Enlighten me about Lights please!

[wendyholden]

After surviving my first summer of wedding photography, I am

worrying about the cold dark winter when all of the beautiful

natural light disappears. I am feeling comfortable with my flash

but I am wondering if I need to add off camera lighting. I shoot

with a D100 and mainly use my 50 or 85 1.8 lens, although I have

others. I have been looking at Alien Bees and am wondering what size

and set up might be best. I am most concerned about posed portraits

and group shots in dim churches. Are off camera lights necessary or

is a good flash sufficient? Suggestions?

 

Wendy Holden

http://lifeisart.us/

[joey1]

Rent Hensel Porty Flash systems as well as other portable flash. You'll find there are a number of them that will fit your needs and some may be more suitable for your needs than others so try before you buy and commit to a system. For light modifiers I'd suggest a beauty dish with 30 degree grids and an Octabank from Elinchrom for larger group photos or for portraits of couples or several couples. Invest in Pocket Wizards and Sekonic L358 flash meter w/ the Wizard module. Don't skimp on the lightstands either. Remeber that you're supports are holding up quite a few dollars of equipment. Also, the more substantial your light set up, the more top heavy it becomes. More power equals more light equals greater DOF and less digital noise and faster recyling times. You pays your money and you play!

[derek_c.]

To me, it doesn't change anything because it's Winter.<br>

My customers are smart enough to schedule their weddings according to the Sunset time.<br>

Posed shots inside the church is the situation you will have during the Summer as well as Winter.<br>

Seasons don't change what I do. I do everything with one flash on top of my camera.<br>

[fotografz]

Check first. Many churches, especially historic ones, are getting more strict about using

big lights.

 

Also, time allowed after the ceremony seems to be getting shorter. Last Saturday, they

allowed me 15 minutes and the church lady stood there tapping her watch (not to much

pressure !!!). No way was there enough time to set up lights.

 

That said, the best smaller system I've used to date was the portable Dynalite mono kit

with 2 heads, 2 folding stands, 2 convertable umbrellas, 2 Jackrabbit batteries all in a

compact case. It can either be used with the Jackrabbits or plugged into the wall. The

batteries are plenty powerful enough for a formal session. B&H carries it (get the optional

reconditioning charger if you go this route).

 

I prefer Profoto because strobes are a long term commitment and can be used for far more

money making jobs than weddings. Portraits, pet shots, smaller commercial jobs, etc.

In studio, generator boxes and separate heads are the way to go as they offer more

refined control of DOF and light placement.<div></div>

[bruce_rubenstein]

When flash becomes your primary light source, off camera flash will look much better. Battery powered flashes enable you to set the flashes up on stands before the ceremony starts, tuck them out of the way during the ceremony and just plop them down where you need them after the ceremony ends. All I have to do is put in the umbrellas (very fast to put on the stand bracket). I use Quantum T2 lights (I like them because they put out plenty of light for this, I can use them with umbrellas and still use them in Auto mode), but Lumedyne would also be good. You can even use a couple of inexpensive shoe mount flashes (like Vivitar 283). If you don't have other guests taking pictures over your shoulder, you can get away with cheap optical slaves to fire the flashes. Otherwise you need some radio slaves. Don't use long sync cords. AC powered lights will let you do more things, but they take longer to set up and you have to carry along long extension cords. If you aren't working with an assistant you need to keep things simple.

[rich_dutchman1]

Alien Bees and Hensel are great systems, but I'll offer another suggestion. Since you're a Nikon user, have you looked into a set of 800DX flashes? They have built-in IR with iTTL, and you can control the output of several remote flashes from the "main light" attached to your hot shoe. I typically carry three units and connect my main light to the hot shoe with an SC-17 cord. The results are no different than what I achieved with strobes, and now I can carry all of my equipment in one bag.

[william_au]

I went through the same thought process as you. From my experience, you can get good results with most lighting setups, from on-board little flash to a big studio light setup. Just dragging the shutter and getting your light off-camera makes a huge difference, and there are shooters in here like Marc and C Jo who get great shots with their flashes.

 

That being said, I picked up a pair of Alien Bee B800's and have really enjoyed the flexibility they allow - I can use umbrellas, light up a reception hall, shoot with really small apertures, and use them in-studio. I personally find they produce the best lighting for portraits, and I don't really worry about dark halls anymore. Given the option and the time to do it, and the strength/will-power to lug around all the gear, I would shoot indoor portraits with studio strobes + diffusers as much as I could. Do I always bring them? No - they require lugging around extra gear, need a power source, and need time to set up and strip down. Are they necessary? I wouldn't say so, unless your flash isn't putting out enough light to achieve your desired effect (e.g., diffuse lighting, wide depth-of-field). But if you can afford it, I don't think you'd regret picking up studio strobes - they open up a lot of options. As other suggested, you could also get high powered flash units (like Quantums or Lumedynes) that can be used on camera as well as bounced into diffusers. These are pretty big flashes though, and require external power packs, which somewhat compromise their portability.

[bruce_rubenstein]

"These [Quantum/Lumedyne] are pretty big flashes though, and require external power packs, which somewhat compromise their portability."

 

They are a bigger, heavier and a bit clumsier than one of those "dinkey" shoe mount flashes, but no less portable. Granted, they are not for everyone. BTW, CJ uses a Quantum.

[william_au]

Hmm, thought CJ used a smaller flash than that. At any rate, I do argue they are less portable, and by that I mean ease of moving around. The power and recycle times are great, but having to strap my T2 to the top of a Stroboframe and connect it to a battery on my belt is far more cumbersome than throwing on/taking off a shoe-mount flash. If you're talking about portability in a bag, then yes they're portable, but even here, the T2 with its circular reflector, battery, and cords take up twice the room of a Vivitar.

[picturesque]

What Bruce said about battery powered flashes and slave transmitters. I don't use an assistant and my off-camera flash is a Norman 200B. Alien Bees (or any flash) would be fine, but I would get the battery option. Cords during formals are scary.

 

You can answer your own question about whether off-camera flashes are necessary. Do you like the effect of using just an on-camera flash? If you do, why worry about off-camera lights? If you commonly drag the shutter, use fast lenses and mid to high ISOs, you can more easily get by with on-camera and even off-camera small shoemount flashes with very portable diffusers like Lumiquests, Stofens or even a white card because you don't need much power.

 

If not, do your research and pick a likely system. Maybe start with shoemount flashes just to get your feet wet, especially since most photographers have another shoemount already (your backup?). It does take some commitment to the idea that off-camera lights really add to a photo, because you have to accept the hassle of carrying them around, setting them up and buying into a slave system.

[wendyholden]

What an awesome forum this is!I have so much to ponder now.

 

My primary flash is a Speedlight sb80-DX but, I do have an extra flash that I am going to play around with off camera. I think that in this case less (equipment and $$$) may be more. I have been amazed by the beautiful flash shots posted here and think I can fine tune my dragging technique to get the effects I want. Also, I work alone and would be hard pressed to find time to set up and tear down light stands, not to mention time to protect them from toppling.

 

Thanks for the great insights.

 

Wendy