Wedding in May

So it's been several years since I shot a wedding (for friends) on a yacht. They turned out pretty decent but I knew I needed to get some more experience under my belt. I offered to do 4 hours for free on CL. I got a call from the bride & we hit it off, we actually have a mutual friend. Anyway it's going to be a cowgirl/boy wedding with 150 guests at a pretty nice wedding venue. I have EX550 flash & will be getting one more & some 622cs. I shoot raw, have two cameras, & will be using a 28-70 F2.8 lens & Canon 70 - 200 F2.8 Mark ii. I will shoot the actual wedding without flash. It is going to be from 6 pm up. I will use flash in manual but wanted some advice on using two. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I'm a little nervous but I've been doing my homework, especially here on the forum. Just learnt today about if using high iso to expose for 1/3 over from Randy (I think). Anyway, any other suggestions would be of great help. Images from the wedding I did several years ago. Flash bounced on camera!

I can take cc on the images. I'm okay with one flash but two. I have used two at home, a studio monolight & my flash off or on camera okay but a venue is different. Should I stick to just one flash?

I just looked at some of the pictures you have posted on POTN and I think your editing could use some significant work.

If I was in your position, I would primarily focus on improving that before worrying about your flash setup.

I appreciate your feedback & am doing that everyday in CS6, there isn't a day go by that I'm not practicing or reading up on technique. As for the above images - do you have an opinion on them? That is why I posted them.

Do you also own Lightroom? If so, I think you should focus on that because editing an entire wedding with Photoshop would be a nightmare.

Find some good tutorials on Youtube, Lynda, or CreativeLIVE. Or just buy this SLR Lounge class: http://www.slrlounge.c​om …uct/lightroom-processing/

Thank you so much. I will go through what you have provided. Appreciate your input!
Hazel

Let's get back to your original question.

I have a few 622cs and they work well. Depending on your situation, I would probably only use them during the reception. Put them on opposite sides of the room and point them at each other. If you had one flash on slave mode, it would be triggered by the other. Then simply adjust the power settings until you find a good compromise and go from there.

Forget OCF, run with bounced flash indoors and Natural Light Outdoors, just concentrate on People and Time managment, this will be far more inportant on the day than an Off Camera Flash setup...Have fun!

That's a great suggestion. I wasn't sure where to put the lights if the reception was too dark. Thank you for all your input!

With bounced on camera flash I'm quite comfortable. The wedding is 6 pm on so light should be wonderful especially with clocks going forward next week. I'm more nervous about light at reception but I can go one of two ways now, either one flash on camera bounced as you suggest or lighting the reception as mclaren777 suggested. I think you are right about time management, that will be the driving force of my flash use I think. I want to have fun, not worry & take great shots. I appreciate your input. Many thanks!

Forgot to mention - I did download lightroom. I can see how much different it would make for downloading huge file amounts.

Ensure to carry backup batteries for all the flashes. While a general reception under controlled exposure and shooting can work on a single set of batteries, you'll always have a more worry-free shooting experience when you are carrying more power than you generally need.

Also, ensure to carry extra storage cards, a small pouch that you can carry to keep essentials and perhaps have a friend go along to help out and perhaps keep a watch on things. Granted you don't earn out of it, and it's not something I recommend, but no point risking all the equipment and images and potentially spoiling someone's wedding party - Just be extra cautious the first few times until you get the experience and confidence.

Thank you josh5k - stellar advice! I have my daughter going as an assistant which will be a big help. taking two cameras so she will be carrying one as I'm shooting. The batteries, yes, had planned to have plenty of them & lots of cards too. I am actually going to be doing some getting ready shots (before the wedding) which I will be paid for. I am pretty stoked to be getting this opportunity so I am trying to plan ahead. A little nervous but excited too. I will post images here after for C&C. Thank you for your input.