Snoot for first dance

BazEP

BazEP

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Chris
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Ok
before I get flamed - It's my sisters wedding where she has got a togger but doesn't want them to hang around for the evening and just wants snaps of the first dance.
I on the other hand, having been asked to take some shots want them to be stunning. I've been going through some ideas in my head and am wondering about using a snoot to seperate the B&G from the background. I'm going to be using a D300, sb800 with probably a 70-300 for this (but will have 18-70 and 50mm available too). Has anyone gone down this route and can share any examples or alternatively got some shockers to show me why not?

It is just one idea of a few (side lit, back lit, bounced etc) so any others you think I should consider as being a potnetial alternative style for capturing the first dance would be great.

thanks in anticipation:help:
 
not going to be much of a reply but only you can convey the image that you want to create in your head and thats right down to the kit you think you will need.

Other things from experience is that no 2 first dances are the same, some all people get up (ball ache), some have guests all around the dance floor (so cant get a shot without them), some have DJ's with serious overkill on the lighting, some just have ambient lights, some have next to no light which is normally my ideal as I have a field day mixing video flash and Nikon CLS.

Might be worth while having a look at where the wedding is and getting an idea of how the shot set-up would pan out :)
 
Thanks
Yeah, that's part of the problem. I can't get in to the location until the evening before and need to decide what to take there (it's 600miles away) before hand.
 
BazEP said:
Ok
before I get flamed - It's my sisters wedding where she has got a togger but doesn't want them to hang around for the evening and just wants snaps of the first dance.
I on the other hand, having been asked to take some shots want them to be stunning. I've been going through some ideas in my head and am wondering about using a snoot to seperate the B&G from the background. I'm going to be using a D300, sb800 with probably a 70-300 for this (but will have 18-70 and 50mm available too). Has anyone gone down this route and can share any examples or alternatively got some shockers to show me why not?

It is just one idea of a few (side lit, back lit, bounced etc) so any others you think I should consider as being a potnetial alternative style for capturing the first dance would be great.

thanks in anticipation:help:
Click to expand...

Each location is different, has different ambient lighting, and different space limitations

Think about where you are shooting it from (aka consider getting on the floor, up a stepladder.)

If you have 2 cameras stick a wide angle on one and a longer lens on the other, and use both of them

Off camera speedilites work well, but you need to pre-position them, and then get yourself in the right place, when the B&G are in the right place. A snooted light is risky - you, and the B&G have to be in the perfect place for the shot to work

Forgetting the snoot, the most versatile set up is 2 off camera flashes either side of the band, and another on your camera. You can then rimlight, fill light or both at the flick of a switch

Also set up 2 speedilites in advance, and notice the difference aperture makes to your shot
 
thanks Richard
I like a bit of risk so that's cool, I could always set up a snooted light in a seperate group and hope for the best. If ever there's a time to try something like that out I guess it's now when there's little or no pressure on me!
 
IMO snoot on off camera flash is too small and risky to be a hit and miss.
The spot light effect can be easily created with a beauty dish or a small softbox.
I did this with a naked flash head from the Jinbei discovery DC600

img_0139_ngt.jpg


and this one with a ring flash from the kit
img_0387_ngt.jpg
 
Ok thanks SP's
That's kind of the idea I was going for but closer in so that might work.
thanks all
 
If you just want the couple to stand out from a darker background, use the inverse square law.

If the people in the background are twice the distance from the flash as the couple, they will be two stops darker. That may be all you need. To make them darker still, either move closer to the couple or move the other people back a bit. With flash at that sort of range, a few feet can make a big difference.
 
It's something I've experimented with:

firstdance.jpg


Canon 580EXII on ETTL with a Honl 8" Snoot, held at arms length above my head, STE-2 on camera to trigger it.
 
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