Eagle Scout ceremony in church setting

While this is in a church setting, this is NOT part of a mass/service, so my discussion about flash is not one about being able to use a flash in this setting...its more about the affects of using and how to use.

Lighting will be a challenge in this environment. I could shoot with my 50mm on my 70D to make up for lighting but while this will give me great results, it will limit me some due to not being able to zoom and I dont want to be hustling all over the room to 'get that shot'. So I am choosing the next best lens I have at my disposal...the 18-135mm IS STM. I have done some test shots and without lighting my ISO is bumping way up...12800 on some cases. This I just dont like.

So...I have done some test shots where I mounted an off camera flash to the left side of the room pointed straight up at the ceiling. I am using the Flashpoint R2 trigger to control the flashpoint flash.
the flash power is 1/1 as I am shooting in manual mode.

The ceiling, ugh, is a high peak ceiling with dark wood. However, the up lighting gave me enough boost to be able to move around the room and shoot at 160 6.2 at 1600 ISO. Much much better!

So, here is my dilemma. This flash is going to be mounted on a window sill about 5 ft from ground and nearly straight up. This will be either around eye level to people standing or above the heads when people are sitting.

My fear is that this flash, firing to the side will be somewhat distracting to those sitting nearby either by sound of flash going off or by seeing the flash fire (even if directed upwards)!!!!

I am not sure I can get this flash any higher as there is no room for a stand, plus I do not have a stand for this purpose (NOTE to self, get a stand for this purpose anyway as its going to be needed someday)

So, am I worried about nothing? Or should I do something to get this flash somewhere else that will be less distracting?

Ceremony is about 1.5 hours long, so there will be a lot of shots.

I'd drop the remote flash and put it on camera pointed at the ceiling with a large-ish bounce card. Use ETTL on the flash and manual camera settings at about a stop under ambient. This will provide more light on your subjects, reduce flash output and recycle times. Running at 1/1 off camera for that amount of time is likely going to stress your batteries and might lead to a battery change which could be disastrous. Between window (often stained glass) light and usually mixed interior lights, color balance in churches can be a PITA. Hitting the subject with gelled flash will help balance the light.

I'd be shooting at f/4 - 5 max, and would not be afraid of going to 3200 to insure not having to lift shadows in post.

I could try that but I am not sure from my location of shooting (towards the back) that mounting a flash on camera will be effective...too far.

You are worried about nothing!!! Think about the fact that mom and dad and maybe even a brother/sister in the audience will have their smartphone/P&S/dSLR with auto po-up flash are sitting in the pews watching Jimmy get badged and so all these flashes will be going off due to the audience members shooting photos of Jimmy...do you think they notice?! If the flash is not going into the audience eyeballs with every shot, they will not mind.

I once shot weddings with medium format and flash (film speeds too slow), and the minister would tell me explicitly, "No photos during the ceremony" and I would comply, but meanwhile dozens of flashes would come from the audience, at the times I am forbidden to shoot.

kezug wrote in post #18693006
I could try that but I am not sure from my location of shooting (towards the back) that mounting a flash on camera will be effective...too far.

This old Eagle wonders why a photographer taking this seriously enough to check the venue has been relegated to the rear of the room. If you have been asked to shoot the event you should not be stuck in the cheap seats and should be trusted to use some flash.

(I also wonder about a 90 minute ceremony but won't go there.)

AZGeorge wrote in post #18696138
This old Eagle wonders why a photographer taking this seriously enough to check the venue has been relegated to the rear of the room. If you have been asked to shoot the event you should not be stuck in the cheap seats and should be trusted to use some flash.

(I also wonder about a 90 minute ceremony but won't go there.)

Actually, it was only about 45 minutes long. I had 1.5 hours stuck in my head for my time...prep, ceremony, shots after.

It all worked out, I moved around and was up front, in the middle and then went into stealth mode for shots from the back. I would have been much better off with a better lens but I made do. I ended up with having 2 remote flashes at the sides and nothing on camera. This kept the flashes out of sight for the people in the audience as well as the scouts/presenters on stage facing the audience.

It renting a 70-200 2.8 or 135 f/2 a possibility?