These rebate offers are for a variety of lenses purchased between January 1, 2012 and April 30, 2012. The rebates will not be honored for lenses purchased from a non-authorized dealer. So check the dealer locator on the above linked website.
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Lights, Camera, Weddings by Kathy Nairn Photography
15 FebEveryone knows how important light is to a photographer. Many people, including myself like to shoot with natural light. However, inside a church, chapel, etc doesn’t always lend to that perfectly lit scene. Trying to figure out your lighting during a wedding is never the best time either – you could be missing the only opportunity you’ll have to capture that kiss or that look from the groom as he sets his eyes on the bride as she’s walking down the aisle toward him.
For these reasons and a few more, I always use my external flash. I never use the on-camera flash – for anything (more on this later). Instead, I use an external flash setup for my camera. It’s a Canon Speedlight 430EX-II with a light box flash diffuser in lieu of an off-camera setup. Off-camera setup refers to a flash that is connected to the camera via an arm/bracket which holds the flash out and away to the left or right of the camera; and connects the external flash to the camera via a cord connected to the hot shoe. The hot shoe sits just in back of the on-camera flash. A Canon rotating flash bracket can be found on Amazon as well for a very good price of around $40.
The Canon Speedlight 430EX-II is a bounce flash and a slave to the Speedlight 580EX-II which means for most Canon cameras, the 430EX-II can be set up to work in a remote location (but within range of the subjects) without the camera but triggered wirelessly by the 580EX-II (aka Master). Yes, there are a handful of Canons that won’t work with wireless triggers (built-in transmitter); but there are alternative options. If your camera has a built-in transmitter, it would behoove you to purchase the 430, 580 or the basic 270EX-II for around $150 if it works with your model camera.
One of THE other MOST IMPORTANT things to know about light and portraits is inappropriate and hard shadows. You generally NEVER want to see this in your wedding images. You have to have a third eye watching for those shadows. Subjects standing too close to a backdrop; sunlight casting shadows; use of on-camera flash throws hard, narrow focused light and creates unwanted shadowing.
The use of a light diffuser on your bounce flash works very nice. At the last wedding I shot, one of the guests came up to me and asked what the box was that was on my bounce flash. I usually joke about it being my “Gladware” container because it’s about that size. It was made to fit my flash and does an awesome job of lighting up the subject area in soft diffused light without creating shadows. It assists the bounce flash in expanding the light further up and out, and can effectively light up a small room very nicely without requiring a lot of ‘bounce’ action. Anyhow, I told the woman it was a bounce diffuser and she was happy to know. I think it was probably creating a lot of curiosity and a few jokes of which I totally understand. The base Canon kit cost about $40 less than the Pro kit and is perfect outdoors as well as indoors. The base Nikon kit runs the same, but you purchase based on your flash model regardless of which camera have. “Winner of several PMA07 awards, the many unique features of the Ultimate Light Box system make it simply the best diffuser available.” The Pro system is worth looking into. I use it and love it.
So, if you’re shooting portraits and you are wondering why your light is hard and casting shadows, you now know that the on-camera flash isn’t going to work. Consider a budget friendly Canon Speedlight 430EX II unless you can afford the Canon Speedlight 580EX II, which is almost double the price of the 430. Nikon equivalents are very simple and easy to use. The SB400 costs around $119, is super simple, swivels up and down, and works like a charm. It just lacks the ability to monitor the exposure. Still, if you understand exposure, you can still compensate for differences, manually. It’s worth the investment if you just want a decent general use bounce flash. Then there is the Nikon SB700 and SB910 which rank up there in price comparable to Canon and have exposure compensation options.
The Light Box diffuser kit may come with a smaller snap on bounce diffuser for your external (bounce) flash. However, you can also find them for less than $15.00 if the whole light kit isn’t an interest, and you just want something simple to soften the light on your external flash.
Final comment / tip:
One work around to eliminating shadows directly behind a subject is to move the subject further away from the background object that the shadow is casting on. As an example, your subject is standing / leaning up against a brick wall and the sun or your flash is casting shadow behind or next to your subject, on the wall. Move the subject away from the wall until the shadows are minimal to (preferred) none. A light, faded shadow is easier to work with than a dark and hard one.
As a side note to wedding photography, if you’re working with a videographer at a wedding, be certain to introduce yourself if you don’t know them. The lights on their camera(s) can be a detriment if you’re not working in sync and they can be a beneficial backup light source if you need it. Just ask. 
