Lighting advice

Bsimon

Hello all!

I am shooting at a very unique venue in a few weeks. It is an all glass pavillion about 30 feet by 100 feet. Both ends are brick while the sides and roof are all glass. There is nothing to bounce off of (unless it seems the glass helps a bit though I doubt it.) It will be fairly dim and I am currently planning on employing a simple speedlight on my monopod with a lightsphere and another light on camera with a white flag bounce card. All the while being mindful of reflections coming from the surrounding glass.

For dancing, I will be using a two light setup facing eachother from opposite sides of the dance floor shooting from high to low.

Any recomendations or stories of similar experiences are appreciated! :thumb

Matthew Saville

I'm gonna bet that you'll find glass to be *highly* reflective. Ever tried taking photos in an aquarium?

I'd try on-camera bouncing for candids that you want to keep soft and smooth, and then the off-camera direct flash sounds good for that edgey dance floor look. Careful with a Lightsphere too, if you have the lid on you're going to kill your bouncing capabilities. Keep the lid off unless you're pointing the flash forward for some obscure reason...

=Matt=

Bsimon

Thanks Matt, yeah I think it will be pretty reflective as well but this is a very unique building, you'll see what I mean in a few weeks! I think I'll have a 500 ws strobe at the corner and just keep my flash on camera for a bit of fill if wanted.

ExposeTheMoment

Get rid the the fong dong and buy a Joe demb flip-it pro version.

Better control and bounce.

I used to use the fong dong, sold them all years ago.

Gary

mmmatt

Don't bounce off of windows... doesn't work! I did a 50th anaversary last year where it was a 1/2 circle room with glass on the entire curve. I used a polarizer, bounced up and used the little built-in white card on my flash head. Without a ceiling I would have used direct flash. Worked great but I wasn't really able to save any of the outside (through the windows) detail. Keep your camera set at or near ambient exposure and use the flash for fill like you would outdoors. since your flash isn't going to freeze anything (since it is not the primary light source) be real careful with your shutter speeds to defeat subject movement as well as your own.

My .02
Matt

Bsimon

Thanks Matt! The ceiling is also glass! I think in this situation the fong will be the best choice for the little bit of time I will use flash before the ceremony. No flash during ceremony, then a two light setup off camera for the reception + SB900 on camera for candids where the off camera wont reach. Pretty unique spot. It is exactly 2 weeks from today on Thursday evening. I should be able to post a few images that weekend!