You wrote that you have no experience and this is why I allow myself to be a bit of a smartass.
Between 1997 and 2001, I photographed over a hundred weddings using analog film. There was no room for error in exposure settings. The films were sent to a local lab for development and prints. The standard C-41 process, no push.
Back then, in church you could add extra light with flash, but you had to be careful, because the difference in exposure between the groom's very dark suit and the bride's white (or ecru) dress was colossal and impossible to fix in Photoshop because I didn't scan it. The prints were made directly from the negatives.
As I mentioned earlier, the most important photos were the wedding ceremony photos in the church. We usually had two photographers working in the church. A few days before the ceremony, I spoke with the priest who was the host, and a lot depended on him. I could negotiate to have him turn on additional lights, because not all the lights in the church are usually on. I remember that sometimes this also cost extra money, and I was the one paying for it. Of course, the pay for this work was so high that it was worth it.
First of all, if I didn't know the church, I went there at least a week in advance, asked them to turn on the lights that would be used during the ceremony and took test photos.
I remember that at first, I would take friends dressed in black and white with me and do exposure tests. Later, I perfected it, and by seeing a given scene, I knew which camera settings to use to avoid overexposing or underexposing. The camera was always in full manual mode. No automation that could ruin an extremely important photo if the camera went crazy.
Between 1997 and 2001, I photographed over a hundred weddings using analog film. There was no room for error in exposure settings. The films were sent to a local lab for development and prints. The standard C-41 process, no push.
Back then, in church you could add extra light with flash, but you had to be careful, because the difference in exposure between the groom's very dark suit and the bride's white (or ecru) dress was colossal and impossible to fix in Photoshop because I didn't scan it. The prints were made directly from the negatives.
As I mentioned earlier, the most important photos were the wedding ceremony photos in the church. We usually had two photographers working in the church. A few days before the ceremony, I spoke with the priest who was the host, and a lot depended on him. I could negotiate to have him turn on additional lights, because not all the lights in the church are usually on. I remember that sometimes this also cost extra money, and I was the one paying for it. Of course, the pay for this work was so high that it was worth it.
First of all, if I didn't know the church, I went there at least a week in advance, asked them to turn on the lights that would be used during the ceremony and took test photos.
I remember that at first, I would take friends dressed in black and white with me and do exposure tests. Later, I perfected it, and by seeing a given scene, I knew which camera settings to use to avoid overexposing or underexposing. The camera was always in full manual mode. No automation that could ruin an extremely important photo if the camera went crazy.