light kits at receptions....
 

For those of you who use external lights at receptions. What does your setup look like?

I have a 3 light kit.. 2 500W and 1 250W

I would like to use them one day at a reception but I'm not to sure how the guests would feel.
Ideally I would like to break them out only for the main parts (bouquet toss, cake cutting, first dance, ect....)

Just curious where most people set up there kits at, and how most people feel about it?

steve

I currently just use a single light setup .. 300w or 600w. I expected resistance from guests, but so far it's been pretty good. I have been shutting it down when the general dancing begins, though.

Lights reception
 

Hi

We have been using 500 watts light for the special moments of the reception, first dance cake cutting etc... we are changing over to NRG dimmable light 2 ,100 watts battery powered. We have gotten a lot of comments to shut the lights off but we always tell those who do comment to go talk to the bride and they usually go away. Switched to NRG VARALUX PROFESSIONAL one on camera the other mounted on a stand aiming at the dance floor. Lighter and easier to move around. The work well don't kill the mood although I still like my 500 watt flood. One other thing we have told people who don't like the bright light is if it were and outdoor wedding wouldn't they be dancing, that works also.

Travis... how do you use your single light? I would most likely do the same. Do you try to bounce off of walls or do you just aim it at what you need?

Walt look like a good system.. I'm currently using a 50W light on a stand with a wireless remote (all battery powered). It works fairly well, I love the mobility... There were a few parts though where I could tell it just didn't have enough power though. I wouldn't mind switching to something new someday.

My goal is to get the light up high and position it so that it won't be in the guest's eyes. And make sure you get it turned on before you need it, that way it feels more like a part of the original setup.

For what it's worth: I'm not doing what you guys are doing, but I have a 500w light which I have made a dimmer for...so with such a light/dimmer at a wedding, you wouldn't be stuck with 500w only...

I am using a 350W single light bounced on an umbrella with a dimmer. This way it doesn't annoy the guest; and now with my Z5 I can even dim it right to the minimum. On the camera I use the HVL-20DW2 Battery Video Light 20W/10W.

Stelios

Walt, How do you power this light? Aren't the batteries too heavy to carry around?

Stelios

Lites weddings
 

Bescor make 2 different battery pack sizes, both last the whole night since they are not on all the time. Yes the big belt is a little heavy the other one is have the size but it works great.

if you have a harbor freight tools, you can get dimmers for $15! they are in the power tools sectioin, called router speed controls.

I use one 500W light, I use to have two but realized one is more than enough with minimum disruption to guests.

I'm thinking of using one of my 500W w/ an umbrella raised high and out of the way... I'm a little worried about 2 things.

1) harsh shadows (I'm thinking with an umbrella though they might not be to bad)

2) Someone knocking the light over.

Steve

I've been avoiding using lights at receptions, but with the XH-A1, you need the extra photons (and on-camera has always been 1-dimensional looking). My advice would be two-fold:
1. Get the tallest light stand you can. I have one that hits 13ft, but folds down no bigger than any others. The higher you can put your light, the less it will be in the eyes of your guests. Heck, you might even fool them into thinking its a room light.
2. Dimmer. Don't do a hard on/off if you want to keep your presence subtle. As a bonus, I would keep the light at 25-30% level BEFORE the guests enter the room. That way, its part of the ambience and they're less likely to notice it.

For stability, you can't beat a sandbag...but that adds weight to your gear...so a roll of gaffer's tape is almost as good. Run tape across a section of each leg to the floor. If possible, you can 'hide' your stand behind the DJ's speakers and jigsaw the two stands together (with the DJ's permission). That way, it also looks like part of his gear (fewer complaints for you).

Oren...

Awesome advice.... especially using a dimmer and keeping the lighting at 20%...

I'll pick up some dimmers tomorrow and wire them in.