Ok, I was playing at a wedding on Friday (I was the second shooter) and I really like this lighting style.This is all done with Vivitar 285s. 4 lights, radio slaves - all for less than the price of a single Canon 580ex II. Super discrete too - all I had on my camera was the trigger, so nobody could tell where I was!All of these are SOOC.C&C welcome!

I like some of these quite a lot!

Where did you set up your lights?

And a logistical question - when do you have time to set these up? When I'm working a wedding, I'm getting into the reception hall moments before the bridal party arrives. Do you do these during the meal?

Ksenia

I set the lights up in the corners of the dance floor. This room was great - there were 4 pillars I could hide them by. Usually I'll just put them against the wall.

I was the second shooter at this wedding, so I set them up as soon as we got there. It took about 10 minutes to get them all set up. If I'm the main shooter, I'll set it up during the meal.

I always work with an assistant, so they can do it for me if needed. I just want them out of the way, and pointed toward the dance floor.

These shots I ran the flashes at 1/16 power, ISO 400, f4.0, 1/30 (since the DJ had that "fireplace" projection going, and I wanted to get that in the images). Normally I'd run 1/4 power, ISO 200, f5.6, 1/125 if I don't want the ambient light. Even on AA batteries, you have enough power to get 4 or 5 shots off in a row. At 1/16 power, I've tested it to 20+ shots in a row, no problem!

Shan

FWIW, I'm running a workshop in January all about using vivitars. Basically these little things are like mini studio lights. At $89 each brand new, you get full, 1/2, 1/4, and 1/16 power, and they have a slot to gel them easily.

Everyone is so into TTL, lightspheres, foofing, it's easy to forget that it's not the equipment - it's the technique!

I can guarantee nobody else at that wedding has images that look like this!

Shan

Vivitars and radio slaves still work.Click to view attachment

Mildred -

Love it! Was that a naval wedding?
I see the main light to the left - was there a fill light anywhere, or was it just the single light? (I don't see any tell-tale shadows from another direction, but it could be bounced or softened.)

The other great thing is the white balance - always right on. How many times have you tried to fix the dj lighting, or the dimmed room lights - it's just so consistent!

Shan

Shan

Thank you. Its from a Quinceanera celebration. Light camera left and on camera flash -2 just enough not to go totaly black. Alot of times I also use sb800 as a remote and trigger using pop up flash. I experiment alot I cannot say that I have this down but, I keep working on it. I would love to take your class but I am in SC. That light on her face is the light bouncing off the white uniform jacket he is wearing I think I could have turn that light down a little more....I could always fix it after I see it ....one of these days I will see it before

Hey Shan, love the way the lighting looks, especially SOOC! What is the equipment that you used? You said less than a 580 EX? I was going to get a second 580 to add to my other 580 and two 430, but interested in seeing what equipment was used. Thanks!

For these shots, it was 4 vivitar 285s ($89 new from B&H) and the infamous "Cactus" wireless triggers (Ebay from Gadget Infinity). I bought 2 transmitter / receiver kits, and 3 extra receivers (so I'd have an extra transmitter & extra receiver).
Those cost $125 w/ shipping, so total it was $481.

I already had 4 light stands, but if you needed them, I only took them up about 8 foot or so. B&H has raven stands for $40 - so you'd be up another $120 plus shipping.

We have 4 (actually 6, with Callie's flashes) 580s, and the canon wireless is just too unpredictable. Sadly, the ebay triggers have done a better job as far as consistency goes! Crazy, huh? LOL

As far as camera / lenses go, I was shooting with a Canon 40D and switched back and forth between a sigma 70-200 2.8 and a sigma 24-70 2.8. The fisheye shot is with a peleng 8mm full manual lens.

Shan

ahhh....amen!

Those shots are awesome! Love the fish eye one!

I totally agree...that's how we set our lights up too.....gotta get that "sweet spot!"

Thanks for posting man!

You convinced me - just ordered it off of eBay. THANKS!

This article was good and had some good links and info.

http://martybugs.net/reviews/cactus.cgi

awesome!

Wow these turned out great! Did you have any of them bouncing off the walls or ceiling, or were they all pointed towards the center of the dance floor? Also, were any light modifiers used or just direct flash? Awesome work!!

Hey, nice lighting--I like the look.

Looks like you had a couple shots there in the church. Did you set up the same lighting pattern there?

At the reception, I used no modifiers - just straight towards the center of the dance floor. Sometimes you'll get a wierd shadow, but usually, this setup acts as a main, a fill, and two rim lights. The lights were about 8 feet off the ground - pretty simple!

The church, I had a translucent umbrella for the first shot (her looking over her shoulder).

The one with her legs, I have a light to my right with an umbrella, and just straight flash for the background light (the one throwing the pew shadows).

I have more from my last wedding, but I'm playing catchup, and I'll post them later. Glad you guys enjoy them!

Shan