Advice please: Quick, portable flash portrait setup

[Portola]

I'm attending a reunion in a couple of months and I foolishly volunteered to get a photo of each person in attendance. I'm not an inexperienced amateur, but I'm not sure what kind of lighting I could take (on an airplane) that will work. I'll be using flash because it is an evening event and who knows what the ambient light will be. I've done portraits before, but only using natural light. I have a 430EX and an Omnibounce, but no reflectors or anything. If I'm lucky I might be able to find a good location with walls to bounce the flash, but I have to be prepared for the unknown.

I have enough time that I can get some new equipment and spend at least a little time practicing. Nevertheless, time is short and I should keep this as simple as possible. What do you suggest?

 

[jfinite]

Why not? It's a reunion, so I'm assuming lots of pics of half-in-the-bag attendees. I mean, you could get a remote trigger/receiver, stand and umbrella, but unless you have a contract or something, I'd just go light and try to have fun.
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http://www.pbase.com/jfinite

 

[tangogal]

How about one of those small collapsible soft boxes that go over a flash? I think they are about 8 inches? They are easy to stash in your carry-on.
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Fran

 

[Kent Johnson]

Lightstand
Large white umbrella
Speedlight of your choice
Swivel mount
A bunch of batteries
Remote trigger

Really, the thing to do is just ship the gear to yourself and then ship it back to yourself after the event. No hassle.

Kent

 

[Bob M Wood]

My advice is to get a flash bracket, and ttl cable, like a stroboframe quickflip. this will insure that there are no harsh shadows behind them. I would also suggest a power pack of some kind to insure fast recycle times.

I suspect that not all the subjects will come to you so be prepared to shoot in different locations. If possible, drag the shutter, using a slow shutter speed to help prevent the backgrouds from being too dark.

GO EARLY AND FIND A TEST SUBJECT!!!

good luck, and update us when its all over - Bob

 

[slowhands214238]

those mini softboxes are marginally worthless, especially when shooting 1,2, 3 people standing together.. at normal shooting distances its effectively still a small light source.

 

[whvick]

1. Get a Gary Fong diffuser...my niece is a pro and uses one all the time and it looks good. If you are broke....cut up a Country Time Lemonade powder bottle til it fits over your 430ex....I do it and again get great results.

2. when I cannot find room for a lemonade bottle...or in your case it would be too embarrassing...I use a better bounce card:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNCmuExlHvM

3. More expensive and elaborate equipment may give better results, but most of the people there will be impressed with what you can get with the above, and this is small enough you can still mingle with the crowd and have some fun!

My $0.02 worth!
whvick

 

[Portola]

Thanks to everyone for your advice. In addition to your helpful comments, I spent a little time with Neil van Nickerk's book and I bought a new one by Syl Arena.

I've decided against setting up a little mini-studio, although I've ordered a small umbrella, stand, and bracket just in case. (Kent's advice) They are very compact. I think a tiny softbox is not for me--I'd prefer to use bounce flash although its hard to tell in advance how that will work out.

I thought about getting a flash bracket, but I've been getting pretty good results hand-holding the flash off-camera. It is more cumbersome, and more haphazard, but you can get the flash in a better location. And I don't need another piece of gear.

For whvick, I have a sto-fen which has a helpful effect in few instances. Fongs dome might be a little better, but it is the same idea. I do have my home-made better bounce card and it is also useful.

I really like what I get out of bounce flash when I can use it, but it is the hardest to predict.