Flash and bracket for a wedding

[saw]

Any ideas on what I should get to photgraph a wedding for a friend
I am thinking of maybe doing some more weddings so would a adjustable
bracket be good to get the flash higher off the camera?
Ive also saw a flash on a braket with an exposed bulb with a reflector behind it I cant find anything like that do they still make them?

[brucep]

I use this Bogen bracket which keeps my flash over my lens and folds away when not in use. Scott introduced us to this Samigon bracket on which you flip the camera, not the flash. I got one, thinking I'd use my small Chimera soft box on it, but the softbox gets in the way of the infrared sensor beam, and since my camera doesn't have one built in, it has trouble focusing in low light without the one on the flash. The Bogen one above is my favorite.

I bounce flash whenever at all possible, but in very large or dark rooms, there's no way to avoid direct from-camera flash. When the flash is directly over the lens, that harsh shadow goes down behind the subjects, not onto others in the photos (or harshly onto the background). When photographing groups, the photographer's further from their eyes than he is in regular candids, so red-eye is more likely unless the flash has some distance (up) from the lens.

Here's a terrific article on using multiple flash lighting at weddings.

[saw]

Thanks again Bruce youve been a very big help tonight

[RichLD1]

I have a bracket from Custom Brackets. Very nice, lets me rotate the camera without moving the flash. Not cheap though.
I also just recently purchased the Lightsphere made by Gary Fong. If your flash has a swivel head then you really don't need a bracket with the Lightspere. The lightsphere goes over the flash head and softens your flash while illuminating the whole room.
Good Luck!

[brucep]

The Lightsphere and the Stofen Omnibounce are each great... IF you have something for the light to bounce off of! When you don't (large or dark rooms or outdoors at night), no diffuser (other than a softbox) will help... I have to use a bracket in those situations.

[RichLD1]

I used the Lightsphere in a large auditorium with high ceilings the other night. Nothing to get a real bounce from, but it worked just fine. I put one of the domes on the Lightsphere which really helps in a situation like that. Plus with the dome on you can point the flash directly at the subject without getting the harsh lighting from undiffused direct flash. However, that is not to say that a bracket should never be used as I have one myself.
I'm still playing with the lightsphere, but so far I'm happy with the results.

[eaglesnest]

Bruce, Samigan bracket looks identical to Alzo's. Are they coming from the same manufacturer but given different name brand?

Dheers,
Theo

[brucep]

Yes, it seems to be the identical bracket.

I've been using the LightSphere more lately in our caves*, and I have to admit it does a far better job than the Stofen Omnibounce, because it becomes a larger primary light source. In a normally reflective room, though, I'll stick to the smaller, lighter weight Stofen. I'm carrying both in my bag currently.

* In our caves I'll still go for a long exposure on a tripod whenever possible, but that wouldn't work for weddings.

[RichLD1]

They just recently released the Chrome Dome for the Lightsphere. I think it is primarily for use with the cloud to get some more umf from the unit.
I don't have one yet, but I will be shooting at a wedding in July and I think it will help in the reception hall.