Lighting Kit for wedding & Bar Mitzvah photography part 2: Reception halls

On 3 part blogs, I will dive into my personal preference for what Off Camera Flash (OCF) equipment I use for a full wedding day, as well as how I use it considering a full wedding day presents different scenarios and lighting situations. This one is part 2 of 3, with the third one coming next week.

remember, there are more than one way to achieve results. Different photographers will use different equipment and methods, this is just what works for me.

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Lets start with a list of my OCF kit that bring too every wedding, as well as a link to my favourite OCF supplier.
1- Two Godox V1 pro Speedlights Click here
2- Two AD200 pro Click here
3- One AD400 pro Click Here
4- One 34” Quick Octabox the works as a soft box as well as a Beauty dish since it has a beauty dish plate Click Here
5- One 75” ULM Silver reflective umbrella Click Here
6- Three Heavy Duty Air cushioned Light Stand Click Here
7- One Godox Xpro II Controller Click Here

There’s a lot more equipment you can use, like small diffusers for your speed lights and AD200’s, just go to www.flashgear.net and have fun shopping.

Now, let’s get to the fun part. What do I use all these lights for, during the reception?
Let’s start with understanding that a full wedding day, or a Bar Mitzvah celebration, presents different challenges lighting wise. For reception halls, I use the exact same principal for weddings and for Bar Mitzvah parties. The exact same one. Every building is different, but the principals and equipment are exactly the same
For example, halls can be very dark with brown wood walls, same as barns, or they can be very bright with big windows and white walls. You gonna find halls with low ceilings, or very high ceilings. So be prepared and having proper equipment is key.
How to approach this?
That’s when OCF comes in handy.
Lets start with understanding what equipment am I using during the parties.
Always two cameras, each with a speedlight on it.
Click on a video below for a quick demonstration from a real Bar Mitzvah party.

One of the cameras uses the speedlight only, with high ISO. This is for proximity portraits, for example, when I am down in the middle of the crowd taking candids or portraits looking at the camera. The speedlight mixed with high ISO allows me to properly expose who’s in front of me and save ambient light. Occasionally I will also get some wide angle shots with this setup.
What’s the settings on this camera? Well, they may vary, but the Fstop is always between F2 and F4, never above F4. Shutter speed between 1\125 and 1\160, maybe sometimes 1\200. And ISO never below 2000 or 3200 if there’s no natural light available. My last Bar Mitzvah party, my ISO was at 5000.

Image taken with 85mm lens at F2, flash on camera only, DJ light in the background

Cell phone image of AD400 highlighted in red, behind me, pointing at the corner wall behind me

Tip- If you’re short like me, a 3 step ladder is absolute gold. Get a 85mm lens 1.4 or 70-200mm lens 2.8 on your camera and you will get great candid moments, without being too intrusive while people are dancing. But if you want to go in the middle of the crowd, usually a 50mm lens, 35mm lens or 24-70mm lens will do the job.

Now, on to the other camera. It also has a speedlight on it right? That’s the speedlight controlling all the Off Camera Flashes.
Confused? Lets break this down.
Let’s start with what lighting equipment are we talking about. What Off camera flash is my speedlight controlling?
- Two AD200’s pro
- One AD400 pro (I dont always add this light, only if ceilings are supper high)
The two AD200’s are bare, the 400 has a Godox 7 inches reflector. Click here to see what this product is.
Now, some photographers use grids, diffuser panels, coloured gels, to avoid spills of lights and to match ambient. I’ve tried it and I personally don’t like how my images come out, but you are welcome to try. Maybe you will love it right? Remember. There’s more than one way of doing things. What matters is that you and your paying clients are happy.

Let’s talk placement. Sometimes use the DJ booth as a reference. When guests are dancing, they tent to dance facing the DJ or band, if there is one. So, I place my AD400 pro with the 7” Godox reflector in a wall either next to the DJ or behind him if there’s space. But always close to the wall behind me. It will be in a 13 feet lightstand. The reflector is to avoid spreading light everywhere. I want the light to go up, hit the corner behind me, and spread all around the dance floor. At the same time, opposite to where I am, on the other side of the dance floor, that’s where my two bare AD200’s are, on each corner of the dance floor, pointing down at the dance floor almost in a 45 degrees angle. But I dont always go with that third light, the AD400. No. Bar Mitzvah parties for example are usually in synagogues and the ceilings arrant usually that tall. So, the placement is different.

A put the two AD200’s next to the DJ booth, on each side of it, controlled by the speedilight in my camera, and shoot TOWARDS the DJ. Because the ceiling is low, allows me to bounce light from my speedlight and properly expose the dance floor, while keeping that extra punch those two 200’s give to the image. View images below from a recent Bar Mitzvah as example..

Different photographers might have different placement. Chris Vitale, a good friend of mine and a very experienced wedding photographer out of Delaware, will use 3 or 4 depending on the size of the venue, and he places his lights not around the dance floor, but on the corners of the venue, behind the tables where the guests sit down. In our Pennsylvania workshop last year, he gave a class about this. Chris has this incredibly ability to create highly contrast images and save ambient light at the same time.
For more of his work, click here.

Back to me. They are all firing at the same time, all 3 lights.
For this type of pictures, I usually use a wider lens like a 24-70, a 16-35 or a 14 mm prime. It’s the images of the all dance floor full of guests going crazy.

For settings, it may vary, but it something like F7 to F9, to create that starburst effect as the AD200’s fire, SS of 1\160 to 1\200 and ISO around 3200.

Remember, when firing this camera, the 400 watts light is always behind you. Because you dont want that hot spot of light hitting the wall, on your frame. Never shoot facing this light, always behind you. If you are not usually the 400, just a speedlight on your camera controlling the other two, then you dont have to worry about this.

What’s the purpose of this 400? Since it's behind me, the light is falling IN FRONT of me, properly exposing the hall dance floor. The speed light alone would not be able to do so, especially if it’s a big dance floor with a high ceiling. The same applies to Bar Mitzvahs,. Once a Bar Mitzvah party was held at a reception hall that used to be an abandoned church. The Ceilling was incredibly high, so that third light did wonders for me.

This also creates a high contrast image with a very dramatic feel to it. But you will be sacrificing most of ambient light tho. Which I personally don’t care much because remember, I have the other camera shooting almost wide open and high ISO

This two camera system allows me to deliver my clients two types of images of their parties. One that saves all ambient light, that they probably spent a lot of money in, with close up candids and classic looking at the camera. The other one offers a dramatic and high contrast perspective of everyone having a blast on the dance floor.

It’s very important that you get comfortable with learning and using OCF if you want to be a successful wedding photographer. Even if you never use it, having the knowledge helps, because you never know when you might need it.

Stay tuned for part 3, coming next week. Lighting set up for couple portraits and family formals on wedding days.

If you feel like this article helps, share it with your community of photographers. And don’t forget to drop a follow on my Instagram account, lots of reels there. Click here to check it out.

Can’t wait to see what you come up with using these tips.

Lighting kit for wedding photography Part 1: Ceremonies.

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On these next few blogs, I will dive into my personal preference for what Off Camera Flash (OCF) equipment I use for a full wedding day, as well as how I use it considering a full wedding day presents different scenarios and lighting situations.

remember, there are more than one way to achieve results. Different photographers will use different equipment and methods, this is just what works for me.

Lets start with a list of my OCF kit that bring too every wedding, as well as a link to my favourite OCF supplier.
1- Two Godox V1 pro Speedlights Click here
2- Two AD200 pro Click here
3- One AD400 pro Click Here
4- One 34” Quick Octabox the works as a soft box as well as a Beauty dish since it has a beauty dish plate Click Here
5- One 75” ULM Silver reflective umbrella Click Here
6- Three Heavy Duty Air cushioned Light Stand Click Here
7- One Godox Xpro II Controller Click Here


There’s a lot more equipment you can use, like small diffusers for your speed lights and AD200’s, just go to www.flashgear.net and have fun shopping.



Now, let’s get to the fun part. What do I use all these lights for, during wedding Ceremonies?
Let’s start with understanding that a full wedding day presents different challenges lighting wise. The same with ceremonies. Every building is different.
For example, churches can be very dark with brown wood walls, same as barns, or they can be very bright with big windows and white walls.
So what to you do if you are presented with a church, barn, synagogue or any other temple, with very low ambient light?
That’s when OCF comes in handy. But first, remember to respect the location, and always ask the person in charge of the ceremony what are the rules. I have been lucky so far and have always been able to use OCF in dark ceremonies.

Maid of honour coming down the aisle

When bridal party (or the bride) is coming down the aisle, if it’s a small room, I always have two AD200’s Left and right of the altar, pointing at the wall BEHIND me on light stands. Why pointing at the top corner wall behind me and not straight down the aisle?
Because if it’s a small room, the light, even at its lowest power, would be too harsh . So pointing them at the wall opposite to the aisle, will make the light hit the walls, and as it bounces back, it spreads wider and by the time it hits people coming down the isle, it will be softer and less harsh. This image is a perfect example of what I mean. The two AD200’s diffused with a good dome, are pointing at the wall behind me, creating a nice and soft spill of light by the time it hits this maid of honour.

Bride coming down the aisle

Now, if its a large room, with very high ceilings and a long aisle, then I do the opposite, I point the lights straight down the aisle, at 13 feet high, diffused with a Godox Dome, to make it less harsh. This image is an example of it. Big church with super high ceilings, and a very long aisle. Two AD200’s diffused with a Godox dome, pointing straight down the aisle. The bride and her parents are properly exposed while still saving ambient light.





How do I control these lights?
I always have two cameras on me, each with a V1 Godox speed light on them.
One of the cameras has either a 85mm lens or 70-200 mm lens (Depending how big is the idle). That camera has the speed light controlling the OCF (The two AD200’s). The purpose is to have good light for when they are the further away from me, as they start coming down the aisle.

The other camera has a 24-70 mm lens. The speed light on that camera isn’t controlling any off, its just for when the bridal party gets closer to me and the speed light on my camera is enough to properly expose them.



Both Cameras always have high enough ISO to save ambient light. Some photographers even use coloured gels and adjusted Kelvin scale to match ambient light, but that’s a conversation for another blog.


During the ceremony, always trying to be the least disruptive as possible, have an assistant who’s only job is to work with the lights so that you can keep your focus on what’s happening in front of you. Try to adjust the lights in different angles, always to get perfect and soft light, when the couple is up on the altar. Walls are great light reflectors or just for bouncing, use them. Don’t point lights straight at the couple in the altar, they won’t enjoy it as its highly distracting, always bouncing off of walls.

A bride an her parents

But…

If it’s a building with a lot of natural light, big windows and white walls, you absolutely don’t need any kind of OCF, just flash on camera and enough ISO. In these two images (right and above) this church had white walls, big windows and a lot of ambient light, so I only used speed light on my camera for a bit of fill, and high ISO high enough. Keep it simple people, don’t do more than what you have to.




Next Tuesday, I will talk about my Reception Setup, where I mix the two AD200’s with a AD400, all controlled by one of my V1 speedlights.

For more tips and examples of my work, check my Instagram here
You can also join my Facebook educational group here

Drop a comment below and let me know what you think, and stay tuned for next week’s blog about lighting reception rooms