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Junior Member
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Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 1
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Advice using a flash gun...
Firstly apologies for the length of this, please stick with me though!
I have been asked to help a friend out who is doing a wedding on a budget and take her wedding photos. I like taking photos and am a keen amateur (I shoot in manual) and I have just upgraded my kit to a D7000 with 2.8 24-70 lens and I have just ordered an sb-700 – I am hoping that having good kit will be a good start to getting this right, and of course provide many enjoyable hours using it in the future!
Whilst I know that there are many pro’s out there who are understandably not keen on amateurs doing wedding photos for the biggest day of someone’s life, this is happening and I am going to do the best I can – I have set their expectations low!
Its all a little last minute, – my flashgun arrives on Tuesday and the wedding is on Friday. I have all day Tuesday and Wednesday to practice but I thought I would ask for some advice as I have nothing to lose.
The flash side of things is my biggest worry, I have spent all day researching and I wanted to summarise what I have learnt and either get it corrected if I have misunderstood and get some additional help if people wouldn’t mind.
I hope this will also help other people as there is a lot of info on the net and it can be quite hard to digest! Some positive feedback would be very much appreciated! – I know I can’t master this in the time I have but anything to improve the pics will help – I am OK in lightroom but there are some things that just can’t be fixed so I want to get it as right as possible from the start!
I appreciate that I have massively simplified things and its a lot more complicated than this, but I am working with what I have! Here goes...
Fill in Flash. This is used when shooting outside to eliminate shadows, especially in bright light. Point the flash directly at the people you are photographing, put it on TTL and dial it down between 1 and 2 stops (I think for me to use it manually is a bit ambitious at this stage).
Indoors. Always bounce the flash so that shadows are reduced. Put it on TTL, make sure the surface you are bouncing off is white and consider the angle the flash is at so that the bounce falls on the subjects nicely. Here I have a slight problem. I went and checked out the wedding venue and the place where the Bride and Groom have suggested for the photos is quite dark and it has a low ceiling which I believe from memory has lots of close wooden beams which I am assuming would be very bad to bounce a flash from?
From what I have read quite a few examples have talked about directing the flash over the photographers shoulder (so away from the subjects?) I assume they then have a big bounce card to direct the light back to the subject? – Some guidance in this area would be appreciated please!!! – Any tips on a big bounce card? – Making or buying a good one? (the flash does have one built in but I assume I will need something bigger than this?
The other indoor locations for the photos are not ideal as there are lots of things on the walls which I think would be distracting in the photos – outside is the ideal but I fear its going to rain. My alternative is a well lit staircase, but here its a very background and I don’t really want to shoot up at people as its unflattering and shooting down would be directly into the light – which with the fill in flash may be OK but it feels a little risky to experiment on the day with this!
The flash is controlled by the aperture setting, the shutter setting you change depending on how much ambient lighting you want to let in. I was pretty much planning on leaving the aperture on 2.8 for the group shots, and not really needing any depth if everyone is in a line.
Should I put the built in diffuser down?
For handheld shots make sure the shutter speed is above the focal length to minimise camera shake (– the one really annoying thing about the 24-70 is that is has no VR!)
Do I need to swat up on slow sync / fast sync rear flash etc?
The d7000 has great reviews at high ISO settings so on the whole I am going to try and limit my use of flash if possible (or try and take two – one with, one without). But I am guessing I will need to use the flash during the day.
Any other tips / links are all gratefully received. Many thanks in advance!
I have been asked to help a friend out who is doing a wedding on a budget and take her wedding photos. I like taking photos and am a keen amateur (I shoot in manual) and I have just upgraded my kit to a D7000 with 2.8 24-70 lens and I have just ordered an sb-700 – I am hoping that having good kit will be a good start to getting this right, and of course provide many enjoyable hours using it in the future!
Whilst I know that there are many pro’s out there who are understandably not keen on amateurs doing wedding photos for the biggest day of someone’s life, this is happening and I am going to do the best I can – I have set their expectations low!
Its all a little last minute, – my flashgun arrives on Tuesday and the wedding is on Friday. I have all day Tuesday and Wednesday to practice but I thought I would ask for some advice as I have nothing to lose.
The flash side of things is my biggest worry, I have spent all day researching and I wanted to summarise what I have learnt and either get it corrected if I have misunderstood and get some additional help if people wouldn’t mind.
I hope this will also help other people as there is a lot of info on the net and it can be quite hard to digest! Some positive feedback would be very much appreciated! – I know I can’t master this in the time I have but anything to improve the pics will help – I am OK in lightroom but there are some things that just can’t be fixed so I want to get it as right as possible from the start!
I appreciate that I have massively simplified things and its a lot more complicated than this, but I am working with what I have! Here goes...
Fill in Flash. This is used when shooting outside to eliminate shadows, especially in bright light. Point the flash directly at the people you are photographing, put it on TTL and dial it down between 1 and 2 stops (I think for me to use it manually is a bit ambitious at this stage).
Indoors. Always bounce the flash so that shadows are reduced. Put it on TTL, make sure the surface you are bouncing off is white and consider the angle the flash is at so that the bounce falls on the subjects nicely. Here I have a slight problem. I went and checked out the wedding venue and the place where the Bride and Groom have suggested for the photos is quite dark and it has a low ceiling which I believe from memory has lots of close wooden beams which I am assuming would be very bad to bounce a flash from?
From what I have read quite a few examples have talked about directing the flash over the photographers shoulder (so away from the subjects?) I assume they then have a big bounce card to direct the light back to the subject? – Some guidance in this area would be appreciated please!!! – Any tips on a big bounce card? – Making or buying a good one? (the flash does have one built in but I assume I will need something bigger than this?
The other indoor locations for the photos are not ideal as there are lots of things on the walls which I think would be distracting in the photos – outside is the ideal but I fear its going to rain. My alternative is a well lit staircase, but here its a very background and I don’t really want to shoot up at people as its unflattering and shooting down would be directly into the light – which with the fill in flash may be OK but it feels a little risky to experiment on the day with this!
The flash is controlled by the aperture setting, the shutter setting you change depending on how much ambient lighting you want to let in. I was pretty much planning on leaving the aperture on 2.8 for the group shots, and not really needing any depth if everyone is in a line.
Should I put the built in diffuser down?
For handheld shots make sure the shutter speed is above the focal length to minimise camera shake (– the one really annoying thing about the 24-70 is that is has no VR!)
Do I need to swat up on slow sync / fast sync rear flash etc?
The d7000 has great reviews at high ISO settings so on the whole I am going to try and limit my use of flash if possible (or try and take two – one with, one without). But I am guessing I will need to use the flash during the day.
Any other tips / links are all gratefully received. Many thanks in advance!
 Senior Member
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Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Leicestershire, UK
Posts: 2,133
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Strikes me that there is a lot of theory and manic swotting up here and little practice. You would probably be better putting it on 'P' and letting the camera do the thinking and making minor adjustments... why ever would you want to shoot group shots with the aperture on the lens wide open at f2.8? All that shooting one with, one without, high iso for daylight, lowering it for flash... you would, i guess, be confused and flustered unless the wedding pace is going to be dictated by you and not the ceremony.
I'm not familiar with the D7000 or the SB700, both of which are capable of high quality results. I personally find results with fill in flash quite mixed and variable with my SB800 and D700 often tending towards over exposure. I actually find them more reliable and predictable with P setting if I am working in a hurry. I've never totally mastered it although I don't shoot weddings for a living. That's why I suggest, P(rogram) or maybe one of the 7000's auto modes like portrait saving you a lot of wondering and worrying.
Sure a bit of practice when you have the kit will be fine. If it was me, I'd scout the location, ask the venue staff about the usual locations, have a plan B and practice plenty of test shots.
I'd add that fill in flash is staple diet of wedding photographers except in the church etc. as if it is sunny/contrasty you need to bring up the face, stop shadows in the eyes etc.
I'm not familiar with the D7000 or the SB700, both of which are capable of high quality results. I personally find results with fill in flash quite mixed and variable with my SB800 and D700 often tending towards over exposure. I actually find them more reliable and predictable with P setting if I am working in a hurry. I've never totally mastered it although I don't shoot weddings for a living. That's why I suggest, P(rogram) or maybe one of the 7000's auto modes like portrait saving you a lot of wondering and worrying.
Sure a bit of practice when you have the kit will be fine. If it was me, I'd scout the location, ask the venue staff about the usual locations, have a plan B and practice plenty of test shots.
I'd add that fill in flash is staple diet of wedding photographers except in the church etc. as if it is sunny/contrasty you need to bring up the face, stop shadows in the eyes etc.
 Senior Member
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Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Manchester
Posts: 264
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I personally don't touch weddings and leave it to the pros but like you said its going ahead. The only thing I can say, as I am at work and don't have much time to reply, is that I wouldn't shoot manually as you will miss things. I would shoot AV or TV, just decide which is more important.
Oh and YouTube and Google as much as you can about wedding photography.
Good luck with it.
Oh and YouTube and Google as much as you can about wedding photography.
Good luck with it.
 Admin Team
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Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: South Wales, UK
Posts: 15,385
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Apart from the technical side of things, don't forget about the type of photos you want to take - take a look at these for inspiration 
http://www.yophotographer.com/tags.php?tag=Nikon+D3
And good luck! I shall look forward to seeing the results.
http://www.yophotographer.com/tags.php?tag=Nikon+D3
And good luck! I shall look forward to seeing the results.
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 Senior Member
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Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: West Cork, Ireland
Posts: 7,578
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Best of luck - look forward to seeing what you can manage. Just make sure you relax - as the more nervous and uptight you get, the more it'll come out in your shots!
xx
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Kit 1 Nikon D800 Nikkor 50mm f1.4 Nikkor 24-70mm f2.8 Nikkor 105 mm f2.8 macro Nikkor 70-200mm f2.8 Sigma 50-500mm F4-6.3 EX DG HSM Sigma 150-500mm F5-6.3 APO DG OS HSM Nikon 70-300mm AF f/4-5.6G Nikon 50mm f1.8 |
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