One of the key trends in wedding photography is telling the story through an unusual point of view. The series of pictures that show newlyweds in unexpected and beautiful way are always appreciated. I consider weddings to be the hardest genre in photography. The reason is quite obvious: weddings consist of many genres that photographer should master: portraits, architectural, food and decor, events, fashion, fine-art, landscape – to name just a few. And that is why using natural and artificial light is essential in wedding photography. I took my best pictures when I used flashlights or sunlight to my advantage. So I will gladly share some interesting ideas that will help you get better in this area.
Indoor Photography
It is best to check the rooms where the wedding day will begin and do it just about before the shoot starts. This will help you to plan a list of shots you want to take. Usually I check lighting conditions on my assistant, if you don’t have one, you may ask a guest or the groom. Most of the time the groom is not as busy as the bride on the morning of wedding day.
If the groom is free, this is a great opportunity to set a friendly mood and also to take some lifestyle pictures that can come in handy in the series. And most importantly, you’ll get a clear idea how you can use lighting conditions to emphasize characteristics of the pair and these places is better to avoid. Try to get a picture with soft light first. It works well every time and sets tender mood for the start of the story.
Creative Flashes
When you get your first set of pictures, it’s time to get creative with your flashes. Remember that often enough, if you work with flashlights it means that your models need to pose for a brief moment and you need a little time to set up. That is why I try to get my clients involved in the process.
For example, I can ask the groom to help me set up flashes or move something in the room to get a clean background for a portrait. I’m never shy to ask these things, I feel that this way helps my clients to ease in the process of the shooting and they can later tell that they were a part of creating the shot. This also helps newlyweds to start generating their own ideas you can easily use. You never know what idea will help you create the best picture in the series.
Try to use flashes with different gels, one with orange or green gel and one without. Orange gel can be extremely good, it adds brightness to colors which I like a lot. For example, let us imagine that you take pictures of the bride on a balcony. Using orange gel can greatly highlight your model due to different color temperature of foreground and background. So, the colors on model will be warm and the background of the street will go into a deep blue color. Just like a shot from the movies.
Gather the Couple
When it is time to shoot the bride and the groom together, you can try several techniques at once. For example, you can ask the bride to stand closer to you and use your flash with orange gel, then ask the groom to stand near cold shades of the window and use flash without gel on him. The picture will be very unusual, it will have volume and most importantly, it will look highly professional. Every time you have a chance to create a picture with mixed lighting – do it, it will be absolutely worth it.
Look for large windows indoors that leave on the floor light rectangles, also look for objects that are illuminated by hard sunlight. If you ask the bride to sit down or stand in that spot of light, then place the groom next to her in shadows but then highlight him with a powerful flash, you will get a very interesting shot.
Another lifehack, that many photographers love to do is the use of reflections. You can try to find reflective or glossy furniture to get a shot of the pair’s reflection. I also use mirrors and glass surfaces all the time. These pictures can look very artistic. Add more diversity, you can try to shoot the pair with frontal flash and then use it behind the pair to create backlit silhouette portrait. For example, I love to do a portrait of a couple where you place them in front of half-opened doors, and I place my flash behind them. After I do this shot I show the result in my camera to my couple and I always get enthusiastic reaction from them. This helps to set the positive mood for the rest of the shoot.
Outdoor Photography
You can use same techniques outside as you do indoors. Sometimes the shooting takes place on a sunny day, so the photographer will have a lot of work with direct sunlight. The simplest lifehack is to find a visual border between light and shadow that will allow you to make photos with high contrast. You can place the bride in the sunlight and the groom in the shadows, just like I explained before, you highlight the one in the shadows with your flash. The difference on a sunny day is that you definitely should use reflector a lot, so your couple would not be blinded by the sun.
An interesting technique you can use outside is the use of the environment. For example, taking pictures of your couple in beautiful tourist places, among crowd in a festival or another big event. The last option is not suitable for everyone, but if the bride and the groom are easy-going and love to join any activity, you can get great lifestyle dynamic shots full of life and love.
The simplest, but favorite photos of all are classic portraits of the bride and groom. They need a place with a pleasant background, where the sun does not shine directly or in the back of the head, and the light is soft. Usually, the perfect light is reflected from a wall that the sun shines on. Large focal length, open aperture, beautiful bokeh are essential parts of great classic portraits and all newlyweds and their parents absolutely love them.
A Few Notes On Post-Production
It is not enough to find a good spot on a sunny day to make a memorable picture, post-production is the key to breathe life into your work. The picture I took was in the small park in the quiet part of the city. We tried to find a shade to make portraits, but the sun was breaking through every tree making many tiny spots on the ground. So I decided to use that sunlight to my advantage. I asked the groom to sit on steps and close his eyes, so he’d look like he was dreaming about something. Then I asked the bride to get close with her soul mate, I did not give any specific instructions to her, because I like when my clients improvise.
Rockshutter Presets
That is how I captured this moment. To make it like a shot from the movie I wanted to add a faded look to the picture. I used my favorite Rockshutter collection called “Weddingful”, added some contrast with “Lights Up” action, then smoothed their skin a bit with “Smooth Skin” action. I wanted to make contrast with colors, so I added cooler tones to the background. In addition, I wanted to add a dreamy effect so I blurred a bit the lower part of the picture. As the final touch I moved the black point on curves adjustment layer for the faded look.
