Hi there,

I have recently taken a wedding booking for next year and I would like some tips on how you guys would go about shooting the speeches in a room which will only be lit with candles.

I will be using the Canon XH A1 camera, but i'm not sure whether to go about setting up extra lighting, as the venue is a neo gothic mansion in Stratford Upon Avon, England.

I'm unsure whether the venue will allow extra lighting anyway due to the size of the room and table settings.

I know I need to go and check the venue out, first hand, but I would like to know how you guys would go about this.

Hope you can help out.

Thanking you

Wayne

If the lighting is ONLY by candlelight, you will want some additional lighting on the toasters. I'd suggest on-camera lighting, since that will be easier to setup and less intrusive to the "mood" and shouldn't break any venue rules.

If the lighting is ONLY by candlelight, you will want some additional lighting on the toasters. I'd suggest on-camera lighting, since that will be easier to setup and less intrusive to the "mood" and shouldn't break any venue rules.

Thanks Travis for getting back to me.

Would you go for a mains powered light on the camera, as you are probably aware speeches can go on quite a while, and what wattage of lamp would you go for.

Thanks Travis for getting back to me.

Would you go for a mains powered light on the camera, as you are probably aware speeches can go on quite a while, and what wattage of lamp would you go for.

No problem. Honestly at this point I would use my Litepanels Micro for the job. It's dimmable so you can adjust the brightness as needed, and it will go for hours on it's AA batteries and provides good light (and doesn't get hot). I used to use a Bescor 20/40watt light, but I prefer my LP Micro now.

How long can the lite panel last for then continuous?

Wayne

How long can the lite panel last for then continuous?

Wayne

I've heard 4 hours, sometimes more. I think it can go 8 hours with special AA batteries. I've never needed mine to go even 4 hours, though.

Get close and keep a wide open apature and zoom. Then add a lite pannel light or similar. If you are stuck in the back of the room the zoom will rob you of a lot of light.

i would use a 500w or 1000w light stand and put in the corner somewhere for the speeches ONLY.

It is best not to ask for permission to turn on the light because the reception people don't know much about lighting for video.

Get close and keep a wide open apature and zoom. Then add a lite pannel light or similar. If you are stuck in the back of the room the zoom will rob you of a lot of light.


Wise words! There are also some good low light presets out there.

i would use a 500w or 1000w light stand and put in the corner somewhere...

Do you get many referrals Anthony? LOL!

Do you get many referrals Anthony? LOL!

Plenty. All the guests knows the room was too dark and to film the speech properly you need good light. You shorten my quote John you naughty boy. Longer quote make more sense. :)

Thanks guys for getting back to me with your views.

I was looking at these lights, do you think they would be ok?

2400W Studio Continuous video Light kit + accessory D3I on eBay, also, Studio Equipment Lighting, Photography (end time 08-Sep-08 01:35:20 BST) (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2400W-Studio-Continuous-video-Light-kit-accessory-D3I_W0QQitemZ320294550297QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item320294550297&_trkparms=72%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14)

Personally I think 800w might be a bit too bright. The lights I use have 2 300w bulbs, and last night for the first dance and so forth I only used one of the 300w bulbs.

i would use a 500w or 1000w light stand and put in the corner somewhere for the speeches ONLY.A thousand watts? Man, you're going to trip the fire alarm. :) May as well just turn the houselights up a bit. It's less of a distraction.

We use a couple of Lowell Omni lights, 500w. However we plug each unit into a dimmer as well as use frost gels along with whatever color of gel to set the mood. Typically this would be a blue gel but for a candlelight event, I might try using a warming gel. You simply can't beat this type of lighting (unless maybe you step up to an Arri's unit!)- at least in my opinion. One light is near the DJ/Band set up bouncing off the ceiling/wall. The 2nd can be more flexible depending on venue. We usually pack up around 10:30 and it's so funny to see the room plunged into darkness when we take the lights down and no one had ever been displeased about disrupting the mood. Gel filters are cheap!

Mike

A thousand watts? Man, you're going to trip the fire alarm. :) May as well just turn the houselights up a bit. It's less of a distraction.

That is the problem i am facing, there are no lights it's all lit with candles.

Wayne

Hi Wayne!
I think if you have low-lighting conditions (only candles or so) it's quite suitable for XH-A1.. You can make picture more "tasty" still keeping atmosphere by using "filling" light as said above. Or if there's more than 5-10 candles you can manage without fill, with only back or side lighting with apropriate strength. It would give best results combined with 25p mode, it's sharp and sensitive, just needs to restrict pans.

Last week I've made some night shootings with low street lighting and one light source.. Even didn't use the gain.. And some earlier works shot in candle lighting with the only back light source aprove this concept. But there was many little candles (more than 20 for sure :)

I use the Zylight Z90's for on-cam lighting and they work just fine. I don't do off-cam lighting but will sometimes, like in your case, do an off-axis, on-cam light so it's not so flat looking.

For the good ol' candle-lit ceremonies, F1.6, gain of 12 or 15....it is what it is, but it looks fine given the circumstances.