# Tips for Churches?



## Alex L (Oct 25, 2005)

With the twins christening coming up soon it'd be nice to get some half decent shots, but as the church is quite dark and them not being too keen on tripods I'm going to need some advice.

so I have a canon 1100d with the kit lens and the 50mm 1.8 lens. 

Would I benefit from getting a better flash or a wider lens? Or would what I have be ok.

my current skill level is very low and I struggle most with composing a shot and tend to end up with the standard shots. Coupled with the fact I'll be staring aswell and will be getting others to take photos as well with my camera it'll be a challenge


----------



## James_R (Jun 28, 2007)

The f1.8 lens sounds alright. Though your plane of focus will be shallow, so make sure if using at f1.8 you're not photographing people in front or behind each other, as one of them will be out of focus.
Maybe slightly wider angle if you want to fit group shots in. I've got a Nikon 35mm f1.8 and I wish it was a 24mm tbh.

And crank the ISO up a bit, so say instead of ISO100, you may need to go up to ISO400 with a bit of flash

You could ditch the flash entirely and go ISO 1000+ with no flash and let the large aperture do the work for you, but your photos may look a bit grainier.

Have a play in the lounge and see what you think.

If you leave it on AUTO it may help you, compose the frame and look at what sort of aperture and shutter speed the camera is telling you its going to give you.
To be camera shake free, simple rule of thumb I use when hand holding is focal length of lens divided into a second.

ie. 50mm lens = 1/50th sec shutter speed for hand holding (try not to go below this)
ie. 200mm lens = 1/200th sec

Does your camera have any vibration reduction in the body or lens?
I have VR lenses in the Nikon and you can hand hold at 1/4sec and less no problem. (though that doesn't stop your subject moving  )


----------



## hibberd (Jul 5, 2006)

Why not go one afternoon to the church itself and make some practise shots to see what works for you and how you can get the best results.


----------



## Big D Cro (Feb 4, 2011)

50mm is to narrow. You need something in the 18-35mm range. Fast lens is better, of course, but you can compensate with crannking your ISO up to 800.


----------



## S63 (Jan 5, 2007)

hibberd said:


> Why not go one afternoon to the church itself and make some practise shots to see what works for you and how you can get the best results.


Excellent advice, try and go at the same time of day as when the christening takes place, a certain amount of light should enter through the windows.:thumb:


----------

