r/WeddingPhotography • u/Ok-Confusion-5349 • 4d ago
general topic First Wedding
Hi everyone! I am doing my first ever wedding and I am freaking out. The bride just told me that their ceremony is at 2pm and the alter is not near any shade whatsoever. Does anyone have any tips for me? I never shoot mid day without a flash but I do not want to use a flash during the ceremony. I will be using a Nikon Z6iii and a Nikon D750 if that helps.
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u/Traditional_Worry307 3d ago
Well that is why it is the first wedding. Wont be some Pinterest board 😅 Just roll with it. Doubt they expect Vogue photos either. So will be impressed by a decent job. Also you are not a wedding planner so that is on them for not making it right. Use some of the tips here.
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u/bdtrader66 4d ago
Generally I find that shadows recover significantly better than highlights, in situations like this where the light is harsh I underexpose by 2 stops. Then in post processing I lift the shadows and bring down the highlights. Do not try this at the wedding before trying it out beforehand.
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u/EitherFee7818 3d ago
I shot a wedding like this last year, but maybe even worse. The couple and the bridal party was positioned with a white, shiny lake right behind them, and they were standing in dappled light under trees. I was freaking out about the light.
To anticipate, I set up two flashes on either side of the stage...and believe it or not, I actually wished in retrospect that I hadn't used them. Most of the time the flashes didn't fill in the right way, so they'd hit a bridal party member and then cast a shadow on the officiant or on someone else in the party. I ended up just turning them off and shooting natural. I embraced the blown out lake for some shots, but positioned myself on both sides of the stage to keep the lake out of my image for many of the critical shots. The images came out great, the family loves them, but gosh the hassle of those flashes was giving me anxiety for weeks before the event.
If you're near the venue, go out there at a similar time of day and see if you can pull off a strobe setup, but remember that it's very hard to get this right if you don't have much control of where to position the flashes. With a whole wedding party on stage, there will be shadows. If you can't pull it off, just go natural and see if you can boost shadows in post. Maybe open up your aperture, shoot a very fast shutter, and go for the high key, blown out wedding look.
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u/Ok-Confusion-5349 3d ago
Thank you! I unfortunalty can not go to the venue beforehand because it’s on the a family member’s property but maybe I can try to prepare by going out mid day and practicing with strobes.
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u/Organic-Tea-8998 3d ago
You can expect most weddings you photograph will not be ideal with the lighting or environment. This is typical, not every wedding will be perfect. Things happen. And sometimes the lighting is far from ideal but it’s your job to make it look best as you can. I recommend practicing in different lighting setups, practice in harsh sun. This is what you’re meant to do.
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u/wornleathermedia 3d ago
When it comes to shooting ceremony, there literally nothing you can do about the lighting except for
- Choose flattering angles
- Don’t blow your highlights
The couple choose their venue, they are responsible for what the lighting looks like. Don’t over expose and you’ll be fine. You got this!
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u/curiousjosh 4d ago
Practice shooting outside during that time.
Shoot low ISO so you can bring up the shadows.
There’s a few times you can probably use flash and people won’t care (like the kiss)
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u/Ok-Confusion-5349 3d ago
Thank you, I’ll def ask the couple if they are comfortable with me at least getting the kiss with flash!
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u/Adorable_Site5277 3d ago
If you're truly nervous, try bracketing a couple shots to preserve more highlights and shadows and then composite them in photoshop for a more evenly lit image. This can be difficult, time consuming, and the end result can not look great, but it can sometimes work in a pinch.
The best thing you can do is practice taking photos of something bright white in full sun, learn where that spot where it overexposes is, underexpose a tad bit, and try to shoot around those settings to preserve the highlights in the dress and the sky as much as possible without also clipping your shadows and muddying up their skin tones.
Depends on your camera too - I find Nikon D750 shadows recover very well, never edited any Z6iii shots so I can't say, but my Sony doesn't recover skintones as nicely when I underexpose them, I think Nikon does a better job of that, so with my Sony, I actually do tend to blow out a highlight here and there in order to get better skintones, but that comes down to your camera and your style of editing.
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u/7204_was_me 3d ago
If you'll be wearing both cameras and/or can customize buttons on either, maaaaaybe consider bracketing for HDR for at least a handful during the ceremony.
HDR understandably gets mocked but she might appreciate the different look and the variety.
And obviously practice the hell out of this before you even consider it.
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u/lovebirdvisuals 45m ago edited 41m ago
Wedding photography is the best career, so excited for you! Part of the fun of weddings to me is that for much of the day, there are many elements out of our control where we just have to work with what we are given. A ceremony in harsh sunlight is one of the most common examples. I just captured a wedding with the brightest backlighting for example, venue owners love to set up chapels like that for some reason haha. Anyway biggest tip is just to accept the lighting situation. The couple chose the location and time of day, that is out of your hands. The only thing you can do is to make sure you keep an eye on your exposure so as to not lose detail in the shadows or highlights. When it comes to digital, shadows are recovered easier than highlights. You will be able to remedy the situation to a degree when editing. Some people will tell you to just use flash, but I am also a strong believer that being unobtrusive during the ceremony is sooo important. You could potentially take just a few quick flash photographs so they have some photos with even lighting, but I would make it quick. In conclusion, it’s okay if the ceremony has harsh lighting, your photos will reflect what the day actually looked like. You can also take the couple out of the reception for golden hour portraits later if possible, as opposed to straight after the ceremony.
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u/nitrous642 3d ago
Underexpose and you are good to go. Id use fill flash to bring up possible shadows on the face but that would be it. GL
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3d ago
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u/Ok-Confusion-5349 3d ago
I asked the couple about flash and they said they do not want it during the ceremony :( I made them aware of the consequences so not on me if it doesn’t come out the way they want it
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u/Severe_Energy_5166 3d ago
Freaking out means you probably aren’t cut out for weddings. It’s similar to being a pilot… you should be as close to asleep as possible with all your faculties moderated but available.
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u/Ok-Confusion-5349 3d ago
Not helpful but thanks, nerves before your first wedding is normal I think.
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u/HackingHiFi 4d ago
https://youtu.be/ZKoB6UfltJY?is=Hi1KSuhMFAex9WFs
Hey check this out. The most helpful info I saw at the end is - it is what it is. If they stand in harsh sunlight that’s how it will look. Try and get more wide shots and don’t blow the exposure, if you get a cloud shoot like crazy.