Cold feet on a wedding day

Nervously shot a wedding last week.

Why?

Because...

I have never done it before.

And it was indoors at night.

But I am eager to experience it, so I took the chance.

Brought with me my D3100, the Fuji X100 and two flashes.

I was thinking that if I can set the lights off camera, bounce it into the ceiling from a fixed position somewhere in the room, I'll be okay.

But then...

Bad news

1.The room have all kinds of lighting with different kinds of colors (you name it). => Messed up white balance.

2. So many photographers nuking their flashes around. => Goodbye off camera flash on optical slave mode.

3. The ceiling is not white.=> Can't use bounce.

The FUJI X100

I decided to use my FUJI X100 for majority of the shots.

I believe its high ISO performance is good enough that I don't need my flashes. 

We'll see.

The FUJI is doing okay at the beginning. Ambient light is still sufficient.

As the outside light goes dimmer and dimmer, more indoor lights needs to be turned on, and the white balance problem became worst.

My solution?

I resorted to black and white shots.

I love how the X100 gives black and white straight out of the camera.

Most of my shots are taken in RAW format and converted in-camera to JPEG. Oh yes, the X100 can do that. Cool huh?

Most of the shots above are taken at iso 6400. I love how the FUJI X100 handles noise and still keep details at high ISO.

Nikon D3100

Some shots taken with my D3100 with flash on-camera.

Shot in RAW, as I always do if using the DSLR,  and tweaked white balance in post processing.

Where are they looking? Too many photographers.

Lesson learned

It is better to shoot with flash than using high ISO. I should have used it from the beginning. 

If your'e the official photographer, don't agree to shoot a wedding with hundred other photographers flashing and nuking around. Just don't, forget it. 

If you are not the official photographer, then don't shoot at all. Be an ordinary guest and enjoy the wedding.

The FUJI is a capable camera in low light, but don't leave it to chance. Use flash.

Buy some wireless triggers.

Probably avoid wedding shots for now, I still have a lot to learn when it comes to this.

Cheers!

Alex