Continuous lighting vs. flashes/strobes for events

I shoot a lot of family events, mostly children's birthday parties. I usually use a hot shoe mounted speedlites (I have a Canon 430 & Yongnuo 560) and bounce it off the ceiling or use it with a flashbender if nowhere to bounce. Lighting is something I need to work on. I really want to learn about lighting venues and have been doing lots of reading here on POTN, the Strobist, Niel van Niekerk, etc. And I apologize in advance if the question is naive. One question I can't seem to find an answer to is, why do pros light events like wedding reception using flashes/strobes rather than continuous lighting? I read a lot of people set up like 2 flashes/strobes (speedlites or alien bees or whatever) in the corners of reception hall to boost ambient light level. Those will be "flashing" lights each time you take a photo, right? In a dark room dark enough to be lit, that seems it would be annoying to everyone. For my mind, it is easier to just have continuous lighting that stays on. Why not just put a video light or two that stays on the whole time? Why choose lights that turn on/off, on/off & on/off to light the room!?

The more you bring the ambient up with continuous lighting, the less 'ambiance' the room will have. This not only affects the guests in a negative way in terms of spoiling the mood (the lower the light the less the inhibitions--it's no coincidence that every club is dimly lit) but it makes our job getting certain kinds of expressions more difficult--it's much more difficult to be covert when the lights are up.

I've definitely asked myself whether or not my lighting setup is annoying for the guests. I think that because I'm generally diffusing the light a lot (e.g. by bouncing off a wall to light a whole reception zone), and because I'm at ISO 1600 and f/2.5 most of the time, the effect of the light is nowhere near as harsh as if someone was photographing with a cell-phone camera + built-in flash. I also think that most people who go to weddings understand that they are entering a context in which there will be a photographer and he or she will be doing photographer-y things all night.

I think if we're talking a children's party, e.g., yeah, the mood probably should be lighter, so setting up ambient lighting that allows you to shoot at 400 ISO would be preferred, I think. I'd still want a flash on my hotshoe for bouncing, though..

Flashes/strobes are a lot more powerful, and flexible, and often cheaper. Unless you go to full studio hot-lights, which are expensive/delicate/hea​vy/expensive, you're not going to be able to light a full venue with continuous lights, nor have the flexibility in modifiers and power levels.

I have some continuous lights that we usually use for video. I'll use them for product shots and other still-life type stuff, where I want WYSIWYG when looking through the viewfinder or LCD. But when shooting events or people, I want the power and flexibility of flashes.

You really have to flood a room with light to have enough shutter speed at sufficient apertures to stop humans from moving. Flashes are less intrusive and offer a greater degree of flexibility. As mentioned above bounced flashes from strobes in a large room are less intrusive than having a guy walkaround with a big spotlight.

Adding one or two stops of continuous light is going to take a good amount of equipment. Unless you can have assistant run around and spot light your subjects, I would stick to flash, as its much more flexible.

Continuous makes people squint and sweat, changes the mood of the room, requires more power, probably need to be plugged in. Flash is almost always a better choice for photographers.

Continuous light is annoying for the guests. Kills the mood and is on all of the time.

Thanks everyone! I guess I am definitely thinking about children's birthday parties where the darker corner of the kiddie gym is not for ambience or for "setting the mood", but it's definitely something to consider if I start to shoot other types of events. I also didn't realize it's not trivial to add continuos lighting, so thanks again!
-Sue

Those continuous lights are ANNOYING. I work with video folks who use them and when they forget to turn them off, the guests inevitably complain about them and they usually have to turn them off and move them...and maybe turn them back on again. (They often times don't because you don't want someone else complaining about the same thing.

Same thing with LED lights that go on your camera. It's fine just to light a subject momentarily and get the shot but having those on continuously is VERY annoying...

DO NOT use continuous lighting for events. BIG NO NO. kids, drunk people, people just not looking,etc and they will burn themselves. Big lawsuits.
No to mention they output a lot less light.
I still see videographers using them and they tend to put some big ass weights on them and huge,heavy light stands.
It's just cheaper to get strobes or use flashes.

dmitrim wrote in post #16433905
It's just cheaper to get strobes or use flashes.

Or LED lights... even cheaper

syclarac wrote in post #16362241
I shoot a lot of family events, mostly children's birthday parties. I usually use a hot shoe mounted speedlites (I have a Canon 430 & Yongnuo 560) and bounce it off the ceiling or use it with a flashbender if nowhere to bounce. Lighting is something I need to work on. I really want to learn about lighting venues and have been doing lots of reading here on POTN, the Strobist, Niel van Niekerk, etc. And I apologize in advance if the question is naive. One question I can't seem to find an answer to is, why do pros light events like wedding reception using flashes/strobes rather than continuous lighting? I read a lot of people set up like 2 flashes/strobes (speedlites or alien bees or whatever) in the corners of reception hall to boost ambient light level. Those will be "flashing" lights each time you take a photo, right? In a dark room dark enough to be lit, that seems it would be annoying to everyone. For my mind, it is easier to just have continuous lighting that stays on. Why not just put a video light or two that stays on the whole time? Why choose lights that turn on/off, on/off & on/off to light the room!?

Continuous lighting will make the attendees hate you because, as the name implies, it is always on. Flash is a quick burst most people don't notice, or are at least not bothered by.

cdifoto wrote in post #16433971
Flash is a quick burst most people don't notice, or are at least not bothered by.

Very true. Most people don't notice it. A good example might be a professional basketball game where ceiling-mounted strobes are firing all the time, yet most people never notice them, unless they pay very close attention and know what they are looking for.

syclarac wrote in post #16368918
I guess I am definitely thinking about children's birthday parties where the darker corner of the kiddie gym is not for ambience or for "setting the mood", ....

To deal with the dark corners, on the cheap, you can use higher ISO to bring up the background a little bit, or frame tighter, or pick angles, that eliminate the dark background as much as possible. Your Canon flash ETTL is much happier when it doesn't see too much dark backround.