Lighting Kit for wedding photography, Part 3: Couples and Families,

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The part you have all be waiting for. The end of the trilogy. Hopefully, after reading this 3 part blogs about lighting equipment for wedding photography, you will be better prepared for your upcoming seasons. Better prepared, more confident that no challenge intimidates you.

As usual, lets start with start with a list of my OCF kit that bring to 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, on to the fun part. Let’s start with lighting equipment for when I am taking pictures of the couple. Please keep in mind that I do what can be called as hybrid shooting, meaning I will use OCF for more editorial type of posing (Outside or inside), and also if I have to shoot indoors because of weather conditions for example. I will then switch for natural light only for a more casual type of shoot, candid images where the couple is just having a good time.

My go to lenses for when I am taking pictures of a couple, is a 85mm Sigma Art 1.4, for close ups, and a 14mm Canon prime for wide angle shots. Occasionally I might use a 50 mm, but most cases, just the one mention before.

Behind the scenes image from our wedding photography workshop, with the AD400 pro with a 34” quick octabox

Regardless of what lens I am using, my choice of light is always the same. a AD400pro, and a 34” diffuser, in this case a Quick Octabox that works both as a soft box or a Beauty Dish. View link to Item number 4 in the list above.



The AD400 is a powerful strobe that allows me to over power the sun, wether I am shooting at F16, ISO100, or at F2 ISO 100 and a shutter speed of 1/1000 for example.

Wedding portrait shot at F2.8 to blur the background, using High sync speed to lower the amount of light coming in.
F2.8
Shutter speed of 1/800
ISO 100

With the 85mm lens, I usually shoot wide open, at F2, taking full advantage of my strobe in bright sun light conditions, as it allows me to use High Sync Speed to blur the background without exploding the highlights.
What’s High Sync Speed? Most cameras have a limited sync speed with your flash. From 1/160 to 1/250 depending on the model. A strobe with HSS allows you to shoot with a faster shutter speed, to compensate for the fact that your lens is wide open, at F2, which means there’s allot of light coming in. So you have to compensate right? How? By lowering your ISO and increasing your Shutter speed.

With my 14mm wide angle lens, I am shooting a wide angle image. I will use this lens if the architecture around us is worth it, or if we have a beautiful blue sky or a spectacular sunset. Bottom line is, I want a wide frame, and I want all of it to be in focus, a high contrast and vibrant image. So, I increase the Fstop to values F7 or above, depending on how much available natural light there is.

Wedding portrait shot at F16 for a more contrasty image, shot at F16 to have all of the frame in focus, and save the background details.
Settings:
F16
Shutter speed of 1/200
ISO 200

What you need to understand is that in both scenarios mentioned in the two paragraphs above, you are minimizing the amount of natural light coming thru your lens, usually to keep highlights from being way too high, and you need a strobe that is powerfull enough to lit up your couples, and a diffuser that will help you from making your couples look “ Too flashy “. you still with me?
Good.

Now, the other part of this blog. The family formals.

Some of you might not know this but the family formals are one of the most important parts of a wedding day. Those will be some of the couple (And their families) favourite pictures. Those are the images that the couple and their families will print and put on walls or frames by the night table, dresser, office, etc. So it’s extremely important you get this right.

A wedding day, or any other event like a Baptism, a Bar Mitzvah, a confirmation, a sweet 16 or a quincinera, is run, run, run, right? You’re on the go and there’s not time to be setting lights and sift boxes, to get that pitch perfect exposure right?. Well, you can do the next best thing, which is what I do, religiously, for every single wedding that I shoot.

Again, the one and only AD400 pro, and a 75” reflective umbrella. Now, feel free to use anything you want, but this bad boy is the easiest thing to assemble and take down. It opens and closes like a normal umbrella. Because of how big it is, it throws more than enough light to lit up a group of 4 or a group of 30 people. Believe me, i’ve done it, many times. I’ve use it for when I am shooting family formals inside churches, synagogues, reception halls, or if it’s outdoors and I dont want to blow out the background that is exposed to ambient light. Keep it simple. It’s a wedding day, there is a schedule. You want to take perfectly exposed family formals, with equipment that allows you to be fast, without loosing quality in your final product.

Big family portrait during a wedding day, using a AD400 and a 75” reflective umbrella

Family portrait shot before a Bar Mitzvah party, outdoors, using a AD400 pro and a 75” reflective umbrella

There you go folks. The last episode of my “lighting kit for wedding photographers “.
If you want to see more of my work, go to www.instagram.com\rochastudio
if you want to learn more from my, join my group join Facebook, by clicking here
And don’t forget to check all my other educational blogs, past and future ones, and also stay tuned for news on future workshops.

Happy shooting