Wedding reception tips

[Jellycat]

I have been asked by a friend to take photos at her evening reception. Just informal pics of groups at tables and people dancing.

As Im gonna be taking photos of small groups (about 4/5 people) I want to keep them all in focus & well lit. What settings (just a guide only) would you recommend not only to keep everyone in focus but not kill off the atmosphere??

I shoot with a Nikon D700 (so ISO's not a problem), a Nikon 24-70mm f2.8. I also have a Nikon 50mm f1.8, Nikon 70-300mm f4.5-5. Sb-600 & sb-900.

Any advice is welcome.

 

[Mark G]

Personally I'd use the 24-70 on aperture mode set to around f/4 set the iso to give a reasonable shutter speed and use the flash as bounce off the ceiling if possible.

The 50mm is a possibility but you'd have to be quite far away and the dof would be very small if you tried without flash.

I feel that you will get many reply's to this as the possibilities are endless as are peoples opinions. I'd recommend that you use whatever you feel comfortable with.

 

[jpw]

Depends on the layout of the reception room, but most tables will be fairly close together so to get group shots at tables you will be very close in meaning narrow DOF. For me f5.6-f8 at 28mm and standing virtually on top of the table works well enough. I have a big bounce card (rogue flashbender) on the flash and bump up the ISO for some background ambience.