So here is installment 2 of our blog posts directed at photographers. We had several photographers mention to us that they fear taking pictures at receptions because of how dark it is, they don’t like the colorcast they get on their photos, etc.  So for this post, we are going to focus on reception lighting.  The first thing I want to start out by saying, is your need to understand different types of indoor lighting and the color shift they create.  Since most reception sites will have tungsten lighting that is the one we will focus on today. Everyday light bulbs in your home are considered tungsten lights and they give off a yellow hue.  Or you may not see it with your eyes but your camera does.  So if you come away from a reception and aren’t sure why the pictures are so yellow this is why. There is a filter in digital cameras for tungsten light that will help correct this.  You have to be careful though when using flash because flash quick pop of bright white light.  So if you have your filter set in camera to counter balance the tungsten light, anything hit the pop of flash will appear blue.

You might be thinking great, this doesn’t help at all, don’t fret.  This is where off – camera lighting is a huge asset.   It is a bright white light that can work to over power the crazy yellowness (ok I know this isn’t a word but go with me here) that is created when using on-camera flash.  We set up at least 2 off camera flashes on stands around the dance floor or reception; it depends where the action will be.  A lot of times too, I will set up one off camera flash on a stand and hand hold the other one, its just depends on the lighting and the look wanted. When I walk into a reception room, I immediately scan the room and where to put my stands. I then do some test shots and move the stands around as needed until I find a spot I like. Yes it can make you feel a bit stupid to carry around the stands but the images you will create will more than make-up for it. Some photographers will have an assist hold the off camera flash on a monopod, I personally have never tried this so I can’t really comment on it.

Now if you are wondering about the ambient light and if the off-camera flash will completely kill that, it won’t if you test the light and get your settings right.  I can’t give you exact settings to use because every room is different.  One thing I do is drag the shutter, so I can hand hold my camera and have it around 1/30 of a second and let the ambient light fill in.  Don’t worry; everything will still be in focus because the pop of the flash will freeze the action.  So I’ll have really nicely lit subjects and pretty ambient light.  This is something that needs practice to get the hang of it.

Another great benefit of off-camera flash is the depth it gives your photos.  On camera flash gives a very flat, flashy look to images.  Off camera lighting can add more dimension to your photos.  Even on camera flash that is bounced off something still looks slightly flat and depending what it is bounced off of, give the subjects a weird color.  Also sometimes it’s really hard to find a place to bounce your flash and while you are trying to find the best way to bounce the flash, the moment is gone. Please remember though this is just an opinion and there are other photographers out there that do amazing things with bounced flash.  We are just letting you know how we work, what we like, and our set-up.

So here are 2 photographs to show an example of what we are talking about that were taken at the same location.  The first one was taken a few years ago (don’t judge) with on-camera flash and the 2^nd image was taken last October with off-camera flash.  You can certainly see the difference and we didn’t kill that ambient light.

If you have any other questions regarding how to light a reception, leave a comment and we will address it in a future blog post.  Thanks everyone 🙂

An example of using off camera lighting while dragging the shutter to get the ambient light.

To view our first installment for photographers, click here