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wedding shoot, recommendation needed for focus settings

shane

By shane
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Paul Crespel Rising Star

Paul Crespel

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Hello Shane,

 

A wedding is a very important event, which can't easily be rewound and replayed for a re-shoot if you get the photos wrong. 

 

My advice to you is, if you need to ask such a question, then perhaps it would be better to have the assurance of an experienced wedding photographer present to ensure backup for any mistakes.

 

You don't get a second chance at a wedding, and if you screw up through lack of experience, you are going to disappoint the wedding couple, their family and their friends, and possibly leave yourself open to a lawsuit.

 

In a church (down the aisle), a telephoto is not ideal.  You need 21mm or 28mm to allow for low light, and the depth of field and surroundings to give the photo some context.  You don't want to blur the background in the church, you want to include it.

 

Really, think very carefully about covering the wedding until you've followed experienced wedding photographers enough to understand what is expected, and to have enough experience not to screw up.  It's a BIG responsability :)

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jlmphotos Experienced

jlmphotos

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Posted

Hello Shane,

 

A wedding is a very important event, which can't easily be rewound and replayed for a re-shoot if you get the photos wrong. 

 

My advice to you is, if you need to ask such a question, then perhaps it would be better to have the assurance of an experienced wedding photographer present to ensure backup for any mistakes.

 

You don't get a second chance at a wedding, and if you screw up through lack of experience, you are going to disappoint the wedding couple, their family and their friends, and possibly leave yourself open to a lawsuit.

 

In a church (down the aisle), a telephoto is not ideal.  You need 21mm or 28mm to allow for low light, and the depth of field and surroundings to give the photo some context.  You don't want to blur the background in the church, you want to include it.

 

Really, think very carefully about covering the wedding until you've followed experienced wedding photographers enough to understand what is expected, and to have enough experience not to screw up.  It's a BIG responsability :)

AGREED!  That is unless you know the couple and they've ASKED you to do the photography.  

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shane Newbie

shane

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gentlemen,

Thanks for the advise regarding shooting a wedding, I do understand the stakes. Thy are clear, that they want me to do this. I do commercial work, and have shot fashion and event, so can perform when needed. I was just hoping for advice on the best focus options, my success rate with focus tracking is not impressive. I do better with back button focus, and manual focus.

regards

Shane

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leifbrandt Rookie

leifbrandt

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To answer what I think Shane was getting at...So far I've preferred AF-S with the low burst.  I've tried the continuous focusing mode but it was a little hit and miss.  I've only shot a couple of processionals with the fuji set up, but in decent light single focus worked fine for me.  I usually have two bodies on me...18mm and 35mm...or 23mm and 56mm...just depends a little on the venue.  I know with the AF-C focusing mode it's best to keep it to the 9 AF points in the center and do either the low or high burst mode.  The last one I shot with a x100t in AF-C and the x-t1 with the 35mm on AF-S.

 

I wasn't super familiar with the x100t and found it best to set everything manual on it.  For me when it was in Aperture priority or auto ISO, it made odd choices.  It did fine in AF-C and low burst in good light.  The XT1 did great as well.

 

I've shot on Nikon and Canon...while Nikon has the better AF speed and accuracy overall, I feel like the fuji does just as good as when I was shooting on the Canon 5d MarkIII.  Have fun, try to anticipate what's going to happen next, and have a lot of extra batteries.  

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Dis Collaborator

Dis

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I was just hoping for advice on the best focus options, my success rate with focus tracking is not impressive. I do better with back button focus, and manual focus.

Have you tried AF-C + zone 9 + Cl? This usually works great for me with such slow motion like aisle walking.

 

Back in manual focus days we were shooting with prefocus. Focus peak assist and continuous drive revive this technique for me.

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ryan2007 Newbie

ryan2007

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Posted

gentlemen,

Thanks for the advise regarding shooting a wedding, I do understand the stakes. Thy are clear, that they want me to do this. I do commercial work, and have shot fashion and event, so can perform when needed. I was just hoping for advice on the best focus options, my success rate with focus tracking is not impressive. I do better with back button focus, and manual focus.

regards

Shane

I have the same type of concern. My plan is the 16-55 mm 2.8 with a mono-pod. My thought is a zoom will allow me to recompose faster than a prime lens as who ever is walking the isle gets closer to camera position. The one thing I am thinking is to get focus confirmation. On the back of the XT-1 their is a light that occasional blinks. It is for both the SD card recording and a Warning that the exposure is a problem. In short I know if it is blinking green on the back of the camera I need to change exposure or re-focus, something is wrong.

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shane Newbie

shane

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hey  newbie,

forget the zoom and monopod. you need a fast prime like the 35 1.4 or the 56 1.2 and zoom with your feet. I did testing, and it focused better when i walked backwards with the bride and groom. In the rehearsal I got to do testing in actual conditions

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