some questions PLEASE HELP!

[mckc]

I am a wedding photographer and I really want to start using off camera lighting at receptions. I really like the look of a backlight on reception shots. If you have time to look at this link http://jessicaclaire.net and scroll down to her most previous wedding post and look at the reception shots, you will see exactly what I am looking for.

Equipment I have:
5D
20D
430ex
580ex
and multiple lenses

I am thinking about getting the sunpak 383 and a photoflex soft box and triggering it with pocket wizards while having the 580ex on camera...I believe this is what jessica does.

Questions:

Should I buy the sunpak 383 or should I just use the 430ex on camera and put a softbox on my 580ex??

Which is more powerful...sunpak 383 or 580 ex??

If I do get the sunpak and put it near the DJ's table and shoot it onto the dance floor...should I just put it at full power?

I am very new to off camera lighting so any advice would be nice. Thank you so much for reading.

[Jonathan Taylor]

personally, I would keep the 580 on the camera to use as the slave controller, put a small lumiquest softbox over the 430 set on 3/4ths-ish power, then set that up where you think youll be shooting into it (ie: the DJ's table). When you dont want to use the 430, just turn the 580 off controller mode, or just leave it on the whole time to get nice fill throughout the evening (which is what I do).

hope this helps...
~Jonathan

[mckc]

Does the 430ex put off enough power to get that strong backlight like shown in those pictures on the link I posted?

[Jonathan Taylor]

In a typical reception setting where the light is already quite low, then its not too hard to stop out any ambient light (usually f11-f16 will do the job), and still allow the 430 to pack enough punch to give a nice backlit silhouette.