# Anyone shot a candle-lit wedding?



## skiboarder72 (Oct 14, 2008)

I've been shooting weddings for a few years but I have never shot a candle lit wedding before. Just wondering if anyone else has and if they have any tips for me... I'm pretty sure they don't want flash during the ceremony


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## chrisburke (Oct 14, 2008)

i havent, but, i would also assume they dont want a flash... it's gonna be tricky to get good shots through the whole thing, but a wide aperture will help


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## DavidSR (Oct 14, 2008)

hmmmm...here's an idea..why not arrive early with the bride, groom and priest/minister or what have you..and take shots BEFORE the ceremony were to start and once the ceremony starts no need to take pictures since you already took some before it started ...I'm sure you can also have some guests there beforehand to make it look more authentic.


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## DeadEye (Oct 14, 2008)

I would ask the priest to light the church with the candles same as for the ceramony just long enough to take light readings so you can plan things out. 

  Make a lil map type drawing of church then write the readings down at there location. 

  You may be surprised to find out ISO 1600 at 1/25  still wont cut it in some areas.   Then try to talk them into more candles.  

  Because its for a client , I would go out and buy a bunch of candles and practice it .  I have never try candle lit shots but read about it  recently in " Master Lighting Guide for portrait photography "  Its very tuff to get just right.  They used a combination of cto gell over strobe and candle plus photoshop to get what there client wanted. 

  As said before try a staged deal beforehand  at the wedding rehearsal.

 Cheers    Dan


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## Overread (Oct 14, 2008)

this sounds like a tough one - if you can't use flash and lighting is candles only make sure you get some practice in. Also as you get getting paid for this and the couple will expect a certain quality of photo talk to them - see if you can do some staged shoots with candle light and some other lighting support.
And if you think its not going to work tell them in advance - its not weak to admit that what they are requesting is beyond your skills/ability to produce a good photo - which is why planning beforehand is key - so you can give them a lot of notice.

That leaves time for them to either consider some staged shots or for you to back down and them to find a photographer willing/able to shoot - might lose you one customer, but its better this way than losing them because their wedding photos area series of dark, underexposed horrors


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## DeadEye (Oct 14, 2008)

Another is if you want auto focus then you will need a good IR emitter (focus assist beam)  or manual .


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## Photonic Harmony (Oct 15, 2008)

Interesting project there!

I would start by visiting the location with the candles lit.  Set custom white balances using a grey card, take light readings in different positions.  Use the fastest lens I  have and work the ISO to find an acceptable shutter speed.

I would also shoot RAW as to allow me to make slight changes later.


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## maytay20 (Oct 15, 2008)

I have!  But they didn't care if I used my flash.  The building had no power at all so it had to lit with candles,  8 of them to be exact.  The building was big enough to fit about 20 people, in the middle of the woods surrounded by 20ft trees and had 1 window that was shaped like a cross by the alter.  I upped my ISO to 800 and had my camera on my monopod the whole time.  I also was using 24-105mmL lens with IS.  I would defanently talk to them about flash they may not care.


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## Overread (Oct 15, 2008)

hmm sounds like a small venue - they might not care about you using flash till you start using it - atmosphere damaging 
it might mean you have to shoot less and get more keepers - they might not complain openly, but you will notice as you edit as the faces get more and more displeased in the shots


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## Bifurcator (Oct 15, 2008)

Sounds easy to me. Just diffused fill flash - perhaps multiple heads - amber gels.

Sounds like fun too! :thumbup:


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## skiboarder72 (Oct 29, 2008)

Here are pictures from the candle-lit wedding


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## jlykins (Oct 29, 2008)

I shot one two weeks ago. It was tough. ISO1200 on the D300 and ISO3200 on the D700. Setup the formals after the wedding on the alter and used flash/strobes. Didn't stage the first kiss and exchanging of the rings but I was prepared to if the actuall shots didn't come out alright. A couple of things I can say, one: fast glass is a must, two: make sure the bride and groom are aware of the lighting situation, and Three: be as quick on your feet as possible. I have a wedding next summer where the entire reception will be lit by candles...


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## Garbz (Oct 30, 2008)

If you end up using a flash (which if done properly would not detract from the atmosphere), I'd suggest at the very least putting a CTO gel on the flash so you don't lose the orange lighting of the candles.


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## iflynething (Oct 30, 2008)

Great pictures. I think unless the photographee (is that a word) is a photographer, they really don't notice the grain from a high ISO.

I shot some dance competition pictures and as the photographer, I noticed the grain and every single flaw, but unless I pointed them out to the clients, they thought they were fabulous.

Again, great shots considering what you were shooting under

~Michael~


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## ksmattfish (Oct 31, 2008)

A little fill flash for a few of the pics, but I think you should try to work with the ambient light.  Discuss the technical implications of shooting in such low light with the B & G beforehand:  more noise, softer images because of subject and camera movement.  Fuzzy photos that capture the romantic atmosphere will be better than harsh flash that intrudes upon the ceremony, and makes the photos look like typical flash lit wedding pics.  Amazing light usually looks better than amazing sharpness, particularly when people are the subject.

Enough candles can actually light subjects close to them up pretty good.  Light toned walls will bounce more light around.  The tricky part is that the meter is going to be easily fooled in this situation; pointed at the candles it's going to underexpose, aim over a few feet and it's going to over-expose.  Go with manual, and do some test shots checking the histogram.

A tip I picked up from a Jeff Ascough (master of available light wedding photography) interview is to use the motor drive (or whatever they call it these days) in 3 shot bursts.  Often the second or third shot show less camera shake than the first.  It's about the only time I take my cameras off single shot, but I think it works (at least it helps at the photog's end). 

www.jeffascough.com

http://photo.net/interviews/jeff-ascough


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## SilverGlow (Nov 1, 2008)

ISO's faster then 800 should never have a place in a wedding if one wants the freakin best image quality. In addition, if one performs proper camera workflow, one can expect the images to be no more soft or noisy then what can be provided in a conventionally lit wedding, so no reason to brief the bride and groom before hand...as far as their're concerned their candle lit wedding is no different then if you were shooting a conventionally lit wedding...and here is how it can be done:

Normally I shoot weddings with the body in manual, and flash in full auto so that it uses the maker/s TTL flash logic, which both Canon and Nikon provide and both result in very high quality pictures. And all the pictures are at ISO 400. Yes, ISO 400, and most of these shots are done at F5.6 through F11 too, with no issues on subject movement, nor handnheld movements. But I speak here of normally lit conventional weddings.

However when I shoot candle lit weddings, I make a few exceptions. First, I continue to use the usual ISO 400 but will reserve the right to go up to but not beyound ISO 800 if required by the circumstances, so I am way out of the noise zone. 

Next I place the body in Av mode (the only type of wedding I use Av indoors for), and I keep the flash in full auto so it is controlled by the body's TTL logic. Why Av mode instead of manual mode? With Av mode, the flashing is fill, and not considered a primary light source for the subject, as would be the case when the body is in manual mode. Av means the flash is subtle, and again it is fill, and it does not over power the candle light. Next I make sure the body is set to raw and auto WB, because the available light temp and the flash temp are usually different. During the wedding I may well gel the flash to minimize white balance issues later, but shooting raw means I have more play.

In addition, I shoot in raw and with the help of the histogram, I intentionally over expose about 1/3 to 1/2 stop. This results in over exposed raws, flat, blah, looking, but this is what we want from the raw image. Later in post processing I "normalize" the shadows back down, and what benefits are there from this camera workflow? (1) Less noise in th shadoes, (2) wider Dynamic Range, (3) more subtle details and nuances in the shadows. Remember, raw shooting is never about getting the exposure "perfect"...raw is about capturing the most image information, and doing this means you start your post processing later with the most image information.

For these types of weddings one must be mindful that their kit will not provide the fat depth-of-field one normally has in "conventionally lit" weddings, so one is mindful of focus points, the eyes, who the subject is, more so then in weddings with brighter lighting. 

Next, I use fast primes: 35mm F1.4, 50mm F1.2, 85mm F1.2 and I do this eventhough I don't necessarily need wide open shooting. These very fast primes mean better AF acquisition, and faster too. Also, these fast apertures mean a brighter view finder for our human eyes to compose with.

The set up I write of here can result in ISO 400/800 low noise images with F4 to F5.6 fat depth-of-field, and I've found this sufficient for most occassions in such candle lit weddings. And remember, even fill flash can mitigate handheld and subject movements in most cases.

Lastly, these type of weddings lend themselves to black & white shooting, since the low light means only a few colors are promanant anyways, so you might as well use black & white of sepia. Doing this provides the benefit of not having to worry about white balance so much.

Hope this helps,


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## angelagale12 (Jun 25, 2010)

Hmm.....that's wonderful....! well i have bought a lovely diamond three tea light holder,it's really awesome & it's unique design has to captivate me.










Thanks


Regards
~~Angela~~


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