{"id":50227,"date":"2021-02-05T19:30:58","date_gmt":"2021-02-05T23:30:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/?p=50227"},"modified":"2022-04-20T18:00:59","modified_gmt":"2022-04-20T22:00:59","slug":"bounce-flash-photography-with-wooden-ceilings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/bounce-flash-photography-with-wooden-ceilings\/","title":{"rendered":"Bounce flash photography with wooden ceilings"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"bounce<\/p>\n

Bounce flash photography with wooden ceilings<\/h1>\n

When photographing wedding receptions, I would ideally like to get away with just one on-camera flash that I bounce off surfaces behind me. A venue with (close to) white ceilings and walls are just perfect. Super easy. Even with really high ceilings, I try to make it work. Here for example, I used a single bare<\/strong> on-camera flash to light up the entire place — Wedding reception lighting with one flash<\/a>. No diffuser cup or white bounce card. Bare flash with the Black Foamie Thing<\/a>. But occasionally I reach the dead-end of a venue with black ceilings and walls. Then I have to resort to additional off-camera flashes, and use a diffuser cup or bounce card on my flash. Not my first choice for flattering light from my on-camera flash … but these are the limitations we hit occasionally. Another situation that is a real challenge, is when the venue has wooden ceilings … but I still try to see if I can get away with using an on-camera bounce flash. And often enough it works.<\/p>\n

The photo above is of the groom lifting his niece up into the air while they were dancing. Yes, I\u00a0bounced flash off that wooden ceiling to get that soft light o them. There was also an off-camera flash behind them to help create a bit of depth to the scene. The off-camera flash was gelled with a 1\/2 CTS gel to make it less blue compared to the main light. The on-camera bounce flash is very warm in color because of the wood. In post-processing the RAW file, the WB was around 2600 K, with the Magenta turned down a fair amount too.<\/p>\n

But that wooden ceiling does eat up a lot of light. We are operating near the limits of what we can easily get away with. I was mostly using\u00a0full power manual flash with a Profoto A1 @ f\/3.2 @ 3200 ISO. \u00a0Really squeaking in the proper flash exposure there. I am saying “mostly” because it definitely depended on which direction I bounced the flash in, and how close I was to one of those walls. Sometimes I had to turn the flash power down by 2 stops for correct exposure. It became easier to dial in the (approximate) correct flash exposure as I started to mentally map where I am standing on the dance floor, and how I was turning towards my subjects.<\/p>\n

Do check out this Tutorial: Bounce flash photography<\/a><\/p>\n

My point is – while it is real trouble\u00a0bouncing off wooden walls in barns etc, it isn’t entirely impossible. I always give it a try first and see if I can make it work first, before going for more complex multi-flash lighting setups.<\/p>\n

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Camera settings & photo gear used<\/h2>\n