Will a Godox 300 Ws strobe work for weddings?

Question

I am planning to buy a Godox DE300 (300Ws) for wedding photography as a flash. Will it do the job if I place it at different distances in a hall and use it through wireless trigger? I am not so experienced with lighting in wedding photography. Please advise. My budget is around $200. I have another option of using Yongnuo speedlights, but they have a high recycle time.

Answer 1

Yes and No.

For purely logistical reasons in the ceremony I'm going to say no.

There is no in built power storage in this light. Meaning you will have to plug in. You're going to need a long cable/extension leads as you can't guarantee where the nearest power outlet will be. Trailing cables are a health and safety nightmare, and I can't see many venues being happy with this.

For both this and any off camera flash; People move. You won't easily be able to reposition your light to light your subject in case you miss a shot and you won't be able to shout at an assistant to change it for you. Putting up multiple lights at various positions will likely get in other peoples views and annoy them.

For the group shots, where you pose people in front of you. Yes it will. But don't forget to worry about trailing leads, and requirement of a power outlet. 'We want pictures by this pond with the swans'. 'sorry my cable won't reach'. Posed shots, the cycling time shouldn't matter (comparitvely) though.

I'd recommend the speedlights. Have a go E-TTL hotshoe sync chords during the ceremony, take off camera with triggers for any posed.

Answer 2

Hum. A studio light is not the best idea for all kind of weddings, or environments for that matter.

You can not rely on a fixed strobe as your only light source. If the celling is high you can fire it to the celling and get an uniform light across a somehow big room. I have done that in a church for example. But only as a fill light, so you do not have the typical dark background.

But you are totally limited in mobility. You can not use it on all corners of the hall, if the celling is low it will be almost usless.

With that budget you could buy 2 - 3 strobes, and probably 2 tripods to scatter 2 of them arround the hall. and one to be with you.

The "high" recycle time can be lowered simply using 1/2 or 1/4 power. You can simply compensate with a higher ISO.

But that is just for the "event".

If you want to model the light for portrait you need big difusers. Either umbrellas or softboxes, but that is out of the scope of this question.

I am worried that you do not have experience and try to make a wedding photography. Do that just as a backup photographer untill you get the experience. Offering your services as main photographer can potentially ruin this couple wedding photos.

Answer 3

I am not so experienced with lighting in wedding photography

This is a basic flash question, nothing wedding specific at all.

Will it do the job if I place it at different distances in a hall

Depends. Putting it at the end of a hall and assuming it does anything is not having an idea how pathethic 300ws (or 3000ws) are when you try to fill a large hall with it. it all depends on cone (how strong you loose energy) and distance. You can NOT rely on it working from one end of the event to the other.