Lighting for Weddings: Down & Dirty Glamour Light

Setup Four

I had a little more time to “play” with this setup, so I used multiple lights, but it still can be achieved quickly. I used the lights from behind about 15′ away at 45° angles and full power. My VAL has the other light in front at a 45° angle from the subject (about 10′ away) at full power, but with a small 15″ softbox on the front. I used my on-camera flash, pointing straight forward as fill, making sure the shadows from my assistant’s lights aren’t too strong. It was in E-TTL mode, but the EV compensation was dialed down –2/3 so I don’t flatten the subjects too much.  

Setup Five

Remember what I said about just moving backgrounds? Here’s a great example where I moved the couple over to a garage door and threw a snoot onto on of the LP160s to light up the background. I used the small 15″ softbox held up high by my VAL at a 90° angle (next to the groom) to light the bride’s face. My on-camera flash, with a small Sto-Fen mounted on top, is pointed straight up in E-TTL mode.

Setup Six

For this shot, my clients gave me 30 seconds right before they were introduced into the reception. We were all ready to go. My VAL had a Vivitar 285HV at 1/8 power off to the left. I pointed my flash straight up into the ceiling with the small bounce card inside the flash pulled all the way up for fill. 

Setup Seven

Same scenario here, but instead of using one light from the left, I used one light from the right at a 45° angle with a small 15″ softbox. As in the above shot, my flash was pointing straight up into the ceiling with the small bounce card inside the flash pulled all the way up for fill. Very similar shots, but dramatically different results.