Hello friends. I've decided to begin bringing my own lights to receptions. I know a lot of high end videographers do it, and I've run into too may DJ's or Venue employees who equate romantic ambiance with pitch blackness.

I think I'm looking for some fairly low wattage tungsten fixtures I can put high up on light stands, pointing down on the dance floor. Do I need a battery solution? Dimmers? My main cameras are C100s and full-frame DSLRs, so I don't need a lot of light, and i don't want to kill the ambiance.

Anyone have any suggestions?

Have you considered LEDs with 3200K output? They are lighter, cheeper, run for longer on batteries, have built in dimmers and also run cool. Tungsten lights are going to get hot very quickly and use a lot of power.

Sounds great Dave. Do you have any specific suggestions?

Although I don't personally own them, my friend at LA Color Pro's sells quite a few of the Comer 1800 lights to event videographers. LED's without some sort of focusing lens don't have a great throw, so these might be your best bet for battery powered portable lights:
Comer CM-LBPS1800 On-Camera LED Light (Sony Battery) | L.A. Color Pros (http://www.lacolorpros.com/product/?CM1800-Comer-CM-LBPS1800-On-Camera-LED-Light-%28Sony-Battery%29)

Personally, I'm a fan of the Dedolight, but it's a big jump in price, and isn't battery powered. A cheaper alternative to the Dedo is a ProLight with a snoot attachment, which will give you a decent isolated circle of light at a good distance.

I have some Comer 1800s, Yongnuo YN-300 II, YN600 (3200-5500) and the Aputure 528S & 528C.

Frankly, all of them would do the job, depending on how much light & spread of light you wanted.

The Comer 1800s do a great job, but are relatively expensive and also one of the weaker lights. These were (and sometimes still are) my go to lights for on-camera.

The YN-300 II would be the cheapest option and are pretty good too.

The YN-600 is a good light and (at 3200K) a pretty good performer with some caveats (see below).

I like the quality Aputure 528S with the tungsten gel is the brightest but is more of a spot than general coverage.

The Aputure 528C is also a great (3200-5500) light, but is the least bright of them all.

The YN-600 is fan cooled (auto on/off) so would be OK in receptions, but if you ever wanted it for interview / diary room the fan can be very annoying. Also as it heats up / cools down the output varies by up to 100 lux!!!

There are plenty of other options out there too....

Whichever light(s) you put on stands be very careful where you place them and how you stabilize the feet, wether taped down or sandbagged. There is always the possibility of someone tripping on them especially if they are near the dance area or they are wall powered..That is my main reason I avoid using them. I'll go only as far as asking the bride and maitre'd to raise up the light levels a bit. If that is a no go , then it is what it is.
Safety comes before quality and if God forbid someone gets hurt, I sure hope one is insured to the teeth.

I used to use 1 or 2 Neewer CN160s with the diffusion screen and a piece of Tough Spun to soften the light up. I really didn't like the so called "3200K" filter. I installed remotes on the lights with key fob type controls and simply hooked them to my belt loops so at anytime I could turn the lights on or off.
I generally had one by the DJs speaker and if I was using a 2nd THAT location would vary depending on the purpose; IOW, for introductions I would have it pretty much next to me, for cake cutting I could simply turn the light around and point towards the cake. For speeches, I'd move it over to cover wherever at the head table the speaker was standing.
For dancing, I put the roving light where it would be opposite of the one by the DJ but safely out of the way so the folks wouldn't trip on it. Keep in mind I also had a light on the camera, again a very soft light and very low level but it worked as a fill light.
I didn't start doing this until about 3 or so years ago and now that I'm retired from weddings and most other work....BUT I did use this set up for quicky sit down interviews. The lights worked quite well for that as long as I wasn't doing more than 2 people in the set up. Then it was time for the hot lights.

I use a Lowell Pro-Light on a dimmer with a snoot and diffusion for my main light. I park it up close to the DJ with sandbags. I use a Swiftronix Torch LED for my second light that I move around as needed. For the dancing shots, I have my assistant follow me around with the LED staying at least 45 degrees to my left or right to avoid that straight on on-camera light look.

Thanks, Art. For some reason Lowell pro-light is the sort of light I had in mind. Do you have a battery solution for it, or do you always run of AC? And why not an LED for that main light by the DJ?

yes Bob- I run it off AC. It is battery adaptable but only puts out about 50 watts DC vs 200 AC. I will probably replace eventually with an LED but for now it now it works just fine. The snoot really helps to tighten the beam and with a dimmer makes it pretty adaptable for most venues. I also slide a round cutout diffusion gel into the frame which softens the light just a bit.

There are very powerful LED lights that run off batteries but those are very expensive and use the 14.4 volt AB bricks that have the amperage drain to support them. I designed a few very promising prototypes that output in excess of a 500 watt filament with a high 90+ CRI color rendering index yet drawing less than 100 watts from the battery. I used one of them to illuminate a very dark venue and was just using it dimmed down to like 300 watts. The battery lasted all evening and I even had a remote on/off switching. I made sure it was placed where it would not be tripped on. The only problem with a single light is that it caused shadows at the opposite end and a diffuser will not help. The ideal situation is to have the light directly above and behind you, this way there is no shadows, but limiting your mobility. I don't use any lights anymore except the on-camera LED that I built myself.

I use a Lowell Pro-Light on a dimmer with a snoot and diffusion for my main light. I park it up close to the DJ with sandbags. I use a Swiftronix Torch LED for my second light that I move around as needed. For the dancing shots, I have my assistant follow me around with the LED staying at least 45 degrees to my left or right to avoid that straight on on-camera light look.

Art- I'm trying to discover better ways of lighting the dance floor at night because I also hate that "straight-on" light look in videos. Can you show a short example of what your type of technique looks like?

I just use an on-camera led light, that's all. It does not produce shadows this way. Although not the best way to light up people, I dim it down when I am close to a crowd like 10 feet or less. My clients really put content and coverage rather than a cinematic lighting preference. If they want that sort of thing then I would charge them much more and have an assistant place some extra lights on stands with diffusion by umbrellas to have an even light distribution. It would be far simpler if they raise up the lights a bit, but even with bringing along the extra lights and stands they may not accept that spoiling the dark dungeon cave look they want. My package pricing being affordable, they should not expect anything more that what I have been doing all along, that is a one camera shoot, no tripods, no extra lights. Lighting up a dance floor has a lot of factors to consider, like having the bride's approval first. The DJ and maitre'd most likely have convinced her way ahead of time that the darker the better. Suggesting a brighter setting may not fare well with her. How many times have I heard guests say to me " man that light is bright, can you point it the other way or shut the d#$n
thing off ?". I just say " Ask the bride to raise the light levels, if you can do that then I will shut my d#$n light off." There was one bride that had me turn my light off all evening. She received a video that had grain the size of golf balls. The only lights on were the candles on the tables and the red exit signs. She asked for it and got it.

Hey Arthur, did she express regret about that?

It actually happened more than once that they insisted on a dark venue. Yes, they were not happy about the results and regretted afterwards that this will stay with them forever. I even showed then a small clip on the LCD camera screen what they will be expecting if the lights are not turned up. It's not like I didn't warn them. Problem is that in the heat of the wedding they are not thinking straight and they assume that some magic application or the almighty computer will eventually "fix" things up. I even had one that flatly said to me " it's your job, just do it !" I went ahead and "did it" by asking the manager to up the lights a bit. He replied that the bride just likes it dark as it is. You can't win. This is why I don't bother anymore and let the horse drink where he pleases.

Thanks, Arthur. Stories like that are the reason I'm going to try very dim, focus-able lights high on light stands. At least for the formal dances, and if I'm lucky, for the grand entrance, cake cutting, and speeches.

If the DJ has interesting, colorful lights, I'll probably just rely on those for other fun dancing shots. But sometimes, the DJ has no lights. And then a guest, or the DJ, or a venue employee starts dimming the lights. That's gonna lead to a rather drab video, even with fast primes and large sensor cameras.

Art- I'm trying to discover better ways of lighting the dance floor at night because I also hate that "straight-on" light look in videos. Can you show a short example of what your type of technique looks like?

here's a screen grab. When you're backlighting and lighting off center, you're not going for the beauty shot because of the shadows but for shooting the dance floor, I find it adds more depth and energy to the scene.

Backlighting works great. Especially the hair light rim and adds drama. I used to do those things in the past but it seems my clients don't appreciate the artistic lighting results as they never gave me any compliments for it after all the work lugging around tripods and such just to make those effects. I even had a lighting assistant that places and adjusted the direction from them. So, since 2002, I haven't brought any extra lighting to venues on a regular basis. Sometimes it ain't worth it.

From 2000-2008 we never used any extra lights. Sure many many times the reception looked like a bunch of black cats in a coal mine, but no one seemed to really care.

In 2009-ish when I switched to HD I bought one of those dual 10W/20W on camera Sony lights and had amazing success with that little guy. I bought 2 more so my other shooters would have one too.

Then last year I took it up a notch and got 2 9' light stands and 2 Switronix Torch LEDs. They do great adding some extra light to the first dances and such.

But then, now, we're using a Sony FS100 and a Sony a7s, so the need to introduce light has gone down a lot.

I am Comer lights reseller. I can offer some discount to DVInfo members. PM me for the discount info.

I am also a wedding videographer. I mounted the comer light on light stand and placed near the dance floor. but make sure you put sand bag at the bottom. Too many kids and drunks running around dance floor.

I use the spot filter to create a spot light on the dance floor. It works great. also, increase the light output.

The side benefit is, I mounted a Zoom voice recorder on that same light stand as well and place it near the DJ's loud speaker. In that case, recorded a master audio track on top of the DJ's feed. Someimes DJ feed is too "dry" without any ambiance. I can mix and match. Sometimes the DJ sound completely screwed with hums and peaks. This recorder on lightstand near loud speakers save the date.

this is how that recorder sounds like. You can see it in the far back at the very first scene of this clip.

Obsession with.... - YouTube

Years ago I shot a reception and the only, and I mean only light they had on was a "red cop'' light at the DJ's table and a couple of lights over the main table. I didn't have the lighting I had now, so needless to say, it all was dark.

That was enough for me, so I purchased some on camera lighting from Frezzi. As mentioned earlier, you can advise till you're blue in the face, but some clients won't understand lighting. They see the crap on hollywood and think that they can swing the same thing for a 5k budget. Nevermind that there's 40k of lighting at some of those platinum weddings or movie sets.

That being said, I shot an out door wedding that was after sunset, I advised the client to get event lighting but they didn't. So I put two of my frezzi lights on my two cameras and one on a stand and lit the whole ceremony with them. When I turned my lighting off at the end of the ceremony, you couldn't see the person in front of you.

My frezzi lights have been amazing and saved my can more than once at events where you're stuck with 'low lights' or no lights. Every once in a blue moon a client will say something about the lights. But that's to be expected when they didn't listen to you or don't understand the challenges of editing dark video.

If I went to weddings with proper lighting, even proper low lighting, then I could turn my lights off. But in my area, very little attention is given to proper lighting. Thus, my frezzis are a staple in my truck and agreement.

You can put the frezzie on stands, but as mentioned before, someone's bound to trip over them.

Sandbags are a must for your light stands - people still trip over the legs but then you are usually in a room full of chairs/DJ stands and band gear so you are introducing no more risk than is already there. I don't even bother discussing lighting with the couple as, on the times I have discussed it, it comes to nothing. On the few times I have introduced lighting for the speeches (just a little for fill) I get the over the top squinting and eye shielding so now I simply ask if the house lights can be turned up. Quite a lot of the time I get speakers spread across different tables so lighting them would be a logistic nightmare.

I have it in my terms and conditions that poor lighting levels may compromise the quality of the footage, and it is up to the couple and their venue to ensure adequate lighting levels. I'm quite happy to cast a little fill light if absolutely necessary but I'm not prepared to light up an entire reception room!

I find communication pretty poor sometimes between the couple and their venue, and even in the venue itself - yesterday for instance I asked the MC (who the bride was complaining about as being pretty useless) if a PA was being used for the speeches, no she replied, the're just going to speak from where they stand, just before the first speech someone passed a mic to the father of the bride who boomed his speech from the hidden speakers in the ceiling - unfortunately the level is higher than set on my H1 recorders so the sound is pretty poor - shame some people can't get their act together.

Pete

Just yesterday I was the photog ( I am photographer also ) of a middle eastern wedding where the video guys ( 3 cam shoot) used 2 light stands supporting 2 powerful lights to illuminate the large dance area. The stands were firmly taped down and sandbagged down to the floor.The lighting was really nice and even and there were lots of small children around ( they bring their children at the wedding regardless of age) that were running everywhere all night. Well, one boy around 7 or so tripped while running on the stand leg and fell face down to the floor. I will not describe the scene but the boy was taken away immediately as he most likely broke his nose.
The tripod did not fall down, he just tripped on it. It was located in a good spot far from the dance area.
This was not the first time this sort of thing happened in my many years doing weddings. Most likely there will not be any charges as these people are all like family including the band and the video and will consider it like a child scraping his knees. All I am trying to say is that anything can happen at any time. Had the venue raised the light level as requested, this may have been avoided. But...

I always take lights & Stands - but you're asking for trouble if you take anything other that LED's - you can't have a hot light on stand with guests around.

I have 2 300 LED lights & 1 600LED - both bi colour , dimable and battery operated - the only thing I haven't got is a remote. they last all night. with a solid stand & shot bags for EVERY one of them I don't have to many problems.

I mention lighting in an email to the bride and also to the venue. the only time I ever took a tungsten light to a venue was to prove a point - the coordinator refused to adjust lighting twice so I went in on the 3rd time, set up a 1k and turned it on - she got the point.

this is the sort of lighting I use
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/253067-REG/Impact_LS10AB_Air_Cushioned_Light_Stand.html
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1074087-REG/ledgo_lg600csc_value_series_led_panel.html

Paul, I was thinking more like 100W to 250W, not 1000.

Which LED lights do you use?

Just yesterday I was the photog ( I am photographer also ) of a middle eastern wedding where the video guys ( 3 cam shoot) used 2 light stands supporting 2 powerful lights to illuminate the large dance area. The stands were firmly taped down and sandbagged down to the floor.The lighting was really nice and even and there were lots of small children around ( they bring their children at the wedding regardless of age) that were running everywhere all night. Well, one boy around 7 or so tripped while running on the stand leg and fell face down to the floor. I will not describe the scene but the boy was taken away immediately as he most likely broke his nose.
The tripod did not fall down, he just tripped on it. It was located in a good spot far from the dance area.
This was not the first time this sort of thing happened in my many years doing weddings. Most likely there will not be any charges as these people are all like family including the band and the video and will consider it like a child scraping his knees. All I am trying to say is that anything can happen at any time. Had the venue raised the light level as requested, this may have been avoided. But...

By this logic I assume you're against DJ's having speakers elevated off the ground because a child might run into them? Wouldn't that hold true for anything on or near the dance floor?

Maybe the parents are lucky the videographers don't sue for their kid running into their stuff :)

Well no, I am not against any DJ for having anything on the floor whatsoever. That is his/her problem if a mishap occurs. Hope they never get sued and have insurance That also includes the video light stands and such. Accidents happen all the time when one least expects it. I avoid the possibility as much as possible by minimizing on the equipment I carry and install/place. Many times I tripped on the venue chairs, the DJ's
tripods that support his speakers, the slippery bathroom floor, and also the time I twisted my ankle while walking to my car at night after the wedding caused by a pothole in the parking lot that I did not see due to the lack of lighting. I did not sue or get angry, I just accepted that as an occupational hazard. But, there are those that will go see their lawyer first thing Monday morning. Sometimes in our quest to offer the client the best possible product, we tend to overlook the consequences and possibilities of mishaps. Remember Murphy.?
Every business is a risk, true, and the more equipment is present the more that risk elevates. A camera mounted drone overhead on an outdoor ceremony is an accident waiting to happen.
I really prefer to travel light and watch where I step.