sirlensalot Loc: Arizona

I will be photographing a wedding for a friend (done a few, not a pro) and will be looking at very bright orange / yellow lighting on slightly raised stage area. Lighting will remain as is for the ceremony.
Did some test shots changing WB settings in camera without much luck. Thinking may have to go to custom WB (never did custom), or maybe a lens filter or even a flash filter? Help! Stage lighting is quite harsh. Any tips or advice? Discarded original test shots. Sorry.

chapjohn Loc: Tigard, Oregon

Remember flash is distacting during the wedding. Ask the officiant if flash is allowed. A CPL may help. Use a higher ISO (i.e. 400-800) if you do.
There are colored filters used a lot with film that may work. I had not looked at them enough to know what color you need to offset the colors you mentioned.

saside Loc: live in pueblo co

What do you mean by bright orange / yellow? Is it a gel over white light or a kind of light like florence? Either way you have a few options. 1. Would be to go back with a calibrated laptop computer screen after you learn how to set up the white balance take a few pictures and fine tune the custome WB. 2. buy a meter and do the same. 3. call or go back find out what kind of lights they are ( almost all lights have a wave lenth stamped on them ) preset the CWB go back test again. Find out what kind of lights they are (ex. halagon ) buy a filter that "counteracts" the color go back test again and fine tune with C/WB if needed. The only advantage with the filter is if you go from one lighting condition to another quickly is that you can screw off and on the filter faster then most people can change the WB in camera, but if you change lighting condition with out removing the filter you'll have lots of fun adjusting the WB in PP.

carlreno2

In church ambient light can be a plus. I usually adjust my WB manually. I start with 3200k and work from there. If your camera allows you to do this that is the easiest way I find to getting it right. WB is your friend and you should learn to manipulate it to your advantage. Hope this helps.
carlreno2

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

Just a noob question; couldn't you use one of those fold out gray/white cards for calibrating your camera under the lighting conditions?

I have one and it works like a charm and it was cheap.

saside Loc: live in pueblo co

This is of course the easy and smart way to set your WB

sirlensalot Loc: Arizona

Appreciate the replies. No one knew what type of lights they were and no way to check without a tall ladder or lift. Have not yet tried custom WB, may be a good option but instinct tells me things will be happening too fast to change WB often, but not having used custom WB, it may be unfair to say that.
Special thanks to saside and carlreno2 for WB advice. I will try it. Thanks to all.

rpavich Loc: West Virginia

sirlensalot,
you are right...you can't change custom white balance on the fly quickly, I THINK that it's something that is assumed to be fairly stable, i.e. change to a different room, change white balance, but overall, the TYPE of lighting shouldn't change right? Just the amount of light.

sirlensalot Loc: Arizona

Spot on rpavich - stage lighting will remain same for entire ceremony. Type of lighting will be same. Amount of light change will / should be insignificant.

robert-photos Loc: Chicago

I do a lot of church photography (see my site).

During ceremonies I shoot no flash, RAW, 2800 K white balance, 1600 ISO, manual shutter and aperture which depend on the ambient light in various areas, action, and desired DOF.

Setting your white balance at one K temperature makes it easy to batch correct in PS or LR. Doesn't matter if you are right or wrong but it is nice to be close in order to judge proper exposure on your histogram. Have your blinkies going so you can see overexposed (clipped) areas. To get the detail in a white wedding dress you have to slightly underexpose.

For formal shots after ceremonies I use flash with a Rosco 3441 CTS gel. I shoot Canon which I have found has a slight red bias. My alternate gel would be a CTO which has more red.

I don't have to adjust my WB and my flash blends in with the dimmed incandescent lighting in the church so I don't get those ghost white subjects against a yellow/reddish background.

I lower my ISO for my flash so that the background is 1+ stop underexposed and use ETTL, second curtain. I set my aperture for DOF and shutter speed as rquired. If the shutter speed is too low I raise the ISO. I use a rule of thumb for shutter speed (inverse of the lens focal length).

Good luck :thumbup: