Candlelight Wedding mid Dec - anyone shot one of these before?

galwayfox

I have been asked to photograph a candlelight wedding mid December in an already fairly dark church.....
I have a Canon 450d and the lense I will use is a canon EF 24-70 1:2.8 L USM.
I havent shot a wedding in such dark settings before and I am nervous about my manual settings and getting it right.
Has anyone experience of shooting a wedding by candlelight? Any advice would be great.
Thanks!

smelltheglove

I have never shot a candlelit mid december wedding but did shoot in a dark church in mid december and I have to say it was quite hard. How is your camera's iso capabilities? You will need to raise the iso a fair bit, I would still be trying to do it without flash as you will loose the atmosphere if you use flash.

Have you visited the location to see the standard of natural light at that particular part of the day? The most important thing to do is check this out before hand, you also need to be aware that doing a test shot on an empty room is a lot easier than a room filled with people who will block the light also so be aware you will loose some light when the room is filled. Also be aware of how much you can pull an image back in photoshop raw, i.e. shoot the image darker and increase the exposure in photoshop raw to make it more acceptable.

galwayfox

My ISO just goes as far as 1600.
I'm at a disadvantage as I havent shot RAW before....

mikeanywhere

Yep, I did one last December here in Galway which was totally lit by candles, no lighting in use at all. It was not easy at all even allowing for the fact that I could go higher in ISO and had much faster lenses to use too.

If you want to chat, then PM your contact info across and if I can help I will

smelltheglove

galwayfox wrote: »

My ISO just goes as far as 1600.
I'm at a disadvantage as I havent shot RAW before....

Yep, but your iso standard may not be good at 400 or 800, i.e with my d200 I wouldnt push past 400, with the d300 I''ve gone as far as around 1200. You need to test this first and try borrow a 50m 1.8 if you cant buy one, I always use a 1.8 in church, makes the job easier, I have the 2.8 as backup.

elven

with the high iso capabilities (or lack of) on the 450d you'll be struggling, tbh. I know it's not much use to you to tell you to use a different camera but a full frame 5d or even better a 5dii if you can rent or borrow it would make a world of difference - 6400 iso is grainy but useable on the 5dii.

I would also almost suggest using a 50mm 1.8 rather than the 24-70, you could pick one up for less than a hundred quid, or maybe even less if someone has upgraded to the 1.4 and is selling theirs off. People get antsy thinking about using primes because they are so used to using zoom to compose but i think the tradeoff would be worth it for the extra light.

For some stuff, you may get away with using a monopod just to give you that extra stability to have longer shutter speeds than you'd get handheld - i know my own limits and being able to go to 1/60 or even longer will be far better than 1/125, and people won't be moving that fast that you'd get much movement.

Best thing is to try some shots at home in candlelight, in RAW, and see how you get on. Experiment with how slow you can handhold, maybe how much you can underexpose and recover in processing (but that's very tricky, seldom gives nice results). Are you using photoshop, gimp, lightroom, aperture?

Will you be able to do the group stuff outside at all? Is it just the ceremony that's candlelit? They really are testing you, i hope you get on ok

Rb

Rent gear from Conns, it'll be a bit pricey but it beats having your reputation destroyed.

diamondphoto

I think Elven has nailed this on the head. You can get a second hand 50mm 1.8 very cheap and they are a cracking lens, no photographer should be without one. As for RAW, this might be a good opportunity to learn. Not long after I bought my first 10D I have always shot RAW. Its got me out of trouble on more than one occasion. I remember accidentally forgetting to change my setting when I went outside and shot into the sun as the Bride came out of the car. It wasn't till I got home when I was able to recover 95% of the detail because I shot it in RAW.

Will the allow any amount of flash? You could even turn down the flash to the lowest setting and that way you get most of the detail. For groups, you will have to use the flash. But Elven's idea of setting up a room and practicing is a very good one. Experiment as much as you can till you have a good image. You may need to tweak it a bit when you get there but at least you'll have a good idea. I would also be telling the couple to expect some of the images to be a bit grainy and dark, just in case they have it in their minds that they are going to be full of light and detail.

Best of luck

Fergul

ThOnda

And don't forget, that most autofocus systems struggle quite a lot in low light (e.g. candle light). Be ready to focus manually too.

Borderfox

One of these perhaps?



On a serious note, 50mm f1.8 will get you out of a hole
Sounds cool though

galwayfox

Thanks everyone, all great advice.
I need to get practising on lots of areas....

pete4130

I'd say rent/borrow a 5D or 5Dii for the better ISO capabilities. If the wedding is being held in candlelight they are asking a lot from any photographer. If you are renting out kit I'd go for a 50mm 1.4, an 85mm 1.4 (possibly 85mm 1.2 if you can get it) and 100mm 2.8 IS lens too. The IS will help with the slower shutter speeds.
I'd go for the monopod too as Elven has said. You really are being tested with the candlelight. Definitely do some testing at home under candlelight.

rahtkennades

Don't forget as well that your white balance will be different because the light is from candles/ambient. Shooting in RAW will help here, you can adjust how it treats the images.

mikeanywhere

We met yesterday and had a good old natter over a coffee

squareballoon

For my first wedding I hired a 5D and a good lens from Conns and I'm SO glad I did. Don't know what kind of mess I would have got into if I hadn't. It also meant that I had a backup camera which is also essential for shooting a wedding.

Freddie59

On a similar note - I've been asked to take some snaps at a wedding next year. Tight budget, and the couple aren't fussy (but I am!).

I have a 40D, along with a 17-55 f/2.8 lens. Any opinions? I can't pass the chance by.:)

Freddie59

Freddie59 wrote: »

On a similar note - I've been asked to take some snaps at a wedding next year. Tight budget, and the couple aren't fussy (but I am!).

I have a 40D, along with a 17-55 f/2.8 lens. Any opinions? I can't pass the chance by.:)

There's also a Speedlite 430EX and a Tokina 12-24 lens.

Slidinginfinity

You might want some longer glass for in the church.
Are you just taking a a few snaps or are you being the wedding photographer?