what settings for early evening shots at the bellagio

[micrud]

We are once again going across the pond, this time to las vegas in september, where my daughter is getting married, and we are staying in the bellagio who are also dealing with the wedding, my ambition will be to take some early evening / nightime shots of the happy couple in full regalia alongside the fountains, now heres the tricky part, i wonder what settings would be best to use on my nikon d80 camera as i wont be taking my rather heavy benbo trekker tripod this time, as i have only the pop up camera flash i wonder what flash setting would be the best, and also what iso would be the best to use without the risk of too much grain, or indeed will i get any suitable shots at all with these methods any suggestions would be greatly appreciated as i will only get this one chance, will this work, or should i also invest in a suitable flash unit if so any recommendations please. regards mic.

[dalethorn]

The built-in flash will not produce good results in most cases, unless the ambient light is very strong.  A much better solution would be a flash that's separate from the camera, attached by a cord.  Then you can get different angles with the flash, and not always be head-on.

[micrud]

The built-in flash will not produce good results in most cases, unless the ambient light is very strong.  A much better solution would be a flash that's separate from the camera, attached by a cord.  Then you can get different angles with the flash, and not always be head-on.

Thank you for your advice, and think i will now go down this road, regards mic.

[Phil Indeblanc]

Thank you for your advice, and think i will now go down this road, regards mic.

If you are talking about the water show large fountain in the front of the hotel.....

If you want "over" the railing type images where they might be hugging and leaning over... be sure to take your wide angle getting up close. The water is a good distance from the rails.

The ISO is related to the camera you use, but I would think 200-400 range would be good with some fill.

If this is an important shot, why not explain to your wedding photographer that this is a image I really would like and if you could please make it happen(of course maybe you need to talk to the bride and groom if they are the ones who hired the shooter). He would be better equipt with proper flash diffuser for the shot.

Last thing you want to do on such a day is have to carry anything bulky like a extra flash.  

For backup, have a Canon Gx (reduce setting for flash when close) or something handy that you can put back in your pocket, or someones purse.

[micrud]

If you are talking about the water show large fountain in the front of the hotel.....

If you want "over" the railing type images where they might be hugging and leaning over... be sure to take your wide angle getting up close. The water is a good distance from the rails.

The ISO is related to the camera you use, but I would think 200-400 range would be good with some fill.

If this is an important shot, why not explain to your wedding photographer that this is a image I really would like and if you could please make it happen(of course maybe you need to talk to the bride and groom if they are the ones who hired the shooter). He would be better equipt with proper flash diffuser for the shot.

Last thing you want to do on such a day is have to carry anything bulky like a extra flash.  

For backup, have a Canon Gx (reduce setting for flash when close) or something handy that you can put back in your pocket, or someones purse.

Thanks for that very useful advice, unfortunately the wedding ( arranged by the bellagio ) is earlier on in the day and dont think the photographer would be available after dusk, looking on one of two nikon flashunits now, or a nissin which has a good spec, as well as good reports, and is much cheaper, thanks again for your advice  mic.

[Pete Ferling]

Be sure to see O if you get the chance, it's quite a show.  We had our National sales meeting this last March (in Red Rock), and the crew paid a visit to Bellagio on a night off.

Fortunately the waterjets will be lit so you will have some back lighting to achieve a natural exposure.

As a fail safe, your camera should have a night portrait mode option on the dial (read the manual).  If you become lost in the settings, you can ditch and use that before throwing the camera.  Be warned, it might choose too slow a shutter, even at iso 400.  The reason for that is although the flash will instantly light your subject, which is the couple, the shutter needs to stay open a little longer to allow the much lower ambient light in the backdrop to expose.  The lower the light, the longer the exposure.  Essentially your are taking two different shots on the same frame.  In which case the couple has to hold their pose a bit and not move.

You could set you camera to flash on second curtain (if you have that feature and that it works with external flashes if you use one).  That way the flash will go off just before the shutter closes.  People tend to flinch or close their eyes upon seeing a flash, and such actions will show up during final moments of exposure as blurs on them.  Come to think of it, you'll need a tripod.  Maybe someone or the even the hotel desk will have one you could borrow?  Otherwise, you'll have to crank up the iso to get within hand holding range and risk noise.

I suggest that you do some night time testing in your home town before heading over.  Congrats to the lucky couple, and have a good time.