First Dance and how to best capture the amazing moment.
Every wedding has a series of hurdles that you cannot screw up on because there is no do over. You can always redo a portrait or wedding party pic.
The first dance is not a do over event. You either get it right or you miss one of the most important moments of the day.
Usually there is very little time to prep and setup for the shots. You have about 3 minutes to get dialed in and take a well exposed properly composed series of pictures.
Here are the steps I use:
1- make sure the background is clear like a wall or ther are lights that I can backlight them with- maybe the DJs lights.
2- Settings- I want ambient light so shutter is 1/60- 1/80. App in a low light situation will be 2.8 or 1.8. I dare not go below 1.8 otherwise there is a chance one of the couples faces will be soft. 2.8 is my choice. ISO at 800 to start. Off camera flash 1/4 bounce set at 1/8 . Everything needs to be manual otherwise the picture will look like you took it with a point and shoot.
Seriously, if you don’t know how to shoot off camera with a flash in manual in a dark room then don’t charge people to photograph their wedding.
3- I have 2 lenses with me so I don’t have to move too much.
the 70-200mm for tight shots and the 35mm for wide room shots to give a sense of the occasion. My preference is close in shots because the story is about the couple and not the room.
4- Editing- mostly color, but a few get the black and white treatment if there is a lot of emotion in the image.
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