First Church Wedding

Whisle
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · First Church Wedding

This will be my 6th wedding but first in a church and it's a large and very beautiful Catholic church. Are there any do's and don'ts?

Dec 22, 2023 at 07:10 AM

LeeSimms
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · First Church Wedding

Never shoot on the altar.

I don't shoot communion

Every parish has different rules (not passed down from above), and some are very restrictive. A local church asked photographers not to proceed closer than the LAST occupied pew. So, all those non-Catholic friends from work sitting in the back have now created your do-not-cross line. Great.

Thankfully, light levels are better today in older churches because of LEDs but the temperature and intensity is kinda blah. In newer parishs you can get by with ƒ2.8 on a 70-200 but in many I'm at ƒ2.0 on the 135 or faster on a shorter prime.

Peace be with you.

Dec 22, 2023 at 11:06 AM

johnld
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · First Church Wedding

Watch for flicker in those LED's too. I once shot inside an old barn and every other photo was dark or had a different color temp until I figured out to enable anti flicker mode. We did a Catholic wedding in a small, dark, modern catholic church and they had very specific rules about flash, lighting, etc. Definitely talk with the Catholic minister performing the wedding ceremony to get the protocol for shooting there. Another Catholic wedding we did was an old, beautiful structure with large, beautiful stained glass windows that allowed for great compositions on the wide side, but we always kept behind or very close to the line of "scrimmage"

Dec 22, 2023 at 12:29 PM

LeeSimms
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · First Church Wedding

I shoot enough dark church and candle-lit / low light ceremonies to justify the new RF135, but it's still a little pricey. Waiting for refurbs to hit the Canon site on a Father's Day sale or Black Friday (so far, no refurbs). My son got the Sigma Art 135 for his Sony rig and I can see the image difference in a newer design.

My 135L enters 20 years of service this year. That'll do, pig. That'll do.

Dec 22, 2023 at 01:28 PM

Whisle
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · First Church Wedding

Thanks for the comments and as I'm the second shooter my primary I'm sure has experience in these churches. I'll have the 85 1.4 on one camera and the 35 1.4 on the other and I did get one of the office workers to turn on the lights so I think I'll be fine even if I have to bump up the ISO on the R6's it won't be a problem.
Thanks guys and Merry Christmas.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2po6VzL]

snow-2 by Clyde Cornett

Dec 22, 2023 at 02:32 PM

lexespi17
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · First Church Wedding

As others have said, can vary slightly from church to church so ask the church directly. But typically at a catholic church, no flash, no walking up or onto the alter. no walking behind the priest / couple (so don't walk between them and the altar)
If you want to be respectful of the religion (and probably gain kudos with anyone who notices) I would suggest doing a small bow whenever you cross directly in front of the alter, so when you're all the way at the back crossing from one end to the other.
As a catholic myself I personally would really appreciate shots of me and my bride taking communion but i would discuss that with the couple. I wouldn't take pictures of their guests taking communion.

Mar 12, 2024 at 03:54 PM


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