Studio strobes for formals?

What do you guys use for formals? Up to now I've always shot with an on camera flash,

sometimes with another slaved flash next to my bracket mounted flash. Lately I've been

considering using my White Lightning UltraZap 1600 to light my formals.

 

Questions:

 

1) If I use a softbox or umbrella, would I lose too much light vs. shooting direct with just

a standard reflector?

 

2) If the light is off to my left about 30 degrees from the subject (large family group), will

it not sufficiently light the far side of the group? I'm planning on using an on camera flash

for fill.

 

3) How do you position your lights? On camera, above camera but directly behind, or

from an angle?

 

Thanks for your answers! :)

I use a Norman 200B as an off camera key light for formals, combined with my on-camera flash. I don't use an umbrella or softbox, just the regular reflector. When dragging the shutter, direct flash does not look as harsh as many people think since some ambient is helping to fill.

 

1. Find the answer to this for yourself. If, with an umbrella or softbox, you can get f8 or f5.6 when the unit is about 12-15 feet away from the center of your group, you have enough power/light. 12-15 feet is about right for most groups except maybe ones that number 30 or more people. Then, you'd have to definitely ditch the umbrella, softbox and put the unit further back for proper coverage.

 

2. I generally use about 15 degrees instead of 30, to shorten the shadows. However, you have to feather the light across the front of the group so that you have the most even coverage.

 

3. Key, off-camera light is about 15 degrees to my right (bride gets the good light), as high as my 8 foot stand can go, slightly angled down, feathered so that most of the time, the flash is aimed just slightly past the center of the group. Typical 1:3 key/fill ratio, drag the shutter, on a tripod.

In the past, I double-lit all formals. When I switched to digital I tried various makes of on-camera flash (550EX, Vivitar 285, Sunpak 120J), with various kinds of diffusers. The 120J gave the best results, but still didn't look as good as my old setup. I was trying to get away from setting up a light stand, etc., but finally concluded that a studio strobe is worth the trouble. I use a Photogenic, because that's what I have right now, but have also used other brands, including White Lightning.

 

Since photojournalism is what I do, and since 'most all families want some posed groups, my objective is to do the formal shots as well as possible, but also as quickly as possible so we can get on to the good stuff. A studio strobe setup helps me do that in the most efficient way.

 

Answers:

1) This depends partly on what format you're using, and what film speed. Your White Lightning has enough power for you to shoot Reala in a 6x7. My Photogenic is 1250 watt-seconds, and I can shoot formals on half-power with a large umbrella and a 20D set to 100 ISO.

 

2&3) Keep the light high and close to you. Point it toward the opposite corner of the subject area. Modeling is better at 30 degrees and even better at 45 degrees, but that also greatly increases the likelihood that the shadow of one subject might be projected upon the face of another. Clients tend not to like that effect.

 

I prefer a softbox to an umbrella, but they take too long to set up. To avoid flare, be careful to stay the same distance from the subject as the umbrella, or less (use your zoom!).

 

I don't use an on-camera flash for fill, although I would if I were shooting film. The beauty of the strobe-with-umbrella setup is that I can pose my first group, do a test shot or two, check the histogram, adjust as necessary, and fire away at group after group with no more thought about the lighting. If I evaluated those first exposures correctly, every frame can go directly to proofing with no Photoshop work whatsoever. If you're shooting film, read the light with an incident flashmeter and your exposures will be on target from first to last.

Forgot. You can kind of visualize how the shadows will fall if you view your group from your off camera light's position. Stand under the off-camera flash and look at your group. Where you see overlaps is where the shadows will fall from one to another. It isn't exact, since your flash is higher than where your eye level is, but you can see potential problem areas.

I'm on the low end of the business, and though I have 4 Alien Bees, I just use a diffused Vivitar 285 on a light stand, with my Sunpak on camera, and it works good enough, and I will be adding another one, soon.

 

 

Patrick

Thanks for the responses. I had failed to consider the shadows falling on the faces of the

other people when lighting at an angle. With a bracket or on camera mounted flash unit

that was never a big concern. Please continue with your responses!

I started with an on camera flash, but I wasn't happy with the results. I got dark heavy shadows under chins, and behind the people, especially if the front of the church was light in color. I tried to difuse my flash, and this caused not enough power to light the large groups. I wanted more. Now I use 2 white lightning 800's. I love them. I set them up with umbrellas, both at 45 degree angles. It is not the most flatering lighting, but like someone else said, I can just run through all the traditional posed shots, and not worry about lighting. It is a hastle to set them up compared to just an on camera flash, but worth the time. I worked as an assistant before I went on my own, and he used one White Lightning 1600. He set it up with an umbrella, right in the center. Same concept of not that flattering, but it got the job done.

Andrew,

 

I recently made the mistake of one person's face being lost in shadow because of using

lone light at an angle.

 

I HAD two lights, but at the last second the Bride wanted to use a different location...only 5

minutes to get to the reception...i figured it would take longer to argue about the change

than it would to just go ahead and do it.

 

Next time I'll know to argue :)

 

jmp

One flash >>> QUantum on camera ---with soft reflector...

I started doing something new this summer, with the help a new flash, the sb-800 on my d-70. I had my assistant hold the large reflector disc on top of her head with one hand and pointed at an angle similar to how we have our softboxes. With the other hand she stretched out in front of her with the sb flash source pointing at the disc. I'd give her a heads up with "eyes" so she could close her eyes as I fired. It's not only a beautiful soft large source of bounced light, but with the un-tethered sb-800, she and I were free to move around independently and made it very easily to provide great fill for candids when other guests were mingling. It looked very unorthodox, but the results were incredible.

I use one Quantum Qflash with a 400WS Lumedyne power pack on a RedWing

Quickstand (the kind that collapses automatically when you pick it up), and a

Photoflex 42" white satin umbrella (so I can shoot the light through it if I want to -

nice for tight portraits). Cool things about the Qflash: it beeps when it's recycled (you

can turn off the beep), you get auto thyristor or TTL if you want it (I use mine in

manual mostly), and it has a modeling light if you need it. So I power that sucker up,

stick a Pocket Wizard transciever on it, and go. I can pick it up and move it instantly

without tripping up others on the lightstand due to it's auto-folding feature. At full

power and with the umbrella, I get about f5.6 @ 400ASA with a largish group (10-12

people).

Yeah that Redwing light stand is nice. I use one too.