Need advise on purchasing a light modifier for strobe mounted on a stick.

[Alex]

<p>I will be shooting a Wedding on mid June (I have not shot one in many years) The ceremony is going to be outdoors at 6:30Pm. I will take a Canon 7D and a 60D as a back up, 3 580EXII and one 430ExII. I can only use 3 of them with PW TT5 and a mini with an AC3 as the trigger.<br>

Here is the question. My wife will assist me with the lighting and my thought was to get an Einstein with the new vagabond power pack (I will buy both of them for this) and mount it on a stick with a modifier. I am considering a 35" Paul Buff foldable octabox/ 24"x36" foldable soft box or a 22" white finish beauty dish with a sock. I like to use this light as the main one for groups and formals with the speedlites as accents when necessary and then for the reception do about the same, use the stick light with my wife and place the smaller ones as needed.<br>

Since I have not done a weeding having access to multiple shoe mount flashes and strobes I don't want to go crazy and complicate my life taking everything I have just because I can. I also have 2 travelites 750 I could set on stands for the reception bounce them into the dance floor and use the Einstein with the stick to shape the light.<br>

I'd appreciate any feed back as to which modifier would be most appropriate to use with the Einstein and also based on what I have to work with what would be a logical set up for the reception, which by the way, will be indoors.<br>

PS: I have a one 24"x24" latolite easy box for the shoe mount flash, some medium size umbrellas, one 60"umbrella and one 36x48 photoflex soft box for the one of the travelite 750.<br>

Thanks for your time and feed back, I really appreciate it.<br>

Regards,<br>

Alex</p>

[craig_shearman1]

<p>I could see a beauty dish on a flash that's on a stick but a softbox, especially 24x36, would be very largely and difficult to manage that way. I personally would put one of the 580s on a stick rathe rthan something as big and bulky as an Einstein, which needs the also-large Vagabond. All a 580 needs is a Quantum Turbo. Use your Travelites for the formals/groups, and the 580s for hairlight or background light on those if needed. It's good to have more gear than not enough gear, but in the craziness of a wedding there's also a lot to be said for keeping things simple. Fewer things you're doing, the less there is to go wrong.</p>

[picturesque]

<p>I hope your wife works out. I am sure those Einsteins get very heavy if you have to cart one around a lot, particularly holding it at angles. IMHO, you are overthinking this. For an outside ceremony, a softbox or modifier small enough for a carry around stick would not help much with softening light, and if you are dealing with bright sun, it won't help much with available power either, since you cannot be using the light really close to subjects during a ceremony without being totally conspicuous. If you use one during the ceremony, I'd use a smallish light without modifiers, just as accent lighting.</p>

<p>For formals or in other situations where you have control, fine. Again, against bright sun, even an Einstein can be 'weak' with a large softbox on it. Is your wife going to hold that too? If so, the beauty dish might be kinder to her. If you use the softbox, which isn't all that big for groups, have it on a stand, and she can watch it so the wind doesn't knock it over.</p>

<p>As for the reception lights, if you have a white room, you can go crazy bouncing powerful monolights off the walls and ceilings, but you will not have the darkish look for those dancing shots. If you don't have a white room, you may be better off using shoemounts as hard accent lights, which would be better in preserving the ambiance. I usually don't work with modifiers for indoor reception lights. I may use gobos or 'reflector lip diffusers'. For monolights, you can make your own half reflector. I bought a silver metallic car windshield shade and cut it up to make the reflectors. Velcro is a marvelous invention.</p>

[Alex]

<p>Thanks Craig. I like the Quantum idea but... I rarely do weddings and for the cost of it I feel I would get more use out of the Einstein with the Vagabond (BTW the new Vagabond it's only 3 pounds) not that heavy and bulky at all.<br>

Nadine. Good info here, thanks a lot. What do you mean by "reflector lip diffusers"<br>

As far as my wife carrying the stick around all 6 hours that is not what I'm trying to do (I like to stay married after the weeding) I like to use a stand as much as possible and when needed use the stick. I was thinking on propping a belt with a holster to rest the end of the stick there while she lighting with it. As for the reception you are correct about the accent lights I was thinking on the strobe more so to open up the overall darkness a bit so I don't have to crank up the ISO to crazy levels, and perhaps shoot a f4 at 60th but I do like to keep the feeling that the ambient light creates.<br>

Again thanks for the info<br>

Alex</p>

 

[picturesque]

<p>When I have light or white walls and ceilings, and I want to bounce off them, I can use two different kinds of reflector lip modifiers. The first kind basically is designed to block light coming out of the monolight, with or without a regular reflector on it.</p>

<p>Imagine a monolight pointed upward, on a stand next to a wall. It is pointed not straight up, but slightly outward toward the middle of the ceiling. On the side of the monolight that is toward the ceiling and not the wall, I put either a diffuser piece or an opaque piece. Usually, I take the regular reflector off the unit because what I want is for it to spray as much light on the walls and ceiling as possible, but I don't want the spray to go outward.</p>

<p>With an opaque piece, all resulting light on subjects is soft and diffused. With a diffuser piece, the light is softer, but not absent. As stated above, for the opaque piece, I cut up the car windshield shade with the silver reflective side toward the light. For the diffuser piece, I use the front diffusers from a couple of Demb Diffuser sets I already have.</p>

[markonestudios]

<p>Alex, I fear you may be over-thinking and therefore over-complicating this. Softboxes, Einsteins, etc? I would stick to perhaps umbrellas for the formals and then bare flash if you need some for the reception if it's indoors. But outdoors in summer? Methinks a Demb would suffice.</p>

<p>Keep it simple.</p>

[fotografz]

<p>Alex, just a word of caution ... and Einstein is a self contained mono-light and as such is relatively heavy when coupled with a modifier and used on a mobile boom arm. I suggest adding up the approx. weight and taping something similar to the end of extension pole to see what I mean. The Battery isn't the issue since it is slung over the shoulder and is relatively light weight.</p>

<p> </p>

[studio460]

<p>A beauty dish is great for close-up, handheld strobe work. For softboxes, I would recommend a small octobox, over a rectangular softbox, for its slightly more streamlined profile. Ideally, an Elinchrom Rotolux deep octa with a Kacey Eli-to-AB adapter ring, but a small Westcott or Buff octa should do just fine. You'll have to keep to fairly small modifiers, if handholding your E640 rig, since attempting to hold anything larger than 30" is going to be kind of unwieldy. Also, consider using one of the "flagpole" belt holsters for holding the pole, since supporting several pounds of monolight+modifier on the end of an extended pole gets pretty heavy, pretty quickly.</p>

<p>Although having an assistant hold your strobe keeps you mobile, there may be times when you will have enough time to set up a stand. For location exteriors (uneven ground) I would also bring a Matthews baby stand with a Rocky-Mountain leg (or, a C-stand w/adjustable leg), and one or two 15-lb. shot bags. If only shooting interiors on smooth-surfaced floors, I would bring a rolling baby stand, with a short boom, and two 15 lb. shot bags, plus a five-pound counterweight.</p>

[studio460]

<p>I just re-read your post and it looks like 35" is the smallest octa Buff offers (which I think will feel huge, when handheld). I might consider a smaller octa from either Westcott or Photoflex, or just go with the 22' socked beauty dish.</p>