Hi guys,

I recently decided to start using lights on the dancefloor again. My Sony a7sii certainly doesn't require it, but my reason for wanting to do so is to somewhat wash out the silly colours I often get from bands/djs.

To accompany this (and no doubt some will think I'm crazy) I also felt I wanted to control the ambience even further. I bought two dancefloor lights (at a bargain mind you!) which effectively mimic the old school disco ball type light.

American DJ Starball LED STARBALL LED B&H Photo Video

Mirror ball effect: 2x American DJ Starball LED - YouTube

For me, it's a classy look, adds more interest to a shot, and operates at a pace that is appropriate for romantic first dances.

Regardless of your feelings about my idea, what I really need help with is.... how do I mount these things?

I want them both facing forward. They don't need to be very far apart, So I'm thinking one single unit. I imagine photo light stands will not be heavy duty enough. Might I need weights on the bottom?

I don't want them to be blocking anything, and to be honest I feel they could both be 1/2 feet from the ground and directed upwards.

The lights themselves as you can see on BandH have two holed parts at either side on the back. They come with a bracket that screws to this, with one singular hole in the center.

At that time of night I normally have a Benro S4 tripod free. I reckon with the legs spread on one of the wider options, It would be sturdy enough. I could just mount some sort of horizontal bar on a plate. With both lights fixed to the horizontal bar about a foot apart.

Any advice would be welcome.

Short mic boom stand, used for drums and guitar cabs - join the two mounting holes with a cross piece (I use 1U aluminium rack panels cut to size, with a ⅜" hole dead centre. Use the ⅜" screw washer most stands come with to secure it, and you can secure it at any angle.

Yet more gear to lug to a wedding!!!:-)

What reaction are you going to get from the DJ or whoever it is who is doing the lighting if you whip these out?

I need to do the best I can to make my video look good. I can no longer rely Bands/DJs to do that. I'll happily talk to them and explain. I'll be gone after 3/4 songs, and then they can turn the place into a techno house if they so wish! :-)

Clive, I find lights on 2 corners of the dance floor is best. Often the DJ will have his own lights and so its the opposite side that becomes a problem. When I DJ, or if I'm doing video and the light is crap, I have wireless/battery powered lights I can put up (picture below) that can fill with white light. No dimmer, but I can point it at the ceiling instead, if I want, and they don't have cords, and are easy to move to where ever I want them.

As for putting your lights up, simply pick up a DJ version of a light stand and maybe a t-bar. You'll need an O-clamp to attach the lights to the stand.

Ultimate Stand is a nice brand.

Just make sure its a light tripod NOT a speaker stand. The speaker stand will usually only go 2 meters high.

A T-bar will be a little bar, less than 1 meter long, that can go horizontally on top of the stand so you can easily mount both lights onto one.

Make sure the O-Clamp is the same size as the T-bar, which is the same as the light stand. In the U.S. the standard is 1.5 inch or 38mm (outer diameter pipe). The confusion comes from that speakers use a 35mm pipe to set on.

I posted here but Steve pointed out it comes across badly - so I've dumped it, apologies to anyone I offended.
Paul

Paul you can be quite condescending at times. You still think that we should approach Wedding videos as if it was a stage production. News flash, it isn't. Totally different rules and standards. Set up a dozen lights for the first dance!!! I have barely enough time to set up a few cameras. Last Wedding I did, we went from Speeches to Cake Cutting to 1st Dance without a pause. I'm sure you like to sneer at our toy cameras, but to assume I go around like somebody with a bafta suggests you tainting all of us with some of your bad experiences. You also seem to assume that are our DJ's are professionals and at the top of their game when it comes to lighting. Many are not.

I use a couple of lights as fill light only if the lighting is too low. I've yet to have any complaints from DJ's who understand that like them I have a job to do. It's run n gun work Paul, quite different to filming a stage production. Having filmed a few, I know the difference.

I don't claim to be an expert on lighting. Being a sole Videographer at a Wedding carries limitations. Couples understand that and don't expect or want their first dance professionally lit as if it was Strictly Come Dancing or a stage production. If you ever filmed any Weddings, perhaps you'd change your tune pretty quickly.