Advice for flash use in large facility (580EXII)

TGAllen

I just saw photo's of the faciltiy where I'll be shooting a wedding in a couple of months. The place has very high ceilings and appears to be wooden, so bouncing options don't look good. There are some windows, so hopefully it won't be too dark. I'm looking for advice on flash use. I have 2 580EXII's and a ST-E2 transmitter. I'll be using a 7D, so I should be able to get away with pretty high ISO's.

My first thought was to put one of the speedlites on a monopod (with a stoffen or fong) and have my assistant holding it above the targets. What are your thoughts? Thanks in advance.

Here's a pic of the facility I got from the website.

Scott_Quier

Check out Jeff's Jeff's Light-On-A-Stick trick technique. You might also get value from spending time in the Wedding Photography Resources thread.

TGAllen

Thanks for the link, Scott. That is what I was looking for. The light on a stick trick should work well since I'll have an assistant to hold it. I should say thanks also to Jeffreaux2 for all the valuable information in that thread.

aktse

Scott_Quier wrote:

Check out Jeff's Jeff's Light-On-A-Stick trick technique. You might also get value from spending time in the Wedding Photography Resources thread.

Another version of the "light on a stick" is The Sylinator as dubbed by Mr. flash himself, Joe McNally.

Canon small flash master, Syl Arena, found an extending paint poll at home depot, paired with a Kasey pole adapter, and the rest is history. I've seen photos of David Hobby (strobist) using it, and McNally's travels with about six of these paint poles and usually pairs with them an ezsoftbox.

rwells

aktse wrote:

Another version of the "light on a stick" is The Sylinator as dubbed by Mr. flash himself, Joe McNally.

Canon small flash master, Syl Arena, found an extending paint poll at home depot, paired with a Kasey pole adapter, and the rest is history. I've seen photos of David Hobby (strobist) using it, and McNally's travels with about six of these paint poles and usually pairs with them an ezsoftbox.

I have that setup and it works amazingly well. This particular extension pole is VERY smooth and fast. Comparatively, this setup makes a monopod setup very slow and clumsy, it also doesn't have the longer reach that the paint pole has.

TGAllen

Thanks for the links guys. I'm going to check out the facility this evening as they are holding a wedding showcase there. I'll only take minimal equipment (and no assistant), so I won't get to test out the light on a stick setup, but at least I'll get to snap a few shots and see how the evening lighting looks.

met

Mishka also recently posted a link to her latest blog entry about her setup if there isn't adequate lighting at a reception venue.

http://www.birchtreephotographyblog.com/2010/01/reception-lighting-f-a-q-3/

Art Scott

TGAllen wrote:

Thanks for the links guys. I'm going to check out the facility this evening as they are holding a wedding showcase there. I'll only take minimal equipment (and no assistant), so I won't get to test out the light on a stick setup, but at least I'll get to snap a few shots and see how the evening lighting looks.

What's the verdict???????????

TGAllen

Art Scott wrote:

What's the verdict???????????

Well...it's going to be interesting. There's a lot of space with a warm, dramatic light feel to it. (I'll post a couple of snapshots tonight) I think ambient light will be the best choice. Since they are obviously paying for the atmosphere, it wouldn't be a good idea to blow out the ambience with a lot of flash. Fortunately, I'll have a chance to practice with a little fill flash at the rehearsal the night before.

TGAllen

met wrote:

Mishka also recently posted a link to her latest blog entry about her setup if there isn't adequate lighting at a reception venue.

http://www.birchtreephotographyblog.com/2010/01/reception-lighting-f-a-q-3/

Thanks for the link!

TGAllen

Here's a couple of snapshots of the venue. These were taken with a 50D and Sigma 30mm F1.4. Feel free to add advice!