Studio Strobes for Receptions?

I just saw a video and the person was talking about using a 1000 watt studio strobe at half power to light a reception hall by pointing it up into the ceiling. I'm a little confused because at one point he says he uses one strobe to light the room and then he says he uses a few. I believe you could get away with one strobe at a small reception room but will one work at a larger reception hall with high ceilings?

I'm just curious to know if any other wedding photographer has ever used this technique to light an entire reception room and how many strobes were used. He also talked about using radio receivers for that as well. I'd love to get a reception hall fully lit with a single strobe flash if it's possible. What studio strobe could do this and what triggers would I need to get? I already have Pocketwizards but will they work with studio strobes?

Also, He says he uses Pro-Photo Strobes (plural).

Lots of photographers here use multiple studio strobes like alien bees, often in the corners of rooms aimed up to bounce off the ceiling to effectively raise the ambient. Check out jcolman and dmward for examples.

gonzogolf wrote in post #16076262
Lots of photographers here use multiple studio strobes like alien bees, often in the corners of rooms aimed up to bounce off the ceiling to effectively raise the ambient. Check out jcolman and dmward for examples.

I was actually just having this dilemma. Would you mind linking the guides? I can't seem to find them through the search function on these forums nor through google, although I did find jcolman's website!

I don't have any links to guides to share, only that they have shown work here that shows the work.

supfresh wrote in post #16076386
I was actually just having this dilemma. Would you mind linking the guides? I can't seem to find them through the search function on these forums nor through google, although I did find jcolman's website!

You can find my wedding portfolio via my website below. All of the reception images have some help from stand mounted strobes. Either studio strobes i.e. Alien Bees or speedlites.
When I got my 600EX-RTs, and before that with ControlTL, and could control the remote speedlites for either manual or ETTL from the camera I quit using the monolights.

Now Cheetah Light has introduced some more powerful strobes, kind of half way between speedlite and monolight in power. I know Jim Coleman uses them. I have a couple and may try them tomorrow, I have a tent to light and the speedlites may not be up to it.

My objective when adding light to a reception venue is to complement the ambient lighting. I don't want to over power it. That usually means a high ISO to keep shutter speed under control with an F2.8 lens.

Unless its really extreme situation, I bounce the light on my camera. Try to aim it toward the wall that the subject is facing. Important to keep faces well lit.

dmward wrote in post #16076402
You can find my wedding portfolio via my website below. All of the reception images have some help from stand mounted strobes. Either studio strobes i.e. Alien Bees or speedlites.
When I got my 600EX-RTs, and before that with ControlTL, and could control the remote speedlites for either manual or ETTL from the camera I quit using the monolights.

Now Cheetah Light has introduced some more powerful strobes, kind of half way between speedlite and monolight in power. I know Jim Coleman uses them. I have a couple and may try them tomorrow, I have a tent to light and the speedlites may not be up to it.

My objective when adding light to a reception venue is to complement the ambient lighting. I don't want to over power it. That usually means a high ISO to keep shutter speed under control with an F2.8 lens.

Unless its really extreme situation, I bounce the light on my camera. Try to aim it toward the wall that the subject is facing. Important to keep faces well lit.

Would you recommend having multiple strobes to cover a reception? I'm shooting a wedding and reception this Friday and have been thinking about investing in some AB800s. They seem to be the economical solution for my business size. I do have a few speedlites that I use currently, but lighting up big reception venues seems to be a pain dealing with batteries, recharge times, etc.

Would a 1 strobe AB800 + on camera flash work, or will the inbalance of strobes off-set ambient light?

I see jcolman has done some weddings with studio strobes. I haven't found any wedding samples from dmward yet though but I am still looking. I just watched the part of the video where he does say he uses one strobe positioned way up in the air on a stand to light the whole ceiling which is 15' high. The samples he shows are very well lit like it was daylight outside.

I wish I could find a clip of this video on YouTube but it's copyrighted video so I doubt I'll find it but I'll look...

Hard to say, but regarding confusion about wording used in the video, the photographer could mean he bounces a single strobe to light the whole room, but there might be multiple strobes set up in the room. In other words, he fires one at a time and chooses which one based on his position. The radio triggers would allow him to select which strobe to fire. Bouncing a single strobe from the ceiling can be very effective depending on the room, distance to subject, and how much of the background you want to illuminate.

https://photography-on-the.net …1302619&highlig​ht=Wedding

I got some great advice I the above thread.

That is talking about speedlights. I'm wondering if you could light an entire room with one 1000 watt studio strobe as it mentions in the video.

This is the guy. He's demonstrating in a church but it's the same concept for the reception hall.

https://www.youtube.co​m/watch?v=f5tbn7480zE

Basically the concept is to try and get one very powerful light to flash and light up everything.

CameraMan wrote in post #16076730
That is talking about speedlights. I'm wondering if you could light an entire room with one 1000 watt studio strobe as it mentions in the video.

Yes you *can* light an entire room with one light, but that's not the point. The point is to create light that models your subjects and makes them pop in the scene. For that you need at least two different light sources.

I like to have my lights positioned about 180 degrees apart from each other so that I side light the people. I then place a third light behind them, if possible, to add some back light. During a wedding reception, I'm often tweaking the placement of my lights depending on where the action is happing. I'm not a "set one light and forget it" kind of shooter.

Some examples: Three lights were used on this shot. Two of the lights were cheap Sunpack 383's fired with pocketwizards and one studio strobe.

IMAGE LINK: http://s182.photobucke​t.com …%20Jeff/ally-165.jpg.html

IMAGE LINK: http://s182.photobucke​t.com …0maxine/IMG_559​7.jpg.html

IMAGE LINK: http://s182.photobucke​t.com …ding/wedding-544.jpg.html

IMAGE LINK: http://s182.photobucke​t.com …ects/wedding-490.jpg.html

IMAGE LINK: http://s182.photobucke​t.com …ects/wedding-544.jpg.html

CameraMan wrote in post #16076769
Basically the concept is to try and get one very powerful light to flash and light up everything.

thanks a lot for this. looks like a lot can be done with one powerful strobe. I think i'll be ordering the b1600 and running a l-bracket hot shoe flash from the camera. can anyone recommend a good hot shoe adapter?

i'm using some cheap wireless triggers from amazon: http://www.amazon.com …keywords=wirele​ss+trigger

If i order more of these, would they work with the AB1600 or Ab800, or do they need special ones?