off camera light

for a wedding reception, how many people here will use an off camera light(s) and for what reason? I'd also like to hear from those who prefer not to as well.

I would use a 3 light setup. 2 off camera to raise the brightness of the backgound, or to provide rim/edge light. One on camera for front light or fill.

Depends

1- on how much room you have to work with
2- What the room looks like that your shooting in

Be prepared to have 2-3 tricks in your bag for any room that you go into. There is no set answer. Just DEPENDS on what you are presented when you scout out your location

umphotography wrote in post #17381420
Depends

1- on how much room you have to work with
2- What the room looks like that your shooting in

Be prepared to have 2-3 tricks in your bag for any room that you go into. There is no set answer. Just DEPENDS on what you are presented when you scout out your location

^^ This ^^. Every venue is different. I bring a minimum of three lights with me, more often four. Plus on-camera fill if needed.

i guess my question was a bit vague. if you use off camera light why do you use it? do you still you use an on camera light in combo? are the off camera lights just to raise the ambient and no fill?

i guess i can envision a few different scenarios as to why one would set up off camera lights around the room but i'm not sure if there is a primary reason for doing so.

Just look at Jcolman's work and you'll understand. The key thing is to create separation from the background. A single in camera light can create some good light, but its all for naught if the subjects hair disappears into a dark background.

mike_311 wrote in post #17381988
i guess my question was a bit vague. if you use off camera light why do you use it? do you still you use an on camera light in combo? are the off camera lights just to raise the ambient and no fill?

i guess i can envision a few different scenarios as to why one would set up off camera lights around the room but i'm not sure if there is a primary reason for doing so.

I use off camera lighting for a variety of reasons, but mainly to:

A. Make the couple look their best. This is usually done by lighting them from two or more angles.

B. To make the venue look good.

C. Both

D. To achieve a specific effect.

Here are some examples. In the first image, I needed to be able to pretty much light the whole room in this very dark venue in order to be able to see all the guests. I used four lights.

IMAGE LINK: http://s182.photobucke​t.com …-820_zps11574d54.jpg.ht​ml

IMAGE LINK: http://s182.photobucke​t.com …-724_zps66d2de04.jpg.ht​ml

IMAGE LINK: http://s182.photobucke​t.com …1184_zps5242331​d.jpg.html

IMAGE LINK: http://s182.photobucke​t.com …%20Jeff/ally-162.jpg.html

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

good stuff. thanks.

fantastic photos btw.

How I photograph receptions.

Two lights (plus on camera) for speeches. First dance can be just on camera bounced, or three lights including main off camera, back off camera, bounced fill on camera. Probably tending towards simpler these days, partly because I'm getting lazy, partly because the results are 80% as good with 20% the effort. The more lights you have the more chance of getting it wrong too.

thanks for that Tim, i have three speedlights now, im picking up two more 430s.

i was planning on running with just two lights on stands just to add separation, i prefer shots that have a bit of flair but maintain the ambiance of the event.

i think i'm set with lights, i'll just need to get some reliable radio triggers.

as far as stands go do you guys have any issues with anyone knocking them over through the night? i'd be real concerned if some hit one of my stands especially if i had an umbrella on it and sent it tumbling over onto someone unknowingly.

mike_311 wrote in post #17382235
thanks for that Tim, i have three speedlights now, im picking up two more 430s.

i was planning on running with just two lights on stands just to add separation, i prefer shots that have a bit of flair but maintain the ambiance of the event.

i think i'm set with lights, i'll just need to get some reliable radio triggers.

as far as stands go do you guys have any issues with anyone knocking them over through the night? i'd be real concerned if some hit one of my stands especially if i had an umbrella on it and sent it tumbling over onto someone unknowingly.

I've never had a guest knock over a stand yet. However I use pretty hefty stands. If in doubt, I will anchor them to the floor with sandbags, chairs or other heavy objects. I will also gaffer tape a stand to a tree or other object.

Look into the Yongnuo yn622 triggers. They work very well and pretty cheap. especially for your canon speedlights. Otherwise I would get phottix triggers. Both of these are bulletproof and work well with canon speedlights.

That being said

I would be buying Cl180's and speedlights from cheetah for inside work. There is not a better trigger system on the market than these godex/cheetahstand triggers

and I use cl360's for outside work. I will have a total of 4 for this season. 2 cl360's and 2 cl180's. The 360's are just a bit too hot for receptions so im using speedlights or the 180's when im inside. I absolutely love the CL180's and the cheetahstand trigger system...soooooo easy to control lights from camera.

I think jim has a stock pile of these cheetah lights as well

I am using the CL180 and the CL360 for receptions. The battery life is sick..

I push the ISO to 3200 to 5000 depending (Canon 6D & 5D3) and put 1 bare speedlite on stand and one handheld in my left hand with the equivalent of a Rogue Flashbender.. I've not found a venue yet that even the speedlites with Eneloops are struggling to keep up.

I do want the CL360 for outdoor work, but it has a limited role as I shoot to keep the ambient low and use lighting to highlight the subject, I like using the bare standed flash for a rim/separation light for first dances though.

will the yn-622 triggers allow me to control 2 or 3 lights as well as allow me an on camera speedlight?

what i need is the ability to turn the off camera lights on and off or in groups.