Stupid question? : good to use bounce flash for wedding photography?


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Isaiahfortythirtyone

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Jul 17, 2005
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i've been thinking about this for quite some time. couldnt relaly figure out the answer so i'm posting here.

if bounce flash is used, more pwoer is used up and the flash takes longer to recharge. e.g. for the 550ex its 6 secs on full power flash. non bounce flash recharges very fast, i think one can shoot 6-7 shots before the flash sucks power again from the batts.

if shooting indoor weddings say in a church, is it recommended (advisable?) then to use bounce flash? because then one may miss some shots waitin for the flash to recharge. esp things like the putting on the rings (which lasts only a few secs) to the kiss (another few secs), i'm just wondering out loud how safe bounce flash is.

of course lets not talk abt the hammer head with the lead battery thing here. just speaking abt normal high pwr flashes alone (550ex, 580ex, sigma 500, sb-800).

wld like to hear your views. thanks guys :)
 

For indoors like churches, be careful. Some dun even allow flash photography.

And if it's a church, the ceiling is very high and can't allow much bouncing off it. You'd be better off with a diffused direct flash or bounced using a flash card or probably LSPJ type.
 

oh....wont diffuser lose as much light, or just slightly less, than a bounce card?
 

point direct- consume less power.

add diffuser too if too hush. :)
 

hmm then what kind of diffusers do wedding photogs use? the stofen? IIRC, the stofen loses abt 2 stops of light. which means that even if i point direct and use the stofen, there is a chance that the flash will have to recharge frequently wont it? :think:
 

IMO, u know the pros & cons & hav already answered your own qn.

It's all up to personal pref.
I like bounce, no stofen or sofen. While I see others shoot direct, and some use a HUGE useless globe for the same shoot/angle.



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Isaiahfortythirtyone said:
hmm then what kind of diffusers do wedding photogs use? the stofen? IIRC, the stofen loses abt 2 stops of light. which means that even if i point direct and use the stofen, there is a chance that the flash will have to recharge frequently wont it? :think:
some use diffuser some don't, so is really up to personal preference.
Does a diffuser really make that much of a different?
 

stofen is usually enough, and really, it's up to the demands of the situation and preference of your clientthere and then, not about batteries i think, after batteries can be changed and bought.
 

Yes, use bounce flash whenever is possible.

when it is not possible to bounce, use direct.

use ISO 400, for daytime indoor, ISO 800 for dinner.

get a battery pack, or pace your shots.
 

i use LS for indoor as often as I can, although FE tends to shift slightly when height of celing changes. drain power faster. get battery pack or bring more batts. or change ur batts to fresh ones when u know its taking too long...say 8 secs to charge..

super high church ceiling den dun bother bouncing i believe. just direct. but dont direct with LS on! will have a circular light source....haha.
 

doug3fflux said:
i use LS for indoor as often as I can, although FE tends to shift slightly when height of celing changes. drain power faster. get battery pack or bring more batts. or change ur batts to fresh ones when u know its taking too long...say 8 secs to charge..

super high church ceiling den dun bother bouncing i believe. just direct. but dont direct with LS on! will have a circular light source....haha.

Not sure what kind of LS there is, and what kind mine is (it's that huge and useless one), but it depends on how you use it, and the distance to the subject. If well used, lighting can be so even that it's hard to detect that flash was even used. But at other times, like u said, the circularity is so obvious it is not just ugly, but funny.

SJ: most good advice had been given already. If recycling is an issue, get a batt pack. But 6 secs is a bit long for 550ex, you might wanna experiment with diff batts see if it helps. If power is concern, use direct flash. Bounce card can help too. Keep an open mind and experiment, don't dismiss and rule out options easily :)
 

catchlights said:
hear about inverted dome?

yes, but thats all. just heard... i dont know how it works..

yes shinken it can be funny at times..
 

yeah that's the prob with bounce flash, uses more power.

so that's why i have spent quite alot of money on fast lenses (f1.4) and prob the most expensive battery pack available cmomercially for flashes.. ;p

since the dear brand of camera i use doesn't perform all that well in high iso (compared to the competition). :bsmilie:
 

doug3fflux said:
yes, but thats all. just heard... i dont know how it works..

yes shinken it can be funny at times..
That's is for you to shoot direct flash with LSII PJ. and also use it when the ceiling is very low.
 

haha thanks ken and everyone. im a bit stressed la. my friend asked me to shoot his wedding in dec 2007. as much as i tried to refuse telling him "its a once in a lifetime thing...blah blah" he would have none of it.

so now i have 1.5 years to practice. :p and first of all i need to get my flash technique right. so yea, i really appreciate all the advice given here. :)
 

jOhO said:
yeah that's the prob with bounce flash, uses more power.

so that's why i have spent quite alot of money on fast lenses (f1.4) and prob the most expensive battery pack available cmomercially for flashes.. ;p

since the dear brand of camera i use doesn't perform all that well in high iso (compared to the competition). :bsmilie:


time to come to the 'light side'?:bsmilie:

just attended a fellow photographer's wedding tonight as a guest, all the DLSR fitted with prime lenses got red ring around it. Its the wedding with most photog as guests and one with the most cameras!
 

I think it would depend on several factors.

1) The height of the church ceiling. If it's really high I would definitely suggest direct.

2) The distance between the subject and the background also makes quite a bit of difference. Say your subject is just in front of a wall, harsh shadows will be very apparent with direct flash. If your subject if 10m away from that same wall, you generally will not see any shadows. Reducing the power output of the flash by a tad, especially for Canon, helps quite a bit. IMO, it really looks A LOT better than an omnibounce or any portable light modifier. Of course, bounce flash still looks the greatest.
 

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