I'm shadowing a wedding photographer for a while until I get comfortable to be on my own. I did my first wedding with him yesterday. I didn't get a chance to ask him all my questions and don't know when I'll talk to him next. In the meantime I'm doing research on lenses. I went the cheap route when I purchased my D50 last year and kept the 28-80 lens from my N65. I know I need a wider angle lense. My main concern at this point is a lense for low light. I have an SB-600 flash, but hate using it for "posed portraits." I get fine results with candid shots. When I do posed portraits I want more control. The photographer didn't always use his strobes. I asked him if it was because his lens was wider which allowed for slower shutter speed, he said "yes." Of course we didn't have time for a detailed lesson. I'm looking at the Sigma 10-20 and the Nikkor 18-200. Any other suggestions would be great. I'd like to get away with not having to use strobes or other lights if necessary.
2007-12-30 09:14:45 · 5 answers · asked by april_hwth 4 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Visual Arts ➔ Photography
if you don't want to use strobes or flash or lights get into another game - this one is about light and lighting - learn how to operate your flash manuallly and your images will be 200% better
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2007-12-30 10:23:01 · answer #1 · answered by Antoni 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I did weddings in NYC for about seven years before I had enough. I used a 2 1/4 x 2 1/4 w/ an 80mm f2.8 and a Sunpak 555. I always used flash as main. the sun as fill. I set the lens at f5.6@1/125. I'd change the shutter speed for the background. That's it. People in a wedding party have an attention span of a nanosecond. Less for a group. They are not going to stand around while you figure the shot or make your calculations. Make up your mind before hand, and stick to it. No wide angles, at all, ever.
2007-12-30 09:57:04 · answer #2 · answered by Bob H 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
28-70 f/2.8 is a brilliant lens and a good one for weddings and portraits...
I would stay away from anything near 10mm. 16mm on a DX is plenty wide for weddings. Why? because, short telephotos are generally more flattering then wide angles that distort facial features. You also need to get very close at 10mm to get acceptable results. Like REALLY close.
A good compliment for the 28-70 is the 70-200. Oh, and with a f2.8 use your flash almost always on rear slow sync, this will let ambient light balance the flash and shoot as slow and 1/15th.
2007-12-30 09:24:42 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Learn and use flash or do something else. For shooting people a sound knowledge of light and lighting is required. So learn flash and use it.
I shoot sports if I was to use your logic I would say I don't want to carry 2 20lb lenses everywhere I will just use a 50mm. That would be stupid, just as a wedding want to be saying they don't want to use flash. Think about what you want to do, if it's people then learn flash.
2007-12-30 11:14:09 · answer #4 · answered by Jeffy 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
18-200mm Nikon with VR. Very flexible and you do not have to waste time changing lenses.
It is great that digitals can change the ISO on the fly. However, you should have a 50mm f/1.4 and some sort of medium f/2.8 zoom in you repertoire as well. Just in case.
2007-12-30 09:22:21 · answer #5 · answered by Mere Mortal 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋