p.1 #1 · How are Wedding Photographers shooting with Flash on Camera
I have been shooting weddings for many many years and Have always used a bracket with the flash on it and a swivel for the camera to go to vertical and horizontal position and flash stays in the center on the bracket. I am curious to see what wedding photographers are doing today to use flash on camera and off camera. What kind of setups and which reflectors do you use to bounce flash and not shoot direct flash. ( Soften the light) Thank you
p.1 #2 · How are Wedding Photographers shooting with Flash on Camera
I haven't used an on camera flash at a wedding in almost a decade. I use a mix of Flashpoint AD400 Pros and AD200 flashes with reflectors and foldable beauty dishes.
p.1 #6 · How are Wedding Photographers shooting with Flash on Camera
I don't use much on-camera light, but when I do 80% of the time it's a 3/4 bounce over my right shoulder (which is perfect when you turn the camera vertical - don't have to change tilt direction).
10% of the time I'll just bounce straight up with the little pull out card for catch lights
10% of the time I'll smash light into a window or neutral wall for a nice blending side light.
Haven't used a bracket since going digital in 2005. If you're used to the bracket look and living in a world of constant fill-flash, then shooting with more natural light for grip-n-grin moments might seem weird but with modern cameras/sensors it's more appealing (provided the ambient temperature is consistent). Just a different way of shooting casual portraits and small groups. I prefer it as if something good starts happening with the subject(s) you can get off a few frames with reactions and not throw anyone into epileptic fits.
p.1 #7 · How are Wedding Photographers shooting with Flash on Camera
PS - avoid any attachments on your flash when you bounce. I'm seeing a lot of people using those MagMod bulbs like they used the Fong Lightshere 10 years ago and they just suck power. Best to go naked IMO.
bear in mind that if you are using a body with a reasonably large pixel count you can shoot on-cam in landscape aspect by default and then crop the image to portrait aspect in post, thereby avoiding the shadow you would otherwise get if shooting in the original portrait aspect. Obviously in some scenarios you have no choice e.g. you are in a confined space and cannot back away far enough from the subject to use landscape aspect. The bracket feels prehistoric now :- )
I use bounce whenever possible. Some shooters dislike this as the light goes everywhere but in my view the whole point of lighting mainstream portrait and group wedding photos is to have smooth even lighting.
I don't see a point of the Magmod bulb contraption compared to other cheaper similar modifiers e.g. like just a big reflector on the back of the gun. However I do like the grid for keeping the light source very narrow for a specific style of shot.
p.1 #13 · How are Wedding Photographers shooting with Flash on Camera
Shitty on camera light shot through a ridiculous fishbowl modifier is slightly less shitty on camera light and you look like an idiot to boot. If you have 9ft white ceilings then fine, bounce it until the cows come home. Otherwise get that shit off camera ASAP.
p.1 #14 · How are Wedding Photographers shooting with Flash on Camera
Maybe I'm the odd one out but that would be the moment where I realize they aren't getting hired again. I'd rather they just shoot ambient which at least gives me a different look.
LeeSimms wrote:
That MadMod fishbowl thing is catching on like Jim Jones' Kool-Aid. I shoot with three different 2nd's last week. All of them, showed up with one.
p.1 #17 · How are Wedding Photographers shooting with Flash on Camera
rollsman4 wrote:
I have been shooting weddings for many many years and Have always used a bracket with the flash on it and a swivel for the camera to go to vertical and horizontal position and flash stays in the center on the bracket. I am curious to see what wedding photographers are doing today to use flash on camera and off camera. What kind of setups and which reflectors do you use to bounce flash and not shoot direct flash. ( Soften the light) Thank you
I will make an admission. There are times in must-have shots where I will do what it takes to get them. If a bride and groom are coming outside of a dark church at night on a recessional, I will blast a straight on flash. Maybe this isn't the best possible decision and I would love to have assistants and perfect setups but if I'm by myself and I'm in a tight spot where I have a decision to make that will results in no shot vs a real-time shot in a split second decision, I will do what it takes.
p.1 #18 · How are Wedding Photographers shooting with Flash on Camera
Ken_Cravillion wrote:
I haven't used an on camera flash at a wedding in almost a decade. I use a mix of Flashpoint AD400 Pros and AD200 flashes with reflectors and foldable beauty dishes.
I truly admire Ken's work. Not only does he have a handle on lighting, he has a real feel for genuine moments. At the same time, he's probably among the best at taking advantage of working the found lighting he sees. You don't see his work and see a formula - you see the unique lighting circumstances in the various settings he shoots. This kind of mastery is the risky, edgy type of creativity I admire. What I'm saying is that Ken doesn't appear to bring the same *look* to all of his weddings - he adapts to the settings and shoots accordingly. I really love this work.
p.1 #19 · How are Wedding Photographers shooting with Flash on Camera
Thanks for that. I have shooting over 45 years and back in the day you had to use a bracket.
OCF is what I have been doing for a long time now BUT when you have dark walls or colored walls you cant bounce off them. That's the reason I posted this to see what methods are used. Especially when going from Horizontal to vertical shooting.
p.1 #20 · How are Wedding Photographers shooting with Flash on Camera
Rollsman4 - I don't know your digital setup - but I've often used the off-camera shoe cord to be able to move the flash around where I want...when I was shooting Canon. Probably not many shooting use it. It takes some getting used to and I imagine it would be a non-starter for a lot of people. It was something I did in photojournalism a lot because we didn't have time to set up lighting rigs 99% of the time shooting on the fly. But, still, one wants to try and get some lighting with a bit of dimension so it was a poor-man's way of shooting off camera. Obviously one can still point the flash any direction while it's on the shoe-cord. It's just an old PJ trick.
