Posted by nobody special on 08/20/06 23:28

Martin Heffels wrote:
To not ruin the atmosphere too much, next time use a 1000
watt light, the builders-types, you can get at Home Depot and such, and
bounce it off a poly-board (bead-board) to soften.

Well, this works technically, but is still not likely to go down well
in the venue, appearing to be a major eyesore at a reception. The
expectation is to disappear into the crowd and not call attention to
oneself while shooting. Candid shooting gets the best stuff in this
context, IMO. Big lights and bounce cards are just as distracting as
full-size steadycam vests/arms. I have shot plenty of weddings in my
day, with cameras that were not as sensitive as they are today, and
rarely used any supplemental light except for straight on
to-the-camera-interview pieces, which we always did off in an
inconspicuous corner somewhere. Today's low-light cams are so good,
really, you can pull off amazing stuff just by bringing up the house
lights a few points on the dimmer, to a level nobody really notices
much. A tiny china ball on your camera, the size of a softball, may be
all anyone would need.

Unless you're fighting those amssive open windows, that is. The key
thing there would ahve been to scout the venue in advance and advize
the person in charge of arranging the tables what your needs/problems
are. With enough lead time, sometimes they can accomodate you in one
way or another.

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