Double Lit Wedding With Mono & Umbrella

[edsel_adams]

I shot a wedding reception yesterday with a powerfull mono fired

into an umbrella.This gave me about F8 damn near anywhere on the

dance floor.The hall had high ceilings,so my umbrella was 12-14 feet

in the air.I shot with my Metz CL flash on camera & radio

slave,always using the mono as side or back light.Has anyone ever

done this?I shoot with an assistant holding a 2nd light

sometimes,this makes things pop off the paper!Im hoping for the same

3D effect.Or at least my backgrounds wont be dark or have shadows.I

read of this a few years ago in a book on wedding shooting,and

decided to try this.I know one thing,double light rules!It was truly

the breakthrough I needed for my wedding work!That on camera fill

flash makes everyone look like Charley Brown or a jack-o-lantern!

[chris_newkumet]

Edsel:

Haven't tried that setup, but it sounds interesting...would make me nervous to have a light that high up so near the dance floor. Was it on the bandstand or DJ riser? How did you protect it? What I have used, however, is a form of high-power bounce... two lights placed near opposite corners of the reception, directed nearly straight into the ceiling... get your meter reading from various spots around the floor and then set your on-bracket-on-camera flash to one stop less...fire with radios and off you go... with a two-light system like the one you've use with an assistant, have you ever tried a rolling light stand for the second light? saves you an assistant fee...

[jkantor]

What's really nice is the second light effect if you have an assistant, since that gives you rim lighting.

 

But I don't think you necessarily want to illuminate the entire dance floor. We spend a lot of time trying to isolate subjects with shallow focus and various types of vignetting anyway, even outdoors.

[picturesque]

When I shoot wedding receptions, I use a Norman 200B (battery) off-camera flash, without umbrella, on a stand aimed at the dance floor. I usually set it for 50 watt seconds if the center of the dance floor is about 15 feet away--100 watt seconds if the it is 20 feet away. Like you, I use the stand-mounted Norman as a back (rim light) or even 45 degree "portrait" light, depending on the situation. I shoot at f8 with 400 speed film, with the on-camera flash set for f8. Backgrounds are much more "open", and, as you say, subjects "pop" off the paper. There are two problems with this setup. First, keeping the flash out of your picture. You have to be mindful of where it is when shooting, which can be difficult, with people dancing, turning, etc. You can't direct where important action happens all the time. Second, you always have the risk of people running into the stand and flash--tripping over the stand legs, etc. This has happened to me and fortunately, nobody sued. I try to pick spots where people won't be, like parked right next to a speaker stand or on the stage, if there is one. Some DJs don't like you to put your stands next to their equipment though, so ask. If the ideal spot for the stand is a spot where people will be, I don't put it there, no matter how tempting. I also put flourescent tape all over the stand legs, and this has helped, but little kids are especially prone to not watch where they are putting their feet. I've tried putting two lights on the stage, or in opposite corners (plain and bounced off the ceiling), and this works great but I found that I always manage to get one of the lights in my frame, and while some say that the flash beam becomes a star-shaped pinpoint, this doesn't happen with my shutter blades, for some reason--I just get a blob of raw white light. If you're using your monolight corded, be real careful where the cord goes. This is one reason I don't use an umbrella--my flash is battery-powered so I can't get a strong enough burst into an umbrella to get f8 20 feet away. Some people say one stop less for the off-camera light works the same way in opening up backgrounds. I do know that when the background is dark anyway (dark paneled wood, for instanced), the backgrounds don't "open up" as much--you still get the "coal miner" look to some degree, but at least you have the rim light and some of the off-camera light spilling onto objects/subjects in the background. Maybe I'll try your umbrella method one day if the circumstances are right (I can use a cord). I have heard of setting up a light aimed at a wall which is often in the background, and I've tried this, too--not quite as convenient.

[ed farmer - mount laurel,]

Edsel,

 

One light in an umbrella, may make it difficult to control. I use two lights, on opposite corners of the dance floor and I try to shoot on the other diagonal. This way my "room lights" provide more even lighting across the dance floor.