Photographing a Night Wedding!

MnMommy2 · #1 07-22-2010, 12:04 PM

My friend asked me tonight to photograph her wedding in October. It is in the night time and at a Zoo Conservatory. There will be some lighting, but I really don't know what it is like. Here is the place- http://garden-weddings.net/wedding-p...ding-outdoors/
It is the bottom left corner Garden- Sunken Garden

I am really nervous about taking shots in the night... any suggestions??

I have the Canon DSLR T1i with a few lenses,75-300mm zoom, 24mm, and the kit lens one. The wedding isn't until October, but I'm already stressing about it since its in the evening! Please Help!

I'm going to scope out the location in the day and hopefully the night too. I think its cool, she's getting married on 10/10/10

GLOANN · #2 07-22-2010, 01:33 PM

What I would do is to go to the site at the time of day the wedding will be held and take some shots using different settings. Then go home and study them to see what works and what doesn't. That didn't seem to be a link to that location or I just couldn't find the spot.

One thing to remember if you choose to do some practice shots is to maybe go with 30 minutes later than the scheduled time as it will be getting dark a bit earlier in October.

CraftyRia · #3 07-22-2010, 07:40 PM

Yes, definitely go there and take practice shots with the same lighting the wedding will have. I would suggest using a tripod.

If you don't want to use a flash, you'll need longer exposure times, which will cause blurring if any of the subjects move. Using a wider aperture will let in more light and will also blur the background which is a desired effect in a portrait. A wider aperture will allow a faster shutter speed.

You can also tell your camera to use a faster film speed, but if you enlarge them, they'll be grainy.

I would say to definitely experiment using the same lighting that will be at the wedding. Don't forget to use people as subjects (acting like they're getting married LOL) to check for skin tone and motion blurring.

GLOANN · #4 07-22-2010, 08:37 PM

Goodness. Reading Ria's post makes me know I wouldn't want this job at all!!

CraftyRia · #5 07-22-2010, 08:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GLOANN

Goodness. Reading Ria's post makes me know I wouldn't want this job at all!!

I love photography, but I wouldn't want this job either! Not for a wedding!

Night portrait photography can be tricky. Flashes can be very harsh. Fill flashes work better, but generally it's not a good idea to use any flash during the ceremony - it's distracting and just not polite.

I'd go with studio lighting for the wedding portraits. But again, you can't do that during the ceremony.

CraftyRia · #6 07-22-2010, 08:47 PM

Oh and that link you posted does give some good information about photographing a wedding at night! I couldn't find the garden link on there, but I enjoyed reading the photography tips.

They give good advice about using a fast lens if you have one. Also avoid too much zoom as it will add to the motion blur.