Har Marshal wrote:
My father was a minister so from my experience shooting existing light has never caused an infant to start screaming like they have when a flash goes off in their face.

I know. I was iffy about using my speedlite but I just might do it manually and use the natural lighting.

Kelly West Photography wrote:
So Saturday Im shooting a christening.. and I'm in need of ideas of a new lens. The only lens's I have is the kit lens 18-55 and another lens 15-90 I believe, and that has no image stabilizer. I was thinking of getting the 55-250 f4-5.6 or just get a 50 1.4 or 1.8 or something else..
Any ideas???

Scrap all those lens choices you mentioned except the 50mm prime. I assume you are using a crop body so it is effectively a 80mm FL..but fast. Should be fine.

Illuminate wrote:

Scrap all those lens choices you mentioned except the 50mm prime. I assume you are using a crop body so it is effectively a 80mm FL..but fast. Should be fine.

Im very iffy about choosing the prime lens. Im so used to zoom lenses and like the ability to zoom in and out of different ranges, but the prime lens have a better f-stop for lightening.
Ahh this is soo hard! -_-

Kelly West Photography wrote:

Im very iffy about choosing the prime lens. Im so used to zoom lenses and like the ability to zoom in and out of different ranges, but the prime lens have a better f-stop for lightening.
Ahh this is soo hard! -_-

Not hard at all..I shoot most of my weddings etc and dark places with a 35 or 50mm.

Kelly West Photography wrote:
So Saturday Im shooting a christening.. and I'm in need of ideas of a new lens. The only lens's I have is the kit lens 18-55 and another lens 15-90 I believe, and that has no image stabilizer. I was thinking of getting the 55-250 f4-5.6 or just get a 50 1.4 or 1.8 or something else..
Any ideas???

50mm 1.4 hands down. Even if you stop down, the extra autofocus speed will be a great benefit. Zoom with your feet. You'll be fine.

sgnr photo wrote:
50mm 1.4 hands down. Even if you stop down, the extra autofocus speed will be a great benefit. Zoom with your feet. You'll be fine.

...and use natural light and be prepared to be walking on your knees at the front.
Also have a yarn to the priest doing the christening and find out where the clear shot will be when the priest is doing the actual water thing.
One more tip when going natural light. is to watch the shadow on people and make sure they are exposed to your satisfaction. That is especially true when trying to capture the face of the recipient to the christening ...some churches have the person being christened with their head facing down. You might get blown highlights in the background if exposing for the shadows, you will have to learn to live with that and do some post work.
...enjoy using a 50mm wide open...creates awesome photos inside a church (or anywhere) if you frame the background with each shot.

Paul Dempsey wrote:
The last 2 christenings I shot did not allow flash.  Yes, every else was flashing away with their iphones but the priest said no flash to me so I have to respect that.  I did a Greek Orthodox christening which is very different and involves the baby being dressed in a seperate room and other ceremonial events that make it both interesting and challenging.

I've also had people tell me no flash. For some reason, they've been ok with constant light softboxes, and flashes from people's point and shoots.

AG_Boston wrote:

I've also had people tell me no flash. For some reason, they've been ok with constant light softboxes, and flashes from people's point and shoots.

I had a similar quirk with a church I was scheduled to shoot at. A quick talk with the powers that be gave of a very strict about "no flashes evar!" vibe.

Cut to a week later when at a friend's wedding, and the photographer had no issues or complaints about firing his strobes through shoot through umbrellas that were about 10 ft in the air and about 20 feet from the ceremony.

Guess calling them "strobes" makes it ok.