I shot a combination of ambient, which I like for the intimacy, and flash, which I like for the drama, during the dancing. I'm looking to improve my ability to control spill and falloff when using my speedlites to light the dance floor and was hoping for some thoughts on what modifiers you guys are all using with speedlites.
I typically light the dance floor with a mixture of 2x 430EXII's and a 580EXII. Typically I use the two 430EXII's off camera with one high up bare-bulb zoomed to something like 50mm. The other I use a bit lower down as fill bounced into a small silver brolly. Occasionally, when the centre of attention is moving a lot, I additionally use the 580EXII on camera with a flash bender to provide some extra lens-axis fill.
What are your thoughts on modifiers and/or techniques for controlling spill? I'm looking to create directional, but relatively constrained light. Cheers all.
My thoughts is that they are more trouble than they are worth given the minuscule difference in lighting quality. Given the subject distance, your modifier would have to be huge to make any sort of difference - and that is impractical to say the least.
Bouncing is a decent idea, but given that ceilings and walls are rarely white, this is going to leave you with a nasty color cast. I find direct, bare bulb shooting at low power is the best way to go.
deepbluejh wrote:
My thoughts is that they are more trouble than they are worth given the minuscule difference in lighting quality. Given the subject distance, your modifier would have to be huge to make any sort of difference - and that is impractical to say the least.
Bouncing is a decent idea, but given that ceilings and walls are rarely white, this is going to leave you with a nasty color cast. I find direct, bare bulb shooting at low power is the best way to go.
+1. I've experimented loads over the years but still can't seem to do any better than I can with bare bulb.
I would think that you must seriously consider the placement of the subject when you consider controlling the spill. Smaller silver umbrellas work well for me on the dance floor. A pair of larger white umbrellas with a black backing on them are nice for big groups. Not exactly a controlled spill in either situation. A snoot comes to mind if you direct it toward the subject. Maybe an assistant would help to do that as they are dancing.
Depending on the venue, if you want soft light everywhere, the best modifer is white or grey walls. Otherwise I use umbrellas or direct flash. I often will put grids on my mono lights to control the spill when using them as direct lights.
Ok, fair play! Looks like I'm doing it the same way as everyone else! Which is both reassuring and frustrating. I might experiment with a small baffled soft box, as much for the reduce power output as for the light control. I've tried a snoot in the past using my flash bender, but although the spill control is good, the falloff is a bit extreme.
After trying all sorts I go very simple and use one speedlight off camera direct and bleed in ambient in to my liking, I see no reason for fill light when ambient light provides fill. Some people seem to like very elaborate lighting setups though. If you want a larger light source for your fill light that is better controlled look at a silver PLM, the light out of them is like a beam.
BTW this is quite pedantic but I’ll say it anyway: ‘bare bulb’ is not the same as a bare speedlight because (almost) all speedlights have reflectors. Bare bulb flash gives quite a different effect.
Traditional Drama (without assistant) - bounce single on camera speedlight
More contemporary drama (w/o asst) - combination of bounced flash and at least 1 off camera flash
Traditional Drama (with assistant) - assistant holding an off camera light on monopod and constantly moving.
More contemporary (with assistant) - assistant holds an ocf in each hand and hangs disco ball around neck.
