Reception Party under Fluorescent Lighting

Not a wedding, but not that much different.

I have been asked to shoot the reception party for my aunt's 90th birthday party reception. I k now the building and it has fluorescent lights inside. It also has windows along the outside perimeter but they are small. I do not remember the building having strong ambient light from the windows. They may even be covered for all I remember.

I will have time the morning of the party to go do some test shots for exposure and lighting color.

If I have a mix of light, ambient daylight, fluorescent and possibly flash, what would you all recommend me try?

Gel the flash? Shoot test shots and use a custom white balance? Try to get along without flash?

Whatever you do shoot in RAW so you can correct the lighting no matter what it ends up with. I think I would probably try bounce flash it there were not enough natural light OR fluorescent light. One would need to be dominant. You should be able to figure it out since you can get in before the event

Don Kuykendall said:

Whatever you do shoot in RAW so you can correct the lighting no matter what it ends up with. I think I would probably try bounce flash it there were not enough natural light OR fluorescent light. One would need to be dominant. You should be able to figure it out since you can get in before the event

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I will have everything with me, flash, bounce cards for the flash, diffusers, brolly boxes if needed. I hope to do this with minimal studio equipment though. I am hoping a small bounce card or small diffuser attachment on my camera shoe mount flash will be enough if the light is too low. Ceilings are under 9 foot, I think, so I can use them as a bounce surface if needed.

Problem is flash will not always overpower ambient/fluorescent light except for the immediate foreground. It can leave the background in a bad color and I don't want that.

I am really hoping that it will be lit bright enough for my two faster lenses and I can just adjust white balance for one source.

I guess I could run across the street to the Ace Hardware and just buy a 24" fluorescent strip and use it as a constant light source!

I always shoot RAW.

If you were using a Nikon SB-910 I would say to use the SZ-2FL color filter that comes with the flash to at least get the light from the fluorescent lights and your flash close to the same. If you are using something else I would at least try gelling the flash to see if it helps balance the colors. My concern without the gel would be that the color balance on your subject (foreground) may be totally different than the background if the fluorescent lights are fairly bright.

I have gels for my Vivitar 283's but not a green one. I have read that the plastic of a 7-up soda bottle will work for a filter.

I also have read the soda bottle trick. I wouldn't worry about the ambient coming from the window. Just try and stay away from them and gel the flash for the fluorescents. Good luck. Show us all later what you came up with.

This event is tomorrow afternoon from 3pm till 5pm. Here is what I am going to do.

Go early and check the light conditions.
Take test shots with real people. There will be family there setting up the room I can use for subjects.
I am taking a clean pure white terry towel with me for a white balance marker and exposure check.
I will take some green gels for my flash units just in case.
I will have bounce cards for flash to use on group shots, diffusers for portraits.
Take many test shots and see what works best and go from there.

Wish me luck!

Oh, and I am also going to use the "Pre" setting on the D90 to get a white balance preset and see what that looks like I just found I can store up to five presets

As it gets darker maybe take some covert shots from outside looking in. I think they can work really well if you can place the subjects well (without them knowing, of course).

The one thing I would add is that fluorescent lights can be maddening in that they produce different color light during a single cycle, so if your shutter speed is faster than a complete cycle you can get yellow in one and more blue in another. I want to say that this happens at any speed faster than 1/60s. So make sure you're shooting RAW to do whatever corrections are necessary. Flash will obviously minimize the impact, but you're likely still going to have to deal with it.

Mike, sounds like you have a good prep plan in place. Just do as Jake suggests and shoot raw @ 1/60 and you should be good.

FYI, I'm not suggesting you shoot at that speed, I'm only saying that you should expect varying whites at any speed above that.

I will find out shortly. I am about to leave to head that way now. Fortunately we have a bright shiny day outside and whatever ambient light there is should add to the over all brightness inside the building. I am really hoping to get by without flash today and be able to shoot at the lower shutter speeds.

Don Kuykendall said:

Whatever you do shoot in RAW so you can correct the lighting no matter what it ends up with. I think I would probably try bounce flash it there were not enough natural light OR fluorescent light. One would need to be dominant. You should be able to figure it out since you can get in before the event

Click to expand...

Agreed. Take a few sample shots before the event if possible. Shoot RAW to be able to edit as appropriate in post.

If it was me, I'd use the flash as a main light under fluorescent because, as Jake said, anything faster than 1/60 will be compromised because of the fluorescent colour waving. Flash is consistent and will give your light some direction. Bad fluorescent light can be a lot uglier than a straight lightly diffused flash. Let us know what you'll finally use.

Example shots are needed. I would have thought that if you were able to bounce flash enough it would cancel out the flouros, or if you were to take a fast enough shot that to would cancel out the flouros and negate the colour inbalance.

I did a small family event in a room that was all long fluorescent bulbs. like in business office. in fact it had open styled grid reflectors in them.very directional overhead with a very short ceiling. not a translucent plexiglass over for diffusion.

kept the D3/D600 on AWB. no issue at all. most shutter speeds between 1/60-1/160 fstops between f3.2-5.6 throughout. really was worried there would be an issue. bounce flashed with card throughout, except a few for ambient feel. the AWB was rockin it! didnt even correct for one. it was spot on. maybe a bit warm if anything. but I like warm. but were talking minor. there were one or two pictures I shot in succession where it gave it a more cooler feel but the next picture it fixed it. I have to admit I come from the film world and my WB proficiency is lacking. I just hate dealing or knowing about it so I think that if I put my head in the sand like an ostrich it will go away.

when I came (first time seeing the place) I did do some test shots. and the D600 screen showed it with a horrible green cast while the D3 did not. so I mostly shot with the D3. about 30/70 split. but looking at them on the PC I come to realize the screen is horrible incorrect. DOnt shoot raw for almost every event. jpg is more than fine.

Whew! Long day.

I only managed about 135 shots. Lighting was fine with no real issues whatsoever. What was a problem was the location and the condition of the interior of the room. Walls were horrible and cluttered everywhere. Just not set up for good background at all. I made do with what I could. Did the best I could and got some shots that I like. A good bit of Photoshop will cure some of the ugliness. Some will just have to pass as they are.

At least this wasn't a formal event and nothing has been lost. I will post a thread with more photos of this event and what I done to get the shots and what I will correct next time.

For this thread here are a few of the shots I got. I have a lot more PP to finish on the rest of them.


The Birthday Girl (my Aunt Dorothy)






My Aunt with Her only Living Brother






One of my favorites of the day and the best of the casual/intimate - My cousin and His Daughter





Definitely this is one of my favorites of the Reception Photos

Great job. Worth it just for that handful.

Awesome job.