Wedding photography, lighting problems...?

Question

I am shooting a wedding for a friend, in the courtyard of the Saint Marie Hotel in New Orleans. Gorgeous setting. My problem is, it is at night and I have no idea how to get good photos in this situation. I cant get a good feel for the lighting, I have a photo but it is at dusk, I could go to the hotel and look at it at night, but they are bringing in their own lighting for the night of the wedding. It is basically gonna be me showing up and seeing the lighting for the first time and sizing it up. Any ideas?

Here is a pic of the site if this helps at all...maybe you can get a sense of what I am dealing with.

http://travel.yahoo.com/p-hotel-387057-action-pictures-hotel_st_marie-i;_ylt=AuEthG3NC6yvyG4YhDsFASPiphQB

Just to clarify, I am using 35mm...thanks.

Answer 1

Evan has gone into detail and delivered a great answer. Re-read his first paragraph. Then read it again. If you have no idea how to shoot at night using slaves or additional lighting, then you need to tell your friend this. If you don't already have and know how to use such equipment, then your photos are unlikely to be very good. Urge her to hire an established professional.

Please don't take this as a personal slam. It's not a crime to admit you don't have the knowledge or proper equipment to do a job at or near a professional level. So think about your friendship and decline this event as photographer and enjoy taking snaps as a guest.

If she refuses to consider hiring a professional, then you have some practicing to do between now and then. Honestly, having a dSLR would help in regards to being able to use higher ISO, you might think about renting one or taking the plunge and buying one if you have time to learn a new camera before the event. You don't mention what equipment you already have, but you will need a fast lens. This is a situation where the kit lens isn't going to cut it. The 50mm 1.8 is around $100 if you don't already have it, the lens is a great investment, fast and sharp. If you're using film, try Portra 800. You say they are bringing their own lighting, if ithe venue is bright enough, step down to 400 speed if possible. Good luck!

Answer 2

Just a thought...
If your friend can afford to get married at such a lovely setting, it might be in her best interest to hire a professional wedding photographer. I have seen too many situations where friendships are strained by a non-professional getting in over his/her head in offering to shoot a wedding. There are no second chances with these special moments.

That said, there are a few things to consider when you're sizing up a location for lighting. Obviously, the first step is to see if you can get adequate light to shoot with fast film. If you can do this, it will give you more options even if you decide to bring in light.

The two options for lighting are on and off camera. On camera lighting is typically easier to manage, but more limited. Off camera lighting gives you much more flexibility, at the expense of level-of-difficulty and equipment management concerns.

One effective and easy option is the use of bounce-flash if you are indoors. With bounce flash, you aim your flash (you need a swivel headed flash) at a wall or the ceiling. When you do this, you increase the effective size of your light source at the expense of power. Make sure you consider the color of the ceiling or wall, as this can add a cast to your flash color. A dark ceiling or wall will eat up almost all of your light. White is the ideal color for bounce. Modifiers like the Joe Demb flipit will help you to fill in any "raccoon eyes" created by ceiling bounce.

For off-camera light, you can use studio lights or smaller hotshoe flashes. Both Canon and Nikon offer proprietary wireless systems with their flash units that preserve your automatic (TTL) capabilities. These systems are sometimes limited or unreliable at distance or under certain conditions: the Canon, for instance, requires line-of-sight, but offer a nice adaptable and user-friendly option.

A more reliable option is the use of pocket wizard transmitters. These will fire at over 200ft, but you will be required to use only manual functions. This will test your photo abilities, especially if the subjects are moving in relation to the light source.

You may use a combination of off-camera and on-camera light to increase your flexibility, which is what I typically do at weddings.

If you have any specific questions about any of this, I'd be glad to offer what help I can.

Answer 3

Flash is the only way to go, but use a slower shutter speed than usual to get the available lighting in the backgroubd to show up some. Also you can pack a 2nd flash with a slave on it to use for backlighting to make your on camera flash not seem as harsh.

Answer 4

If you're shooting digital, use RAW format, and you will be able to tweak the color better in Photoshop.

That is one beautiful hotel!

Okay, since you're using film, you might want to ask them what kind of lights they are. You could try tungsten film, or pack a light blue filter, or use flash, as Antoni suggested.

Answer 5

use flash,

gn/fstop=meters is the formula

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