OK. After extensive testing and consideratons, I have resolved, in my mind, the ultimate set up for my wedding shoot. I have to interject that I am not a Wedding Photographer, but have been asked on several occasions to shoot someone's wedding. So bear with me on this.
Here's the plan:
I want to use the PCB CYBERCOMMANDER to control 3 AB800's and my SB800 Nikon flash.
Let me explain. I have the Cybercommander at my finger tips. The whole rig, for lack of a better term, can be removed from the tripod, carried or placed on my monopod to reduce fatigue.
The light will act either as a main light or fill as I adjust the TTL setting.
The NIKON wired extension will enable me to illuminate the scene for focus assistance.
I have the option of reversing the SB800 and installing a small umbrella for fill.
I have full tilt control for bouce, if required.
I have rapid vertical and horizontal format due to the CUSTOM Bracket.
NOTE the extra piece of velco above the Cybercommander. That is for the standard Cybersync Transmitter, if I want to remove the Cybercommander for taking light readings.
I can't think of anything else to add to this, and if I did, I would probably not be able to lift this thing.
In a matter of seconds, I can remove the SB800 from the Custom Bracket, add a CSRB+ battery powered receiver and set it up on a light stand. Note, the SB800 can only work in manual mode at this point. The Cybercommander is attached to the Custom Bracket, or I can remove it from the velcro and place it in the hot-shoe.
I can now have an off-camera axis flash, and with the Cybercommander on the hot-shoe, remove the camera from the Custom Bracket. How cool is that?
DrewChilly wrote:
That's elaborate man. Looks like a great setup as long as you've got some serious biceps. I'm envious.
I plan to keep the tripod as a resting and staging station, as well as for the formals. The monopod will assist on other occasions, and for those, improptu candids, well if I don't have serious biceps now, I will after.
Your on camera rig, as configured in the photo, is less than ideal because the flash is off center and will cause the nose shadow to fall just enough sideways to become a distraction. A better configuration is to put the flash 12-18" directly above the lens so the nose shadow will fall straight down under the nose in a full face view (i.e. butterfly pattern) and hide itself behind the nose if the face turns away from the light.
Just reverse the part holding the flash so the flash sits directly above the lens. There's also no need for the umbrella / tilt bracket; you'll just be lugging extra weight around.
Try it both ways and compare the results, paying attention to where the nose shadow falls.
When moving a light off axis you won't get a short lighting pattern on a face w. light in both eyes and a nose shadow that falls along the base of the nose and over the top of the nostril (modeling it perfectly) until the key light is about 45 degrees from the nose (not the camera).
Is that all for a church wedding? The weddings I shoot usually don't allow flash and I prefer not to use it anyway. 3 AB in a church would be something I would not want to see during a service. Ok if you had time to use them for formals. I have never had a church allow more than 20 minutes because they all want to go home or have another service in line.
Maybe at a reception but still very distracting. Guess I prefer to blend in a little more.
I guess resistance really is futile. Yikes! Honestly, I think you're going to find that setup is mongo overkill in actual use...it does give you a ton of options, but it's huge and unwieldy, and I'm sure it's not exactly light.
Chuck swears by brackets...a lot of guys (including myself) never use them, and just use flash by bouncing it off something. I know, I know...the ceiling is 50 feet high and black, the walls are a hundred feet apart... Crank your ISO and shoot wide open, you'll be surprised what you can bounce off of .
I'd also lose that little soft box thingie...it's too small to actually make the light softer for anything other than a macro shot, and probably eats a stop of light.
I'd also get a couple of old SB-24/26/28s for use on a stand if you just want a manual flash on a stick...they're cheap, and you can keep your SB-800 on the camera and use the two in combination.
You've got some really nice equipment, but I think if you try and shoot an 8 hour wedding with that setup you're going to find that sometimes less is more...
Even in a dark room you don't necessarily have to crank the ISO. This one was shot at ISO 400, f/4, 1/60 using my 5DMkII and 580EXII. The flash was mounted on the camera and pointed at the 12' ceiling. I also had the little white bounce card extended on the flash. The room had extremely dark walls and ceiling, it was night so no light coming through the many windows, and the ambient lighting was just a bunch of those mini candelabra bulbs dimmed to a low setting (very yellow).
So this weddding was in a synagogue. Athough, I once shot a Greek Orthodox wedding with AB800's as well. I try to keep the lights well away, so as not to block anyone's view. Here's a sample of one of the groom waiting for the bride. (Get used to it ) To the left AB800 with Wescott Strip Bank and EggCrate. To the right, AB800 with umbrella. In the back of the rooom to my left, and AB800 at full power, pointed up at a 45 degree angle to illuminate the entire place. Last, but not least, my on camera flash on a tripod. http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2755/4113857224_5138590d32_b.jpg
Scott Clark wrote:
Chuck swears by brackets...a lot of guys (including myself) never use them, and just use flash by bouncing it off something. I know, I know...the ceiling is 50 feet high and black, the walls are a hundred feet apart... Crank your ISO and shoot wide open, you'll be surprised what you can bounce off of .
It not a question of intensity, or lighting up the room, but rather predictable control of the lighting on the faces. With a bracket I don't need to think about where the light will wind up on the face or if the eyes will be well lit. Natural light comes from overhead and so does light mounted above the camera on a bracket, but a bit shallower angle so its not shaded by the brow.
I'll also bounce my fill or key light when its advantageous and having the flash on a bracket doesn't eliminate those options too. The way I look at tools is that the more in the kit the more problems can be solved.
If you have an OC-E2 you can hold the flash in various positions then compare the results. I think the shots with the bracket look more natural than those where the flash is closer to the lens axis or slightly off center. YMMV of course.
louhand wrote:
To the left AB800 with Wescott Strip Bank and EggCrate. To the right, AB800 with umbrella. In the back of the rooom to my left, and AB800 at full power, pointed up at a 45 degree angle to illuminate the entire place. Last, but not least, my on camera flash on a tripod.
Umm...wow. Good job Lou. The lighting really does look nice...more like an e-session (where you have more time to set up stuff) than from a wedding...
kenyee wrote:
Umm...wow. Good job Lou. The lighting really does look nice...more like an e-session (where you have more time to set up stuff) than from a wedding...
I've got to be honest, paying clients will absolutely not want Alien Bees through brollies popping off during their ceremony - at the very least, they won't know they don't want it until it's happening and driving the attendants mad. :S:S
I'm envious.
