Function with what you're given
You are able to prepare for every thing and every eventuality for a wedding, but the one factor you can’t control will be the weather.
The optimum conditions for a wedding shoot is a slightly overcast day; producing bright, however even light, which will not only flatter your couple along with other subjects but permit you to record as a lot ambient light as possible, therefore lowering ISO and resulting in sharper, cleaner frames. However, as controlling the weather is out of your hands, wedding photographers should learn to adapt to shoot in any environment.
Sunny day
Although the guests will adore a bright blue sky and hot sunny day, the photographer might secretly be praying for cloud cover. If you are confronted with a harshly lit day, bear in mind the very best light will come in the morning and evening, so it could be a great concept to set off even earlier to obtain the bridal prep and location images in great light and if possible leave some of the romantic couple portraits until the sun lowers within the sky.
There are several other tricks 1 can also use to counteract the harsh light, for starters move in closer to your subject, focus on details and if you can shade the subject in some way this may help to avoid shadows. Don’t be afraid to head in doors and position the couple next to a clean and ideally - veiled - window for softened light and even consider the use of a polarizing filter to cut out reflections and decrease contrast or flash to fill within the shadows when frames are backlight.
Furthermore, you are able to really produce some emotive silhouettes when shooting into the sun, simply position the couple between you and also the sun so they appear in totally in shadow, this might mean that you need to move lower or to the side to obtain the very best position. An additional trick is to have the sun behind you and have the couple walk away hand in hand - perfectly lit. Keep in mind to set a white balance based on the light conditions, or even bet learn to set it manually for completely accuracy and to recover details in a blown-out white dress when this will be the focus of your frame underexpose the image by a stop or two.
Rainy Day
If it rains on your wedding day (as it often does when doing Wedding Photography in Yorkshire) it's said to be lucky, but attempt telling that to a disappointed bride. As with harsh sun, you will find several methods around the rain and after a downpour it can even lend itself for naturally creating saturated colours and magnify details, which could be teased to greater effect with a polarizer - so as soon as there's a break in the shower grab your couple and quickly get those frames in the bag.
This is where your pre-shoot recce pays off, as hopefully prior to the shoot you visited the venue and identified locations where you could photography romantic portraits and the all important group shots should this scenario arise. Look for large windows indoors to position your couple next to and capture some evenly lit frames.
Use a flash for indoor captures, employing a diffuser to soften the harshness of the beam and also incorporate some if the ambient light. Finally in the event you do shoot outdoors in the rain, whilst your couple are positioned under the safety of a porch for example, use a raincover or at the least a plastic carrier bag, to safeguard your camera and lens and if it is windy utilise a tripod ideally pulled down with your camera bag or a bag full of rock for additional stability. You could also ask a willing guest to hold the reflector and bounce any available light onto the couple for that extra degree of improvement.
Snowy Day
Working in snowy conditions and cold temperatures will rapidly deplete your camera and flash batteries so make certain you pack a few fully-charged spares and keep them as close to your body when not in use.
Whilst a snow-dappled churchyard will undoubtedly make for a stunning setting, getting the proper exposure could be a nightmare; underexpose and you’ll have a grey canvas, overexpose and you’ll lose those all important details. Take several trial shots to correctly identify what settings work using the histogram for guidance, or bracket exposures.
Always set your white balance manually prior to you start and it is advisable to shoot in RAW if your camera allows it as this may provide you with more scope for adjustment at the post-production stage. Whenever you and also the couple are finished shooting outdoors, have a second camera already waiting for you indoors as the 1 you have just been using will have to be left in a secure area by the entrance - gradually becoming moved into the creating in stages to allow it to warm up slowly to avoid condensation.
Check out my part II guide coming soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment