Dark reception room but top table in front of windows

ajax_andy

ajax_andy

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I had a bot of an issue with a wedding at the weekend where the top table was in front of quite large windows... however the room itself was very dark.

I couldn't really work out the best option because if no matter what the background was extremely distracting... If I exposed for it then it was ok, with some bounced flash the speakers were adequately lit... but still the rest of the room looked far too dark. If I exposed for the room light the windows became massively blown and were really terrible and distracting.

In this situation what would you do?

I thought afterwards that maybe I could have asked them to either turn up the lights a bit, or close the blinds... would this be acceptable?

Or is there an easier way of getting around this issue?
 
ajax_andy said:
I had a bot of an issue with a wedding at the weekend where the top table was in front of quite large windows... however the room itself was very dark.

I couldn't really work out the best option because if no matter what the background was extremely distracting... If I exposed for it then it was ok, with some bounced flash the speakers were adequately lit... but still the rest of the room looked far too dark. If I exposed for the room light the windows became massively blown and were really terrible and distracting.

In this situation what would you do?

I thought afterwards that maybe I could have asked them to either turn up the lights a bit, or close the blinds... would this be acceptable?

Or is there an easier way of getting around this issue?
Click to expand...

Andy. Taking flash out of the equation, I would have switched to manual mode, exposed for the wedding party and ignored the windows. Alternatively I guess you could +EV in aperture priority mode. Either way, there's only so much you can do :)

If you could get some bounce flash to the top table, then I would still have shot in manual, maybe underexposed and let the flash add some light to balance things out.

I had a nightmare at last weekend's wedding. Firstly, the bride's father stood up, and directly behind him was a blimin projector displaying pictures. Then, it got really dark outside and I noticed that the venue staff had switched on only half the room lights. The section of the room that the bride was sitting in was unlit (and she was asian). The groom's side of the room was lit - he was white. Bouncing was blimin hard as there were beams ever 5 feet! :( Only so much you can do. I ended up bouncing light off a wall behind me. Far from ideal.

I have heard of togs using ocf in such situations, but in my case even this would have been difficult. There simply was nowhere I could have set anything up.

Cheers.

Dav
 
FlyTVR said:
Andy. Taking flash out of the equation, I would have switched to manual mode, exposed for the wedding party and ignored the windows. Alternatively I guess you could +EV in aperture priority mode. Either way, there's only so much you can do :)

If you could get some bounce flash to the top table, then I would still have shot in manual, maybe underexposed and let the flash add some light to balance things out.

I had a nightmare at last weekend's wedding. Firstly, the bride's father stood up, and directly behind him was a blimin projector displaying pictures. Then, it got really dark outside and I noticed that the venue staff had switched on only half the room lights. The section of the room that the bride was sitting in was unlit (and she was asian). The groom's side of the room was lit - he was white. Bouncing was blimin hard as there were beams ever 5 feet! :( Only so much you can do. I ended up bouncing light off a wall behind me. Far from ideal.

I have heard of togs using ocf in such situations, but in my case even this would have been difficult. There simply was nowhere I could have set anything up.

Cheers.

Dav
Click to expand...

Yeah Dav you're right that sometimes the conditions are against you... like you said maybe OCF might work but in this situation I'd have struggled with the room and placing them without them being obtrusive.

I think maybe I should have fired a few test shots before the speeches and that way would have had time to make better informed decisions. I might still have made the same decisions but then again maybe not. :shrug:
 
Fill flash, flash bounced off the ceiling, OCF (held by assistant)

Meter for brides face is the "turn up the ISO brigade's n stuff everything else" fave method for those who "don't" use flash
 
Richard King said:
Fill flash, flash bounced off the ceiling, OCF (held by assistant)

Meter for brides face is the "turn up the ISO brigade's n stuff everything else" fave method for those who "don't" use flash
Click to expand...

I didn't have an assistant sadly, the wedding was very small and also quite cheap so there was no room in the budget for anyone to help out on the day... it's something I will consider for any future weddings where there may be similar issues.

I bounced flash off the ceiling so got some light on the speakers, but think maybe getting in closer, or using a longer zoom might have helped reduce the amount of bright space behind them too.

Plenty to think about for next time :)
 
That's why you get the big money.

Top table back to biggest window is SOP.
 
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