Need Help ! Outdoor " night shoot" wedding !

[SmileyEyesPhotography]

I have been asked to shoot an outdoor wedding formal session, and since saying yes, it has gotten very dark at 8 pm .

I have a 2 strobes and an external flash.

Is this going to work ?

Any tips on making this work without any severe shadowing or harsh lighting ?

[tegan]

I would use small floodlights with barn doors (normally used for television and video) to light up the whole area and sell the couple on the fact that it will add to the very special, event atmosphere. I am sure that they can be rented.

Tegan

[Marko]

Hi SmileyEyesPhotography,

I am not sure I understand you clearly. are we talking ceremony? or formals?

If we are actually talking about the ceremony, personally, I would NOT use the strobes, I would use on camera flash and try softening it with a diffuser or bouncing it off the flash card if it has one.

If we are talking about a formal photo session, I would have to ask - why have a formal photo session at night? If this is the case - then bouncing the strobes into an umbrella or using a softbox on the strobes will soften the light.

If you provide more precision about the whole event (middle of a field?) will any light be there from a building, videographer's light, I can give a better opinion.

Tegan's idea of renting floods is also a good one if budget permits.

Hope that helps,

Marko

[SmileyEyesPhotography]

Hi!

They insisted on doing them outside in the park. It is for the formals only.

I advised them against it, but this is what they want.

They are marrying at 7 pm. Formals will be around 8 pm and it is pitch black at that time.

There is no other light source in the park.

I was tossing the idea of having someone hold a reflective disc above my head to maybe bounce my flash off, not sure how that would work. As well as use my strobes.

I am seriously considering a cancellation as I am not overly comfortable with this whole scenario.


If anyone has any tips on how to make this work, I would be grateful !!

[Marko]

If you have strobes that work by battery - I guess go for it ONLY if you are choosing 1 spot and have all photos in that spot. Then bounce the strobes into an umbrella (VERY cheap to rent/buy).

Personally though, in this case - I would shoot straight flash.

If you decide to take the gig, go a day or two before to the location, with a friend or 2 and take some practice shots.

Hope that helps...let us know.

Marko

[tegan]

The challenge however for using flash will be red eye and the white colours throwing off the flash and exposure.

Tegan

[SmileyEyesPhotography]

I ended up not shooting the wedding. They were starting to annoy me too much ! LOL!

Long story now.

But at least I didn't have to do it in the end.

[SmileyEyesPhotography]

please delete this post, it shows up in google under my business name. At least the last post as it was negative and I don't need clients seeing that. Thank you !!

[weddeals]

A little bit. I didn't try to clean them up because I liked how that ended up looking. I was kind of digging the noir feel that the grain gave the photos. But I was shooting at fairly high ISO so I could get the city lights exposed correctly without having the exposure for too long (shooting handheld).

Using a tripod would have helped allow me to keep the city sharp with a longer exposure and lower ISO.