Help. Wedding this weekend - can't download images

[Bob_Green]

David I have to go back to Michaels statement about shooting RAW files and TRYING to recover. You can't recover lost expressions, interactions, or spur of the moments interactions. So shoot the best you can and the fastest you can to get these moments. There isn't a second time around for these so you have to just focus on getting the best images you can, with the least amount of worry. If you miss a shot it doesn't matter if it was RAW or Low-res Jpeg, it's still gone. Run on Program with AWB and you should get fine results! If an image is under/over exposed you can still recover it, but you can't recover the moments you are trying to capture. Good Luck! Bob

[Jim_Larson]

Hmmm. I can understand that computer downloads can be a distraction during an event. Frankly, with two x 256mb cards, you should get 70-80 pics when shooting RAW. If you are enjoying the event, do you realistically expect to take more photos than that? Buy more cards if necessary. If in doubt, bring the computer and only download if necessary.

I would definately shoot RAW. Raw gives you the most flexibility when post developing. Shooting RAW, you can completely ignore Contrast, sharpness, WHITE BALANCE and tone, as all of these are changable (with zero quality impact) when post processing. This lets you focus on the exposure. (ISO, shutter speed, aperture, and flash handling).

Frankly, the most important thing to worry about is the flash. E-TTL flash is not the easist thing to master. Many think it is unusable. I think it works just fine, but requires thought to use. I suggest reading some of the threads on this forum; lots of good stuff. I will give the two biggest tips: Bouncing light is key and Flash metering is highly biased to the focus point at the moment of exposure. If the active focus point is not hitting skin *at exposure*, you need to use Flash Exposure Lock.