How would you light this / shoot this?

Interested in reading some opinions from fellow members here...

So here's the related thread.
https://photography-on-the.net …/showthread.php​?t=1268988

Last minute booking for a friend of a friend's. (Yeah, that's unique eh? )

Here's the venue.
http://www.loewsjersey​.org/

I paid a visit last weekend, more over to meet the clients. I was scoping things out a little bit and it is pretty dark in there. They weren't able to get the lights on b/c they were getting ready for another event so I wasn't able to get any kind of readings.

It's a pretty grand venue. Old, and kind of crumbling, but still, a very grand venue. Obviously, it is to be a big part of the festivities so I need to get all that in the photos.

Here are some photos I found on the web. (Sorry, was too busy getting last minute details from the couple!)

Auditorium where they are having the ceremony. The ceiling must be 30-40ft high. It's of course not white. And it's really VERY dark the higher up you go. You can also see the spotty lighting in there too.

http://users.nac.net/m​bd/loews/loews_aud2.jp​g

Here's a view from the upper "deck". You can get the sense of the lack of lighting.
http://users.nac.net/m​bd/loews/auditorium2.j​pg

Another angle. Again, dark.
http://www.thevillager​.com/villager_241/will​mm.gif

The reception area isn't nearly as bad. Still, it's dim light with pretty high ceilings that I won't be able to bounce off of. I am planning on using my lights here.
http://valderi365.com …ploads/2010/03/​loews1.jpg

Another view...
http://graphics8.nytim​es.com …/nyregion/loews​.600.1.jpg

Found a wedding photographer who shot at this location:

This is the auditorium. You can tell it's very dark. Looks like flash was used on this shot...

http://denuevaphoto.co​m …lieandEricCerem​ony018.jpg

Reception area. Looks like it was lit with supplemental lighting. (???)
http://denuevaphoto.co​m …sJerseyTheaterW​edding.jpg

Soooo...how would you tackle this?

You can see what I have at my disposal in my gear list. I'll have a second shooter with me and if need be, he can bring 2 additional lights, though I'd like to avoid bringing too much there.

"If" I had the time to setup...
I would probably put 4 strobes with gels strapped to the rails on the second floor. Each on their own channel so I could turn them off if necessary. Keeping them on lower power with a higher iso so I can pick up some of the ambient lighting. They would be far enough away to provide even lighting throughout the venue.

I would do the same as Zagiace. Ambient for the general space, strobes pointed straight at the floor and seating, only about 1 stop above ambient. I probably wouldn't gel them though as I kinda like the look of brighter subjects against a slightly darker and warmer background.

Work on getting good cross light on the people and don't worry about lighting the venue. Gel your lights and underexpose the venue a bit and you'll get fantastic results.

zagiace wrote in post #15545943
"If" I had the time to setup...
I would probably put 4 strobes with gels strapped to the rails on the second floor. Each on their own channel so I could turn them off if necessary. Keeping them on lower power with a higher iso so I can pick up some of the ambient lighting. They would be far enough away to provide even lighting throughout the venue.

Yeah, that's the thing. That's a big IF. It looks rather tight time-wise. I have no issues setting up the lights at the ceremony since I'll have cocktail hour to break them down and transfer to the reception area. It's just something I have to judge when I get there.

Peacefield wrote in post #15547241
I would do the same as Zagiace. Ambient for the general space, strobes pointed straight at the floor and seating, only about 1 stop above ambient. I probably wouldn't gel them though as I kinda like the look of brighter subjects against a slightly darker and warmer background.

So both of you suggest lower power and more ambient. No gel eh? They are going to have mixed lighting in there so I need to prioritize to a light source. (recessed lighting that gives the spotty lighting, some halogen lighting, stage lighting, etc.)

jcolman wrote in post #15549019
Work on getting good cross light on the people and don't worry about lighting the venue. Gel your lights and underexpose the venue a bit and you'll get fantastic results.

I'm not sure that I can light the auditorium well, at least with 2 lights. They really want the grand architecture of the auditorium to be incorporated. Not sure how I would do that. It's really just so dark towards the ceiling. Should I point one light towards the ceiling?

Again, I may be able to secure 2 more alien bees...but not too sure. It'll come from the second shooter and I don't want him bringing that much gear since we also need to be agile.

Just trying to get some ideas. Keep 'em coming!

on cam flash might be a quick solution. best to even have ETTL on the your 5D3, even if flash is not firing on-cam.

MFG wrote in post #15549832
on cam flash might be a quick solution. best to even have ETTL on the your 5D3, even if flash is not firing on-cam.

Not sure what you just said there.

Yeah, I'll have 2 x 600EX-RT's, 1 x AB800, 1 x Einstein at my disposal. And possible another 2 AB800's. I would prefer not to go in there that loaded though. Plus, once the ceremony begins, I'll more than likely turn off the strobes if I am using them, since there will be plenty of stage light.

So really, the biggest concern is the aisle walk. I really want to nail those photos.

Here comes Mr. Old School (sorry tim:lol

I would put it on a bracket, gel the flash, shoot shallow and let as much of that ambient in as i could get.....tell them to turn up the lights in the back of that auditorium.


The reception area looks fricken awesome

That stage should be well lit so no problem with the stage. I had something similar last year. Your problem will be when they are coming into the stage area. Its gonna be dark back there. You will have 2 settings. One for the stage area and one when they are coming in with poor light. I was shooting 4000 iso one direction and 1000 towards the stage. I kept it in AV mode with a 35L and i was shooting at F/2.0 when they walked in. I had 2 cameras set. One for the back and one for the front. kept me out of trouble

Have fun. I probably would not mess with strobes especially with the ISO capabilities of your 5D3's----shoot shallow

nicksan wrote in post #15549585
I'm not sure that I can light the auditorium well, at least with 2 lights. They really want the grand architecture of the auditorium to be incorporated. Not sure how I would do that. It's really just so dark towards the ceiling. Should I point one light towards the ceiling?

Again, I may be able to secure 2 more alien bees...but not too sure. It'll come from the second shooter and I don't want him bringing that much gear since we also need to be agile.

Just trying to get some ideas. Keep 'em coming!

No, don't worry about lighting the venue and don't point a light at the ceiling. The ambient light will take care of that. Concentrate on getting good light on the people. You are going to be shooting at high ISO to bring in the ambient. Just make sure the people are lit well.

jcolman wrote in post #15550584
No, don't worry about lighting the venue and don't point a light at the ceiling. The ambient light will take care of that. Concentrate on getting good light on the people. You are going to be shooting at high ISO to bring in the ambient. Just make sure the people are lit well.

Understood Jim. But I gotta tell you, I could barely make out the ceiling, so it's THAT dark. Not sure there's any ambient light at all! I usually cap my ISO at 6400.

nicksan wrote in post #15551540
Understood Jim. But I gotta tell you, I could barely make out the ceiling, so it's THAT dark. Not sure there's any ambient light at all! I usually cap my ISO at 6400.

So it's a dark in there. That is part of the charm of the place. I suspect that during the event, there will likely be some additional lights turned on but even if not, your job is to make the people look good, not light up the entire venue.

jcolman wrote in post #15552154
So it's a dark in there. That is part of the charm of the place. I suspect that during the event, there will likely be some additional lights turned on but even if not, your job is to make the people look good, not light up the entire venue.

I would normally agree except the couple asked me whether I can capture some of the architecture even though it's really dark. So I want to try my best to oblige.

And while they will have extra lights, they will be stage lighting. The dark ceiling will remain as dark as you see in the linked photos.

nicksan wrote in post #15552221
I would normally agree except the couple asked me whether I can capture some of the architecture even though it's really dark. So I want to try my best to oblige.

And while they will have extra lights, they will be stage lighting. The dark ceiling will remain as dark as you see in the linked photos.

Sometimes adding a bit of light can do more harm than good. Shooting architectural features means a different kind of lighting than what you would employ shooting people. For example, I would employ several strobes with barn doors around the room to "paint" some strips of light on the walls and /or ceiling.

The easiest way to add more detail to the ceiling would be to use a globe on your strobe to raise the ambient light in the entire room without adding shadows. But the position of the light needs to be thought out very carefully.

Hey nick.. When is the event? I would really like to know how it turned out and how you solved the lighting problem.

Goodluck. Cheers.

Andrew

jcolman wrote in post #15553296
Sometimes adding a bit of light can do more harm than good. Shooting architectural features means a different kind of lighting than what you would employ shooting people. For example, I would employ several strobes with barn doors around the room to "paint" some strips of light on the walls and /or ceiling.

The easiest way to add more detail to the ceiling would be to use a globe on your strobe to raise the ambient light in the entire room without adding shadows. But the position of the light needs to be thought out very carefully.

In other words, don't mess around with it.

Drewlim wrote in post #15554240
Hey nick.. When is the event? I would really like to know how it turned out and how you solved the lighting problem.

Goodluck. Cheers.

Andrew

It's this coming Saturday.