I have been asked to shoot my sister-in-laws wedding next month which is an outdoor wedding. I plan on using 2 Alien Bee strobes for the ceremony. I am curious to hear what diffusing options you would recommend.
Don't think of it in terms of "diffusing", but in that you want to make the light source bigger. Bigger light source = softer light. You could use a 5ft octa outdoors without any diffusion panels and get a softer light than a 36" umbrella.
I use a 39" octa for most of my outdoor stuff. Umbrellas can take off in the wind if outdoors. It really depends on what effect you are trying to achieve, how much money you want to spend on light modifiers, etc etc etc
I do a lot of outdoor weddings and I just use a 430Ex flash on my 40D/5D. It seems to work Ok. The exception would be when there is mixed sunlight and shade as under trees etc. I have thought about using larger flash units with reflectors but it all seems to too much for the result I would get. A lot of the time it is direct sunlight in mid-afternoon very harsh light (Australia). I use the fill-light tool in Lightroom to good advantage. Anyone else got any ideas/comments about this?
Why would you need strobes for an outdoor ceremony? Most don't use any kind of flash during the ceremony, including vow exchanges inside dim light churches.
For an outdoor wedding I wouldn't use any strobes at all during the ceremony - very distracting for everyone there and not necessary. You rarely get to even use one camera flash for a dark indoor church ceremony. Use whatever camera setting you prefer and set the ISO for the results you're looking for. If you still want to use a camera flash, aim it straight up and use it's reflector for a little bounce perhaps but I wouldn't use anymore than that.
I've never heard of anyone using studio strobes during the ceremony. Besides being unnecessary, it would also be very distracting. I would save them to shoot the formal portraits afterwards, and shoot the ceremony with natural light since it is outdoors. As far as diffusing options for the formals after the ceremony, umbrellas are faster easier to set up than softboxes, which is an advantage in a situation where you have about 40 people waiting on you to take their pictures.
Besides the issue of whether using studio strobes make sense for an outdoor wedding, the fact is, outside you get very little reflectivity against very high contrast conditions, so flashes 'seem' to have less power, and, at the subject distances one would be forced to use the strobes, diffusers (if the intent is to soften) will not make much difference. If you are going to use them for the ceremony, one assumes you will not be able to put them really close to the action. Even if you do use diffusers, which make the flashes even more noticeable beyond the actual flash light, umbrellas and softboxes will topple the flash if there is any wind at all. Unless you are going to tie them to the inside ceiling of a gazebo or something...
ChrisDM wrote:
I've never heard of anyone using studio strobes during the ceremony. Besides being unnecessary, it would also be very distracting. I would save them to shoot the formal portraits afterwards, and shoot the ceremony with natural light since it is outdoors. As far as diffusing options for the formals after the ceremony, umbrellas are faster easier to set up than softboxes, which is an advantage in a situation where you have about 40 people waiting on you to take their pictures.
Chris M
www.imagineimagery.com
Chris, Thanks for your input on this. You are correct, I should have taken more time in explaining my original question. I meant to say the formal shots, not the ceremony itself. I agree that having strobes during the ceremony would be very distracting. I was wanting feedback as to go with umbrellas or softboxes. The ceremony itself is scheduled for 6:00 and it is the first week in June. No problem with lighting, unless it rains then it will be indoors (which is a different problem entirely)
msactionphoto wrote:
Chris, Thanks for your input on this. You are correct, I should have taken more time in explaining my original question. I meant to say the formal shots, not the ceremony itself. I agree that having strobes during the ceremony would be very distracting. I was wanting feedback as to go with umbrellas or softboxes. The ceremony itself is scheduled for 6:00 and it is the first week in June. No problem with lighting, unless it rains then it will be indoors (which is a different problem entirely)
Thanks for everyone's input.
Michael
You're welcome. Another advantage of umbrellas in this situation is they have wider spread for lighting larger groups. I think of softboxes more for detailed portraiture of 1 to 3 subjects, while umbrellas are more of a general use tool.
msactionphoto wrote:
I assume that you mean shoot-through umbrellas. What size is recommended or does it depend on the area that you are trying to cover.
MS
Not necessarily shoot-through. I don't use umbrellas all that often b/c Norman makes a great "umbrella box" that is compatible with my Quantums. But when I do use them, just a pair of 36" or 42" will cover just about any basic need.
