Hi all! I have been commissioned to do two weddings. I haven't ever done one before so this a "biggie" for me and I am probably more nervous then a cat in a room full of rocking chairs! Well yesterday I went and checked out the location for the second wedding which will be outside in a park on the water, so no problem there I should feel right at home shooting on the water outside, and I am not worried about flash at the receptions. But today I went and checked out the location for the first wedding, and I can now say that I am officially more nervous then the bride to be... The location is a tiny old Church with very little lighting (either natural or man made). *gulp* As many of you may know, I have always preferred using "natural light" and have honestly never shot with flash! (except for the little speedlight that pops up on top of the camera, and very little of that!) Now I am pretty sure that the minister isn't going to allow me to shoot during the actual ceremony as I am sure he doesn't want to be interuppted by blinding bursts of light. OK so now I am going to go out and purchase a flash unit for this camera, any suggestions on what to get? Any suggestions for how to deal with the inside church shots? By the way the ceiling is vaulted and wood. I was thinking that maybe setting the ISO at a higher setting would help me some with the light situation?! I think I would even be lost doing this one with film to be honest with ya, as I never had a flash unit for any of my 35's. Now for the good news, Southern Photo, the place where I bought my new cam, has a class that I will attend free of charge, because I bought my camera there. I have a ton of questions to ask them about settings, I decided to start writing them down. Any help, suggestions or tips on shooting weddings in general or about my specific problem would be greatly appreciated. I am attatching a few images here, please keep in mind that I did not have my tripod so they are blurred, but I figured I would show you what I have. Brenda :)

OK and here is the alter, flashed with the speed lite that is built into the cam. Oh and by the way in case any of you were interested, that first shot was taken at the back door of the church!

If it is the Canon 20D I use the 420EX flash gun on the 10D, and find it to be very good. The 520EX it the better gun, but with a bigger price tag. Sorry I cant offer any advice in Wedding photography, but usually use either 200 ISO inside churches with either the speed light or ambient light 400 ISO Image is Canon 10D 400 ISO on cam speed light

Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/viewed.ez?galleryid=638242&Start=199&Artist=LostPatrol&ByArtist=Yes

Image 400 ISO no flash

Hi Brenda I did wedding for girlfriend. Her service was at creek. I did some formal shots before service with the bridal party. But during wedding i just took heaps. Being digital can take far more then usuall film camera. I found the natural shots the best. The ones where they are kissing or just looking. At reception i went to every table and took photos and during speeches. Before wedding i went thru different photography sites and looked at wedding photos to see what i liked for formal photos. Gave me alot of ideas. Helped alot. I dont know about flashlight for your new camera as the service i did was outside. Hope i have been of help Chris

Thanks Chris for the wonderful ideas! Simon was that HUGE church dark? I mean did the ISO really make that much of a difference or was it well lit to begin with? I mean I know the difference between 100 and 800 ASA, but wasn't sure if it (ISO) would really help all that much. Now I am going to have to figure out these settings!!! Brenda :)

well, there's another question for the big guns! sorry i can't help. the wedding i did was outdoors on a beach as the the sun was just beginning to set. sounds like fun! and you'll do just fine! how soon are the weddings?

Good Luck Brenda...only ever went to one Church Wedding...cringe

Congrats and best of luck to you Brenda. I have no advice to give as I have never shot a wedding, but I'm pretty sure you'll need more than just the pop-up for this one! :)

Hi Brenda... I thgought about two things... 1) Why not ask the minister about it firsthand instead of worrying. If he's a good guy maybe he is used to blinding lights lol. He should be pretty happy about the couple wanting the event commemorated. 2) If you had a spotlight I don't think people would be offended. Once you get your shots done.. you could relax. 3) You could do adjustments on levels to playdown the dark /shadowy environment. Don't know if you had thought of these??? cheers

Congrats on your commission, I wish you all the best for it. I have a few links for wedding photography so perhaps you may want to browse through some. I'll put them in this message as there are more than one so sorry you will need to cut & paste. http://www.ephotozine.com/techniques/viewtechnique.cfm?recid=186 http://www.ephotozine.com/techniques/viewtechnique.cfm?recid=222 http://www.ephotozine.com/techniques/viewtechnique.cfm?recid=224 http://www.ephotozine.com/techniques/viewtechnique.cfm?recid=230 http://www.ephotozine.com/techniques/viewtechnique.cfm?recid=238 Hope some of these are helpful to you. The first one is the most amusing the others concentrate on technique more.

Hi Brenda, lots of great advice given. I've actually shot a few weddings. Talking to the priest before hand is a good idea. Also scouting the location you will be setting up during the ceremony. Most churches don't allow flashes to be used during the actual ceremony...You will find most photographers will use available light only during the ceremony. You might also ask if more lights are going to be used during the wedding and if so, you can ask for a test run to where you can measure the light with a lightmeter etc. On one of my wedding shoots, I was actually allowed behind and to the right of the priest (no flash)...I set up a tripod and was able to capture the Bride and Groom from the front side the whole time. Most likely the lighting will be tungsten...so you might want to also consider if you will like those results or set your digicam to tungsten lighting to give more natural tones or if you use film, you may want to consider either a filter to correct the lighting or buying tungsten film for the actual ceremony. I hope what I'm getting at is not so confusing. Part of the reason I no longer photograph weddings is the stress...takes a WHOLE LOT of patience and very special people to do it. So I really wish you all the luck and hope things turn out well for you!

Brenda The church was very dark at one end and moderately dark at the other (maybe not as dark as the one you posted) As the flash reach was far less than the length of the church, it worked quite well to lighten the dark end, whilst the lighter end was mainly natural light. The church was maybe 200 feet long. At 100 ISO there wasnt enough light to light the whole scene, 200 was borderline and 400 just about right. IMO using a higher ISO will be of benefit to you, however you may get more noise than you would like!? Maybe a few more test shots at various ISO's may help you decide. I believe that the guide No for the 420EX gun is 135 @ 100 ISO And a damn sight cheaper there than it is here Grrrrrrrr Simon

Thank you all for your wonderful responses I wanted to log in here tonight and check this thread before I took off for the weekend. I will have a lot of questions about ISO at this basic class that I am taking Simon, as I don't fully understand the manual settings. I mean with a manual 35mm I understood all of my settings, what they did and how to set them. But this is tricky, I am sure they will shed some light on things by answering my questions. I am not really worried about not being able to shoot during the ceremony, most churches/ministers don't allow any kind of photography during the ceremony. When I was at the church yesterday, I turned on every light I found and it still wasn't enough. Soooooo I am looking at flash photography I am sure, but will certainly pay the church another visit and try raising the ISO and taking more test shots, maybe I won't forget my tripod this time around either, unfortunately the minister was not there when I was, maybe he will be there when I go back. Thanks Onslow for all the links will check them out when I return Monday and thanks MMoratis for your expertise! And a special thank you to all who replied here, and your support! Hugs! Brenda :) OK I am off!