What is the best FLASH setup for Wedding photography?

Taralyn Romero · Oct 8, 2007

HELP!!! I need to buy the flash you wouldn't leave home without when doing wedding photography. I currently don't have anything and my photos really suffer when the lighting gets bad. I need something that will light up a lot of people without blowing everything out. Something that will be good for receptions, etc.

Not sure what type of flash to get - there seems to be soo many . . .

I shoot with a Nikon D50.

castrol · Oct 8, 2007

SB-800.

If you are financially crippled, like I seem to always be...SB-600 will do well!

Sideburns · Oct 8, 2007

Whatever you get, use a bounce card or something to make sure to soften the light. Hard light at a wedding never helps...

S2K1 · Oct 9, 2007

Before you take any wedding pictures with a flash, learn the flash. Read the manual, practice, etc. My sister didn't do this expecting to get great shots, and they weren't as great as they could've been using the flash the proper way. Learn about bounce, diffusing, etc. Hard light will generally look bad, so take the time.

Now to answer your question, an SB-600 or SB-800 would work great.

Big Mike · Oct 9, 2007

Very good point from S2K1.

Having a flash can certainly help in many situations...but knowing how to use it, is what will make your photos look good.

Many people use diffusers or bounce cards or something attached to their flash. While these do serve a purpose, I find that many people use them without really understanding them. I suggest learning the flash without any accesories at first.

Taralyn Romero · Oct 9, 2007

Ok - SB 600 or 800 seems to be popular - thank you everyone for your suggestions . . . might go with the 600 seeing as I am tight on money.

What settings do you guys typically shoot in when using your flash to get proper metering (or, is this all in the manual?)

SpeedTrap · Oct 9, 2007

If you get the SB-600 it is an iTTl Flash and works with your D50 meter, you will be able to shoot in any mode and the camera will help meter for the larger flash, you may need to make a few tweeks, like running the flash a half stop down, but you will figure that out with time.

Patrice · Oct 9, 2007

Taralyn Romero said:
What settings do you guys typically shoot in when using your flash to get proper metering (or, is this all in the manual?)

No easy answer to this one: TTL, TTL-BL, Manual. It all depends!!

All the information is in the manual but not always easy to understand. Get the flash, read the manual, re-read while trying every possible function and then practice with friends, family and teddy bears. The bears don't complain too much.

Mike_E · Oct 10, 2007

Hi, I'm a Nikon Shooter and love my SBs but if you are going to have only one flash for Weddings, receptions and the like you should think really hard about a Metz 45 CL4. You can use them on auto and it really rivals iTTL. It has a guide number of 148 feet. It has a wink flash so that you will have a catchlight when using the main flash to bounce. It has its own bracket and you can get rechargeable battery packs for it. And I works beautifully for off camera posed shots.

Plus, you can get one used for a price between an Sb600 and an Sb800.