What Would YOU Do? Advice needed in challenging lighting situation

<p>I am shooting a wedding next Saturday and the reception hall has black ceilings, black pillars, dark walls and a wall of glass windows. Oh and I fogot to mention - Totally lit by candles.... I have some ideas about how I am going to handle the light however, I am curious as to what others appoarch might be to this situation.</p>

<p>My goal would be to satisfy the client. What does the client want?</p>

<p>Francie--couple of previous threads about black rooms.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.photo.net/wedding-photography-forum/00LUVF">http://www.photo.net/wedding-photography-forum/00LUVF</a></p>

<p><a href="http://www.photo.net/wedding-photography-forum/00SnZ1">http://www.photo.net/wedding-photography-forum/00SnZ1</a></p>

<p>What I would do is use multiple lighting.</p>

<p>I've shot this exact location with the exception of the glass windows: I had zero windows and a few scones around the sides.</p>

<p>Successfully used off camera flash units to cover areas of activity. Used a White Lightning on a lower power and bounced it off the black ceiling with no problem: yes, light does bounce off black. One off camera lighting set up included two speedlites fired via one pocket wizard: one flash directed to dance area and the other flash head turned towards the back of the area where guests seated to give a bit of background fill light. </p>

<p>Candles would make it a bit easier and more beautiful imo. Note: my area was not expansive and large but it had a ceiling that was covered with large and small pipes and ducts all of which were painted black along with the ceiling. </p>

<p>Take into account how high the ceiling is from your lights: the closer the better. As I mentioned I bounced a powerful WL off the ceiling but also had three other off camera speedlites to add lighting from different directions if and when needed.</p>

<p>IF the reception is low key (mine was rather active and loud) then the off camera lighting might have to be toned down so that it's merely adding touches of light as needed for a softer look and feel. If it's active and wild I'd use more direct / hard light. </p>

<p>Just sharing my thoughts: no "right" way imo ... just different ways to create a look that fits the location and the bridal couple.</p>

<p>William--found this previous thread looking for threads by Michael Church, who bounced Alien Bees off even dark ceilings--your responce and samples are in it too.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.photo.net/wedding-photography-forum/00QhJj">http://www.photo.net/wedding-photography-forum/00QhJj</a></p>

<p>William - I am so glad to hear what you have said - that is exactly what I was thinking of doing but everyone I spoke with said "no you can not bouce off the black ceiling - my situation is exactly as you have described above and I was thinking of one flash to the ceiling with pipes and duct work and then one off camera and one on my camera... thanks for sharing your thoughts and reaafirming my strategy! </p>

<p>Francie--the flash that gets bounced off the black ceiling has got to be a powerful one. A shoemount will not cut it. I assume you know that.</p>

<p>Francie, trying to bounce lighting off of black walls is really not the approach I'd use. I don't like my light stands and gear to be that intrusive on the room. Higher ISO, wider apertures, and shutter drag are the only way to let in what ambient lighting there is. Don't try to light the whole area with strobes, it will only blow away the look and mood of the room. Don't use shutter speeds faster than 1/60 sec, unless you want less ambient in the background. Just use enough flash fill on the subjects closest to you and let the shutter/ISO bring in the ambient lighting from the background.</p>

<p>I've shot people dancing outdoors at night with nothing at all to bounce off of, using the Lightsphere on my flash with white dome, combined with longer shutter speeds and higher ISO settings (1000-2000). The flash only needs to be on 1/8 to 1/2 power, depending on distance to subject. You can also do this with bounce cards or other diffuser.</p>

<p>Having a wireless strobe going off behind a dancing couple gives a nice backlight in dark places, and adding color gels will add some nice color effects.</p>