{"id":9933,"date":"2012-01-23T23:48:43","date_gmt":"2012-01-24T03:48:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/?p=9933"},"modified":"2020-06-13T19:24:07","modified_gmt":"2020-06-13T23:24:07","slug":"simple-lighting-setup-for-photographing-the-wedding-formals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/neilvn.com\/tangents\/simple-lighting-setup-for-photographing-the-wedding-formals\/","title":{"rendered":"A simple lighting setup for photographing the wedding formals"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A\u00a0simple lighting setup for photographing the wedding formals<\/h1>\n

Photographing a wedding can be pretty hectic at times, especially as it so often becomes the photographer’s de facto responsibility to keep everything on track. The formal photo session specifically is a part of the day that many photographers find challenging. The other challenging part of the wedding day is\u00a0photographing the wedding processional<\/a>. You have a narrow margin to get things just right. No second chance.<\/p>\n

When photographing the family portraits, you can really help yourself by nailing your lighting. Get it down. \u00a0Then you can concentrate on getting the groups together, and concentrate on posing the groups. But your lighting works!\u00a0Much less stress.<\/p>\n

I mostly work with the Profoto B1\u00a0flash<\/a>\u00a0at the moment, because of their versatility and sheer power. However, I\u00a0often\u00a0work\u00a0with a speedlight setup …<\/p>\n

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Here is\u00a0a proper close-up of the photo gear that\u00a0was used. Anything similar would do well.<\/p>\n

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Suggested\u00a0photo gear to light the wedding formals<\/strong><\/h2>\n

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Two Speedlights<\/span><\/h3>\n

Here I used two Nikon SB-900 speedlights.\u00a0They’ve been updated as the\u00a0Nikon SB-910 Speedlight<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(affiliate<\/em>).<\/p>\n

If you’re a Canon shooter, then the \u00a0Canon 600EX-RT Speedlite<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(affiliate<\/em>) is a great choice.\u00a0But any speedlights would’ve worked. There are good reasons to use cheaper manual-only speedlights, but I prefer having only the top-end speedlights which offer the flexibility and features I need, such as TTL flash and high-speed flash sync.<\/p>\n

I used two speedlights ganged up like this, because they (obviously) give more power than just one – but the impaction is also that if I run them at half power, they recycle much faster than a single speedlight at full power. And of course, if I need more juice, I can push them both to full power.<\/p>\n

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Radio triggers<\/a><\/span><\/h3>\n

I like the PocketWizard TT5 units, but since we’ll be using manual flash only here, there’s a wide variety of radio triggers for flash<\/a> that would’ve worked well.<\/p>\n

45″ white satin umbrella<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>
\nThis single\u00a0shoot-through umbrella disperses the light surprisingly evenly.<\/p>\n

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Umbrella Bracket<\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

You need something to hook the umbrella up to the light-stand, and be able to swivel the umbrella into a specific direction.<\/p>\n