How would you light this wedding?

[jdub]

I am photographing a wedding next month and will be checking out the venue in a

few weeks to test out the lighting.

Here is a link:

 

I had an instructor suggest bringing my two studio lights with umbrellas and

point them down on the venue from the upper level overlooking the main area. I

just am not sure if they will be okay with people walking by them on the upper

level. I know some people don't watch their kiddos at weddings. The right

hand side is all glass and the left hand side is curvy white walls. I thought

about bouncing off of that wall... The ceilings are not an option for bouncing

light. I am just not 100% convinced that my lights would be safe, or that

bouncing off of the side wall wouldn't produce some flash glare on the tank

behind where the bride and groom will stand. I called and asked the planner

about the studio lights and he said that no one had done it before, but it was

a good idea. He also said that other photographer's photos had turned out

beautiful (with just flash.)

 

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

[jdub]

P.S. Sorry, it IS at an aquarium and the wedding starts at 7:30 pm. I just don't want to distract from the killer backdrop...

[jmichaelc]

Bouncing off those celings are ok if...you shoot wide open and shoot RAW. I switched to JPEG last year, and continue to shoot that way for the most part, UNLESS i'm shooting on this type of ceiling.

 

Those Truss beams soak up light....they work like individual reflectors absorbing light and redirecting light. I have bounced just fine using Hi-ISO's and large apatures in this sceneo's but i will tell you that wood protruding beams are my least favorite. The natural light looks pretty good there from what i can tell so you should be able to shoot 100% natural or maybe even a tad of full frontal fill, just enough to illuminate your forground subject.

 

If time and space allows, strobes would be ideal here....either through umbrellas or off the white all surfaces.

[jdub]

The ceremony is STARTING at 7:30 pm. I live in Seattle, and it will be very dark! So there won't be any natural light, unfortunately. I'm concerned about my flash reflection even if I bounce it off of the white wall. You would still see it on the fish tank backdrop where they will saying their vows.

[jmichaelc]

Sorry...i actually meant to say ambient :)

[eric merrill]

I'd go with super clamps or something similar rather than leaving strobes on unattended stands.

[picturesque]

For the shots that need to be in front of the aquarium, treat it like a mirror--hide your flash reflection in people's bodies and shoot at an angle when possible. Setting up flashes on the mezzanine is ideal, since there won't be reflections in the glass if you don't shoot too wide and include the ceiling. If you bounce off the walls, you will see the reflection of the walls in the aquarium in anything but tight shots. You could set up the flashes on the mezzanine and bounce them off the ceiling--you'd have more muscle, making it easier to overcome the problem Michael Church talks about. I'd tape down or otherwise stabilize the flashes on the mezzanine--just how much in danger are they? Are there other patrons not belonging to the wedding, walking past?

[pete_s.]

Strobes on stands and tape the stand to the floor as well as the wall. Or attach set the strobes up on super clamps and magic arms and tape as well. Attach a safety cable, like this: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/3572-REG/Avenger_C155_C155_Safety_Cable.html to the strobes so if they fall they won't land on someones head. It's important really, think of the consequences if that would happen.

Also put some of that yellow/black striped tape around your setups so someone doesn't bump into them by mistake.

 

Peter

[paul_sokal___dallas__tx]

Glass reflects light directly so all you need to do is stay out of the angle of reflection. Foe example. if the couple is standing in front of the aquarium and you're shooting them straight on, you bounce your flash off the wall to the right, the light will come into the glass at a very oblique angle and exit at the opposite angle, like hitting a cue ball into a cushion. It should not appear in your picture.