Want to get lighting to take to Weddings..any suggestions??

Hi Everyone,

I am looking to purchase a lighting setup to bring along with me to the

weddings. Kind of something similar to studio lighting. I also want to get a

couple backdrops for my assistant to do formals with family members. For the

lighting I think I would prefer something that is continuous not flash or

strobe. Does anyone have a favorite or could suggest where to look? Thank you.

 

Heather

Continuous lighting for formals at a wedding (or any other part of the wedding) is difficult because you need a lot of light power to make a difference, plus they are hot. Here is a recent thread.

 

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00OOPg

 

If you get strobes, you have all kinds of options, from shoe mount flashes all the way to heavy duty power pack flashes and monolights. People seem to like Alien Bees.

 

Just do a search using the words "wedding" and "continuous lighting" and you'll get a bunch of previous posts on the topic.

 

As for backgrounds, look a couple of posts down for a thread talking about a photo booth at a wedding. David Schilling has some pictures of some pop up ones he uses. Pop ups are good but if you have a group larger than about 4 people, they aren't quite big enough. You'd have to set up regular 10x20 or so sheet backgrounds, so you need a background stand set. Look at the ones at B&H, or go to Denny's website.

heather - my piece of free advice (which is probably what you pay for it):

 

if you are looking to do weddings professionally and you want to LOOK professional, don't even consider continuous lighting.

 

everyone hates continuous lighting, even the bride and groom.

 

strobe looks better, is more powerful, perhaps cheaper (?), easier to use (no plug in required), doesn't kill the mood, and won't surprise anyone.

 

again, everyone hates continuous lighting.

The one nice thing is that if you will always have an assistant, you can get away with studio strobes (I agree on the continuous light opinion 100%) on "real" stands and even a backdrop on a backdrop stand. I shoot solo so my lighting kit is small and fast. Sometimes I'm just using dual Nikon speedlights off a pocketwizard in a corner, or a couple of Sunpak 120J's. Those are a lot smaller than Alien Bees or whatever, but I can set them up really fast by myself.

My opinion on "studio" lighting for weddings is that the only time you could really use them is in a dim church for shooting formals with the altar as the backdrop. And then, I'd look for the kind with softboxes and camera-style battery powered strobes, not the big monolights. They'd just be easier to carry and setup/breakdown. I'd also never use a painted backdrop for formals, because (to me) you should use the venue as the backdrop, use an outdoor location (where you'd really not need more than a pop-out reflector and on-camera flash. Just my opinion.

Strobes are a better way to start, but we use continuous lighting all the time. Pick the right

tool for the job.

 

People don't hate continuos light. People hate harsh light that's at a zero degree offset

from their eyeballs. The good news is that this also looks really bad, so just don't do it.

 

There's no shortage of fashion shooters who prefer the look of an HMI to a strobe, so you

can't make any generalizations about light quality, just about wether it was the best choice

for the job.

 

Since we use the same light modifiers for shooting strobe or HMI, I'm not sure how we

look less professional. (Simple answer - well, you never look professional ya goof)

 

If you need a lot of power and are lighting larger groups, strobes are brighter, cheaper,

faster, and a good place to start. If you want to quickly light a couple as you dash around,

it's hard to beat the immediate visual feedback from a continuous light.<div></div>

Are you willing to learn the difference between short lighting, broad lighting, butterfly lighting, and flat lighting? Are you willing to purchase a light meter and use it at the backdrop? If so, this will get you started: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/404508-REG/Impact_EX100A_2KII_Two_Monolight_Kit_.html<div></div>

Sorry! Thread hijack! David, I had a wedding and the bridesmaids wore the same dress as the one in your picture. :)

I second the motion for alien bees, they are relatively inexpensive, and the customer service

is excellent. you can also build as you go, so you are not out a ton of cash right away. they

even have the vagabond pack system for when you get tired of running 150 feet of extension

cord through various church doors and behind the sink or wherever... They are reliable and

powerful.

i obviously also second the motion for strobes over continuous light.

Thank you everyone for your quick responses and great advice. I think I will go with the stobes, they sound like they are better for this sorta thing. So now I am off to find a strobe kit!! Hope you all have a great day/night.

 

Heather

"Sorry! Thread hijack! David, I had a wedding and the bridesmaids wore the same dress as the one in your picture. :)"-Colleen

 

I'll confess, I was a big fan of those dresses and all the bridemaids seemed to wear them particularly well that day, especially the "sassy" gal above :-)

I just finished watching a really good series on using simply flash and diffusers for indoor

wedding photography. It was put together by David Ziser, but you have to subscribe to the

videos on http://www.kelbytraining.com. I believe there's a trial period so that you can

check out videos before you join. But anyway, if you're new to wedding photography and

flash, this is a must see series. The set up is simple and well explained. All you have to do

is practice, practice, practice. He also has some more series in the works.

Its well worth the investment for the classes. I wish there were more shooting videos.

 

Note, the David Ziser was only shooting single and couple portraits. He doesn't say what he does for group shots.

 

I do know he offers a 3 day class.

I agree with E.J. There is nothing wrong with continuous lighting. They are not all "hot". There are a number of "cool" continuous lighting options out there. As far as "looking professional" 99% of the guest at a wedding are not going to know what kind of light set up you are using or more less care. I've seen Professional photographers with more money than they know what to do with make out of this world shots with a lamp, bed sheet and white poster board from Wal-mart. I think you should use what works for you and your budget. By the time you get the prints to the bride, she is not going to remember what light set up you used.

One word of caution. All flash units at a wedding must be wired or used with radio remotes. There will be a lot of people using cameras, and their flashes will spoil your shots or even blow fuses if you use photoelectric triggers.

 

Continuous lights are not hot? Perhaps if you use HMI ($$$$) or fluorescent lamps. Tungsten lights are most assuredly HOT and not all that bright either. A 1000W lamp will require a 1 second exposure to match a 1000 joule flash, all else being equal.

 

A lamp (pole lamp?) and a bedsheet are a sorry substitute for the proper equipment. Besides, bedsheets (new ones anyway) cost nearly as much as a proper background. You don't need a truck full of lights, but you do need at least one good light and a set of stands. Foamcore works better than poster board - lighter, stiffer and more durable, but use a proper holder and clamps.