stuff I do with my family. So when my friend asked me to do his daughters wedding because he had lost his job and could not afford one I deferred, though I did agree to do candids at the reception. My friend found someone. He was not good. Had a nice DSLR, but did not have a clue. I did not pay attention to what he was doing during the ceremony, but while he was doing the formals it was clear he was not up to it. I grabbed my camera and took over when he was done and at least got a few shots of his immediate family with the B&G.

They weren't great, but turned out much better than the other guys. My friend was thrilled, but I could tell he was a little disappointed I did not do the whole event.

Bottom line, sometimes we are the best option they have. So I applaud people that at least try to get all the help they can before taking on a very difficult task. If someone who I felt had the means to get a pro I would never do it, but if someone was desperate I would.

lhdiver Loc: Midwest

billozz wrote:

it must be great to not have to ask advice, i wonder how people managed to shoot their first wedding, you cant practice really can you,the wedding dress so i have heard is very difficult to get right hence the question, shooting on a rainy day is also difficult iwas just looking for ideas not on exposure or any of the technical sides of shooting on a rainy day but some ideas about shots to take.
thanks to all for the answers anyway
bill

Shooting your first wedding can be challenging but if you weren't a decent photographer I doubt they would have asked you to do it. Just do the best you can. Since you have a weather forecast I assume it is almost time. If it rains use umbrellas, pose the wedding party under them, bride & groom under one (white or pastel color if possible), if the rain isn't too heavy you could do a "singing in the rain" idea - have fun with it. Portrait shot inside in front of a rain washed window, especially if the sun breaks through, could be great.
Mostly don't freak out & leave the couple in the lurch ( heard of this happening once ). I think they know you aren't a professional wedding photographer but they trust you. Go on the web & google "wedding photography", look at the images from several photographers, that will give you ideas. Good luck!