Formal Pose Lighting Question

[ernie.grimes]

<p>The question I have is concerning getting good exposure on wedding party (and stained glass window) when shooting formal pose with a well lit stained glass window in backgroud.<br>

I will be using 2 AB800 with umbrellas and I have a light meter.<br>

Thanks, Ernie</p>

[booray]

<p>If it's a well-lit window than you should meter off the window and then use your strobes to raise the light on the wedding party to match. It's a delicate balance because you don't always want to blow out your subject just to save the window. Sometimes you will find it is better to let the window go a little bright so that you can shoot the subject with minimal added light. It's really a judgement call.</p>

<p>I have a set of AB800's as well and it can be tempting to just light those babies up and fire away. Be careful you don't turn them up so high that you lose the background completely. </p>

 

[kiva]

<p>Expose your photo for the ambient/window ... add light to expose the people.</p>

<p>Take into account how close the group is standing to the window; be sure not to be getting a reflection from you lighting in the window (may be best to shoot at an angle?).</p>

<p>I would think that two ab800's is a bit of overkill but best to have all that light available in case it's needed. If you're using both the lights be sure that you're not creating cross-lighting that casts shadows on members of the group.</p>

<p>Are you shooting through an optic white umbrella to soften the light? I do as Booray suggests and slightly (ever so slightly) overexpose for the window and add light.</p>

[savagesax]

Just got home from a wedding! Now I have time to play!

 

I use a hand held meter, the Minolta 4f, if interested, but any meter will work. You will get a lot of different light readings depending on the color of the glass. For example a blue stained glass is about 2 or 3 stops darker than a white or see through piece of stained glass. I've had total, 100 percent success metering off the white, clear, or yellow, stained glass. Why Yellow? Sometime white or clear isn't on the glass. Yellow and white glass are about equal in exposure. By the way I almost always shoot this setup at ISO 400.

 

If your meter reading is 30th of a second at F 5.6, I would set my cameras and flash units for 60th of a sec at F5.6. This will keep the stained glass under exposed by 1 stop and from drawing too much attention to the glass and not the people. The faces of the people will be perfectly exposed with a really beautiful background 1 stop under exposed. Lastly, be sure to set your light stands up about 8 feet or so angled towards the floor. If you don'y you will pick up reflections off of the stained glass.

[savagesax]

typo - DON"T not don'y.

 

By the way if the glass reads 30th of a sec at F5.6 you can also set your camera on manual at 30th of a sec, but at F8, or F7.1, instead of F5.6, at 60th of a second.

[wedding-photography-denver]

<p>Ernie,</p>

<p>Here is what I do:</p>

<p>No umbrellas with larger groups as it will steal your light and does not add enough size as to provide any softening that you will notice.</p>

<p>Set your light just out side your framing and off to one side of your camera position (usually about 4 - 8 feet for me). Take an ambient reading, then under expose by at least 2 stops. I gel my flash to be closer to tungsten in this case as it makes the light look more natural IMO, but it's not necessary. I use on camera at -1 and then even for the off camera. You will get some shadows, but not objectionable and your on cam will fill nicely for the most part. If you aim the off cam. at the far side of your group, the near side get the more feathered light from the edge of your AB800. That keeps the light more evenly spread.</p>

<p>Here is what that looks like in practice.</p><div></div>

[picturesque]

<p>Good info by everyone above. I also let the window go light--just enough to see the detail. This is because if you underexpose or expose it normally, and if the window has direct sunlight on it or is very brightly lit, the altar area will go really dark, almost black, unless you light up all of it--the people and the altar (the altar will require it's own lighting).</p>

<p>If the window isn't that brightly lit, you have more options re actually balancing the window exposure somewhat to the interior.</p>

<p>Depending upon the window size, shape and orientation, your umbrellas may become too big a light source to have any chance of avoiding reflections in the window. The trick when such is the case, is to use a small light source (no umbrellas) and 'hide' it in the bodies of the subjects. Also reducing the number of light sources (down to just main/key) can help.</p>

[ernie.grimes]

<p>Thanks everyone thats some good stuff... Nadine the window is very large and will be directly behind wedding party. After listening to you all it sounds like a single parabolic reflector trying to keep it out of the family of angles might be the better choice over umbrellas.</p>