Welcome back to our “What’s In Our Bag?” series where we talk all about our gear! Whether you’re just starting your journey in photography or you’re an experienced photographer just itching to purchase something new, we hope today’s post is useful to you!
If you’re looking to step up your game with your reception lighting, this post is for you! It may not be our most exciting post but it’s definitely one you should read if you struggle with lighting your reception images with off-camera flash (OCF). I know, OCF is super intimidating. But it’s a must-have in our book! As soon as we started shooting weddings, we knew we had to learn OCF. It was the only way we could control the light during receptions and create images that we were proud to show. Once we read everything there was to read about OCF, invested in the necessary gear, and started incorporating OCF into our reception images, our only regret was not having done it sooner. OCF was truly a game changer for our reception images, and I hope this peek into our lighting gear will help you figure out what you’ll need to delve into the world of OCF.
Canon Speedlite 600EX-RT
Jay and I like our reception images to be bright and well-lit so that they complement our outdoor images nicely. Therefore, we usually shoot with both on-camera and off-camera flashes. I typically shoot with one on-camera and two off-camera flashes, and Jay shoots with one on-camera and one off-camera. This allows us to backlight our subjects while making sure they are well-lit in the front as well. We love our Canon Speedlite 600EX-RTs because they have built-in transmitters. Yes, you read right: BUILT-IN transmitters! That means our flashes talk to each other without having to use flash triggers. Amazing!
Canon ST-E3-RT Speedlite Transmitter
This transmitter isn’t a necessity, but I love having it when I want to control my off-camera flashes without having to always place a flash on my camera. I could just as easily turn my on-camera flash off and still use it to control my off-camera flashes, but the transmitter is much lighter in weight and much less cumbersome.
Nissin PS 8 Power Pack for Canon Flashes
We love our Nissin power packs. They have rechargeable batteries inside and get connected to our main off-camera flashes. Once connected, we hang them on our light stands and they stay ensure that our flashes don’t misfire throughout the night.
Canon CP-E4 Compact Battery Pack
While our Nissin power packs get connected to our off-camera flashes, our Canon battery packs get connected to our on-camera flashes. These battery packs make sure that our on-camera flashes won’t misfire.
Eneloop Pro Rechargeable Batteries
We highly recommend purchasing rechargeable batteries for both your flashes and battery pack. They are pricey, but they will save you money in the long run! Not only that, but they are much more reliable than non-rechargeables!
Titanium 16 Bay Battery Charger
As you may have guessed, our flashes and battery packs use up a lot of batteries. To cut down on the amount of time we have to sit around waiting for batteries to charge, we use two Titanium 16 Bay Chargers. This makes our night-before-a-wedding-ritual move a lot faster!
Manfrotto Light Stands
Not pictured are our light stands. We have two, and one of our light stands has this shoe attached so that one light stand can hold both one of my flashes and one of Jay’s.
And there you have it! I hope this post was helpful to you! If you have any questions please leave a comment below or email me at info@idaliaphotography.com.
