Yet Another Event

Yet Another Event

by William Lulow

I have often shot events of one type or another. In the past I have photographed quite a few weddings. Not so many now and if I do shoot them, they are usually around four hours’ duration. I have done many corporate and private parties as well. The thing about the events I shoot is that I rarely shoot in the same venue. Each time the setup is a bit different, so I never really know how I am going to light it until I get there.

I recently did another event. The birthday party of an old friend. When I got to the place where the party was to be held, I could see immediately that it was going to be sprawled through several rooms, so setting up extra lights was not really going to work. So I had to rely on just a flash on camera. This is my usual rig:

I like to try to keep my light as soft as possible and spread out over a larger area, especially when groups are going to be photographed. So, I use a good-sized bounce card but one that isn’t so large that it is difficult to carry. This is a good one and has a satin finish which adds a bit of lustre to the images and makes them “pop” a bit more. It also makes the light effect wider so it covers more space.

Here’s a shot with five people and another below, with two:

Another thing this rig can do is capture some action during various events. If the camera is further back, this speedlight will measure the distance and account for the difference in exposure:

If I were to use extra lights for a party, this speedlight has a built in radio system that could control a number of external studio flash units:

It also automatically recognizes the brand of camera you use.

This event was one of those, as I mentioned, that really wasn’t conducive to setting up a number of extra lights. I did bring three additional lights with me, but the party was in the middle of the day and there was ample ambient light in the various rooms so extra light really wasn’t needed. Whenever I shoot a party, the most important thing to light is the subjects in front of you. This rig puts the light a bit higher than the lens axis and the bounce card spreads the light out and renders it soft. It is ideal for events of almost any kind.