Lighting: Shooting retirement party this Wednesday in a hall sort of dimly lit at times.. 40 people minimum so will be group shots. Thinking about using 24-70 on tripod for group shots...

BIGRO Loc: NYC

Shooting retirement party this Wednesday in a hall sort of dimly lit at times.. 40 people minimum so will be group shots. Thinking about using 24-70 on tripod for group shots and 70-200 handheld for everything else. Canon, both L lens. Question is, is a expensive diffuser worth it or should I go with el cheapo. Please give recommendations so I can shoot down to B&H. Not doing a DIY as it looks tacky. Bouncing the flash might still give me harsh lighting. Before I get the impatient short comments, I looked into the search portion and reviewed numerous vids on the tube, techradar, etc... first paying gig so please be helpful or refrain from commenting. Much appreciated

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

BIGRO wrote:

Shooting retirement party this Wednesday in a hall... (show quote)

Since you're most likely be working with several light sources, the really expensive diffusers may not be the best choice anyway! Most times, one can not tell if the diffuser used in an image was top line, or the cheapest one could get!

bobmcculloch Loc: NYC, NY

Ok, my suggestion, gives lots of flexibility,
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1117012-REG/lumiquest_lq_122s_quik_bounce_with_ultrastrap.html

it's what I carry and use, lets me move the location of the flash from directly over the lens to above and to one side, back in film days shooting weddings I used a 'pototo masher' flash, similar to an 880 from Honeywell (actually a Metz202 for those old enough), puts the light source above and to the left of the lens, thus shadows to the right and down where they are less visible, with the bounce attachment the shadow also gets softer and even less noticeable. BTW did whole weddings with 50mm, KodaColor, ASA 100, f8 @ 10 feet, Bob.

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

BIGRO wrote:

Bouncing the flash might still give me harsh lighting....

Bouncing rarely looks harsh if done correctly.
In fact, it can look like really good ambient light.
When you bounce, you make the light bigger and it doesn't fall off as rapidly as using using direct or with a diffuser.
What's the room look like? How high and what color are the ceilings?

Joe Blow

My suggestion would be to stay with the 24-70 and forget the 70-200. Any shot that isn't close enough for the 24-70 can be cropped.

I would also stay with a bounce with white card flash over a diffuser. Their fall off is less and the light is as even. My experience is diffusers still blind guests while bounce/card are easier.

Good luck.

BIGRO Loc: NYC

Place is called Maestro's in the Bronx, it's between at least 2 of these rooms, I really have no time to panic or have an anxiety attack so I have to put my best foot forward and do the best I can to tackle this nightmare and prove i have the skills. Just concerned over this lightning issue with posed and candid portrait shots. Hence my question, bouncing a light off of this ceiling might be problematic with just the flash

(Download)

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

BIGRO wrote:

Place is called Maestro's in the Bronx, it's between at least 2 of these rooms, I really have no time to panic or have an anxiety attack so I have to put my best foot forward and do the best I can to tackle this nightmare and prove i have the skills. Just concerned over this lightning issue with posed and candid portrait shots. Hence my question, bouncing a light off of this ceiling might be problematic with just the flash

Look bounce-able to me.
What I do is have my camera set to manual and flash to ttl. (I use Nikon)
I hardly ever bounce straight up- gives raccoon eyes. Better to bounce to the side and slightly behind to give the light a pleasing direction.
In manual mode, I have the shutter fairly slow if there's not much movement, sometimes as low as 1/25th, to allow some of the ambient to register.
That keeps the photos from looking like the event was shot in a dark cave.
The flash freezes the subjects.

With these, the aperture was between f/2.8 and f4, shutter between 1/25th & 1/40th
ISO 720 to 2000.

The Venue

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

A good tutorial on flash from Neil van Niekerk HERE and some on bounce flash HERE.

BIGRO Loc: NYC

Thank you very much for the help, I've just been told that we expecting another nor'easter so it might get pushed back

GoofyNewfie Loc: Kansas City

BIGRO wrote:

Thank you very much for the help, I've just been told that we expecting another nor'easter so it might get pushed back

Good luck with that!

stratmantes

Have a look at the Gary Fong Lightsphere here:-
https://www.thephoblographer.com/2010/11/07/review-gary-fong-collapsible/
Since I started using it I have had much better results I use it in manual mode and the flashgun camera iso anything from 400 to 1000. The thing I really like is the bounce lighting combined with forward lighting

bobmcculloch Loc: NYC, NY

BIGRO wrote:

Thank you very much for the help, I've just been told that we expecting another nor'easter so it might get pushed back

If the event gets pushed back it will give you a chance to practice with a couple of ideas to see what works for you, Bob.

Jim Bob

BIGRO wrote:

Shooting retirement party this Wednesday in a hall... (show quote)

Skip the 70-200. You don't mention whether the camera is full frame or crop sensor. Might make a difference with a group of 40 or more.

BIGRO Loc: NYC

Sorry Jim Bob, shooting canon 77D, crop

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

speters wrote:

Since you're most likely be working with several light sources, the really expensive diffusers may not be the best choice anyway! Most times, one can not tell if the diffuser used in an image was top line, or the cheapest one could get!