I've just gotta say something. I've been lurking in this forum trying to learn about flashes. There's a lot of knowledgeable folks who are very willing to share.
But to dmacmillan---What on earth good is a post with just a link to a site Especially when the site has nothing educational in it, just a wedding photogs site. BIG Deal!! If there's something special about it or something that pertains to the OP then have the common sense to tell us. What a waste!!!
jeff ascough is very well known for his photojournalistic style of photography and blending in with the crowd...i'm pretty sure dmacmillan was saying it's going to be impossible for the OP to blend in with that rig, and that he doesn't need it to take great images...i could be wrong though
Well then why didn't he just say so? It would have been useful then. Sorry to be so bitchy. I seen just links posted before with no explanation and I guess this was just the straw that broke the camel's back.
Don't let these photo-ninja point-and-shoot-packing wimps, who obviously never shot weddings using a RB67 with a potato masher or Norman 400B on a Denis Reggie bracket, bring you down.
Like they say, if you want big game, you pack the big gun.
Don't let these photo-ninja point-and-shoot-packing wimps, who obviously never shot weddings using a RB67 with a potato masher or Norman 400B on a Denis Reggie bracket, bring you down.
Like they say, if you want big game, you pack the big gun.
Good luck.
Oh, the irony!
It's been over 20 yeears since I was in the wedding business. At the time, I was guilty of all of the above, although I used a Stroboframe. My potato masher took those 400v batteries. I only used the RB67 for formals, I mostly shot Mamiya 645's for candids. I had an assistant with a flash on a monolight for a two light setup.
Don't let these photo-ninja point-and-shoot-packing wimps, who obviously never shot weddings using a RB67 with a potato masher or Norman 400B on a Denis Reggie bracket, bring you down.
Like they say, if you want big game, you pack the big gun.
Good luck.
What about a Koni-Omega Rapid M with an ASCOR Auto 1600 Flash. The sound of the bolt action/repeating shotgun device that advanced the film and cocked the shutter would make any groom tremble.
It weighed a ton but was very reliable back in the day.
Naturally, I was merely dissing Lou. Truth be told, I just bought a potato masher: the real kind with a fan reflector and flash bulbs. Should be an adventure (of the expensive kind).
Ambient light GOOD / FLASH bad oversimplifies the problem. I would think anyone shooting weddings for hire would want to have a technically effective flash solution, and have the good judgement to know when to use it to best effect.
Ambient light should be used first when it is the most effective solution. But it doesn't always come from a flattering direction on the faces or with contrast low enough to record detail from highlights to shadows on the relatively short range digital sensor. In those situations flash, used effectively, will produce more flattering results.
There are also many flash techniques with will produce fake looking, unflattering results. But wedding shooters learned many years ago raising a single flash 12-18" directly above the lens on a bracket is an effective technique It eliminates the problem of slightly off-axis flash creating unflattering dark sideways shadows by casting the shadows straight back and down where they are hidden from view. The angle of the light mimics that of most natural and artificial ambient light which comes from overhead most of the time, which makes it look more natural. One of the technical problems when shooting color, mixed lighting, can be solved by gelling the flash to match the ambient for a more seamless mix of flash and ambient.
Wedding shooters also face some of the more difficult contrast situations in photography. Blown highlights in a bride's dress or lack of detail in the groom's suit will be noticed in wedding coverage. The technical solution for controlling contrast and matching scene to sensor is to lay down a foundation of even fill then overlap the off-axis key light on top of it. Adding a second flash on a stand to the one on the bracket allows studio-like control of lighting pattern and contrast, indoors or out, if positioned effectively. If the stand has casters then using dual flash without an assistant is both practical and hardly more difficult than shooting with a single flash, especially today with ETTL wireless ratio control.
As flash goes the basic strategy here is good (camera flash on bracket + flash on stand) but the implementation is a bit off the mark (camera flash not centered) and overly complicated (umbrella bracket not needed on the on-camera flash). There are also smaller brackets, like the basic Stroboframe which would do the same job with less bulk and weight. The same is true for the diffusers. Miniature softboxes are not as effective as reflection diffusers of similar size. An IV stand is ideal for the off camera flash because it is designed for stability and mobility.
An ideal comprehensive tool set for shooting weddings would be:
1) A pair of battery/inverter studio lights for shooting the formals and groups (jobs hot shoe flash is not ideally suited for) transported in a rolling, lockable case.
2) A pair of hot shoe flashes w. bracket / rolling off-camera flash stand for shooting candids (the job hot shoe flash is ideally suited for).
3) A tripod and a fast IS telephoto lens for shooting unobtrusive wide, medium, and close-ups using ambient light during the ceremony if photography is allowed. One of the more effective ceremony shots is an ambient wide shot from the back of the church, ideally from above if the church has a choir loft or balcony.
An advantage of weddings is that the coverage tells a photojournalistic story in album format and its possible to combine wider, real-time action shots taken with ambient light to establish a change in scene in the story with medium and close-up shots taken with flash either candidly, or in the case of things like the ring exchanged staged before or afterwards. In most situations the lighting indoors is totally artificial, so whether it comes from bulbs in the ceiling or the photographer's flash is splitting hairs. The most important consideration is whether or not the light is flattering and draws attention to the center of interest in the shot by making it contrast from all the background distractions. The goal isn't to light up the entire room evenly, but to "spotlight" the stars of the show; the bridal party. One of the advantages of working with flash is that background distractions can be controlled with shutter speed, shooting distance to subject (the further away the flash is, the more gradually it will fall off) and bouncing. When the ambient light alone is the better choice one simply needs to reach up and turn off the flash
looks a little heavy to me - to get things better balanced could you 'flip' the flash/softbox assembly support arm to the other (interior) side of the bracket - would the flash then be closer to center over lens axis? We stopped using brackets last year after realizing the only images we single lit w/on camera flash were the processional and resessional images. Everything else was lit off camera. Softboxes/umbrellas for portraits/groups (most often Photogenic Powerlights w/ InvaTronix pure sine wave invertors - Sunpack potato mashers set up in room corners @ reception w/either ac or dc power supplies. When we stopped using the brackets we went w/Denba Flip-It cards. Wedding photography is all about compromises.
Especially when the site has nothing educational in it, just a wedding photogs site. BIG Deal!! If there's something special about it or something that pertains to the OP then have the common sense to tell us. What a waste!!!