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Archive 2016 · Gearing up for my sister's wedding

  
 
bakez04
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Gearing up for my sister's wedding


A bit of a long post (sorry!)

Hi there! I'm looking for some input as I'm preparing to shoot my sister's wedding end of next month. I've been doing some preparations and have shot and enjoyed shooting a couple (close friends') weddings before but they are by no means stellar. Mostly acceptable with a few good shots and for the most part both couples were very happy with it, probably because it was free. IMO, the 'pros' that fell within our budget were mostly mediocre uncle bobs or worse so I decided (more like hoping) I could do a lot better.

I'm going to be shooting with a Canon 40d, 85 f/1.8, 430 exII, a borrowed new-ish Rebel, tripod, cheapo light stand & umbrella, Fuji x100, and an XT-1 with 35 f/2. Renting an XF 16-55 f/2.8 and a Rokinon 8mm fisheye (canon) for a 'photobooth' tethered to my laptop. Low budget wedding, on a park at/or around noon till dusk (park closes at dusk). I'm also planning to get a yongnuo flash, triggers, spare batteries, sd cards and another reflector.

Here are some of my concerns: (Of course aside from these, any and all ideas/tips are very welcome)

a. I've struggled to get consistent colors with Canon files let alone handling Fuji and Canon files. Using LR, do I even try to get consistent results or just process both cameras differently so as not to stress about it during the day? And if it can be done in post, are there things I should be doing in-camera to help smooth post and get consistent results?

b. I'll be doing a test shoot with friends on the venue around the same time couple days before, but are there less obvious issues/problems you've faced that I should be concerned about when shooting at that time of day (afternoon-dusk)?

c. Since its going to be bright should I try to underexpose a lot and shoot for the highlights, or mostly let the highlights blow as long as I get proper or at least decent exposure of my subject/s? also, how do you deal with extremely shaded and bright spots when shooting on the fly, overpower it with flash/es? I've tried using camera mounted-fill before but didn't really get good results.

d. and lastly, any dirt cheap ideas to freshen up my kinda tacky fisheye 'photobooth'? I'll be trying out diff angles/lighting setups beforehand.

p.s. I've always been a huge fan of the people posting here and I know I'm way underqualified but I really want to do a great job with it so thanks in advance!



Mar 09, 2016 at 08:09 PM
BSPhotog
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Gearing up for my sister's wedding


I don't do photo booths, but it seems like shooting 8mm, even on a crop sensor, would be way too wide. What do you have as a backdrop?


Mar 09, 2016 at 10:21 PM
Cal166
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Gearing up for my sister's wedding


Agreed with BSPhotog, 8mm fisheye is way too wide and would make the people at the each end look funny. When I did mine, I shot it with a 35mm f1.4 which was perfect to capture a decent size group.

1. As for consistent processing, a good monitor helps and shooting in raw helps with the post processing, also it's all depends how your style is for processing. Without seeing any examples, would be hard to give feedbacks. I have a canon and a fujifilm x100t to carry around and both camera produces different color style so it will be hard to match the colors for both systems.

2. Use the metering system, take a picture, look at the picture and adjust the settings +/- to get better exposure.

Good luck!



Mar 10, 2016 at 09:35 AM
bakez04
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Gearing up for my sister's wedding


Honestly, I wasn't planning on using a backdrop. Maybe find a good spot where the whole event is the background. But since it's mentioned, I'll try some cheap foam boards. I chose the 8mm to exaggerate distortion and play it off as a funky style coupled with wacky props. I've never seen booths done that way, but if it fails I'm going to use the x100 as a safe back up plan.

Definitely will be shooting RAW. Regarding the colors, I suspected as much. I guess I'll just try to treat each camera differently. Thanks!!



Mar 10, 2016 at 07:19 PM
BSPhotog
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Gearing up for my sister's wedding


bakez04 wrote:
Honestly, I wasn't planning on using a backdrop. Maybe find a good spot where the whole event is the background. But since it's mentioned, I'll try some cheap foam boards. I chose the 8mm to exaggerate distortion and play it off as a funky style coupled with wacky props. I've never seen booths done that way, but if it fails I'm going to use the x100 as a safe back up plan.

Definitely will be shooting RAW. Regarding the colors, I suspected as much. I guess I'll just try to treat each camera differently. Thanks!!


If you try to make a wall backdrop for a booth with an 8mm lens, you'll need to build something the size of a billboard, or something akin to the inside of a snow-globe. Isn't 8mm around 180 degrees field of view? That's a lot to account for visually.



Mar 10, 2016 at 09:32 PM
nolaguy
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Gearing up for my sister's wedding


bakez04 wrote:
I chose the 8mm to exaggerate distortion and play it off as a funky style coupled with wacky props.


You shant need props. The 8mm is more than sufficient wacky.

BSPhotog wrote:
If you try to make a wall backdrop for a booth with an 8mm lens, you'll need to build something the size of a billboard...


Ben, do they make billboards that big?





Mar 10, 2016 at 09:45 PM
glort
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Gearing up for my sister's wedding



I have a photo booth I use with a crop sensor canon and use a 24-105. Don't know what zoom I set it at, just set it at whatever works for the space I have to work in.
I tried the 10-22 when I was setting the thing up and thought it was way too wide.

As for backgrounds, I think if you are more than 6 ft from a wall you are going to get the floor, the roof and everything to the sides to the next wall. I can't see the 8 being a good idea but you probably have different ideas to me. :0)



Mar 11, 2016 at 12:24 AM
bakez04
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Gearing up for my sister's wedding


Okay, fisheye now seems like a terrible idea. Might just rent an EF-S 17-55 instead. Thanks guys!


Mar 11, 2016 at 09:43 PM
sherijohnson
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Gearing up for my sister's wedding


much better lens choice for your photo booth


Mar 14, 2016 at 02:14 PM
joelconner
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Gearing up for my sister's wedding


Definitely try to expose for accurate skin tones as much as possible. You are not going to have much latitude in highlights or shadows with a 40D, so make sure that the faces are exposed well (and try not to clip the highlights in the dress, if you can.


Mar 14, 2016 at 02:48 PM





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