[ooheadsoo]

Believe it or not, I'm shooting someone's wedding.  For free!

This will be my first wedding shoot.

I'll be doing both formal portraits and candids at the ceremony.  I'll also have the chance to do just about anything else I want during the formal portrait shoot within reason.

Here's a quick run down of the gear I have/plan on using so far:

Body:
Nikon D90 if I can borrow it or D40 if I can't - or maybe something I can rent - here's one case where I don't think my D40 can keep up.

Lenses:
Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8
Nikon 55-200mm VR f/4.0-5.6
Sigma 10-20mm f/4.0-5.6
Nikon 50mm f/1.4 or 55mm f/1.2

Lighting:
Nikon SB-600
Nikon SB-28
2 Flashwaves radio triggers
Lumiquest bounce thing
R, G, and B gels for effect if necessary (plastic party bags and aquafina bottled water labels)

I have 2 stands and umbrellas coming in the mail.

There will be a second shooter most likely with a Canon 40D with a 430ex flash.

1) Any gear I'm missing?  I can't afford fast and wide and I don't think I'm good enough to use it, anyway.  I'm best at head shots, all else will be a game of chance.

2) Tips for poses during the Formal Portrait and other typical engagement type shots.  PLEASE!  I need major help here.  Yes, I've seen my share of examples online, but I don't know how to communicate with the couple.  Location ideas, Los Angeles, specifically.  Budget background ideas for the indoor formal because I'm not about to buy a backdrop setup.  White wall seems too plain, even if I make it gray or have some kind of gradient with the use of the lights.

3) Advice for the group portraits after the wedding.  I only have 2 lights/radio triggers.  I'm not eager to buy another flash/trigger/stand/umbrella adapter/umbrella.

4) Anything else?

[thunderbrick]

The camera doesn't matter, but take extra batteries.  Take the 2.8 lens for low light work, and scrounge/rent a back-up camera.  Not so much for breakage problems but for very fast changing between  lenses.  The 18-50 will probably do 80% of what you need.  The long zoom won't serve you well in a church.  Too slow.  Do NOT stay way back and zoom it.  don't bother with the 1.2 lens,  Very heavy and extremely small depth of field.  A 1.8 will do fine, 1.4, too, but you'd be surprised how little shooting you do wide open with those lenses

Get closer to the subjects. I try to make my candids feel as though they were taken by a close friend in the middle of things.  don't just do close-up head shots.  Tell the story by juxtaposing foreground and background for a better feel of the context of the event.

Rent a decent battery powered studio light with a big umbrella or soft box on a 10 ft+ stand for the large groups.   It will give you much more pleasing light.

Shoot slow (15th-30th) shutter speeds with the big strobe (or even small ones) to blend available light and flash (no black backgrounds).

MOST IMPORTANT, make sure  the couple is comfortable with you and find out what THEY want, not what others say you should do.  Develop your own style and approach, but communicate it with them well before the date.  How much time before the wedding?

More information will take much more time than I can offer right now.  When I shoot a big wedding I use five Hasselblads, some radio controlled, and use the 60mm WA lens for 90% of the candids, the 80 and 150 for formals, the 250 for long shots outdoors and up the main church aisle.

But that's the way I do it.  YMMV.

Good luck.  Stay calm and loose, and above all PRACTICE between now and then.  Check out the church, its policies, and light levels at similar times of the year.

Bob

[JohnR]

Woo, that's cool!! I'd be nervous as heck in a situation like that, I think I would definitely take thunderbrick's advice to practice beforehand. Got any friends who want to have a mock wedding? Also, I don't think I would be using (or relying on) an unfamiliar camera in a situation like that (borrowed D90) - you don't want to get to the end and realize that there's a setting that you didn't know about but should have...

Good luck, looking forward to hearing how it goes!

[ooheadsoo]

Yes, I'm a nervous wreck already.

I have used my friend's D90 a little and will, with any luck, be able to play around with it in the weeks before the wedding.  The only thing stopping me is the fact that my friend with the D90 lives 400 miles away.  He wants me to visit him, anyway, and he'll be in town after the wedding, so it may all work out.  The luckiest situation would be if I had the D90 for my main and still had my D40 as backup.  My concern with the D40 as my main camera is megapixels for cropping my bad wide candids, enlargements, and low light noise performance.  I will probably shoot in RAW so that I can rescue a shot or two WHEN I screw up the exposure and have some HDR options.  The wedding is on March 14th, I believe.

I am a spray and pray'r when it comes to composing wide angle candids.  I am just really bad at it.  There is usually too much clutter for me to have a clean foreground.  Well, I'll do my best.  Headshots and candid portraits are relatively easy for me, it's all just a matter of timing the moment and expression.  I will definitely take many head shots as the wedding progresses so that I will have SOMETHING to show for myself if all else goes to pieces.  I planned on doing most of my candids at 24-28mm on a crop sensor field of view, but wanted the 50mm f/1.4 handy for available light shots.  I have used my 1.4/1.2/1.8 lenses some, so I know how bad the DOF is...but thought I'd like it as an option anyway.  While I think the 18-50 f/2.8 will be dandy for available light on the D90, if I'm stuck with it on a D40, I may be pushing my luck a little too far.  Any thoughts on shooting from chest/head/waist/above head height on candids?  I will probably try chest/waist and above head the most, but I think standing on a stool for above head to be too confining and I don't know if I can rely on my usual above head technique (blind best guess spray and pray.)  I don't know what the Hasselblad focal lengths mean in terms of field of view.

Unfortunately, I know the church all too well.  It's my church.  Not exactly the most visually appealing place.  This is why I personally hope to make the "formal" portrait session (+) more creative/successful.  Now I'm not a creative guy, so what I mean by creative is merely copying other people's work.

As for the couple's demands, they had none until I approached them with some ideas.  They are, after all, asking me to do it for free.  Except for a few wedding magazine examples they may ask me to copy, I will be on my own.  I know the couple personally as fellow church members and the second cameraman is a good friend of theirs.  I hope I can do it with 2 lights.  I know a 3rd light would really really come in handy for hair or rim lighting, but I just don't know if I can spare the money.  I probably couldn't use it effectively, anyway, I'm so new at this. 

For the group shots, will my 2 strobes and 2 45" umbrellas on 7.5' stands really be that lacking?  I hate the thought of just buying the stands and umbrellas and then not being able to use them for the first legitimate reason I have for making the purchase in the first place.  I literally placed the order a couple hours ago.  I'm not really keen on spending more money than I already have.  I will be attempting to use "strobist" manual flash technique and I will definitely be trying to do test runs so that I can get all my manual settings in the right ballpark beforehand. 

What focal length would you recommend for a group shot?  Telephoto?  I can get a good distance away, especially if I shot from a high angle from the balcony.  I'd just be concerned about DOF.  I will play with it on my own but I doubt I can get 20 people to pose for a mock group shot.

The ceremony will be roughly between 1pm-5pm, and I believe we may have had our daylight savings time change here in the States by then, so the difference in light between the sanctuary and the outside will be pretty extreme.  I am thinking of bouncing a flash (or both) in the guest/gift reception area to fill in the shadows a bit, but don't know if I have enough power.

The second cameraman and I will definitely try to squeeze practice time in, but there's so much to practice, it's overwhelming.

[low.pfile]

ooheadsoo

You seem properly geared up. Thunderbrick's points are great. Here are some thoughts at this late hour

Since I am new to wedding photography and just shot a family member's wedding last month, I thought my perspective might be of some use to you. They couldn't afford a pro photographer-so they asked me. I have casually shot social events in the past without issue. But I found the wedding scene intense and challenging. The flash was the tricky part for me. I only shot candids and informals. The wedding was indoors in a hall.  There wasn't a church ceremony.

I am a very amateur photographer from back in film days-shot and developed. Given that this was a new type of event for me with greater expectations, I did research on wedding photography, I think I over researched and found way too many techniques, so my first suggestion is:

1. Do what you know, don't try out new/untested techniques during these one time shots. Keep it simple.

Though it wouldn't hurt to take a quick look at something like the wedding forum at nikonians.org, since there are a bunch of seasoned pros there. The "I am shooting my first wedding....?" question comes up often.  http://www.nikonians.org/forums/dcboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=164

Since you mention you are the main photographer and shooting formals as well, I suggest you:

2. Make a shot list. Location/gear needed/subjects required, etc. Be comfortable directing the subjects to pose (I didn't do that enough)

Exposure range
I followed the predominant approach of many wedding photogs of shooting ISO 800 with my D80. My first dozen shots hwere overexposed and  I was adjusting the flash and the shutter speed to little avail. Then I adjusted the ISO.

I agree with your observation that your fast lenses will be helpful to get faster shutter speeds but the focus needs to be tack on. So if the room is dark better to rely more on the flash use a smaller aperture.

Though covered in many wedding articles/forums, I still fumbled with tricky exposure. If the bride is wearing a white dress, it will likely trick the meter if you use center-weighted or matrix. Spot on the face is better. Or exposure compensation.

3. Really think about the exposure of any shots with the Bride in a white dress, especially with white walls nearby.

Flash
I used a handmade bounce reflector for forward fill. That worked fine.
The SB800 flash was so powerful, magnified by the low white ceilings, I ended up cranking the flash down many EVs. I was not used to the sophisticated . It was the First time using it. Hopefully you are better versed with your SB600. I would imagine you are since you have stands and umbrellas.

I had planned on using the amber flash gel myself, but after doing a custom white balance with the flash I was getting strange color. But the bigger problem was the hall lighting there were four types of lighting. So the gel would only correct the flash for one of them. So I ended up using Auto WB, which worked out very well and realistic. Able to tweak the WB in Capture NX. Again, so what you feel most comfortable with.

Going in my main goal was to balance flash with ambient light to avoid the spot light effect. But only during the end of the reception did I get those type of shots wit properly exposed main subject and blurry but exposed backgrounds.... these shots were around 1/15sec @F4, ISO200 with flash around -2EV

4. Determine if you want to have mainly flash illumination or ambient light with flash. Take test shots to determine the right settings.

Lens/composition
The 17-50 is likely your best bet for the majority of shots. The nikon 17- 55mm  f/2.8 that I used was great. It's very versatile.  Obviously the wide zoom at 17mm is not the preferred choice for head shots given the feature exaggeration, but....

5. With any close up formals (and candids) when you are using the wide angle, keep the subject in the center.  A 17mm field of view can give a thin woman 20 inch biceps...Aunt Brenda will not like that, at all! I took a few of those shots. Whoops.

For the posed large group shots use the lens that gets them all in Same advice as above about those at the outer edges getting distorted. Sometimes you just don't have a choice. Distance will dictate.

Test shots
I arrived at the wedding about 30 minutes before it started. I didn't have a choice since I was carpooling with my folks. I wish I had time to take some exposure test shots. So get there early and

6. Take test shots in the church and the reception hall. Take test shots, with and without the flash.

Apprentice
If your friend has a  unclumsy 12 year old neice nephew, see if s/he would be up for being your runner/adjuster. That would be invaluable.

7. Find an eager young assistant. you might save them from boredom.

Memory cards
Shooting raw + jpg, I shot about 450 photos (reception only-5 hours) on 2 cards -  a4GB and a 2GB. and I ran out of space around the end. You'll likely be better prepared.

8. Carry the memory cards (many) in your pocket, not in your bag across the room.

Consider renting a body
I rented a lens from borrowlenses.com I just checked and they rent bodies too.... a D90 is $99/wk and 3 day is available for CA Bay Area. Nice guys. You can use your D40 as a second body.  http://www.borrowlenses.com/category/nikon_bodies

Those a just the things that come to mind one month after my trial by fire wedding shoot. the bride and groom were happy with the pics, I was not. I am still processing some of the RAW files to optimize them.

hope that helps.
ed

[BobM]

I would suggest using a large bore rifle. You can get more than one at a time that way. 

[nathanm]

You're shooting a wedding for FREE!?

Personally, this sounds like my idea of what Hell is; but putting that aside, if I were you I would practice like mad!  You won't want to do an ounce of experimentation on the day.  Know every camera function and lighting scenario backwards and forwards.

[RoadTripper]

I've seen what happens when a wedding photog uses a borrowed camera body. It's not pretty. You'd better get to know it well. You also should get familiar with the reset speed of the flash batteries, and how long they last before that reset speed becomes intolerable.

Also, get in the mindset that candids of cute little kids doing what kids do best (being cute) are shots that you want to be on the lookout for.

Good luck!

[maxwalrath]

Got any friends who want to have a mock wedding?

This seems like it could be a pain in the arse to get people together, but it could also take about 30 minutes and give you a lot more confidence on the day of the wedding.  They don't need to be dressed up, just people in the venue to give you an idea of lighting and lenses.

[thunderbrick]

Ok, here we go again.  I need to know how big the wedding party is, the size of the facility (depth of the sanctuary) and approximate light levels anticipated during the ceremony (just go in when it is empty and take some meter readings at ISO 400).

Your 18-50mm lens covers what is referred to as a film equivalent of 28-80mm, a range of moderate wide angle to slight telephoto.
On your camera "normal" (the old 50mm) is about 30-32mm.  Anything shorter than that is wide angle, anything longer is telephoto. 

In the "formal" shots, if your wedding party is big do NOT zoom out to get the group in.  It will make the people in the middle look larger than those on the ends.  If possible, move the people on the outside slightly closer to the camera to compensate for the them being farther from the camera. If your light is high on a stand you have the flexibility to move YOU farther or closer to the group while the light remains at the same distance, thus keeping the same exposure.  Try not to zoom if you can because the inconsistencies of perspective will be noticeable to the trained eye.
If you shoot in the 35-50mm range it will also tend to make the background a little less sharp, and that is a good thing, because you don't want the eye to be looking at what is in the rear of the sanctuary; it is the people that you want to be sharp.

I'd also suggest that you but the light about 3-5 feet OFF of center.  I put my light stand inside the pews so that the light is slightly angled and more flattering.  And nobody will trip over it.

Even better, divide  the bridesmaids and out them on BOTH sides of the bride and groom, and space them about a foot or so apart.  THEN put the groomsmen close behind the girls in the spaces you have created.  This does several things. First it makes the wedding party less wide and strung out.  That allows you to move closer to the group and makes their faces bigger, which is, after all the point.  Second, it puts the (hopefully) more attractive members of the group.  Lastly, no one gives a crap what the men are wearing so it is fine to hide those light-absorbing tuxes behind colorful dresses.

When I shoot the formals with my studio strobe and a big umbrella or softbox I set the camera at ISO 400, 1/30th second (sometimes 1/15th if it is dark enough) and 5.6 and leave it there.  When the bridal party is only two people deep that is more than enough depth of field for the people, and the slow shutter speed helps to capture enough ambient light in the background to make it seem evenly lit.

Get a small Rubbermaid plastic stool at Kmart.  It'll easily support me, and is great for getting a little more height so your close-up shots aren't taken from a lower angle.  For candids, get a SC-17 or newer flash cord and learn to shoot with the flash off the camera, or get one of those swivel brackets that hold the flash above the lens regardless of whether the shot is vertical or horizontal.  Both of those options provide a much more flattering light. 

Try to get to know the wedding party beforehand.  If you are comfortable with them (and they with you), it will go more smoothly.

There is nothing wrong with the D40.  Borrow another one if you can so that you don't have to think about changes when you put one down and grab the other.
I have a D200 and D300 and it drives me nuts to remember the differences.

Don't use ISO higher than 400 if you can avoid it.

Lastly, take comfort in this.  Thanks to Walmart, digital cameras, and the general rush of modern life, I think a lot of people have lowered their expectations of what makes great or even good photography.  I rarely see the interest in huge wedding albums that grace the coffee table, or huge stately wall portraits that last for generations.  If you try to emulate the magnificent work you see in magazines it will just shake your confidence.  Smile, don't let 'em see you sweat, and always be pleasant and efficient.  If you get the groups done fairly quickly and keep people smiling, they will remember you doing a great job.

If you want more info PM me and maybe we can talk.  Keep in mind that I shoot digital much the same way as I do film, so these are methods that have worked great for me for a long time.

[ooheadsoo]

Dang, this sounds like more and more of a nightmare, as if I didn't know it would be one, already.

Ok - flash or no flash for the candids, assuming I can get away with no flash during the day time?  I don't know if I'm going to know anything about the room where the bride will get dressed, since it's not at church (big blessing, actually, the church is very unphotogenic.)  I guess I'll just have to try both.

As for the camera, if I am shooting with remote flash, I will be shooting full manual, so I don't know how many extra features I will need to mind on the camera.  I'll probably also shoot RAW for insurance's sake, so that should be an extra measure of safety.  If the D90 is anything like the D40, and I'm pretty sure it is, then I should be safe using TTL with on camera flash, as well.  I'm not 100% with it, yet.  The office Christmas party I shot with the SB-600 flash was hit and miss, although most shots were lost because of the flash lagging on recharge after a few hundred shots.  I was using lithiums then, I'll probably be using rechargeables for the wedding.  Seminarian, my favorite shots at the Christmas party were of child or mother and child, and I knew they would be crowd pleasers.  However, I'm not sure about how many kids will be at this wedding.  I don't think the bride and groom have much close family in the country.

You know, I have an idea about trying out the group shot - thanks for hounding on it, guys.  

Between the second photog and the bride/wedding coordinator, I believe I have at least 2 shot lists, so that base is covered.

Holy crap guys, I was scared before, but I'm getting more and more scared by the moment.  Here's to hoping that my "shoot and judge the manual exposure" technique will be fast and on target on that day.  

[thunderbrick]

Dang, this sounds like more and more of a nightmare, as if I didn't know it would be one, already.

Ok - flash or no flash for the candids, assuming I can get away with no flash during the day time?  I don't know if I'm going to know anything about the room where the bride will get dressed, since it's not at church (big blessing, actually, the church is very unphotogenic.)  I guess I'll just have to try both.

As for the camera, if I am shooting with remote flash, I will be shooting full manual, so I don't know how many extra features I will need to mind on the camera.  I'll probably also shoot RAW for insurance's sake, so that should be an extra measure of safety.  If the D90 is anything like the D40, and I'm pretty sure it is, then I should be safe using TTL with on camera flash, as well.  I'm not 100% with it, yet.  The office Christmas party I shot with the SB-600 flash was hit and miss, although most shots were lost because of the flash lagging on recharge after a few hundred shots.  I was using lithiums then, I'll probably be using rechargeables for the wedding.  Seminarian, my favorite shots at the Christmas party were of child or mother and child, and I knew they would be crowd pleasers.  However, I'm not sure about how many kids will be at this wedding.  I don't think the bride and groom have much close family in the country.

You know, I have an idea about trying out the group shot - thanks for hounding on it, guys.  

Between the second photog and the bride/wedding coordinator, I believe I have at least 2 shot lists, so that base is covered.

Holy crap guys, I was scared before, but I'm getting more and more scared by the moment.  Here's to hoping that my "shoot and judge the manual exposure" technique will be fast and on target on that day.  

Shoot flash.  Period.  It is not just the color of light (AWB), but also the direction.  Florescents tend to create shadows under the eyes and most church lighting is not flattering.  The ideal, IMO, is to balance flash and available light, so even if you have enough ambient light the flash will create that important little "spark" or catchlight in the eyes that is appealing.  And keep in mind that people are moving most of the time in candids, and the flash will "freeze" and sharpen such images.

BTW, what makes you think your remote flash will be manual?  Why not put it on AA automatic?  For anything more that pop-flash (which sucks!) you HAVE to practice!!!

When is this wedding?

[thunderbrick]

Let me qualify something.  I am suggesting flash at all times because of the challenges you face.
I shoot a lot of available light photos during ceremonies, but either with very fast (2.0 or better) lenses, or medium format film cameras on a tripod, but unless the wedding is outside I use flash as the main light or the fill.  Using those white plastic dome diffusers on the flash, along with balancing available light, can give you images that look like available light, especially in smaller rooms.
Another reason I shoot manual is that I measure the light that falls on the subject, not the reflected light.  That eliminates any issue of how bright/dark the bride's dress is.

[ooheadsoo]

Ok, here we go again.  I need to know how big the wedding party is, the size of the facility (depth of the sanctuary) and approximate light levels anticipated during the ceremony (just go in when it is empty and take some meter readings at ISO 400).

Good question.  I assume there are 3 bride's maids and 3 groomsmen.  I don't know about parents, yet.  I will most likely not be shooting the formal wedding party portraits at the church, although it is certainly an option.  It just doesn't seem like an appealing option.

Your 18-50mm lens covers what is referred to as a film equivalent of 28-80mm, a range of moderate wide angle to slight telephoto.
On your camera "normal" (the old 50mm) is about 30-32mm.  Anything shorter than that is wide angle, anything longer is telephoto. 

Yes, fortunately, I know the ranges, but am not familiar with the ratios on your 'blad vs digital or 35mm.

In the "formal" shots, if your wedding party is big do NOT zoom out to get the group in.  It will make the people in the middle look larger than those on the ends.  If possible, move the people on the outside slightly closer to the camera to compensate for the them being farther from the camera. If your light is high on a stand you have the flexibility to move YOU farther or closer to the group while the light remains at the same distance, thus keeping the same exposure.  Try not to zoom if you can because the inconsistencies of perspective will be noticeable to the trained eye.
If you shoot in the 35-50mm range it will also tend to make the background a little less sharp, and that is a good thing, because you don't want the eye to be looking at what is in the rear of the sanctuary; it is the people that you want to be sharp.

Thanks for those tips.  I was aware of the V shape trick but don't know if I'll be able to use it in the group shots after the ceremony because of the relatively shallow riser steps.  The steps will give me about 1 foot of leeway forwards or back.  I will try to shoot the group shots from the main aisle, then, without changing focal length.  Good tip.  The aisle is surely long enough (maybe 40-50ft long) and is slightly angled upwards away from the pulpit, but I may need a step ladder to get the pews out of the shots, if I'm shooting from farther away.  Going too far?  For the budget, maybe.  I will experiment.  

I'd also suggest that you but the light about 3-5 feet OFF of center.  I put my light stand inside the pews so that the light is slightly angled and more flattering.  And nobody will trip over it.

Even better, divide  the bridesmaids and out them on BOTH sides of the bride and groom, and space them about a foot or so apart.  THEN put the groomsmen close behind the girls in the spaces you have created.  This does several things. First it makes the wedding party less wide and strung out.  That allows you to move closer to the group and makes their faces bigger, which is, after all the point.  Second, it puts the (hopefully) more attractive members of the group.  Lastly, no one gives a crap what the men are wearing so it is fine to hide those light-absorbing tuxes behind colorful dresses.

When I shoot the formals with my studio strobe and a big umbrella or softbox I set the camera at ISO 400, 1/30th second (sometimes 1/15th if it is dark enough) and 5.6 and leave it there.  When the bridal party is only two people deep that is more than enough depth of field for the people, and the slow shutter speed helps to capture enough ambient light in the background to make it seem evenly lit.

You nailed my thoughts exactly on the placement of the two umbrellas, so I can walk up and down the aisle and not have to fiddle with the flash power.  I will play with having both umbrellas camera left or with one to each side of the camera with varying power (or not.)

It almost sounds as if you are speaking of the formal group portrait.  Again, I will probably not shoot that at the ceremony, but a few weeks before the ceremony so that I have the opportunity for re-dos.  

Now, I've heard that there may be exposure problems with bright shiny dresses up front and putting the suits in the back, but I'm perfectly willing to try both, and I'm sure that the wedding party will be, too.  If the men were in the front, I was thinking of having them on their knees.

Get a small Rubbermaid plastic stool at Kmart.  It'll easily support me, and is great for getting a little more height so your close-up shots aren't taken from a lower angle.  For candids, get a SC-17 or newer flash cord and learn to shoot with the flash off the camera, or get one of those swivel brackets that hold the flash above the lens regardless of whether the shot is vertical or horizontal.  Both of those options provide a much more flattering light. 

I will have to check with them if I will be allowed on stage during the ceremony, but I get your point.  If I couldn't get on stage during the ceremony, I was thinking of using a step ladder off stage and going telephoto.  What choice would I have?  If I am allowed to be on stage, I'm not sure I would want to get closer than 6-10 feet out of respect for the ceremony.  Would the plastic stool still be adequate from that large a distance?

Try to get to know the wedding party beforehand.  If you are comfortable with them (and they with you), it will go more smoothly.

I hope so.

There is nothing wrong with the D40.  Borrow another one if you can so that you don't have to think about changes when you put one down and grab the other.
I have a D200 and D300 and it drives me nuts to remember the differences.

Don't use ISO higher than 400 if you can avoid it.

I, too, have discovered that iso800 can be risky.  I will do all I can to avoid it.  The D90 should help a lot.  I will post some shots of the Christmas party I shot with the D40.  It's acceptable except in terms of noise in the longer shots.  I believe it was the failing flash that lead me to bump my ISO to 800, and the noise was still unacceptable at longer ranges.  At close range, I can hardly tell that there was any noise at all.

Lastly, take comfort in this.  Thanks to Walmart, digital cameras, and the general rush of modern life, I think a lot of people have lowered their expectations of what makes great or even good photography.  I rarely see the interest in huge wedding albums that grace the coffee table, or huge stately wall portraits that last for generations.  If you try to emulate the magnificent work you see in magazines it will just shake your confidence.  Smile, don't let 'em see you sweat, and always be pleasant and efficient.  If you get the groups done fairly quickly and keep people smiling, they will remember you doing a great job.

If you want more info PM me and maybe we can talk.  Keep in mind that I shoot digital much the same way as I do film, so these are methods that have worked great for me for a long time.

Thanks, I really appreciate the offer.

[ooheadsoo]

The reason why I am shooting full manual when I use both remote flashes is because my SB-28's version of TTL is apparently not compatible with the D40 (or any of the new nikon ttl system cameras?)  In a studio situation, I don't care because I assume I will have enough time to figure out the light ratios before the shoot.  Everyone at the party knows each other and knows me, and especially knows the second photog, so no sweat if I waste 2 minutes balancing the light ratios of a basic 2 light (or 2+ambient) setup.  I've not tried the SB-600 on auto with the remote.  Good point, I have to try that.  Boy would that help.  I did play with the idea of using a hand held flash (using my radio trigger) but using it on full manual was near impossible for me. 

Here are two hand held flash shots I tried on manual before I gave up:



Hopefully if I can get the SB-600 to work with TTL on remote, I won't have the problems I'm getting in these shots.

Although nothing can really save my wider shot...

[SET Man]

....The office Christmas party I shot with the SB-600 flash was hit and miss, although most shots were lost because of the flash lagging on recharge after a few hundred shots.  I was using lithiums then, I'll probably be using rechargeables for the wedding.

....

Hey!

  I just want to touch on this a bit.

  Forget about lithium or Ni-MH batts. If you can, get or rent a power pack like Quantum's Turbo for your flash. Super duper fast recharge cycling and last a long time. One pack will likely last you the whole wedding.

  True that you will have to carry more weight but it sure beat changing those AA in your flash in the middle of the wedding. And more importantly it will recharge your flash super quick and with this less likely to miss a shot or shots. You'll be glad you used it after

  I do use hi-cap Ni-MH AAs in my flash with 1 more set for back up just in case But the flash power is coming from the external pack. I'm not familiar with Nikon's flash system but do check if you could use Quantum Turbo pack with your flash.

  But be careful not to do lots of pop of flashes one after another too long. It could burn out your flash. 

   Anyway, good luck.

Take care,
Buddy

   

[thunderbrick]

The Quantums are a great idea, but very pricey.  Consider renting something like that and carry extra AAs just in case.  I use a Metz 60 series that will go all day and reach out a long way, but doesn't do TTL on a digital camera and it is clumsy.

You mentioned shooting hundreds of photos at a company party.  Unless it was a huge party I'd say you took too many and maybe worked too hard.  A lot of beginners shoot far too many photos at weddings

Tell me how you shot those two images.  Why is the flash so directional?  Was  the camera turned vertical with the flash to your left?
That make for harsh contrasty lighting with little shadow detail.  Not flattering for a bride and bridesmaids, and if you don't realize that a wedding is all about the women, maybe you should bail out and live for another day.    .  After all, the main purpose of the men in he ceremony is simply to balance the group photos.   

[ooheadsoo]

The camera was horizontal but, as I said, I was shooting on manual flash and had trouble getting the flash power low enough and balanced.  The leather jacket was probably 2 feet from the flash held in my left hand, and less than that to the baby.

The main reason I shot so many pics at the company party is not that it was a large party but the opposite - I knew each and every person and wanted to be sure I had at least a couple decent shots of everyone.

Yes, I know I worked too hard and shot too much, but I don't have a problem with that. 

It would be quite something if the flash were TTL balanced.  I'll have to rethink my approach.  Unfortunately, the second photog is currently borrowing my camera setup.

[ooheadsoo]

...maybe you should bail out and live for another day.    . 

Yeah, that was my first response when they asked me, but they insisted.  They really don't have the budget for a "real" photographer.  Their closer friend, the second photog, doesn't even have an SLR yet.  He should be buying one any day, now   

You see how high priority pictures are on their list?

I'd post more pics so you could see something more representative of my flash work with PJ style portraits, but our staff doesn't like having their faces on the internet (law enforcement.)

[thunderbrick]

I was sort of kidding about bailing out, but as I pointed out in an earlier post, people don't put as much importance in wedding photos anymore.  At least they are your friends, and will be happy with whatever you do. 
How many weeks or months do you have to worry about this?
Another thing you can do is to put the shoe mount flash on an umbrella bracket.  Point the sensor toward the subject and the flash tube toward the reflector, and set it on automatic at, say, 5.6.  It will make a more pleasing image but the light lost through the umbrella and dispersion will significantly cut down on the effective distance.  In fact it may not have the "oomph" needed to get the job done in that manner.