Some thoughts after doing a wedding

[koffiejunkie]

So myself and a friend were the official photographers for another friends wedding (well, second wedding party for the family/friends on this side, since the wedding was in S.A.). This was the first one that I was not just a guest taking pictures in-between.

With that in mind, some thoughts. Those of you that do lots of weddings are welcome to comment.

1. I wish I could have been involved in picking the venue. Light was an absolute nightmare.

2. Shooting outdoors with flash exposed one limitation I hadn't thought of. Sync speed - I suddenly found myself restricted to 1/250 or lower shutter speed. Which was a bitch since it was really bright and sunny but the way the venue was laid out, weather inside or out, there was always very bright back-light.

3. Don't put to much faith in the wedding program.

4. When #3 happens, it really helps to have friends at the wedding who are also involved (bride's maids, coordinator, etc).

5. Guest and official photographer is mutually exclusive.

6. I wish I had two bodies

7. I'm really glad I rented the 16-35mm f/2.8 L USM II

8. I'm devastated that I couldn't get the 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM instead

9. The Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC HSM absolutely poops on Canon's 50mm f/1.8 and f/1.4 (which I also rented). Just saying...

10. The Sigma EF 530 DG Super flash proved what I suspected all along: it's cheap for a reason.

Did I miss anything?

 

[bwana]

No 2 . . . Why didn't you just use high speed shutter sync if that's what you needed?

 

[koffiejunkie]

No 2 . . . Why didn't you just use high speed shutter sync if that's what you needed?

Exposure got really inconsistent. I mean, it's not great to start with, I often see shifts of 2-3 stops in any of the TTL modes. Even with camera and flash both set to manual, I still get shifts of up to a stop in a sequence of shots (like when I did a bunch of the focus chart to do MFA). But of FP enabled it got even worse.

Time for a 580 EX II I guess

 

[bwana]

Exposure got really inconsistent. I mean, it's not great to start with, I often see shifts of 2-3 stops in any of the TTL modes. Even with camera and flash both set to manual, I still get shifts of up to a stop in a sequence of shots (like when I did a bunch of the focus chart to do MFA). But of FP enabled it got even worse.

Time for a 580 EX II I guess

I never had the firmware on my sigma updated to make it compatible with the 7D so I only ever use it on my 1D - it's always been reliable though.

1. I wish I could have been involved in picking the venue. Light was an absolute nightmare.

I'm sure every wedding photographer wishes for that.

3. Don't put to much faith in the wedding program.

As much as any one person can the wedding photographer controls the program.

6. I wish I had two bodies

Two bodies is a must - you has someone else sharing the responsibility of covering the event this time but next time . . .

7. I'm really glad I rented the 16-35mm f/2.8 L USM II

Holy trinity

8. I'm devastated that I couldn't get the 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM instead

see above

9. The Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC HSM absolutely poops on Canon's 50mm f/1.8 and f/1.4 (which I also rented). Just saying...

Horses for courses. Personally I hate covering any event with primes, particularly if I've only got one body. There's just not enough flexibility for me.

 

[koffiejunkie]

I never had the firmware on my sigma updated to make it compatible with the 7D so I only ever use it on my 1D - it's always been reliable though.

It was OK on the 40D, but I only had it for a short while before I got the 50D, so I may just have been lucky. I had to have the firmware updated for the 50D and it was never great. Certainly doesn't give me confidence.

As much as any one person can the wedding photographer controls the program.

I tried my best but there is only so much I can do about key people being late and having to shuffle items around.

Two bodies is a must - you has someone else sharing the responsibility of covering the event this time but next time . . .

Yep, but what to get?

Holy trinity

16-35, 24-70 and 70-200? The reason I would have preferred the 17-55mm is simply the extra 20mm. Turns out I had a lot of shots in that 35-55 range...

Horses for courses. Personally I hate covering any event with primes, particularly if I've only got one body. There's just not enough flexibility for me.

Me too, that's why I rented the wide zoom. I only took the primes for in case. Used them toward the end of the night when things switched to "mood lighting" and I didn't want to have the flash popping all the time. The 50mm f/1.4 I really rented to check the MFA with - the f/1.8 just doesn't focus consistent enough. And because it was only £20 for the weekend I liked the 1.4, bokeh is nicer. Focus is slower though.

 

[bwana]

Yep, but what to get?

Anything. It really doesn't matter as long as your lenses fit on it.

16-35, 24-70 and 70-200? The reason I would have preferred the 17-55mm is simply the extra 20mm. Turns out I had a lot of shots in that 35-55 range…

Yep. If you have two bodies you've got flexibility and a considerable range at your disposal with everything from 16-200 covered at f/2.8.

Me too, that's why I rented the wide zoom. I only took the primes for in case. Used them toward the end of the night when things switched to "mood lighting" and I didn't want to have the flash popping all the time. The 50mm f/1.4 I really rented to check the MFA with - the f/1.8 just doesn't focus consistent enough. And because it was only £20 for the weekend I liked the 1.4, bokeh is nicer. Focus is slower though.

Honestly, I think MFA is a load of codswallop. I'm surprised you think the 1.8 focuses faster than the 1.4 - that's not been my experience at all.

 

[koffiejunkie]

Honestly, I think MFA is a load of codswallop.

I used to think that. When I got the 7D back from Canon, the focus was much more consistent but still off (front focus) on all my lenses. On Friday night I took a focus chart, put the camera on a tripod, and shot with each lens in MFA increments of 1 from 0 to +20. Every lens front focussed at 0 and focussed just aboupt perfect at +7 or +8 - including the rented ones. For the first time since I've owned the camera, yesterday's pictures were mostly in focus. I'm still not happy with it though. Aside from those were the fault is probably mine, I still a few picture that were heavily front focussed. I never had this happen on either 40D or 50D

I'm surprised you think the 1.8 focuses faster than the 1.4 - that's not been my experience at all.

Might be a bum lens. The focus ring was quite stiff - didn't feel like I should be turning it (it's supposed to be FTM) even in MF. I also had a much worse keeper rate with it. Both are certainly slower than the 30mm Sigma.