Flash photography

[Georgelee]

Hi, a friend has asked me to take one photographs at his wedding, I am flattered but a little nervous to say the least.

I have not done much flash photography so I have been scouring the net for tips on techniques and tips.

My set up is an olympus em1, a 25mm 1.4 and 45mm 1.8 primes, and a 12-40mm 2.8 zoom. An olympus FL600r flash unit

I would be grateful for any thoughts on camera and flash settings.

Best wishes
George

[skilsaw]

Ask the bride and groom if they will mind you using a flash.
Then confirm that flash is allowed if they are marrying in a church.

If possible, go to the location ahead of time with your equipment and two friends. This should be at the same time of day as the wedding so that the natural light is close to how it will be on the wedding day.
Take pictures of the friends doing marriage like poses so you know in advance what works there.

Other than that, remember to drink lots and dance with all the pretty ladies.

[Georgelee]

Thanks for the venue suggestions I had not thought of that. it's a register office, no plans to use flash during the service, but I will post service. I will certainly try the couple of friends approach. Drinking and dancing with the ladies also sounds fun.

Best wishes

[Carl in Louisiana]

Start with these tutorials: https://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tu...mera-flash.htm

Try this thread: 1st wedding as an amateur

Also this is a good site just make sure and go through everything on it. 101 is mostly about the gear 102 is how to use that gear.
http://www.strobist.blogspot.com/

Hope this helps you out.

[Georgelee]

Many thanks for that, I appreciate you replying.

Best wishes

George

[inkista]

All due respect to Carl and Dave Hobby, but don't start with the Strobist--you'll go into info overload with stuff you probably do not have the time to learn, buy, and mess about with before the wedding. And micro four-thirds kind of sucks in terms of the non-support from 3rd parties you'll have out there for radio triggering vs. shooting Canikon. Stick with on-camera bouncing, and Neil van Niekerk's Tangents website: he specializes in on-camera bouncing for wedding photography. Strobist can come later when you need to do posed portraiture with studio-style lighting. Start here with bounce flash and the black foamie thing.

I also have to mention that the FL-600R, while a great flash for on-camera use with micro four-thirds is under-powered even compared to the Canon 430EXII and Nikon SB-700, let alone their high-end flashes, and has a slower recycle time. It is not the ideal tool for this kind of work, although it's certainly a huge step above nothing, but be aware that you will still have to rely on the EM-1's high iso performance even WITH a flash.

You do, however, have the glass you need, so that's a mercy.

Aside from practicing with flash, and scouting the venue ahead of time, you may also want to hone your event skillz. Have you shot events before where you may only get a single opportunity to nail the shot? It does interesting things to your nerves, so if you haven't done it before, you'll want to practice shooting anything that requires you to anticipate and time a shot to get an idea of what's involved.

If you're going to be the only photographer, make sure you've got backup/contingency planning in place. It's not like they're going to stop the wedding for you if one of your pieces of equipment goes down. Make sure that if anything goes down, you've got some kind of backup--even if it's just a P&S. Rentals are great to make sure you've got a second body and flash available, just in case.

[Carl in Louisiana]

George

Kathy has offered the best place to "start first" and the least expensive. Sorry about leading you to good places that will be beneficial but only later when you have the time and if you decide you what to learn more about flash photography. Niel's site is awesome and a lot faster for what you're after for now. I have picked up the black foamie thing and have been playing around and trying to get use to it myself, it's great. You can get one at just about any craft store it's just a sheet of black foam that is 8"x11" if my memory serves me right and cheap $.98 plus tax. Then pick up a couple of the elastic bands that the ladies use in their hair to hold it onto the flash, cut the foam to size and your ready to go practice some before the big event.

Thanks for catching that Kathy!

[inkista]

No worries, Carl. I get the love of off-camera flash, too! But as I tend to say: on-camera bouncing with Tangents is the blue pill. Off-camera with Strobist is the red pill.

[jcuknz]

For all the good advice to be found at the suggested links the best bit of advice for you at your stage is to not attempt anything you cannot do in your sleep. So often one sees amateurs fluffing around with their gear while the event escapes.
Even when you are ready the event escapes quite often and a top wedding photographer watches the action and then says "Hang on a tick." and takes a staged photo ... but quickly. +

[Carl in Louisiana]

So often one sees amateurs fluffing around with their gear while the event escapes.

Wouldn't you also say that in the process of fluffing around one learns and those bold enough to fluff around just may one day become the next pro photographer. So long as they are not charging and they are not the primary photog to catch the magic moment. The Pros out there had to start from somewhere even after going to school there is much to learn in the field that classrooms can never teach.

[PaoloMtl]

It does interesting things to your nerves

I second this! I have far less experience than most people on here and I've shot a couple of events (nothing as important as a wedding). I learned to shoot fast, keep shooting (but not so much to be annoying), and shoot raw. I would also suggest you mentally walk through the ceremony and after, make a list of must have shots and nice to have. This calmed my nerves, kept me focused and let me know what was coming so I could prep the next shot and get into position. Definitely touring the facilities is fantastic to help visualize. Hope this helps!

[wmoore]

Just don't be like these guys.

[DanK]

I agree with a few of the others. if you are still at the point of asking how to use flash, I would not even consider being the only photographer at a wedding. Things happen fast, and most of them only once. You don't want to be in the position (well, I wouldn't want to be in the position) where the friend says after the fact, 'damn, we don't have a single good shot with grandma," "the photographer completely missed it when xxxx happened," etc.

I have been shooting for a long time. I have done one wedding, but I wouldn't do another at any price. I simply don't do that kind of work reliably and quickly enough. I do shoot less demanding events, like engagement parties, that don't have fast-moving events that the participants consider critically important life events.

If I were in your shoes, i would start with less critical events and by working as a second photographer at weddings.

[Georgelee]

Yes those are my thoughts also, however this is a good mate who I have been very clear with in terms of not wanting to disappoint and the risks of using me. They are surprisingly relaxed about it so here goes in 4 weeks.

Best wishes

George

[Georgelee]

Thank you all for your replies, there is really solid advice and caution for me to consider. I will look at the links and try put in to practice. There is a local brass band competition this coming Sunday, a chance for a few portraits, couples, small and large group shots.

Best wishes
George

[inkista]

That sounds like a great event to practice at, and the adrenalin rush won't be super-high. I'm a hobbyist and have never shot a wedding, but I regularly drag my camera with me to Comic-Con, so I know a smidge about event timing. It can make shooting birds in flight look like a piece of cake.

My only piece of advice is watch peoples' hands when they're speaking to a crowd. When the hands are moving, you're typically going to get the most interesting stuff. And (sorry, I know you're on overload), the EM-1 gives you the capability to do back-button autofocus and you might want to take advantage of it. With back-button AF, you can fine-tune and maintain focus on a stationary speaker/subject without the camera constantly re-acquiring focus every time you press the shutter button; in other words, it lets you avoid having to hold a half-press focus lock until the moment happens.

[Carl in Louisiana]

No worries, Carl. I get the love of off-camera flash, too! But as I tend to say: on-camera bouncing with Tangents is the blue pill. Off-camera with Strobist is the red pill.

I'm sitting here scratching my head on this one. Could you please help an uneducated old fellow on the difference of the "blue pill" and the "red pill"?

[PaoloMtl]

I'm sitting here scratching my head on this one. Could you please help an uneducated old fellow on the difference of the "blue pill" and the "red pill"?

It's from the movie called the Matrix. Take the blue pill and you go back to your life, take the red pill, and see the truth. This is the scene: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=te6qG4yn-Ps

Luckily the choice of on/off camera flash isn't so final. I'm on blue, will work to red one day soon I hope.

[Carl in Louisiana]

It's from the movie called the Matrix. Take the blue pill and you go back to your life, take the red pill, and see the truth. This is the scene: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=te6qG4yn-Ps

Luckily the choice of on/off camera flash isn't so final. I'm on blue, will work to red one day soon I hope.

Ahaa that explains it, "The Matrix" never seen it.

Thanks Paolo I thought there must have been something important that I was missing, now I know a little more than I did earlier. OCF is a bit more than expected, but I like it and it is rewarding. If you ever try it you'll love it.

[Colin Southern]

Just don't be like these guys.

In contrast, here's how PROFESSIONALS do it ...