Hey guys,
Got few options I'm considering for formals, and I was curious what you guys think...

I'm thinking about indoor formals. I've got a bunch of speedlights, a pair of Norman 200b's that I've modified to use a big 12V NIMH battery pack. Also have a small Speedotron pack and head set I could use, but that's probably overkill...and would require AC power, and more time to set up. Yes, ever situation is different, but I'm just looking for input on what would work best for a smiling group of people in a row, inside, without a ton of ambient light. Don't want anything fancy or dramatic...just nice even light that makes everyone look good. So here's what I'm considering--

1) Single light. None of my soft boxes are big enough for a group, but I've got a pair of 60" convertible umbrellas. This could be set up either way, although I don't see much point in using it in shoot through mode since spill probably isn't a concern and I'm not trying to get it closer to the subject... Just a light up high on a stand above the camera.

2) Two lights, close to the camera. Basically two lights, fairly close left and right...would act more like a single really big light than cross lighting. Maybe feathered slightly.

3). Two lights at 45*. The old favorite cross lighting...I always read different opinions on this...thoughts?

4) Clamshell. Key light a 60" shoot through, fill light a 48" shoot through (the two 60s would be impressive, but probably impractical). I'm sure the light looks nice, but it seems like it would take more time to get it right and it seems like you would run into coverage issues if the group was big enough.

Other suggestions?

Are speedlights enough for power, or should I just hook up the Normans? The little Normans put out 200 w/s each, and with the big battery I built for them I can shoot just about forever. Recycle time even on full power is just over one second. They do take slightly longer to set up than speedlights, but not much. I do have plenty of batteries for the speedlights if I go that rout (and a Jackrabbit for one of them).

I tend to like to keep things simple, and like I said...not looking for anything more than nice even light that will make people look good.
Thoughts?
-Scott

Do you have any examples of what you are trying to achieve?

RedWhiteandRed wrote:
Do you have any examples of what you are trying to achieve?

Not handy...I'll see what I can come up with. Just basically even lighting without weird/distracting shadows in the group if possible. Or least minimized...

Options 2 and 3 are most likely to give you:

quote]Scott Clark wrote:
weird/distracting shadows in the group ...


....that you don't want.

What's been working well for me is a lightsick with two speedlights fired into a 48" umbrealla placed just over the camera or slightly to one side. I have a Lowell umbrella mount (not shown) that clamps onto the mono pod holding my flashes.



Here's the results



Works well outside too



The very first wedding I shot, I tried the "two softboxes on either side of the camera" approach and didn't like the results, shown here. Too many shadows. Also, I had the lights too far away from the camera and too far back.



btw, these aren't the "normal" formals as you can tell.

This is a two light setup closest to your option #3. The lights are in 48" octaboxes but are placed closer to 30º.

jcolman wrote:




I think I like this one the most, Jim!

For outdoor formals, I set the group up with the sun behind them with an off-camera, unmodified flash for fill set up opposite from the sun at 1/8 power or so:

Indoor: One flash in a double-fold compact umbrella, gelled to match ambient, about 3 feet to my left or right, ambient used for fill.

Outdoor: Same, except AB1600 into silver umbrella, ambient still used for fill.

Simple, quick, effective, ang "good enough" for a part of the coverage that everyone wants but don't care if it's perfectly lit or super creative.

Thanks for the examples guys! Exactly what I was looking for (and exactly the kind of light I'm looking for). I do have a setup similar to what Jim has if I wanted to use it (my lightstick setup)...I welded up this bracket to use with my Cybersync CSRB+ receiver. Here it is with a pair of SB-28s.

You should take the reflectors off the norman heads - or at least consider doing so.

RedWhiteandRed wrote:
You should take the reflectors off the norman heads - or at least consider doing so.

You've definitely got my curiosity... The only reason I can think of to fire them into umbrellas sans reflectors would be to let the spill from the bare bulb bounce off things and add some fill, or add more light from the flash to the overall room exposure (?). Correct?

Never tried it...only times I've used them without the reflectors was for some bare bulb back lighting fun.

I prefer single-light options 100% of the time, no matter the group size. There's just no chance of conflicting shadows. Even in dark caves, it still works just fine.