How would you light this?

divamum

click here - Formals will likely be on the altar - not too many groups (thank goodness!) but enough. This is typical of the light in the space at most times of day; not a bright church, and the wall/ceiling colours make it impossible to bounce (which would have been my first choice).

I have 2x 45" shoot-through umbrellas or 2x 2'x3' softboxes (which can have the diffusion panels removed and opened up to act almost like square bounce umbrellas)

One either side (what about cross shadows?) high and feathered down?

Matthew Saville

High and feathered down, from near-camera position to avoid cross-shadow.

It sounds counter-intuitive, but basically you want to just immitate one huge, wide, soft on-camera flash. It's not as dramatic as getting more angles and dynamic light on a single person or a couple, but you can save that type of lighting for when you don't have 5-10+ people in the shot, lol...

divamum

AWESOME.

Although I have now just realised my 6ft and 7ft lightstands probably won't cut it. Amazon Prime is getting a ton of business from me this week....

aj986s

If possible, please consider sharing setup and results pics.

Matthew Saville

divamum wrote: »

AWESOME.

Although I have now just realised my 6ft and 7ft lightstands probably won't cut it. Amazon Prime is getting a ton of business from me this week....

...Which is why I usually just use a single lightweight shoot-through umbrella, and have my assistant hold the light stand up higher over my head.. :-)

ziggy53

Matthew Saville wrote: »

High and feathered down, from near-camera position to avoid cross-shadow.

It sounds counter-intuitive, but basically you want to just immitate one huge, wide, soft on-camera flash. It's not as dramatic as getting more angles and dynamic light on a single person or a couple, but you can save that type of lighting for when you don't have 5-10+ people in the shot, lol...

I generally use a "wall of light" approach for the group formals. However, I tend to get a little more creative with the one-shot and two-shot of the bride alone and the bride and groom (time allowing).

If the background shoots dark you may also wish to add a background light, if you have the equipment for it.

Umbrellas are so much easier to set up than softboxes, and they tend to be more efficient use of the flash too. If you do use them as shoot-through, watch for spill light. There is quite a bit of color in that church and if you have too much spill you can start to get color poisoning in the shadows.

Some black cloth, even a cut portion of a black sheet will do, properly draped over the flash and back of the umbrella, can help control spill. Just use a few spring clothes pins (clothes pegs) to hold it loosely in place. If you use monolights be aware of the possibility for heat buildup if the modeling lights are on.

If you plan on doing more weddings I do recommend 60" convertible umbrellas and the 60" SoftLighter II (8mm Removable Shaft). If you leave the diffuser on the SoftLighter it's not much more setup than a regular umbrella, but working close to the subject I like the light qualities better as it's closer to a softbox with its ability to wrap the light around the subject and to produce very soft shadows. Folded it's not much bigger than a standard 45" umbrella either. A similar large-sized octo-box works well too.

divamum

The softboxes are Westcott type (ie Umbrella) - very easy to set up and down. I think they're likely a little too focused and the spill on the umbrellas will cover more ground, but I"ll have them with me; they're actually my go-to modifier these days, even more than the Photek. One of my brollies is actually the Photek 45", so I could use that in any of its 3 configurations.

This is all super-helpful, guys - THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!

Qarik

Depending on ambient light, might even go natural

divamum

Matthew Saville wrote: »

...Which is why I usually just use a single lightweight shoot-through umbrella, and have my assistant hold the light stand up higher over my head.. :-)

Oooh.... I hadn't thought of that. Nicole and I can be VAL's for each other You may have just saved me $100

divamum

Qarik wrote: »

Depending on ambient light, might even go natural

If there's enough light I certainly will - always my preferred way to go - but having been there in person, I'm pretty sure that was boosted in post. Between the dark colours and limited windows, it's just a pretty dark space. Beautiful - just a gorgeous church - but dark.

divamum

PS Matt, what size brolly do you use for that single-light approach?

Matthew Saville

Just a 30-40" size will do the trick. But honestly I don't seem to put as much effort into it as Ziggy; listen to him!

=Matt=