Marco, A couple of days ago, the link below was posted in a response to your initial email. I read through the entire guide and found it very informative and to the point. It should guide you through the process fairly well.
<http://johnlind.tripod.com/wedding/> > P.S. The wedding is late afternoon (3.30PM), so I think Flashes should be > more than necessary. Not necessarily. > To everyone that told me the L lenses are better, I certainly do know this, > but they are also so expensive... There are reasonably priced lenses out there that are of stunning quality and don't carry the red ring and the L. The 85/1.8 and 50/1.4 are both examples of this. > * I will setup my 350D to ISO 400 or 800 (depending on the tests) ISO 800 is > not so bad in quality... ISO 1600 is too "grainy" Based on my experience with my 10D, I'd strongly suggest NOT going over ISO 400. But maybe that's just me. Take some portrait test shots under conditions similar to those that will exist during the wedding and judge for yourself. Make the 8x10 inch prints (or larger) form those shots and see if the quality holds up. > * I will use Speedlite 580EX on the 350D bouncing up an using the white flag > to get catch lights and to reduce that "stoning" effect I'm having with > 420EX in a direct shot. You can also get an omnibounce gizmo. Sto-Fen makes some. It's essentially a plastic tub that you slide over the flash. It diffuses the light and makes it look a tad more natural. Not a bad deal. Although, $20 for a piece of injection molded plastic is kinda steep in my opinion. > * I will be shooting in P mode or Manual mode (still thinking if I'm quick > enough to set the right exposition manually, and not only modify it) Try it out beforehand. See what works the best. If the light conditions are fairly uniform and don't change significantly over time, there's no reason not to use manual mode. It gives you more creativity with less fuss. But also gives you higher chance of error unless you're used to using manual mode in a stressful situation. Whatever mode you chose, make sure you're familiar with it. How to operate the camera in this mode and what the limitations of this mode are. > * For WB I'm still a little ignorant to make a "conscious" decision, some > hints? I'm using Flash and obviously the bride will be in white :D You'll be dealing with mixed lighting anyway. Set it to daylight and change it when you process the RAW files if necessary. > * Set AF to a single spot (centre)? Or use all the 7 AF points? Yes... ;-) Do what you normally do. Do what works. Try some street photography in the two modes and see what works. Does the camera focus in the right spot when you have all seven points enabled? Or can you do a better job yourself by manually focusing. > * I will setup my 650 with a film ISO 400 (or higher if I can find a good > one, some brand you use?) Fuji's NPH (400), NPZ (800) now known as Pro 400H and Pro 800Z are quite good. The NPZ tends to have really saturated reds -- or at least it did last time I shot it. NPS 160 (Pro 160S) is their "wedding film". It's optimized for low contrast and excellent skin tones. That should make it possible to get detail in the bride's dress and the groom's tux while maintaining good skin tones. For slide film, I'd suggest Fuji Astia 100F. > * I will use the EF 50 1.8 with this body, I like very much this lens, this > is my first lens and the AF sounds like a drill, but quality is very good!! I don't understand why you insist on bringing both film and digital bodies. Unless, the film body is just for backup purposes. And still.... Couldn't you borrow someone else's digital rebel as a backup? Use your digital body. Shoot at low ISO when you're outside in daylight. Crank up the ISO if you need to. > I have a 2BG Flash card, thinking about taking my laptop to backup shots as > soon as possible and in case get a free of space card... Sell the battery grip you just bought and buy more cards. You'll waste valuable time transferring images from the card to the laptop. You'll miss shots. Leave the laptop at home and carry spare cards. Bring spare batteries for the flash and camera. Spare CF cards. > About the film... 4x24 or 3x36 ? What's better? Three rolls??? Are you kidding??? Photographer's rule #1: NEVER run out of film. Buy a pro pack. Stick the leftover film in the fridge and shoot it as a hobby after the wedding. > Really sorry to annoy you all, I know I'm not so expert but I'm trying to > get better... That's what we're here for. > Very P.P.S. I'm Italian so sorry for my ugly English... :) Your English is fine. You have more important things to worry about... ;-) Aside from my cousins wedding where I was just a casual photographer, I have not shot a wedding. So feel free to argue that I don't know what I'm talking about. However, I've done some thinking on the topic as I have been asked to shoot people's weddings in the past and have had to go through some of the thinking you're now going through myself. I do shoot a fair amount of sports. Baseball and hockey primarily. On amateur and college level. Especially hockey is challenging to shoot. Much like I imagine a wedding party would be, although, hockey rinks tend to be lit much better than your average wedding reception hall. For sports photography, I honestly find the autofocus of my 10D to be very limited. I understand the AF system in the 20D, 30D is better, but still... I recently rented a 1D II to try it out for sports photography. It's miles beyond the 10D in terms of AF accuracy. I would probably trust the AF of the 1D for wedding work, but I'd think twice or three times before relying solely on the AF of the 10D for wedding photography. Your mileage may vary... That said, I did shoot my cousins wedding with a manual focus only camera and got good results. I shot about 100 shots and ended up with four keepers... Had I brought my flash, I might have had a few more keepers, but you never know... Tom * **** ******* *********************************************************** * For list instructions, including unsubscribe, see: * http://www.a1.nl/phomepag/markerink/eos_list.htm ***********************************************************
