Lighting for an event - what do you think?

[PEC]

Paco - i have it - wear a cammo outfit - nobody would ever see you ;) don't you love helpful advice?

[Dobick]

Paco,
You are a lighting expert and will come up with the most elegant and resourceful solution to this problem, I am confident of that.

My two cents on this though. I think if you take a trigger, and a couple of speedlights pointed at the ceiling or near an existing light source as illustrated by your scouting photos (gelled with 1/2 CTO or so) and cover them with an omni bounce or something that will spread the light far and wide, set somewhere around 1/4 or 1/8 power.

use radio to trigger them

you should easily be able to get clean results at 1600 with a 1/100 shutter speed and still hold some ambient.

Set the lights on small stands, or use superclamps and arms and attach them to bookshelves out of the way and somewhat hidden.

If you can trigger with the x100, even better.

Bottom line is that when there is stuff going on, no one ever notices the flash as long as you practice even the most rudimentary levels of discretion.

[Flores]

it's amazing how much a couple of speed lights or even studio strobes can discretely light up a room from a corner, if it's already kinda dim.

and it beats having the flash going off in someone's eyes because they happen to be looking at you when you shoot.

[texxter]

Good suggestions too! I am going to have to think this over! thanks for all the ideas!

[Outlander]

I understand your comment about being invisible. But, coming from a commercial photography background it is quite often an advantage that people are completely aware of your presence. They will inevitably pose better, and will usually attempt to remain clear of your shooting angle to the GOH. If Granny is old she will likely stay put. Also keep in mind that many people hire the photographer not so much to capture the moment, but to create an atmosphere of celebration and importance. They may not be aware of their true motives, but sometimes the actual images are not that important. Of course you will strive to get fantastic images under any circumstances and I am confident that you will succeed.

[Flores]

depending on your style, would your images work better with a wider DoF? If yes, you really are going to have to do something about the lighting.

hard to get a 'good' picture of a group of people around a couch or chair @2.8 or wider...

probably worth the hassel if you have the gear...

[texxter]

Thank you guys! I do have plenty of gear to do just about anything I want, from portable flashes to big strobes. I just want to keep it simple and be able to move around without being encumbered by the position of the lights. Carrying a flash on the camera is something I never do in my normal work, that's why I hesitate so much to use this type of flash - but not using flash will give me dark eyes and motion blur for sure, plus DoF problems if I shoot f/2.8 on a full frame sensor.

So you guys have convinced me that popping the flash at a party should not be a big deal, so I'll use flash. I plan to use the SB800 mounted on a Stroboframe Pro-RL on the camera as key light. For fill it makes sense to supplement available tungsten with tungsten-balanced bounced strobes, one on each end of the room - this should look like availalable light, but more of it, enough to lower the ISO to 800 or 1000 and have everything sharp. I will need to drag the shutter a little, I am sure, especially if I lower the ISO down to 800 or so. So... placement of the supplementary fill light will be important, as I don't want to have to worry about them showing or producing uneven illumination. I will get there early to get everything set up and tested.

Without your thoughtful comments I would have followed my first instincts of going with available light, really simple, but the images would have suffered. After all this lady hired me because she likes my portrait work, and she probably expects images with the same level of technical quality, so I'll need to have lights to make it happen.

In this case it seems that it's either simple operation and suboptimal image quality, or a more elaborate setup and sharper images.

Much appreciated!

[Flores]

Good luck, Paco, can't wait to see what you end up with!

[wwong]

Originally Posted by texxter

Concerning the windows, the party will start at 7pm, and sunset is at 7:42 so I'll be able to capture the magic hour thru the 17th floor windows.

Reminder: Time change next weekend if event is at a later date.

Re: Flash/no flash
How about get safety shots first, when time allow go flashless.

[Lexie]

I'm just now finding this thread & am wondering how things turned out. I've been asked to do something similar in February. With your knowledge/experience with lighting, I'm sure the results were great.

[Stifled_1]

I'm also looking forward to seeing how this turned out.

[texxter]

Debiie, sorry i was out of town - here are a couple of images from the event. Some were done with ambient light only, and others with flash:

#1. Available only, 1/60s f/2.8 ISO2500 23mm



#2, #3. Flash on bracket, bounced.





#4. Strobes on stands, bounced off the floor. This was my least favorite arrangement, but it worked in this case to create nice definition. 1/15s f/7.1 ISO500 62mm.