5

CHAPTER
NIGHT AND LOW-LIGHT PHOTOGRAPHY / Weddings, Concerts, and
Other Events

If I use a longer lens, then I increase the shutter

speed so as not to get any lens shake in the images.

I make a note of the settings so that I can set my

camera before the actual ceremony even starts.

The last part of the puzzle for the ceremony is to

know when and where things are going to happen

beforehand. It helps to make a list of the key

moments in the ceremony so that you can be pre-

pared with the best camera settings and also be in

position for them.

    ■   Bridal party walking down the aisle. You

need to be in position to catch them as they

start down the aisle, and pay attention to the

camera metering if they are coming in from

outside or through a door with a brighter

background. You will need to meter for their

faces and not have the brighter background

turn them into silhouettes.

    ■   Bride walking down the aisle. The bride usu-

ally wears a white or very light colored dress,

which can cause the built-in light meter to

underexpose the scene, so make sure that you

are letting enough light reach the sensor to

render the dress the right shade of white.

aperture on the lens equal a proper exposure.
Remember, however, that the higher you set the
ISO, the more digital noise is present, so you
need to know the highest that you can go on
your camera and still get images that are usable.
As you increase the ISO, you can start adjusting
the other settings to make sure that the shutter
speed really is fast enough or make the aperture
smaller to increase the depth of field.

During wedding ceremonies, the light usually
doesn’t change much. So once I have the settings
dialed in, I can focus more on composition than
on exposure.

Here are some initial settings that I use as a start-
ing point to determine exposures:

■   Set the shutter speed to 1/125 second.



■   Set the aperture to the widest possible setting

on the lens, hopefully at f/2.8.

■   Spot meter the area where the bride and

groom are going to be standing.

■   Adjust the ISO high enough to get a proper

exposure.

CAMERA SHAKE Camera shake has to do with the minimum shutter speed needed to

make sure that the slight movements when holding the camera don’t affect the sharpness

of the photo. The rule of thumb is that the shutter speed needs to be 1/focal length used.

That means that if I am using a 24mm focal length, then the minimum shutter speed is

1/24 second or more likely 1/30 second, and if I am using a 200mm focal length then I need

a 1/200 second shutter speed. When you start out, these are probably good guidelines, but

after you have practiced holding the camera steady for a while, you may be able to use lower

shutter speeds on longer focal lengths. I routinely shoot a 200mm lens at 1/100 second and

get sharp images. Note that although you don’t get lens shake at 1/30 second with a 24mm

lens, if the subjects are moving, they will still be blurred because 1/30 second is a pretty long

shutter speed.