Tips for 1st wedding & 1st time using flash

[redmonkee]

Hi guys

i'm shooting my first wedding on 5th August, and wondered if you could help me with the best settings to use a 580EX for both outdoors and indoors.

For outdoors I understand the best way to use the flash is for fill so for this I plan to use AV mode with my widest aperture along with HSS to enable the high shutter speeds i'd need when shooting at 1.4 - 2.8 etc.

For indoors i'm at a loss really It's something i've never really understood so any tips on an easy approach method on getting consistent lighting would be great.

Also if shooting with flash using AV how do I make sure I expose for the bride's dress correctly?

Sorry for all the q's but any help would be great

 

[OneTen]

For fill flash I tend to set the flash to underexpose by between one and two stops.

For indoors it really depends on the effect. For filling the room with light and softening I use a Sto Fen bounced either off the ceiling or at 45 degrees. For more directional light to only illuminate a specific area, use the zoom on the flash head, maybe add a snoot, and point it directly where I want it. A stand comes in handy for that.

In each of these cases I have the flash on TTL and the camera on manual.

I tend to have a base exposure starting point and check the histogram for any clipping.

 

[redmonkee]

For fill flash I tend to set the flash to underexpose by between one and two stops.

For indoors it really depends on the effect. For filling the room with light and softening I use a Sto Fen bounced either off the ceiling or at 45 degrees. For more directional light to only illuminate a specific area, use the zoom on the flash head, maybe add a snoot, and point it directly where I want it. A stand comes in handy for that.

In each of these cases I have the flash on TTL and the camera on manual.

I tend to have a base exposure starting point and check the histogram for any clipping.

If indoors do you meter for the dress without the flash then turn on the flash?

Sorry if this is really basic stuff

 

[OneTen]

I tend not to meter indoors, but set the desired aperture and a shutter speed to avoid camera shake with the camera on manual. Then shoot with the flash on TTL and adjust either the ISO to change ambient or over/under for the flash, using the histogram as guidance. It only takes a second to check and make the changes if necessary.

When I shot film I would take an incident reading of the ambient light falling on the bride and set this on the camera. Then set the flash on auto for -1 to -2 stops.