lighting for weddings

[Victor Nhat Nguyen]

do you guys use lights at all? or use lights at the reception where most of the time the dance room are dim? How about the getting ready shots, do you bring lights to their home? if yes then which lights do you use?

[RickyC]

I used to do a lot of weddings, most companies I worked with don't use lights, but a few do just put up a few small ones. I actually had someone rent out a truck for one, we threw up kinos and silks. I know that one came out looking great.

For run and gun type of deals a good soft light is great, such as a chimera. Specially since weddings are about the bride and you're trying to just enhance the beauty, a harsh light straight from a fresnel will just show wrinkles. But a big softbox will make the video much better

[Norman99]

For weddings and ay other social events as well as when re-shoots are not possible, yes, it is better to bring light(s) along as you have said that reception venues are dim and in my experiences are sometimes darker than dark. You cannot assume anything being what you would expect in fair circumstances/conditions, especially hopping from venue to venue where every event is a different experience under diverse lighting conditions. Like the boy scout's motto.."be prepared", I also bring spares especially in the battery department. The getting ready shots at times can be done without any supplemental lighting as most often the room is usually well lit and a little control can be done with the curtains. Then again, depending on the circumstances such as when the photographer is present at the same time doing his job and does not want any video light on. There are also times when it is an overcast day and lights are needed. I use a custom made 3200K 90 CRI 2400 lux LED on camera unit with a superwide 75 degrees beam angle, and another same unit with a narrow beam angle of 25 degrees. When the bridal party and the married couple are announced at the start of the reception, the distance is usually over 40 feet. That's when the narrow beam is used and is used throughout the first dance ( beautiful spotlight effect) and the toast. After the toast I switch over to the 75 degree one for dance floor coverage. Some also use another tripod mounted light on the side for a broader background illumination, but I don't bother with that. Dimmer on the lights is a must and I make sure the leds chosen do not have a green cast of diffusers and gels to cut down on the output. In a nutshell, bring light(s), and powerful ones at that as you never know the actual conditions you will be working in.

[JoeJITSU]

Lowlight Primes is the way I roll and with on camera lights if necessary. I will always bring my Lowels if I really need to but out of about 50+ weddings so far I only had to bring them out about 1/2 dozen times.