wedding over exposure problem?

[mikk]

I recently did a wedding for a friend.Very informal with no money exchanging hands (luckily) as it was my first attempt.On an overcast day it was apparent straight away that I did not get the exposure right on a lot of shots. With only the built in flash (not ideal) on the D70 the bride's dress is over exposed while the groom's suit is too dark! Come out of the church and its all change but still that white dress dazzles.I tried correcting with levels and curves in photoshop which helped a little but I should be getting it right first time.Thinking back to college we were told to meter for darks, then the lights and choose the middle, but with the trend for more informal wedding photos this is not possible. While thats all very good in a studio situation it was my experience that I had to grab shots that presented themselves by the second, especially with two (canine) dogs in the pews!
Can anybody suggest a way of avoiding this exposure problem and maybe preferences such as ISO and other camera tweaks.


nikon D70/18-70 lens

[another view]

Thinking back to college we were told to meter for darks, then the lights and choose the middle, but with the trend for more informal wedding photos this is not possible.

You're right - just no time to do this, or even check the histogram more than maybe once. Digital handles contrast more like slide film than neg film - and the highlights blow out a lot easier - so exposure is critical. Of course with weddings you'll have a tough situation because you will have both black and white that will need to hold detail (especially the white!) but the main goal would be to get the skin tones right. Go outside into contrasty lighting and this is almost impossible...

This shouldn't happen on an overcast day but theory isn't always the same as reality. I have shot weddings but mainly on film, using the DSLR's high ISO advantage during a service when flash couldn't be used. I have to admit that I have not yet owned a DSLR that can work with custom curves but I think the Nikon D70 can do this. Basically, you're "pre-photoshopping" your files and that can help with the tough goals you'll have with wedding photography. If you're interested in this type of photography, check out Shoot Smarter - they use Fuji DSLR's but a lot of the concepts and techniques still apply.

[Sebastian]

Thinking back to college we were told to meter for darks, then the lights and choose the middle, but with the trend for more informal wedding photos this is not possible.

Yes, with a slight modification it is very possible, and pretty much the only way I shoot, be it weddings or photojournalism.

The trick is just to meter for the most important highlight in the scene. There is no rule to this, you decide what you want to preserve and what you want to lose. In the context of weddings, you pretty much know that the dress is the part you want to preserve, so meter the dress, go up to a point you're comfortable with that your camera won't lose detail, and shoot away. Handheld meters work really well also.

Shoot RAW to help fix mistakes, though with enough practice there won't be many.

However, I think your biggest mistake was using the flash. A bright, reflective dress with flash on it will INCREASE the contrast of the scene, making it that much more difficult to retain shadows as well as highlights, and you'll lose both. The camera is compensating for all the extra light coming straight at the sensor off the dress and at the same time trying to keep the entire scene "balanced." Bouncing would create more even lighting, illuminating the scene without much change in contrast. However, I always suggest that you try to get by with as much available light as possible.

If you did shoot RAW then try playing with the exposure sliders and the shadow and highlight recovery in whatever RAW decoder you use to try and recover any detail. Levels and curves can't do anything to bring back lost detail, once you're using those the images have been converted down and the data is lost.