Lighting Kit for wedding photography part 2: Reception halls

On 3 part blogs, I will dive into my personal preference for what Off Camera Flash (OCF) equipment I use for a full wedding day, as well as how I use it considering a full wedding day presents different scenarios and lighting situations. This one is part 2 of 3, with the third one coming next week.

remember, there are more than one way to achieve results. Different photographers will use different equipment and methods, this is just what works for me.

Flashgear logo

Lets start with a list of my OCF kit that bring too every wedding, as well as a link to my favourite OCF supplier.
1- Two Godox V1 pro Speedlights Click here
2- Two AD200 pro Click here
3- One AD400 pro Click Here
4- One 34” Quick Octabox the works as a soft box as well as a Beauty dish since it has a beauty dish plate Click Here
5- One 75” ULM Silver reflective umbrella Click Here
6- Three Heavy Duty Air cushioned Light Stand Click Here
7- One Godox Xpro II Controller Click Here

There’s a lot more equipment you can use, like small diffusers for your speed lights and AD200’s, just go to www.flashgear.net and have fun shopping.

Now, let’s get to the fun part. What do I use all these lights for, during the reception?
Let’s start with understanding that a full wedding day presents different challenges lighting wise. The same with reception halls, or party halls if you prefer. Every building is different.
For example, halls can be very dark with brown wood walls, same as barns, or they can be very bright with big windows and white walls. You gonna find halls with low ceilings, or very high ceilings. So be prepared and having proper equipment is key.
So how to approach this?
That’s when OCF comes in handy.
Lets start with understanding what equipment am I using during the parties.
Always two cameras, each with a speedlight on it.

One of the cameras uses the speedlight only, with high ISO. This is for proximity portraits, for example, when I am down in the middle of the crowd taking candids or portraits looking at the camera. The speedlight mixed with high ISO allows me to properly expose who’s in front of me and save ambient light. Occasionally I will also get some wide angle shots with this setup.
What’s the settings on this camera? Well, they may vary, but the Fstop is always between F2 and F4, never above F4. Shutter speed between 1\125 and 1\160, maybe sometimes 1\200. And ISO never below 2000 or 3200 if there’s no natural light available.

Image taken with 85mm lens at F2, flash on camera only, DJ light in the background

Cell phone image of AD400 highlighted in red, behind me, pointing at the corner wall behind me

Tip- If you’re short like me, a 3 step ladder is absolute gold. get a 85 1.4 or 70-200 2.8 on your camera and you will get great candid moments, without being too intrusive while people are dancing. But if you want to go in the middle of the crowd, usually a 50, 35 or 24-70 will do the job.

Now, on to the other camera. It also has a speedlight on it right? That’s the speedlight controlling all the Off Camera Flashes.
Confused? Lets break this down.
Let’s start with what lighting equipment are we talking about. What Off camera flash is my speedlight controlling?
- 2 AD200’s pro
- 1 AD400 pro

The two AD200’s are bare, the 400 has a Godox 7” reflector. Click here to see what this product is.
Now, some photographers use grids, diffuser panels, coloured gels, to avoid spills of lights and to match ambient. I’ve tried it and I personally don’t like how my images come out, but you are welcome to try. Maybe you will love it right? Remember. There’s more than one way of doing things. What matters is that you and your paying clients are happy.

Let’s talk placement. I usually use the DJ booth as a reference. When guests are dancing, they tent to dance facing the DJ or band, if there is one. So, I place my AD400 pro with the 7” Godox reflector in a wall either next to the DJ or behind him if there’s space. But always close to the wall behind me. It will be in a 13 feet lightstand. The reflector is to avoid spreading light everywhere. I want the light to go up, hit the corner behind me, and spread all around the dance floor. At the same time, opposite to where I am, on the other side of the dance floor, that’s where my two bare AD200’s are, on each corner of the dance floor, pointing down at the dance floor almost in a 45 degrees angle.

Image from Chris Vitale Photography, lights placed behind the tables, visible on the frame

Different photographers might have different placement. Chris Vitale, a good friend of mine and a very experienced wedding photographer out of Delaware, will use 3 or 4 depending on the size of the venue, and he places his lights not around the dance floor, but on the corners of the venue, behind the tables where the guests sit down. In our Pennsylvania workshop last year, he gave a class about this. Chris has this incredibly ability to create highly contrast images and save ambient light at the same time.
For more of his work, click here.

Wide angle image using 14 mm prime with the 2 AD200’s visible on the frame, AD400 behind me

Back to me. They are all firing at the same time, all 3 lights.
For this type of pictures, I usually use a wider lens like a 24-70, a 16-35 or a 14 mm prime. It’s the images of the all dance floor full of guests going crazy.

For settings, it may vary, but it something like F7 to F9, to create that starburst effect as the AD200’s fire, SS of 1\160 to 1\200 and ISO around 3200.

Remember, when firing this camera, the 400 watts light is always behind you. Because you dont want that hot spot of light hitting the wall, on your frame. Never shoot facing this light, always behind you.

Wide angle image, taken with a 14mm prime, two AD200’s visible on the frame, AD 400 behind me

What’s the purpose of this 400? Since it's behind me, the light is falling IN FRONT of me, properly exposing the hall dance floor. The speed light alone would not be able to do so, especially if it’s a big dance floor.

This also creates a high contrast image with a very dramatic feel to it. But you will be sacrificing most of ambient light tho. Which I personally don’t care much because remember, I have the other camera shooting almost wide open and high ISO

Image shot with a 16-35 at F9. AD200 visible on the frame

This two camera system allows me to deliver my clients two types of images of their parties. One that saves all ambient light, that they probably spent a lot of money in, with close up candids and classic looking at the camera. The other one offers a dramatic and high contrast perspective of everyone having a blast on the dance floor.

It’s very important that you get comfortable with learning and using OCF if you want to be a successful wedding photographer. Even if you never use it, having the knowledge helps, because you never know when you might need it.

Stay tuned for part 3, coming next week. Lighting set up for couple portraits and family formals on wedding days.

If you feel like this article helps, share it with your community of photographers. And don’t forget to drop a follow on my Instagram account, lots of its reels there. Click here to check it out.

Can’t wait to see what you come up with using these tips.