Lighting Family Events (non-paid)

[WhiskeyTango]

I've got 2 family parties coming up in the next few weeks. These are not client shoots. These are my family (extended) at my house.

These are birthday parties. One for a 1yo and 1 for a 4yo. The photography should be inconspicuous. I don't want me and what I'm doing with a camera to be any more intrusive than the rest of the parents/grandparents.

That said, I just can't live with on-cam flash, lol.

Bounce flash is probably out... We'll be in my finished basement, the ceilings of which are the exposed rafters of the first floor painted flat black. Not much will bounce. If I can get near the perimeter, I can bounce. The walls are an off-white, but that limits where I can shoot.

I'm leaning towards setting up strobes in the corners of the room at/near the ceiling, possibly with DIY diffusers. I have a couple of options along that line. I could setup a couple of SB-700's with mini/flex triggers and use either ttl or manual. I also have 1 Einstein, and am thinking about investing in another, so I could do this with them.

The room is about 20' x 30'. Ceilings are roughly 7'6" to the joists (again, painted flat black). Ambient light is basement windows (glass block) and LED light fixtures. (12x 100w equivalent, on a dimmer)

What would you do?

 

[DiskoJoe]

You got this.

 

[Big Mike]

Bounce flash is probably out... We'll be in my finished basement, the ceilings of which are the exposed rafters of the first floor painted flat black. Not much will bounce.

Have you tried? You may be surprised.

 

[KmH]

Flash bracket! Visit and start reading - http://neilvn.com/tangents/flash-photography-techniques/

Stroboframe Quick Flip 350 Flash Bracket for 35mm Cameras

 

[WhiskeyTango]

Bounce flash is probably out... We'll be in my finished basement, the ceilings of which are the exposed rafters of the first floor painted flat black. Not much will bounce.

Have you tried? You may be surprised.

Yup. I've shot a couple of parties in the basement already. Bounce isn't out of the question, just takes a lot more planning with the black ceiling... I'll play with it a bit more this week.

I discovered Neil Van Niekerk's site a couple of months ago, thanks to Schwettylens. Good stuff there. That deserves a bit more of my time as well.

I used the "strobes in the corners" trick last Christmas to great effect. Sadly, that was not at my place, but a family member who has white ceilings... Might be time to invest in a drop ceiling, lol.

I'm leaning pretty strongly towards that again. If I go that route, my biggest dilemma is whether to go ttl with speedlights, or manual with Einsteins. Seems like a great application for ttl, but I like the power and recycle options the Einsteins give me. The speedlights I can play with immediately. Going with Einsteins would require me to buy a 2nd unit, and possibly an AC3 zone controller. I've been spending like a term-limited liberal on tax day lately, so I wouldn't mind reigning myself in and making the best of what I already have...

 

[ecphoto]

I've got 2 family parties coming up in the next few weeks. These are not client shoots. These are my family (extended) at my house.

These are birthday parties. One for a 1yo and 1 for a 4yo. The photography should be inconspicuous. I don't want me and what I'm doing with a camera to be any more intrusive than the rest of the parents/grandparents.

That said, I just can't live with on-cam flash, lol.

Bounce flash is probably out... We'll be in my finished basement, the ceilings of which are the exposed rafters of the first floor painted flat black. Not much will bounce. If I can get near the perimeter, I can bounce. The walls are an off-white, but that limits where I can shoot.

I'm leaning towards setting up strobes in the corners of the room at/near the ceiling, possibly with DIY diffusers. I have a couple of options along that line. I could setup a couple of SB-700's with mini/flex triggers and use either ttl or manual. I also have 1 Einstein, and am thinking about investing in another, so I could do this with them.

The room is about 20' x 30'. Ceilings are roughly 7'6" to the joists (again, painted flat black). Ambient light is basement windows (glass block) and LED light fixtures. (12x 100w equivalent, on a dimmer)

What would you do?

try the lite-scoop. http://www.litegenius.com/

If money is a consideration like it was for me you can make a DIY one for about 5 bucks.
http://www.fototime.com/ftweb/bin/ft.dll/pictures?userid={0C537F65-5D2E-4921-A34D-346C4244F0AC}&inv=908195739C4C0D3&userid={0C537F65-5D2E-4921-A34D-346C4244F0AC}&inv=908195739C4C0D3&albumid={40EED9A5-7703-11D5-AB2C-00400542FB64}&groupid={C2FFC37D-6079-41F5-861F-B372FCC05DBA}

I took this one with out bounce using only my one flash and my DIY lite-scoop.

 

[DiskoJoe]

Bounce flash is probably out... We'll be in my finished basement, the ceilings of which are the exposed rafters of the first floor painted flat black. Not much will bounce.

Have you tried? You may be surprised.

Yup. I've shot a couple of parties in the basement already. Bounce isn't out of the question, just takes a lot more planning with the black ceiling... I'll play with it a bit more this week.

I discovered Neil Van Niekerk's site a couple of months ago, thanks to Schwettylens. Good stuff there. That deserves a bit more of my time as well.

I used the "strobes in the corners" trick last Christmas to great effect. Sadly, that was not at my place, but a family member who has white ceilings... Might be time to invest in a drop ceiling, lol.

I'm leaning pretty strongly towards that again. If I go that route, my biggest dilemma is whether to go ttl with speedlights, or manual with Einsteins. Seems like a great application for ttl, but I like the power and recycle options the Einsteins give me. The speedlights I can play with immediately. Going with Einsteins would require me to buy a 2nd unit, and possibly an AC3 zone controller. I've been spending like a term-limited liberal on tax day lately, so I wouldn't mind reigning myself in and making the best of what I already have...

Or a bucket of white paint.

 

[DiskoJoe]

Meow!

 

[WhiskeyTango]

If I hadn't done the black paint (and thus become aware of the mess/work involved) I might consider a bucket of white paint, lol