g_s19 Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 Hello, I photographed a reception last week at a hotel a few hours away from my home. The hotel had a dimly-lit glass elevator in its atrium. I took one shot of the elevator but ended up deleting it since the elevator itself turned out dark. It was a hasty shot but I think my settings had been f4 with a shutter speed of 1/60, and a 24-70 lens with a 430ex on my 40D. I didn't really care about the elevator since no one from the reception was in there anyway. But just today I was asked to shoot a wedding in that same hotel. The bride will be coming down the elevator and the couple will be wed in the atrium. The wedding will be in the late afternoon (5pm), and from what I recall, there wasn't much natural light in the lobby. The attached pic is something I found online that looks similar to how dim the elevator was. What do I need to do to get the best lighting of the bride coming down? I have a couple of AB400s, but just one of those seems like too much power to put in an elevator.<div></div> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Laur Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 This seems like the perfect time to use a simple speedlight, remotely fired. If you HAVE a way of putting an AB400 safely in the elevator, and powering it, and triggering it, there's absolutely no reason it would be "too much" to use... you can dial it way down, and expose accordingly. But unless you have a battery back for it, and pocketwizards or a similar device, that does sound a little dicey. Clamping a speedlight somewhere in there, high and near the front of the cabin so that it can really hit the front of her dress... that would work, I'd think. So... what remote triggering tools to you have? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edrodgers Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 My first thought would be to ride down with her and get the shot from within the elevator. I imagine getting a shot of the bride looking down at the waiting groom. I'd try to balance the internal light with the outside light. I might have a couple of lights on the wedding party triggered from within the elevator to balance the light. If it's dim in the elevator, reverse it. The glass looks like it will be too dark to get a good shot from the outside, even when lit from the inside. Just a thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_schilling___chicago_ Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 This looks like a fun assignment. My first thought would be to put my 430EX in slave mode with an omnibounce and trigger it with my 580EX as the Master while setting the 430EX at 2 stops less and a shutter speed around 1/200....go out and play with this and experiment before the wedding and post back your results. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
picturesque Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 I agree with Matt. A shoemount so you can more easily place it where you need it. I would actually look at a silhouette--in other words, lighting up the inside of the elevator so the silhouette (or near silhouette) of the bride (and father) is clearly shown, particularly the veil silhouetted. Maybe even a gel, if the elevator glass will show up as smokey gray like the example. Lighting up the inside might be as simple as putting a shoemount on the floor with it's head pointing up. Or it might look terrible. I'd actually do some testing before executing. Also, I'd try freezing the elevator with flash while dragging the shutter, so you see motion blur. Maybe the ABs outside would help, not so much when the elevator was high up, but as it comes down within a reasonable distance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brooke_moore Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 This might be a good time to have two shooters. Once crouched down inside and one outside. Would take a bit of organizing but how wonderful to get her looking out as above and the elevator descending even if the image through the glass was not perfect it would be the match. If the place is not far from you go and experiment like crazy so on the day you can just do it. Post them it is a fun spot! Brooke Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Laur Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 I'd watch that strobe-on-the-floor concept... that's just ASKING for a Bride Of Frankenstein shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
picturesque Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 Matt--I don't mean the strobe on the floor shooting up at the bride--I mean it to be behind her shooting up at the elevator ceiling and wall, to create a silhouette. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conraderb Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 G S - off camera lighting is an obvious candidate here. I would suggest a pocketwizard/quantum radio slave instead of a 580EX trigger. all canon flashes depend on visible light to fire - and require a line of sight within a certain range. a PW is a radio signal that can go hundreds of feet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russ_butner___portland__or Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 G.S. I did a very similar shoot. Place a flash in the elevator, that can be remotely fired. You'll probably want to knock down the power on the remote flash. Russ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
picturesque Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 Russ--do you have the shot and can we see it? The distance this shot necessitates, I am thinking you still aren't going to see much of the subjects even if you could get light on the front of them (particularly through smokey glass), so I'd like to see how that was done, if possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russ_butner___portland__or Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 Nadine I'll look around for it. The sample picture above, looks very similar to the ones that I shot (Embassy Suites, Portland)with similar distances. When I locate it, I'll post it. Thanks Russ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiva Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 Get there ahead of time and practice to see if a 580ex w/ a Pocket Wizard would fire from your outside location. Set the flash/pw on the floor and try bouncing the light off the ceiling or the closed elevator door. Or if the light can just be held by the groom have him point it down to the floor of the elevator and bounce it off the floor. It's a long distance shot and it should fill the elevator and I don't think it would appear ghoulish at all if it's bounced to fill the elevator. My point is to see if it will fire first (keep pw line of sight with your location and bounce the flash). Set it up to soften the light and fill the elevator by bouncing it off something in the elevator (like the door in the elevator). I think it would look great. If you get there to practice you can have all your settings ready and can get what you want the first time. Post back with a photo and your solution if possible ... I think it's a great idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
g_s19 Posted January 29, 2008 Author Share Posted January 29, 2008 Thanks for all the great suggestions!! I think I may get a 2nd shooter. I like the idea of getting a shot of her looking out at her guests while riding in the elevator. Unfortunately, I don't have the 580ex or PW. I currently trigger my ABs with the Radio Flash triggers that AB sells. If I do get the 580, it seems based on the reviews on BH, I should stay away from the ex II. I'll look into the 580ex and PWs. Too bad there's no PW 101 on this site. I've read various questions on them, but it's all confusing. That would be great if someone could provide a list of what to get and how to connect them: ie... 1. Two - Pocket-Wizard Plus II Auto Sensing Smart Transceivers 2. One - hot shoe to pc cable 3. Connect the flash to the hotshoe/PC cable which should be connected to the PW. (I don't even know if that's right...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edrodgers Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 The 580 EXII has a convenient PC connection on it.. Saves a lot of trouble with hot shoe adapters. Check out blogspot.strobist.com, specifically the lighting101 tutorials. All Pocket Wizards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
picturesque Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 Do you have any old flashes? You don't need a 580EX or EXII to bounce inside the elevator with a PW. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
g_s19 Posted January 30, 2008 Author Share Posted January 30, 2008 Thanks, Ed.<P> Nadine - Nope. No old flashes. Just my trusty 430. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruce_stenman1 Posted February 5, 2008 Share Posted February 5, 2008 Any light inside the elevator is going to bounce off the side glass and create unwanted reflections. With an elevator in motion you are going to need at least 1/100th for a sharp image though you won't need much DOF so you can use f2.8 with little worry. If I wanted to light the bride on the way down I would have an assistant inside the elevator with the bride and have the assistant hold a flashlight with a broad beam. You do not need a lot of light just a broad beam and the flashlight is a tungsten light source so it provides a nice warm light for subjects. If it is really important to you have an assistant wearing a white top and pants ride up and down the elevator and using a light mounted on a monopod to shine down from above (even one of the headlamp style lights should work fine and would be easy to mount to a pole). Then you can test camera exposure and white balance settings at the hotel before the day of the wedding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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