{"id":13374,"date":"2013-02-07T17:36:41","date_gmt":"2013-02-07T21:36:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/?p=13374"},"modified":"2020-06-13T18:55:03","modified_gmt":"2020-06-13T22:55:03","slug":"wedding-photography-positioning-flash-formals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/wedding-photography-positioning-flash-formals\/","title":{"rendered":"Wedding photography: Positioning your flash for the formals"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Wedding photography: Positioning the lighting for the groups & formals<\/h1>\n

In setting up the lighting for wedding formals in the church, the question often crops up – where<\/strong> do you place the lights. How far<\/strong> from your subjects do you place the lights.<\/p>\n

The photograph above shows how and where I place the flash with the umbrella – about 3 pews in, just behind me or to my left (or right). This is approximate though. Two pews in would be fine. Of course, if you’re shooting the wedding formals elsewhere in a different location, just use the same idea.<\/p>\n

The closer you bring the light, the more you risk having the light come from too steep an angle, and giving you shadowed eyes.<\/p>\n

In positioning my light here, I can be slightly forward of my light – no chance of lens flare –\u00a0and<\/strong>\u00a0I have proper perspective for full-length photos. You really do not want to shoot full-length portraits with a wide angle lens<\/a>. Step back, rather than zoom in!<\/p>\n

Placing the light relatively further back like shown here, does bring the light in at a fairly low angle – but it gives open, clean lighting.\u00a0This is how it looks:<\/p>\n

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camera settings:
\n1\/100 @ f\/5.6 @ 400 ISO<\/p>\n

Here I used two speedlights with the single 45″ shoot-through umbrella, to give a wide swathe of light. Both speedlights were gelled with\u00a01\/2 Straw CTS \u2013 20\u00d724″\u00a0gels<\/a>\u00a0(affiliate<\/em>) to help compensate for the Incandescent lighting<\/a>. I used the\u00a0RPS Light Bar RS-3102<\/a>\u00a0(affiliate<\/em>)\u00a0 to mount the speedlights together, as described in this article:\u00a0mounting multiple flashes \/ speedlites<\/a>. Another alternative is the\u00a0Triple Flash\/Umbrella Mount<\/a>\u00a0(affiliate<\/i>).<\/p>\n

The light is spread quite even – even enough for a small group.<\/p>\n

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The lighting really is meant to be straight-forward. No cross-lighting. No weird shadows. In a large group, no one is half-hidden in someone else’s shadow. The light is meant to be quite flat. You risk few problems this way.<\/p>\n

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Photo gear used (or equivalents)<\/h2>\n