ddonlewis

I have shot a number of weddings, and one on the beach in Florida. Your camera is fine, and your 18-200mm would be the lens to use. I typically use my 18-70MM with a few with my 80-200MM if I have to shoot from a balcony in a church. There is a saying about keeping it simple. I shoot my weddings in program mode with the ASA set at 200 outside and 400 indoors. I also shoot JPEG and my pictures come out beautiful. Your 480 flash should be fine. I always use flash indoors, and shoot most of the beach photos with the flash on to fill in the strong shadows you'll have in the sunlight. By shooting in program mode your camera will automatically adjust for fill flash. I shoot with a Nikon and they are the unrivaled masters of flash photography. You mention practicing on the beach. Practice with your Canon's fill flash. I will tell you from experience that fill flash doesn't work much beyound around 12 feet in full sunlight in Florida. You will be shooting at the rehersal, rehersal dinner, pre-wedding, wedding, post wedding family shots, and reception. Focus on your composition and not on your camera; it will take care of you. There is an old saying in bowling, "trust is a must or your game is a bust".

sirlensalot Loc: Arizona

Suggest shooting RAW and use your DPP to convert. If you don't already have a copy that came with your camera, you can download from Canon website.
Your 430 flash will be fine for fill.
Do your homework, and have fun.

glblanchard

If your camera allows it, why don't you shoot Raw + JPG fine. Having the RAW files for later work, couldn't hurt.
You seem to be getting some very good advice from the Hedgehog. Good luck.

Papa Joe Loc: Midwest U.S.

Happy shooting, Florida. As long as the wedding couple understand the situation as you've described, I wouldn't be too concerned. As for the fill flash, it's usually used (outside) to soften harsh shadows caused by deep shade and bright 'spots' like you might get under trees, etc. or to fill the shadow side of the subject in harsh sunlight, so I would think you'd want to aim the fill flash toward the subject. There is no 'bounce light' opportunity in most outside situations, unless you have an assistant holding a reflector, etc. You'll no doubt learn when, and when not to use it, when you experiment with your family. Study the results 'with and without' fill flash on similar shots. Good luck, and keep us posted how you did.

wayne-03 Loc: Minnesota

Kept it simple!!!! 18-200 lens, 200 iso outdoors – 400 iso indoors, aperture priority or program mode set to f5.6, flash pointed at subject, set flash on high speed sync, set flash compensation to -2/3 for shade and +1 for bright sun, flash has limited range so stay close to the subject. With this setup all you have to worry about is composition, focus and flash compensation. Good luck and take lots of pictures.

plimsoll

I would recommend getting a flip-type L bracket. This will make the on-camera flash a little less bad. It helps prevent red-eye, and your subjects' shadows will fall a little below them on whatever is behind them, instead of right around their heads.

You should get the appropriate short (3 feet or less) sync cable for your flash and the bracket. Get two, since sync cords can sometimes go bad if manhandled, which happens if you flip the bracket from portrait to landscape a lot.

For outdoor photos, expose for the ambient light or even underexpose slightly to darken the background.

If you are exposing for the ambient light, then you may want to set the flash to anywhere from -1 to -1.7 compensation. This will make the fill light more natural and prevent the faces being blasted pasty white.

On the other hand, if you underexpose the background a little to darken it, then set the flash to 0 compensation so that it correctly lights the subjects' faces.

I would recommend shooting at f8 or a little wider. The more you stop down the lens, the less effective the flash becomes (or you have to get the flash very close to the subject).

Adjust the iso from 100-400 as needed to maintain a wide enough aperture for using the flash at the distance you are shooting. If a shot is underexposed on the lcd, either get closer or increase the iso. Remember that once you go above your camera’s sync speed, the flash gets weaker - it cannot work as far away, so you may need to get closer to your subjects if you are above your camera’s sync speed.

I once shot a whole wedding with a 35 mm and a 50 mm lens, both set to f8. You do not need much by way of long lenses, unless you have to shoot from far away. If you are the selected photographer, you should be able to arrange to be able to be close enough to shoot all the necessary shots, with some pre-planning and discussion with your subjects.

Find a practice subject before the wedding and practice a lot beforehand. Keep track of what you are doing, and make a note of about 3-5 different lighting setups that work well.

Avoid direct sunlight in front of the subjects. Either angle them so the sunlight comes from the side or put the sun behind them as a hair/rim light. Then use just enough fill flash to make the picture.

Pick a few practice scenarios to test beforehand - sun behind, sun on the side, shade, indoors.

For indoors shots, remember you may have mixed color light sources. If you choose to let some of the ambient light in, filter the flash to match the ambient light. Usually this means an orange gel on the flash to match the incandescent lights. Any of the cto gels work well. These could be ¼, ½ or full cto - you should experiment and make tests. I usually use ¼ or ½ cto, unless I want a very warm look. Experiment in incandescent light to see if you prefer the look with the white balance set to daylight or to tungsten. Tungsten with filtered flash will give you natural skin colors. Daylight with filtered flash will give you a very warm look, which may be appealing for some shots. Honl make a nice set of gels you can velcro to your flash.

For indoor shots, if you underexpose the background, then you can keep the white balance on the flash setting, keep the flash unfiltered, and let the flash be the main source of light. This is OK for posed group shots. For candids or more of a reportage look, you may want to match the light sources a bit with tungsten white balance and filtered flash. Play around with this well in advance, and settle on 1-2 methods you will use for indoor shots at the wedding.

This is kind of a brain dump - I hope it is not too confusing. Pick a handful of lighting scenarios, test and experiment, memorize how you will handle each one, then find some friendly test subjects and practice, practice, practice before the actual wedding.

Kuzano

As you talk to the couple being wed, be sure to remind them of this one point.

Almost all first weddings for the parties in the wedding are amateur events. Why should they question your abilities, until after they see how they perform at an "amateur wedding". :-P

Jcmarino

Practice, review, shoot again. Have someone in the family wear white or rent, buy cheap or borrow a wedding gown to practice with. Expose for the brightest area of the composition, use the flash for fill. Shoot, review and adjust your light accordingly. Get a reflector even if it's just a piece of white foam core. Play with that and you may not need your flash
as much.

Capture48 Loc: Arizona

Sorry but I don't think your analogy holds up. Even if it were true that weddings are amateur events, photographers who photograph them are not amateurs. Often in situations like this we become the coordinator when there is none. We can make or break a wedding.

It is only because the OP asked us not to go there, I am sure there are a many who know this, and know how easily a wedding can be destroyed by a amateur photographer.

wilsondl2 Loc: Lincoln, Nebraska

Just one thought - Do not try anything you have not done before and are know you know how to do it. If you don't shoot in RAW shoot JPEG + RAW and that way someone that knows what they are doing can help you in PP if your JPEGs need to help. Have fun. Weddings are easy try BIF or getting all the important shots at a football game. - Dave

florida tl Loc: Largo, FL

Thank you all so much for all the replies. Yes, I should have stated that I do shoot in Raw and convert, that is the only way I was taught. I have not totally learned how to use any kinda photoshop program, but working on it. I have found out the person who is Officiating the wedding is my cousin who is a Notary, a few of my other cousins are in the wedding party did not know this until today. All parties including the bride/groom know I am not a professional they are just glad that someone offered to take pictures that are not cell phone or point and shoot, and they have seen some of the pictures I took of my son/GF Maternity pictures, and of the baby.(Which they loved) The wedding is in a park on the water. Wedding time is 2pm with reception to follow in a pavilion in the park. Very relaxed. I did find out that the bride wants a few of the traditional pictures, first dance, cutting of cake, and before wedding and of wedding. she said whatever I can give her she will be happy. I'm really worried about the sunlight and overexposure of the pictures. Any suggestions would be great.

stan0301 Loc: Colorado

There are several things there (other than the snakes and alligators that can 100% kill you--so, here goes--when you photograph someone with direct sun on them the shadows are seven times darker than the highlights--your camera sensor can't handle anything much past 3to1--that is a box all photographers live in (whether they know it or not)--so (for Gods sake) turn their backs to the Sun--let me repeat that--Turn their backs to the Sun. This will mean that you will be facing the Sun--you must have a good lens shade--letting direct Sun hit your lens is as fatal as direct sun and shadows on the face--it will kill you. My lens hoods--I think I might have 5 cost $450 each--that is how important not letting the sun hit your lens is. What I would do is get a simple light stand with a very small reflector on it and use it to shade my camera. With their backs to the light you should have pleasant back lit subjects who aren't being forced to stare into the sun who have nice even light on their faces (not only turn their backs to the sun also strive to work in the shade)--I don't know what your flash will do, But Disney runs theirs at -2 (the flash giving two stops less than it thinks it needs}--and, believe me, Disney knows how to take pictures of people outdoors. Last point--all you have to photograph is the interaction you are having with the subject--somebody with a camera stuck in their face isn't interacting much with anybody--use a tripod--get out where they can see you and you can see them and you can interact with each other. All this said, "keep their weight on their back foot, and point the other foot at the camera--and please don't let the boys use their hands to cover their genitals--it makes a whole group look like they are ready to run to the bathroom
Good luck
Stan

stan0301 Loc: Colorado

One last, last thing--raw lets you do a lot of things, but if you aren't going to do them then JPEG will attempt to do them for you and generally, a shot done in JPEG will look better than a shot done in raw that hasn't been worked on.
Stan

RRS Loc: Not sure

As for the flash fill, REMEMBER to use it even if you don't think you need it! With back lighting you may think there is enough light but you may not have any detail on their faces and if you can find any shade use it to your advantage! If you won't or can't convert a RAW file to a JPEG with some corrections then and only then shoot JPEG. You should have gotten a disc with your camera that allows you to make some corrections, doesn't have to be PS. I would shoot RAW and not both as it will fill your memory card faster than you think if your not used to shooting that way. Go out and shoot some shots with a friend with side ,back and front lighting and at the same time of day as the wedding and see what you like and what you need to change. Good Luck, I won't say have a good time because you won't because you will be working. Just for the hell of it could you please let us know how it went and if you would ever do it again?

Bobbee

I am really so proud of this thread. Someone asked for help and it came in DROVES (if that really is a word). Very good everyone. Must be because it's a holiday.