The Flash Book

Reception Option #3:Lighting the Room

This scenario is my preferred of all four options, and it works amazingly well—as long as your reception hall has a white ceiling—which is why it’s popular with a lot of pros. You need two bare flashes, two light stands, and a wireless trigger. Both flashes are set up the same way: on top of a light stand, aiming straight up toward the ceiling, with no softbox or diffusion dome. Put the light stands way up high toward the ceiling (I’m assuming 8-foot stands) and turn the power up to 1/1 (full power). Easy enough so far. What makes this setup work is the placement of these flashes in the reception hall: you ...