Newlyweds | On-camera flash | No reported deaths

[Braineack]

I was asked by friends to tag along to their official court-house marriage a few days before their ceremony. I gladly accepted.

The conditions were dreadful: it was in a dimly lit basement room with no natural light, and the celebrant strategically made sure to keep everyone in front of silly pictures representing the old courthouse from yesteryear.

Despite the tough conditions, I relied on my trust on-camera flash to bounce lit on the wall behind us and shower the newlyweds in soft even light.

No one was expecting anything amazing, but they were ecstatic with the results, they understood there weren't going to be Pulitzer Prize winning shots, they just wanted to document the event.

Adam, one of the newlyweds, said the photos were amazing.
"Holy **** these are awesome!! Thank you sooooooo much!" Adam said.



Just thought I'd share:

something happened the IQ here on upload.

I had my remote triggers and wish I had setup the flash remotely and set it on a desk/table or something, but maybe next time.

IIRC that was ISO 4000, 1/60sec, and f/5.6 to give you an idea of how dim it was.

Also: I declined payment and now I can't eat.

 

[Derrel]

Next up: somebody will steal the photo and use it without permission, to illustrate an article on some obscure website...

 

[wyogirl]

Two handsome young men and an old guy....

 

[runnah]

Wow the age gap is huge, but hey I don't judge.

 

[Derrel]

The light source was broad, neutral in color, and gave pretty good reflection control based on your camera position. Overall, a pretty solid, evenly-lighted bounce flash exposure! The size of the room, and the distance of the light source to the subjects kept the fall-off of light from being noticeable: the WORST kind of bounce flash shot location is in a really small, low-ceilinged place, like aboard a boat or ship, which is where I have taken some of the absolutely worst bounce flash shots I've ever made...with the top of the photos being really bright and hotly-lit, and then the bottom edges of the frames being four,five stops darker...

Bouncing off of the back wall created a big light source AND gave some distance from light source to the subject, which means the light will be very even in brightness, all across the frame. Ceiling bounce in small rooms is often uneven; using the back wall as the bounce surface was a smart decision.