During last night’s wedding reception it was a typical lighting situation and what I expect to see when I take a photo at a wedding reception. I look for properly exposed subjects in the center with the ambient lighting being shown in the background. In the photo below, this is exactly what I look for. This beautiful woman is looking great under lighting bounced up to the low ceiling. Settings are 1/40s at F/4 @ ISO200 flash at -2/3 exposure on TTL exposure (due to the low ceiling).
How did I choose -2/3 flash exposure? By looking for blown highlights on my display. Most DSLR will have a display setting that displays a view of blown highlights, once I determine it I usually keep the settings all night long. With this low ceiling, the Quantum 2×2 was hardly using any power and kept 4 full bars all night long.
See another expample of good flash exposure below.
Now with natural lighting, white balance is key, I hope your DSLR is as good as mine, it’s so hassle free with minimal image editing required.
There is an example of light bouncing incorrectly. This girl was walking back to her table carrying a drink or two or six and I just had to snap a photo. She was standing underneath a florescent light chrome reflector thing and you can see the reflector on the ceiling caused hotspots on her. Not everything can be perfect but it’s still a funny moment.
