Advice on taking wedding pictures?

Question

I am taking wedding pictures on Sunday for the first time and I am worried about the motion pictures such as throwing of the bouquet and cutting of the cake. I have a Kodak Z-650 and was wondering what would be the right settings? Sometimes my pictures end up blurry if the subject is moving. Thank you

Answer 1

I am going to assume you will be doing an indoor wedding and will be using your flash. I would set it on red eye reduction, not automatic, because some light situation may fool the camera into thinking it does not need a flash and give you a slower shutter speed and hence, the blurry pictures. I tried to look up and find out what the flash synch shutter speed is when flash is on but could not find it. Hopefully your manual can tell you. If you want to do some of those mood shots by windows and such I would suggest setting your camera on shutter priority, where you select the shutter speed(no less than 1/125th of sec) and the camera selects the aperature. Your model also has a flash fill option that could be helpful but be looking for what shutter speed the camera picks on this if you can't use fill flash in shutter priority. Most cameras, regardless of what mode they are in, once the flash is popped up will revert to the built in shutter synch speed for flash photography.

You have time to experiement between now and then and try some settings. Have someone walk down a hallway in your house while you snap pics of them to see how it will work for you. Also, you will need to decide what ISO to use. The flash range for ISO168 on your model camera is only about 15ft. So, with the higher ISO of say 400, you will get a little more range on the flash. That may be important when you do large group shots at the alter after the wedding.

If you have any other questions, please feel free to email me.

Good luck.

PS: Everyone has to have their "first wedding" to photograph. Don't get uptight about it. Do your homework and practice.

PS2: Ditto on having plenty of batteries and memory cards. Too bad you can't rent or borrow a better camera though.

Answer 2

I'm going to go out on a limb here and agree with a couple of the other answerers, every photographer worth his salt has had to shoot his or her "first" wedding and everyone sucked at one point or another in their endeavor to become a pro. And, most of us can't even call ourselves a "pro" unless we earn at least 50 percent of our total income from the taking of photographs. So, don't sweat the heavy criticism.

From your description, I'm not imagining that you're shooting a super large wedding, especially from what you say you'll be using to shoot it. Your camera, while not an SLR style that can use interchangeable lenses, is still a capable camera if used correctly.

First suggestion, stay away from ANY auto mode. Auto modes, while great for snapshots do nothing in the way of getting what you need from your camera. When shooting indoors, options become slim, but not impossible. From reading the specs on your camera, I notice that the lens has a maximum aperture of f/2.8. This is great for indoor shots.

So, now that we know that the camera has a pretty fast lens a wide range of shutter speeds, and ISO control you also know what mode to shoot in. And that is aperture priority. This will be the mode you should stay in the whole time as it will allow for indoor shots without a flash [most of the time unless it is dark or poorly lit], this will eliminate your blurring problem when shooting carefully, but we'll get into that later. So, set for aperture priority and use the widest aperture available and shoot carefully. You can get away with no flash in some situations, you'll need it in others. Just know that the range of the on board pop up flash will not extend beyond 10 feet or so, even at max compensation. Also, when shooting in a semi-auto mode, instead of full auto, you can command the flash to be on all the time. In auto the CPU decides when to use it, sometimes it can be fooled by stray light. So when you force it on in a semi auto mode, it's on for good. Next, set your ISO to 400 and you should be good.

For movement, try the shutter priority mode and set a high shutter speed and you'll do fine. The faster your shutter is, the easier it will be to stop movement. In some cases you'll want some blur though, especially when emphasizing movement, like dancing. Just chose a focal point and slow the shutter down to about 1/10 or 1/25 a sec and you'll get some simulated movement from people dancing. Trust me, when done right, it'll give an interesting effect. Any shutter speed down to 1/50 will be pretty easy to shoot by hand, but if it dips below that, you'll need to steady your shot by leaning on something like a wall or table.

Carry a couple of extra batteries and you should do fine.

Remember, your camera will give you great photos, but for anything more professional then "really good snapshots", you'll need to invest in a pro SLR style digital camera, like a nikon D50 for example, which combined with an entry level kit lens will cost around $500 if you shop around and sometimes the classifieds like craigslist.org are a good place to buy second hand cameras.

Good luck!

Answer 3

Keri, even although you're responsive to your digital camera at this element you're no longer responsive to the recommendations-set of weddings nor, out of your fact, the right equipment required. oftentimes we advise being an assistant for 2 years so as which you adventure categories of weddings and assorted eventualities that can take place. given which you do not have this 2 3 hundred and sixty 5 days luxury could I propose which you come across a marriage photographer promptly and help for loose, if choose be, as a manner to income this adventure as promptly as possible. definite, you will choose an exterior flash and modifiers,bracket, extra beneficial enjoying cards and batteries and decrease back up of all your equipment. that's a annoying adventure, yet properly worth it! savor!

Answer 4

A professional could probably deliver acceptable images even from a consumer digicam. A person who has to ask about what settings to use to avoid blurry pictures probably isn't going to deliver too many decent images. Rethink this, although it may be too late for them to get another photographer, even a family member with a decent camera, so you may be stuck in the position.

It's too late to learn much about photography 101. Shoot on program mode on the finest jpeg setting you have. Pose people at an angle to the camera. Try to take some outside shots in nice afternoon light. If you only get 2 decent pictures, one needs to be of the bride and groom, and one of the bride, a full length shot of her dress with no blown highlights.

Try to stay away from high ISO, as the noise will be awful. Stay within your flash range. If you can, get and use a film camera in addition to your digicam. Even a film point and shoot loaded with 400 or 800 speed film will outperform a digicam at high ISO, and less worry about blown highlights.

Make sure the couple understands that you are unlikely to produce anything better than a mediocre snapshot. Sorry, not trying to hurt your feelings, just being honest. Good luck.

Answer 5

OK I am going to assume that you are a good photographer. There's not much that can be said here to help you if you are not.

Having said that, just prepare for the worst and have back up equipments. Tons of battery, memory cards and even a backup camera (even just another p&s). Go visit some web sites try to make a list of MUST HAVE poses. Bride with groom. B&G with wedding party. B&G with his mother and father. etc.

I can't say enough about having backup equipments.

Answer 6

No offense, but who would hire a photographer for their wedding if he has never done it before? That is suicide! I don't care how much money you save!!!