Advice needed for wedding evening shoot in Cyprus

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_MikeyB

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Michael
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Hi all - I'm a keen photographer for mainly portrait shots (taken about 2 million photo's of my daughter), but only at hobby level.

Anyway, one of my close friends has asked me to take some photos at his wedding party in the evening in Cyprus.

The brief he's given me is to basically catch the action as it happens - no forced posing etc...

Here's the kit I'm taking:

Canon 50D, 430EX II, 85 1.2mm MKII, 70-200mm 2.8 IS MKII, Canon 10-22mm.

I'm thinking I'm going to need something to soften the flash if I need it, as it's quite harsh when your pointing it directly at the subject - I don't think I'll be able to bounce it as it's outdoors too.

Here are my questions:

1. Do you think I should take any other lenses?

2. What can I do about the flash issues being harsh, and should I be using the High Speed Sync setting for mainly portrait in low light? (I'm not actually sure that's the right option?)

3. Is there any other advice you can give?

I'll be taking a few memory cards (4 x 8GB), and plenty of spare batteries for the flash and camera.

Many Thanks
Mike
 
2.) I use ABBC to bounce flash. This is great when there is nothing to bounce onto.
( ). I use velcro and funky foam from a shop called The Range.

Not sure you need HSS in low light, perhaps practice with 2nd curtain though? Hopefully someone will advise soon.
Sorry I'll come back with a link to ABBC
EDIT: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNCmuExlHvM&feature=fvw
 
The lens you seem to be missing from your rather nice collection is the 17-55 2.8.

Flash wise, use Av with E-TTL, and it sounds like you want a Lumiquest diffuser. They do several, but I like this one - Lumiquest Quik Bounce £40. It does everything, horizontal and vertical, and mostly better than anything else. Close the flaps outside, open them up if there's a ceiling to bounce off. Folds flat too :thumbs: http://www.lumiquest.com/products/quik-bounce.htm

High speed sync is very useful in bright light, when the shutter speed is likely to be higher than the normal x-sync speed. It won't operate at lower speeds anyway. With your camera/flash, you can leave HSS permanently enabled, and it will automatically switch on and off whenever the shutter speed demands it.

Second curtain sync is no benefit unless you have ambient light movement, and the direction of the blur is important. Unless you particularly need it, you're better off without.
 
Thanks for the advice - I'll take a look at the Lumiquest and ABBC products now.

I'll make note of the settings and give them a trial once the sun pops back out!
 
Hello Michael,

Have you done this shoot yet?

If so how did you get on?

What diffuser did you use in the end?

Thanks

Simon
 
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