Using an off camera flash for wedding photography?

Would you suggest hand holding the flash attached by sync cable or attaching it to camera via an offside bracket?

Thanks for that copious. I'll look into that. I might try the hand held too to see what results I get. But I agree with you, hand held might just make me want to work in a supermarket.

ok you can isea bracket i do and they are awesome, however for ratios and backlight, side light and some fill flash handheld is ok --------- get your assistant to hold it not you,,,,,,,,,,,use a tripod

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You will find that hand holding is probably a real drag after about the third frame. You'll start cursing and stuttering and.....
Putting the flash on a bracket is the only way to go. I prefer a Stroboframe to any other, but take your pick.

Definitely a bracket! Copious got it right!

I like Stroboframe too.

Mason, depending on the church I am shooting in I keep my flash on the camera but I lower my shutter speed to allow in more ambient light which helps keep the over all lighting even with no harsh shadows. I also use a mono-pod for some of these shots (sometimes no flash).

Hope this helps,
Kevin

definitely a bracket on either side
i used this technique in weddings for years and its really the only one when you are very busy and only have two hands

Hook a battery operated flash to various places in the area. Install a flash sync to the flash. Use a standard on camera flash to trigger the remote strobes.

Weddings are so stressful.

Where the celebrant is very difficult I have negotiated with them to install a video camera to take the service from one angle - getting the brides face, groom slightly off side and the celebrant from the back and some of the congregation.

Digital video the Canon DM-XL2 MiniDV Digital Camcorder (20x Optical 5.4-108mm Lens) operates well under low light conditions. The quality is good enough to lift digital stills from the video.

Once the camera is set up it can be left to run for an hour which is usually long enough to get most ceremonies.

It is very irritating to have photographers jumping all over the place. The worst is when the still photographer is from a different company to the videographer.

I like using tiny cameras that are less intrusive, and using no flash. Intimacy is everything, and having discrete equipment sure helps. For digital, the Fuji Finepix F30 produces astonishingly grainless results all the way up to 800ASA. See the reviews and tests at the usual sites and you'll see what I mean. It's a one-trick pony, but for low-light portraiture there's nothing that even comes close. For film, there's no beating the legendary Yashica T4 Super, complete with "look down" (OR UP, held overhead!) viewfinder. One loaded black and white, the other color. As the T4Super has a 35mm fixed lens(Tessar T*, sharper than the dickens) you might, if you shoot film, have to lug an SLR around your neck to shoot the odd telephoto of the actual at-the-altar portion of the ceremony, or to make your client feel like you're "A Professional". But I say what's good enough for Annie Leibowitz, Jurgen Teller, and Terry Richardson is good enough for me.

I might not be their equal, but my photos taken with these tiny cameras have appeared in ELLE and been blown up into advertising billboards, as well as making wedding images that just blew the client away.

One nice thing is to create a "studio" near the reception area by just hanging a clean white sheet or seamless across a couple of stands or taped to a wall and soliciting each guest or family group to come and stand in front of that in their fine clothes. You'll get beautiful unity and a real "Irving Penn" look to go along with your candid shots.

Another thing I did was to ask the bride if I could go into the ladies dressing room for a time during preparations for the ceremony. With my little unintrusive T4, I got the most amazing things: mothers helping little daughters with makeup and hats in the mirror, bridesmaids pulling on brides corset-laces (of the gown!), intimate greetings, and so on. Priceless.