Lighting for Wedding party shots and off Camera flash for receptions

First of all I plan on using umbrellas and shoot the B&G and wedding party etc. Is that the right way to go? I also plan on setting up a speed light on a light stand and point it towards the ceiling on the dance floor. What can I used to trigger it? I plan on having my 580ex II on my camera? Thanks in advance.

If you have to ask then you probably shouldn't be using off camera lighting. It's easy to mess it up, even after 110+ weddings I still make off camera mistakes occasionally when i'm rushed. At my last wedding I shot Av as we were almost out of time, at 1/400th only half the frame was lit. Also it takes time to set up, and that's with an assistant. Balancing ambient and flash is important.

Read this to see how I do it, and what equipment I use.

Thoughts:
- Don't even bother doing off camera light without an assistant. It's too difficult.
- Umbrellas blow over without an assistant, and they waste light. The Morris soft box I use is quite efficient.
- Ceiling bounce during first dance is pretty much a room light, which isn't really directional. An umbrella or bouncing off a wall here is a better choice imho.

I'll echo all of Tim's sentiments. Depending on the height of the ceiling and the size of the group, there's no reason why you can't produce a very nice image by bouncing off the ceiling and using a large bounce card.

My preferred method for large groups is to use two flashes direct, no umbrellas or other modifiers. The off-camera flash is a little more powerful, the on camera is for fill. I only take this approach because I always work with an assistant. And as much as I've gotten reliably good at it, there are still times when someone ended up standing in the shadows of someone else or some other problem.

Simple is good.

Okay so for group shots. I should have my 580ex II on my camera and my 430ex II on my light stand. Should I get morris soft boxes for both or just diffusers like I already use? Thanks for the quick tips

I agree with Tim. Honestly, i put the stands away. I really dont want some drunk knocking them over and breaking a speedlight. I use a flash bracket and my Joe Demb bounce cards 99% of the time, especially if i have a ceiling i can bounce off. You are constantly moving around and looking for candids, lighting constantly changes in most venues, DJ is turning lights up/down, flashing colored lights on the dance floor, If you get a nice sunset then your running outside and grabbing those opportunities. The reception is the last place i want to mess with OCF. Brackets and bounce cards work best for me.

Downs Photography wrote in post #11767630
Okay so for group shots. I should have my 580ex II on my camera and my 430ex II on my light stand. Should I get morris soft boxes for both or just diffusers like I already use? Thanks for the quick tips

Why do you want to make it so hard? Unless this group is like 30 people big or if you don't have a ceiling to bounce off of, there's just no reason to do this.

Here's a quick group shot that came together spontaneously, lit with just an on-camera 580 bounced off the ceiling and a bounce card:

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remember when using stands that the base can be as wide as 4 feet (at its widest) so you need to put that in a low-traffic area, or cover it up really well so it doesn't become a hazard for any of the guests/workers at the wedding

umphotography wrote in post #11768240
I agree with Tim. Honestly, i put the stands away.

Actually I think you're doing the opposite to me. At the reception everything is lit by lights on stands, like this. I'm usually gone before people get too drunk so it's no problem. The location of the lights isn't critical, if they're bounced, so if people are drunk I just move them away from that table.

As he says, Peacefields second photo is an example of why direct undiffused flash for groups doesn't always work well - though he's done a lot better than I did last time I tried it (5 years ago). The shadows on the people in the back and the shadows on the walls don't work so well, simple bounce flash may have been better. To avoid wall shadows put the flashes up high, but that doesn't help with people shadows. When I did it it took me many hours of photoshop work to get rid of the shadows on the people and the walls and it never looked great.

@Tim I was thinking the same thing. Btw what can I used tokeep my 430ex II on while not in use? I notice when I don't use it it cut off.

Downs Photography wrote in post #11776864
@Tim I was thinking the same thing. Btw what can I used tokeep my 430ex II on while not in use? I notice when I don't use it it cut off.

It's one of the custom functions; read your manual to see which one and how to set it.

Downs Photography wrote in post #11776864
Btw what can I used tokeep my 430ex II on while not in use? I notice when I don't use it it cut off.

press Cn will take you into custom settings, change 0 to 1 on 1st setting

Yeah a CF. I prefer 5XX series flashes as they take a battery pack, which I find very valuable for fast recharge times. Even with the battery pack I find the recharge slower than i'd like, so I use AlienBees if there's power and space for them.