Photography Technique - Wedding Photography

Wedding Photography Lighting Outdoors: Bright Sunny Day


The sun is shining on beautiful summers day and everyone at the wedding is ready for the photography to start. You are the photographer for their big day and your standing thinking.


How am i going to deal with those deep black shadows with bright white highlights?


The first thing to do when faced with a high contrast scene is not to panic. I look for the nearest shade either under a tree or at the side of the venue. The shade will tend to increase the amount of blue light in the photograph so I fit an 81A Warm Up filter to my lens or select a white balance on the digital camera that is warmer than usual. e.g Cloudy is a warmer setting.


The trick is to pose your the couple in the shade of the tree in a position that allows the softer north light to Illuminate their faces. This means you do not have any direct sun light falling on the couple and their whole bodies will be evenly lit. A burst of fill in flash at -2 stops can be added to brighten their eyes.
If you would like to see a few examples of this technique please visit www.pureprints.co.uk and click on the wedding photography category.


Richard Barley
pureprints.com