Flash for Wedding photography?

Daddy0

I have been asked to photograph a friend's wedding. I have a D90 w/ a Sigma 70-200 f2.8 and a Nikkor 85mm 1.8. My question is what would be my best choices for on camera flash and possibly off camera on a small stand? I definitely want the flash to be able to act as a commander. If I am able to get 2 flashes, what would the recommendation be for the 2nd flash?

Thanks,

Art Scott

SB 900 or 800 .....if wanting to run in commander mode................if you were able to shoot manual then i would recommend
Sunpak 622's with Radio Control (RF) triggers (but one really needs a light meter for this)

Zerodog

If you want the flash to be the commander then you need an SB 800 or 900. I would just get a 900 for the extra range. But as a second flash, the SB 600 is awesome. In fact it is awesome flash period. It is small fast and fairly powerful. I carry it in my pocket for a lot of things and just whip it out if I need it. The batteries seem to last forever too.

Your D90 will work as the commander. Most likely this is all you need. You can control multiple SB 600s with it. Or a 900 and 600 or whatever. The Nikon CLS is pretty cool.

Qarik

Daddy0 wrote: »

I have been asked to photograph a friend's wedding. I have a D90 w/ a Sigma 70-200 f2.8 and a Nikkor 85mm 1.8. My question is what would be my best choices for on camera flash and possibly off camera on a small stand? I definitely want the flash to be able to act as a commander. If I am able to get 2 flashes, what would the recommendation be for the 2nd flash?

Thanks,

your best bet is of course 2 SB900's. If you can afford it then get them. Sb800 have been discontinued and "new" one are often selling for more then Sb900.

Sb900's are of course more powerful, have more zoom, etc but thing single biggest reason I like them better are the ergonomics. It is so easy to switch modes. For example to get into master slave mode, the 800 and 600 require you to hold down buttons for X sec, drive through several menus, select, figure out how to get back to the main screen, selct your channels. SB900 requires one lableled dial twist and you are in master or slave mode.

time2smile

The D90 is capable of being a commander. If your on a budget get 2 SB600's. If not, I would get 2 SB900..one day I'll get three, ahh its nice to dream...
Remember the CLS system is basically line of sight or reflection, but it goes work well..

r3t1awr3yd

I have no idea how to use my D90 to do magical things like "be a commander" but an SB600 and some cheapo radio trigger/receivers works wonders for this guy

bendruckerphoto

Since everyone else has pretty much covered which flashes to use and how to fire them, I thought I'd jump in and help you actually use them.

When shooting with off camera flash, I like to use my Lastolite 2'x2' collapsible softbox. It's a bit pricey, but it's a great product. If $225 is too much of an investment for you, the Cheetah QBox is pretty similar. You'll just sacrifice some build quality.

As for on camera flash, Neil van Niekerk's method is what I do.

r3t1awr3yd

^^ That's funny. I just shot my last wedding with the LumiQuest softbox III and loved how well the pics turned out. $40 well spent.

zoomer

^ That's funny, my last wedding I bounced the flash off the ceiling $0. spent.
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Art Scott

zoomer wrote: »

^ That's funny, my last wedding I bounced the flash off the ceiling $0. spent.
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And if not done correctly that can cause huge shadows under eyes, nose ....chin........but a Lumiquest Softbox is great......I use the original L.Q. softbox.........worx great, lightweight and folds flat for storage..................

A lot of times LumiQuest will have 2nds that will work perfectly for super real cheap.

bendruckerphoto

zoomer wrote: »

^ That's funny, my last wedding I bounced the flash off the ceiling $0. spent.
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That's what I do indoors for candids or when I'm pressed for time. Of course it's rather tough to bounce your flash off the sky when you're outside.

And when you have the time indoors, a softbox will always produce better light.

ziggy53

bendruckerphoto wrote: »

... And when you have the time indoors, a softbox will always produce better light.

With groups I can often use the ceiling along with some fill to produce light that I think would take a much more complicated setup using softboxes.

This was shot using a domed ceiling as the reflector for the key light coming from 2 - 1800 WS monolights fired in reverse into the ceiling and flanking the camera. Fill was from a single Sunpak 383 Super flash on a lightstand and pointed direct with no diffusion.



I would agree that for a single person to a 3 shot, especially in a home environment, I prefer softboxes, shoot-through umbrellas or a Softlighter instead.

bendruckerphoto

With groups, I too bounce off the ceiling most of the time. While a softbox will produce a more directional, expressive light. But sometimes, as ziggy said, that's just too complex. You can see in the shot ziggy posted why you do want to use softboxes with smaller groups or individuals though. In the above photo, the faces are very evenly lit. That's really all you can do with a group that big, but with an individual, you want better shadows and to be able to control light falloff.