# Lighting advice for a planetarium wedding



## KAikens318 (Oct 7, 2012)

Hi everyone,

I have a wedding that I booked a while ago, and today they decided on a venue, in a planetarium. Now while I think this is a really cool place to get married, as a photog, I am dreading the lighting. I am going to have to use flash, no doubt about that. My issue is that I do not want shadows from said flash. Do you guys have any suggestions for a lighting set up that would allow me to get the right exposure without shadows?


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## katerolla (Oct 7, 2012)

YouTube, YouTube and YouTube how to fill flash and how to bounce flash, than practice


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## TonysTouch (Oct 7, 2012)

Ask the person in charge over there if you can bring a couple of friends with you and practice before the big day.


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## KmH (Oct 7, 2012)

Why would you not want shadows from the flash, and is your concern shadows on the subjects, or shadows cast on the location?

Shadows tend to give an image a stronger sense of depth and make them seem more realistic.

A planetarium's main lighting is usually on a rheostat so the light level can be changed. The planetarium I used to volunteer at could be made quite bright.


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## bratkinson (Oct 9, 2012)

My guess is that the bride and groom want to be married 'under the stars', in which case the planetarium will be very dark.  If that's the case, hopefully, the planetarium has a spotlight or something to light up the speaker/presenter during their 'shows'.  That may be your only light.  You should definitely talk to the B&G about what kind of lighting they are expecting, and also talk with the planetarium about what kind of lighting THEY are expecting...


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## KmH (Oct 9, 2012)

You should also talk to the planetarium people.


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## MLeeK (Oct 9, 2012)

*KEY! Remember that (if they are indeed "under the stars") well lit to average proper exposure is NOT proper exposure. The KEY is to capture the light EXACTLY AS YOU SEE IT!!! Not what your meter says is correct! *
If they are getting married in the dark it would look totally wrong if the images were lit like daylight. 
What would I do? I'd shoot the wedding as it appears-dark with whatever lighting on the couple that is present. Au naturel. THEN afterwards I'd re-stage the critical points of the wedding and use a bit of flash so you have both the light and dark options. 
OR set up your off camera lighting to work with one camera and shoot with two or an assistant who is shooting "the other" images.


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## KAikens318 (Oct 11, 2012)

They are doing "under the stars" and there will be a very small amount of light from the emergency lights on the floor but that is it. Other than that they will be in total darkness. Not ideal. I am waiting to hear back from the wedding coordinator at the location to see if I can get in there at some point to practice.

Thanks for the tips!


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## Berter (Oct 11, 2012)

strobist.blogspot.com


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## Derrel (Oct 11, 2012)

Time exposures man, time exposures. lol. Good luck. SOUNDS LIKE A PITA location!


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## amolitor (Oct 11, 2012)

Ugh. You should discuss with the bride and groom (ok, the bride, mostly) about what the expectations are.

If it's going to be in darkness, the flash is going to be insanely obtrusive and annoying. Without a flash you're obviously got some technical problems, and some aesthetic problems -- you can probably shoot SOMETHING if you own or rent the right gear, but it's gonna be wide open high ISO stuff, which doesn't look like wedding photography at all. You might be able to pull off some decent looking b&w, if there's a little bit of local light. Maybe the ceremony will be candlelit or similar, and you might get some intimate stuff there.

I'm with the 'restage it with flash' crowd.


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## gsgary (Oct 11, 2012)

You need the Leica Noctilux 50F0.95


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## Derrel (Oct 11, 2012)

Have you ever seen time exposure wedding shots? They look COOL!


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## MLeeK (Oct 11, 2012)

A few strategically placed  speedlites around the room, set fairly low to give you a dark feel, but enough light to see your subjects.


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## bratkinson (Oct 12, 2012)

Time to bring out your tripod, camera, and 85mm f1.2 L and go for it!

Plan B:
Shoot an 'under the stars' sequence when nobody is in the planetarium.  Then Photoshop it into the background.


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