(Part 2) Best products from r/WeddingPhotography

No problem. :)

Ok, so flash is pretty easy. My setup might be a bit outdated, but here is what I use currently:

• Flashes
  
• Transceivers
  
• Controller
  
  I have 3 of those flashes, they're really pretty great if you aren't too snobby about brands. I believe Yongnuo has flashes now with the transmitter built into them, but I have never used those and the only time I've seen them in action it didn't go super well. I'm sure they're fine, I just can't recommend them.
  
  So basically you put the controller on your camera. You put each flash you want to use off camera on the transceivers. The controller lets you adjust each flash's settings remotely and triggers them. It's awesome.
  
  If you generally don't know what you're doing with flash for the reception, it's generally best to bounce the light off the ceiling. Point the flashes roughly upward and fire away. At receptions with a defined dance floor you can get pretty great results by placing them in a couple of the corners. Your light might come back kinda yellow. If you don't want to worry about using gels on your flashes then just keep an eye out for it and adjust the white balance in Lightroom after the fact.
  
  Aside from flashes you will want some modifiers to place on them. When I was starting out the two that I used are these (these aren't the exact ones, but they're close):
  
  
• Flashbender
  
  
• Baby Softbox
  
  So there are probably better modifiers to use, but these are cheap and they work pretty well at diffusing/directing light. The softbox is great for portraits and I frequently would use the flash bender to direct light gently over a wide area, like when the toasts are going on or the bridal party is entering the room or the dance floor. When used correctly you should get pretty great lighting and avoid hard shadows.
  
  Anyways, how I shot those photos. You're generally right. I love shots like that (probably too much), and so I do them all the time. The general idea is the same for all of them, soft light in front and a bright light in the back. Using the specific equipment I listed above, my usual MO is to put a bare flash behind them, typically on the ground (using these)or on a stand as low as possible to the ground. Point it at the couple and slightly upward (photo 1 is the exception, it was pointed essentially straight up to make the gazebo light up like that).
  
  Set up a flash in front of them. In most of those photos I used the flashbender modifier on the flash pointing at the couple to direct but diffuse the light. It helps it look a bit more natural. Generally you want to position it in a way that the shadows aren't too distracting, so do it slightly off to the side to get more natural lighting. Obviously I messed up in a few of mine but it is what it is and most people don't even notice. We're always our own harshest critic.
  
  Next is the settings. This is honestly the toughest part in my opinion. You need to expose for the background you want and then use the flashes to achieve the lighting you want on the subjects. I don't know how to describe this, but the easiest way is with photo #6 on my website. I exposed the photo for the city behind the couple and got the look I wanted, THEN I added flashes and whatnot. General rule of thumb is the light behind the couple should be one step brighter than the light in front. That way you get the glowing backlight effect.
  
  Thanks for the compliments on the photos! I hope this helps. I'm sorry if I did a bad job of explaining things, just ask me to clarify anything you don't understand.
  
  EDIT: All this being said you don't NEED off camera flash. I've shot entire receptions using on-camera flash. The most important thing to remember is you just want to diffuse the light in some way. When you're using flash on camera you typically achieve this by bouncing it at the ceiling. Practice this at home, it usually works pretty well!
  

So here is my wishlist for Camera things I sent my husband:

Think Tank Bag

I actually just got this for our anniversary on Halloween and it's freaking amazing. I love Think Tank everything because a) they're so incredibly thoughtful in their design and b) they're made incredibly well. This bag is replacing the current bag I carry JUST lenses and accessories in on the wedding day. On that note their rollerbag is what I use to carry everything and it's also amazing.

Helios Lens

This is basically a trash russian lens that provides really interesting bokeh and intense, awesome sun flare.

Holdfast

I have one of these already, there's a lot of reviews about camera straps, but as a woman it's been the most comfortable strap I've had. I have the American Bison one, it's very soft and incredibly well made. I get compliments on it at weddings all the time, it looks super professional!

Apple Watch

So nice for checking time, texting, and keeping track of timelines on the day of. I love it.

Mouse

If she needs any computer upgrades that would be a great option too. I need a new mouse because mine is a piece of shit, but monitors, monitor calibration, wacom tablet, etc could be nice too.

All the Microfiber cloths, batteries and SD cards

I buy all these things like candy every season. You can really never have enough of any of them.

As far as her home studio, the first thing I would look at is her chair. Art is nice and everything, but loving her chair and workspace makes such a huge difference. It's hard sitting ALL DAY, my back and neck hurt after a full day. I re-did most of my office and bought a bunch of plants and a new desk and it's made my days much better. Next purchase is a chair.

Hope this helps! I'm sure she'll love whatever you get her :).

As the other commenters mentioned, it should really depend on the situation and you should be making these kinds of decisions on a case-by-case basis. 4 speedlights in the corners could potentially work, but it would depend on the room. Additionally, you want to think about the type of light you are creating - do you want to point everything at the ceiling and have light everywhere, or do you want to have a kicker or two to shoot into to create some depth to the images?

If you only have one speedlight, on-camera bounce can provide decent results. However, if you're going to add additional off-camera units, my advice would be to invest in flashes with triggers/tranceivers built into them, such as the Yongnuo YN-560 IV line. They're incredibly cheap, reliable, and work perfectly for this sort of application. By doing this, you'll be able to trigger the flashes remotely (and reliably), with the additional benefit of being able to balance your output with the ambient light in the room, so as not to completely overwhelm it. Your batteries might have to be replaced once every 2-3 hours, depending on how bright your flash is set to. Buy some rechargeable batteries. You'll save hundreds.

My personal preference is to use a master flash on the top of my camera to light my subjects, and use it to control other off-camera radio slave units for additional fill or edge lighting (kickers) as the need arises. You get the flexibility of on-camera bounce with the look of multiple off-camera lights. It's the best of both worlds, I think.

Also, to your question about the light temperature, bare flash will show up as blue light in an image where the white balance is set to match most ambient indoor lighting, which is far warmer (usually tungsten). This will definitely create some weird-looking shots. You can easily get around this by gelling the flashes to the ambient light in the room, and I would definitely recommend it, no matter what lighting setup you go with. Just pick up a couple of gel kits off Amazon that include some CTO (orange) gels, and you'll be golden. In terms of bang for your buck, this will be the most effective way to improve the look of indoor images shot with speedlights.

Good luck with your shoot!

Certainly!

I started with this controller and this plug in. You can map the buttons, sliders, knobs, etc to virtually any adjustment in lightroom.

This controller is WAY better, motorized sliders which is immensely useful. As with anything in the photography world, its expensive. But my time is $$$!

Yep, I don't do photography professionally, but I always hated that post processing took so long, and how my arm/wrist would start to cramp up after a while. I can game all day and nothing, but after an hour of editing, and my arm and wrist start to hurt from the tension of moving them sliders and stuff.

You can go the easy way of a Loupedeck, it's more expensive, but already all setup. I didn't get a Loupedeck, because from the research that I did about it, a few too many people complained about it's build quality (warped board where not every corner is sitting on the desk, the buttons and knobs feeling cheap, both material and function).

So I ended up picking up the next best choice (again this is from personal research) a few months back, and it was the BEHRINGER USB Controller XTOUCHMINI off of Amazon for 60$.

There were other options, usually more expensive, with more knobs and more buttons, and some sliders, but this one was the most often chosen one by people.

If you go this way, you'd have to do a bit of work setting it up (either download someone's profile presets, or very easily make your own preset for every knob and button), and then make your own labels for everything, but it works great after.

Is a cheaper Yongnuo TTL flash just as good as the more expensive Canon flashes? I'm looking at this: Yongnuo YN-568EX II 4-Channel TTL Flash Speedlite for Canon E-TTL/E-TTL II Cameras https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DB21TCM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_9dx0xb3RBF50Y

Okay OP, I quickly went through your images, and circled what stood out to me. You're missing a lot of editing marks.

You may want to look into a Spyder to calibrate your monitor, because it's a big deal if you are missing sore thumbs like this.

Have a second set of eyes check your photos before you send them out, it really helps.

http://www.lee.com/shop/x-treme-comfort-khaki-pant

https://www.amazon.com/Twin-Peaks-Entire-Mystery-Reg/dp/B0186R6RV4/ref=tmm_blu_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1480364789&sr=8-3

http://holdfastgear.com/products/camera-swagg

https://www.amazon.com/ExpoImaging-ROGUEGELS-U-Rogue-Photographic-Design/dp/B005KEL4NI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1480365008&sr=8-1&keywords=rogue+flash+filters

https://www.amazon.com/Rogue-Photographic-Design-ROGUEGEL-CC-Correction/dp/B00A8EIPGY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1480365008&sr=8-2&keywords=rogue+flash+filters

https://www.amazon.com/Pelican-1510-000-110-Carry-Pluck-Black/dp/B0002SKHIK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1480365065&sr=8-2&keywords=pelican