Flash advice for wedding reception

Uggh...

I'm doing the favor of wedding reception shots. Uggh again...

Anyway, I have my 5D3, my OC triggers and a 540EX. I also have an umbrella and mount, but its cheese and not coming with me. I've done plenty of portrait and dog/handler pictures, with a canon 50/1.4 in one hand and OC flash in the other - with great results. But, I've always had time to adjust everything prior to; prepare so to speak. I also have a homemade reflector/diffusor that I'm very comfortable with, but it is way to flimsey for running around a wedding, so that is out as well. Let's say I'm more of natural light kind of guy.

For this reception, I know I'll need to be about F8 and 1/250 to accommodate flash? I'm still going to run camera in one hand - flash in the other, and maybe flash mounted on camera where I can find a bounce situation, but other than that I don't know (especially what to set the flash to).

Can anyone offer any advice? I'm not a wedding guy and I don't do this type of flash work, where it is semi-dark. I just want to get through it. I'm almost thinking of leaving the flash behind and running high ISO, but then I'd have to shoot wide open instead of F8 and probably end up with cards full of crap.

Last wedding I was at the photographer was using a mounted flash pointing up with a Gary Fong dome on it. Didnt see the outcome of the pictures though so I am not so sure of the effect.

Wedding receptions tend to be dark.
If you want any room ambiance it requires high ISO, wide aperture and slower shutter speeds.
5DIII is good at high ISO. I've found that any numbered ISO is OK, there will be noise but if the exposure is reasonable it can be easily cleaned up. Or left in for effect.

I can't imagine shooting a reception at f8 1/250. Even with flash as primary.

My go-to settings are shutter around 1/80, lens wide open, ISO to get me within a stop to stop and a half for ambient. Then speedlite in hot shoe bounced. Also, generally, two speedlites on stands. They are set to group B and the ratio with group A on camera is A1:2B to create depth.

thanks for the replies!

Well shoot, shutter at 1/80. At that speed, I could mount the flash and bounce it wherever with high ISO. Does 1/80 get good shots of folks dancing (I'm guessing you rely on the flash to do the action freezing)? I'm used to moving subjects and tend to shoot at 1/500 or greater, or super still portrait, so this is new territory.

I do have a second flash that can be triggered and set on stand while holding primary in my free hand, but I don't feel this is the time to experiment. I'd rather run with one flash (or none preferably).

This reception simply doesn't include a photographer, but since I have a bag full of photo gear and I'm known to take my photography quite seriously, I've been tapped for "something is better than nothing". I'm happy to do it as I care greatly for these folks, but I'd like it to come out well.

In your case I would say don't experiment with using your light off camera even though that is the preferred method.

Set your cameras ISO high. 1600-3200 should suffice. Use a shutter speed between 100-200 and aperture around f/2.8-4. No need to use f/8.

If the reception has white or light colored walls, I suggest aiming the flash behind or to the side and bounce it. If not, then use it direct but dial down the power to -2/3. The idea is to use high ISO to capture the ambient but flash to fill in shadows and give you some "clean" light. You don't want the images to look "flashed".

Concentrate on capturing emotions.

samueli wrote in post #15739309
Does 1/80 get good shots of folks dancing (I'm guessing you rely on the flash to do the action freezing)?

Here's a reception photo at 1/100 which stopped action pretty well. 1/80 wouldn't look any different.

Why not bounce one flash on camera and optically trigger another on the stand? You can simply move yourself around to use the triggered flash as a key or a backlight. I'm a big fan of two hard lights on the same side of a dance floor with a soft light coming from a bounced camera flash. It's certainly not everyone's cup of tea (intentional flaring, visible light sources, etc.) but I've been able to make it a marketable style. Here's a goofy outtake where you can see the two light setup. Key is coming from on camera 600ex bounced behind me.

Thanks jcolman.

Triple thanks for the settings; that's the hardest part with limited flash experience. So if I'm bouncing, I should go full power?

I have decent experience with camera in right hand, flash in left using the 50/1.4. I'll start with flash mounted for the important situations, and maybe run flash in hand around the dance floor.

Also, is there a reason to bring the 70-200L? I'm not seeing it personally.

Thanks again!

samueli wrote in post #15739420
Thanks jcolman.

Triple thanks for the settings; that's the hardest part with limited flash experience. So if I'm bouncing, I should go full power?

I have decent experience with camera in right hand, flash in left using the 50/1.4. I'll start with flash mounted for the important situations, and maybe run flash in hand around the dance floor.

Also, is there a reason to bring the 70-200L? I'm not seeing it personally.

Thanks again!

If you're bouncing, just use Ettl and set the dial to "0". The light does a good job of figuring out how much light is needed.

Keep in mind that the settings I suggested are very loose because I don't know what your ambient light is going to be. But these are typical ranges that I work with during receptions.

I often use my 70-200 during a reception to capture tight shots.

professoryeti wrote in post #15739403
Here's a reception photo at 1/100 which stopped action pretty well. 1/80 wouldn't look any different.

Why not bounce one flash on camera and optically trigger another on the stand? You can simply move yourself around to use the triggered flash as a key or a backlight. I'm a big fan of two hard lights on the same side of a dance floor with a soft light coming from a bounced camera flash. It's certainly not everyone's cup of tea (intentional flaring, visible light sources, etc.) but I've been able to make it a marketable style. Here's a goofy outtake where you can see the two light setup. Key is coming from on camera 600ex bounced behind me.

that's a fantastic shot! Unfortunately, I'm not optically triggered. If I run multiple flash, I'll be two handing it like I mention above. It sure would be nice to try a second flash, but I'm nervous.

I don't think I have a very good understanding of the power of bounce in relative terms. How many feet is bounced flash effective at full power? At half power is it half the usable distance, or is there some other calculation of magnitude?

I hate this situation; just because I photograph, doesn't make me a wedding photographer.

samueli wrote in post #15739456
that's a fantastic shot! Unfortunately, I'm not optically triggered. If I run multiple flash, I'll be two handing it like I mention above. It sure would be nice to try a second flash, but I'm nervous.

I don't think I have a very good understanding of the power of bounce in relative terms. How many feet is bounced flash effective at full power? At half power is it half the usable distance, or is there some other calculation of magnitude?

At high ISO settings, your flash can do a pretty good job of adding fill light when bounced assuming that you are within roughly 20-30' from a white wall.

Practice a bit before the wedding.

I keep it simple as possible, most times one light on camera. I will add a second light to the left or right when I deem it necessary.
This image was shot as follows.
One light on camera - A sunpak 120J (old I know) - bare bulb with a reflector around back 180 degrees with a diffuser and open top.
Camera 5D set at 640 ISO and 1/30 sec. I shoot all the reception at 1/30 if it is fairly dark. If brighter will go higher to 1/60 or 1/80. Shutter speed is not a problem with dark areas and wide F-stops.
Lens - 28 - 135 at 28mm and F-5.

The ceilings were at least 15 feet high.
The flash will stop most of the movement and the 1/30 sec. shutter will bring up the ambient light in the room.

Keep in mind that the ability to freeze motion with the flash duration is dependent on how well you balance your flash with the ambient. If you go high ISO to prevent dark backgrounds you may well lose some of your ability to freeze motion with flash while using slow shutter speeds. The flash needs to be about two stops faster than the ambient to freeze motion. Any less than that you may get some ghosting. Just keep in mind there is a tradeoff for ambient balance and motion stoppage. Maybe for dancing shots you can dial back the ISO a tad and let the background go darker, then bring it back for less motion intensive subjects.

I've really only used me flash with the off camera triggers, so I've never adjusted anything more than the power level. This should be fun...

jcolman wrote in post #15739452
If you're bouncing, just use Ettl and set the dial to "0". The light does a good job of figuring out how much light is needed.

Keep in mind that the settings I suggested are very loose because I don't know what your ambient light is going to be. But these are typical ranges that I work with during receptions.

I understand. I'm not looking for a magic bullet, just trying to get an idea on something outside of my norm.

With flash?

samueli wrote in post #15739808
I understand. I'm not looking for a magic bullet, just trying to get an idea on something outside of my norm.


With flash?

Yes but I use several off camera flashes.