Original subtitles

Shooting the dance floor part deux, well I

suppose it's the third episode really but you

know what I mean.

And this is the final piece in the

jigsaw, room assessment.

And it's really just about recognising the space

you are in and what you're working with.

From that you can build your settings before

anyone even sets foot on the dance floor.

And if you're really new to the setup

and shooting with flash and low light, you

can so easily just practice this at your

home.

Dim your lights and shoot your hand with

a bounce flash on camera.

But let's just work through the examples first.

To illustrate the variety of rooms you might

encounter, I've produced a scale of difficulty diagram.

I know, don't worry about it.

And the first base is a small white

box.

They probably don't exist in the wedding world

but if they did, it would be an

absolute breeze.

And the reason is twofold.

Firstly it's small, which means the light from

your flash gun doesn't have to travel very

far, so there's no fall off.

The second is because it's white and white

reflects light.

Black holds it in and doesn't give you

much back.

The second space, which is a little more

realistic, is a white marquee or event space.

The ceiling isn't too far away, the fabric

or walls are light, so the amount of

bounce is high.

Next up, the teepee, which may look great

from the outside but if you've ever shot

in a teepee, you know how they can

be a little bit of a bitch.

The ceiling rises quickly, which means the distance

your light has to travel can change very

quickly, depending on where you stand.

And also the colour can be a nightmare,

making everyone just look like an oompa loompa.

Then we have dark walls and high ceilings.

And this is where it gets harder.

The light has further to travel and the

walls are dark, which hold onto the light

when it bounces.

So this can be tricky.

Then finally we have outside.

No cover, nothing to bounce off.

This is where you really get tested.

And it's also worth noting that as the

difficulty of these spaces increases, the amount of

converted shots I come home with decreases.

I will often find myself shooting more aggressively

when I'm in a difficult space, just to

give myself a better chance of getting the

bigger shots.

But let's wipe those clear and start on

the scale again, but this time, let's just

look at some settings.

And remember, these aren't set in stone.

They're a base start point.

Every room space is different, so you may

need to adjust accordingly.

The white marquee, the easiest of the rooms

you'll encounter.

And you'll find these settings in the course

notes and on the setting cards.

But you can see my ISO is around

the 1600 to 3200 mark.

I generally shoot most of the dance floor

on a 15 to 35mm lens and will

shoot that wide open at f2.8. Shutter

for 99% of the dance floor with

any form of bounce flash remains at 0

.02. I don't use high speed sync.

Flash power here remains low, so 64th to

128th power.

Now we're moving up a gear, the TP.

You'll see the ISO has jumped, anything up

to 6400.

F-stop and shutter remain the same.

And the flash power is now at a

medium level, so somewhere around 30 second power.

If I can keep this at 64th power,

I will do.

Again, I'll push the ISO before I increase

flash power.

Dark walls and high ceilings.

Obviously we curse the venue gods first, but

this is where we really push the camera

before increasing flash power.

So ISO will regularly go up to 12

,800.

On new bodies such as the Canon R5

and 6 and the newer Sony A7s, these

files are more than usable.

Don't be afraid to push those puppies.

If the space is really tough light, I

might switch to a 35mm 1.4 and

shoot a little wider than 2.8. But

you'll also see the flash power is now

being increased.

It's rare that I'll go above 116th power,

much more than that, and recycle time between

flash fires becomes an issue.

Another option to introduce here, if light is

at an expense, is to introduce a flash

gun off camera.

This will just bring a little bit more

light into the scene.

Now, there are so many different systems, I

can't possibly work through all of them.

You'll have to do some homework depending on

what system you're using.

But in short, the flash gun on camera

becomes the master flash.

So, this one becomes the master flash, and

this one that's going to be located off

camera becomes the slave.

And the Godox V1 allows me to control

the power output of the slave flash from

the master flash that sits on my camera.

The final situation outside, which means we have

zero bounce.

This is where the Godox can be a

lifesaver, because it has a modelling light, which

I'll set to the lowest power setting, and

I'll hold this above my head.

I'm not joking, this is what I do.

Walking around the dance floor, this hand maybe,

pointing it at my subjects.

My ambient settings will have been dialed in

because I'll have done a test on my

hand.

And that's it.

In the past, I've also used this little

thing.

Put them quite far away there, didn't I?

A mini Manfrotto LED panel.

Again, lowest power setting, handheld.

The only other option in this scenario is

to use shutter drag, which directs flash straight

at your subject.

A final few random tips and ideas for

you.

Firstly, focusing.

Now, if you're on a DSLR, you don't

have the benefit of eye tracking.

So I would always shoot in one-shot

mode for Canon.

For Nikon, that's AF-S, I believe.

But shooting in one shot allows the flash

gun to fire a red focus assist beam.

So in low light, this comes in real

handy when you're trying to lock focus.

When you're in servo mode, this red assist

beam doesn't work.

If you're like me and shooting with a

newer mirrorless camera, I shoot this in live

view with eye tracking, or I just set

a focus point on the screen and back

button focus from there in servo.

Also, you've just got to get stuck in.

You can't shoot the dance floor from the

edges.

You need to be in the thick of

it.

And it helps to get your arms in

the air.

I often walk around holding a camera above

my head.

I know, I know I look daft.

I'm okay with it.

Last but not least, a few bits of

kit that I'd consider to be must-haves,

aside from the obvious flash guns and cameras.

The Manfrotto mini LED panel.

Brilliant.

Absolutely essential for me.

Great for destination weddings.

GorillaPods times two.

These are magnificent.

A great space saver.

And you'll need these little flash gun brackets

to fix to the GorillaPods.

They should come with your flash gun, but

you can buy them pretty cheap off Amazon.

What have we got next?

Bungee cords.

Bungee cords.

These are amazing for adding a layer of

security to your flash gun location.

You do not want a flash gun hitting

a guest on the head.

Just wrap this around a stand or the

GorillaPod for a bit of insurance.

Okay, next up, we've got these.

Manfrotto mini light stands.

These are ace.

They clip together.

Really compact and lightweight.

They just unclip and clip together.

They're brilliant.

Get a carry bag, stick them in the

boot of your car.

That said, I don't use off-camera flash

very often now, so these haven't been used

for a while.

In most locations, I can find a good

GorillaPod fix.

So they've been quite lonely in the boot

of my car for a while now, but

they're still great and worth having.

And then you just need these.

These little brackets.

I don't even know what these are called,

but we'll link to them in the course

notes.

These just sit on top of the light

stand, and then you stick your flash gun

in the little bracket at the top.

So there we have it.

If you're completely new to this, or this

is an area you struggle with, it might

be worth watching these episodes again, and I

can't stress enough the importance of just trying

it out in your living room.

Or if you're at a wedding, get everything

set up and tested before the first dance

starts.

Just dial in some rough settings, remembering to

push the ISO before the flash power, and

try to expose a shot of your hand.

If you can get that, you're good to

go.

Good luck.

I hope all of that has helped.