What settings should I use at the wedding?

Question

I'm fairly new to my Canon Rebel XS. I also only have the 18-55mm lens it came with. My friend is getting married and since he's on a tight budget he asked if I would take the photos. He KNOWS I'm not professional. Since I'm still learning I told him I would do it for free. He understands that the photos may be bad or good. I normally just play around with the settings until I get the photos I want, but I want to be ready and prepared on the settings when I get there.

The wedding will be outside at 7PM so no bright sunlight. However not dark either. I'm shooting in manual as well. So what settings should I use for my AV, ISO, and shutter? Should I use the flash as well since it want be super bright? I don't have a external camera.

Answer 1

The best setting would be setting the camera on a table and letting someone who knows what they are doing take the pictures.



What is an "external camera"??

Answer 2

Think long and hard on this: Is this friendship one you are willing to give up and get some really ugly things said if the photographs aren't any good? This is a once in a lifetime deal and the only thing left after the day is over is the photos. Are you ready for that much pressure? There is no option for 'not good' images.



Obviously everyone has already told you we can't give you settings.If you are shooting full manual you should already know that. It's all dependent on the lighting you are working in at the moment. I can give you some guidelines:



*Shutter no slower than 1/125 if they are STILL.

*Shutter no lower than 1/250 if they are moving.

*Aperture equal to the number of people in the photo-this has no scientific bearing, but works well as a guideline to make sure you have a large enough depth of field (depth of focus) to have everyone in focus.

*ISO Appropriate for exposure-NEVER underexpose at all with your camera. It doesn't handle the higher ISO's well as it is. You want to slightly over expose and then reduce the exposure in post processing. Don't blow the image out, but expose to JUST before you would have a blow out. Turn on the highlight warnings which will flash on your screen telling you what is blowing at least one channel. Expose to the point before that happens.



*If in question shoot a bracket of 3 exposures-one over, one proper and one underexposed. Out of the 3 you should have one that will work or you can combine the 3 into one image in editing.



*Yes, you will need flash and you will need to know how to use it properly. Bounced or indirect. Your ISO is very limited on your camera and you WILL need more light.

Answer 3

I'm a amateur photographer (but have had paying gigs at concerts and music video shoots) and I've told 2 friends absolutely NO when they have asked me to be the main photographer at their wedding to "save money." This is their special day, and I don't want friction to occur if I missed "the shot" they were looking for, or heaven forbid photos come out blurry. It is too important, and as your friend you should be there to share the day, not stressing over being "the photographer". The point of wedding photography is to have a lasting memory and record of the happy day. Both you and your friend will regret it if things don't work out. I would not recommend you being the primary photographer, if you want to take photos great! But with your level of skill and experience doing weddings, advise them to hire a professional.



From the questions you ask and you stating this is a new camera for you, if you still want to do your friend's wedding photography you need to read the manual and take photography classes to get up to speed. The wedding day will be really stressful just in trying to capture the spontaneous moments and coral people for group shots, let alone trying to work a new camera with varied lighting conditions to make sure the photos aren't blurry, dark, washed out due to the flash, grainy, etc.



If you want some basic information these tips would be a good starting point:

http://www.lifepics.com/Photography-Tips/using-manual-mode.htm

http://www.lifepics.com/Photography-Tips/low-light-photography.htm

http://www.digital-photography-school.com/?s=wedding&search=Search

http://www.digital-photography-school.com/weddings-5-ways-you-can-be-a-working-guest

http://www.digital-photography-school.com/50-must-have-wedding-photography-shots



Think really hard about what your friends wedding means to you and what your participation in the wedding means to them. Are you wanting the wedding experience or a stressful job? Are they wanting a friend to share the day, or are they wanting an employee to get a job done?

Answer 4

You need to say "NO, I do not have the knowledge, experience or equipment to shoot this wedding."



Your friend needs to keep looking for somebody to shoot this wedding. I'm sure he has more than one friend and somebody else with at least some idea what they are doing can shoot it instead.



I'm so tired of answering these ridiculous wedding questions. How can you even comprehend that an XS with a crappy kit lens is suitable for a wedding shoot. Have you any idea how stupid you sound?



.

Answer 5

Without being there with you at the event, we can 't answer. If you know how to use your meter and take some unimportant test shots, you'll do much better than my best long distance guess. You should consider using your pop-up for fill.