I’m always getting requests to see how I setup my lighting to make the mundane look extraordinary so I’ll start by posting a couple from recent weddings and maybe I’ll start including more as I post new shoots. I’m always hearing other photographers say things like “I’m a natural light photographer” but I think that’s a cop-out as some of us know how to control light while others let it control them. While I’m much more photojournalistic during a wedding when we have the time and the need, it sure is fun to be able to go all out!
For these first couple setups I’ll show what happens when the light is great and what we do when everything goes wrong!
This first is to show the difference between what typical wedding lighting looks like during the reception and what I normally do. I edited them both the same to be as fair as possible:
This is how most wedding photographers shoot a dancing shot;
In the previous shot everything looks pretty good but it’s kind of flat. It’s a nice moment but nothing tells just how special that moment actually is. For the next shot, not only does the light in the background make the shot more interesting, it also serves to separate the bride and groom from the background. Overall, it’s a much more dramatic and emotionally charged image that is far more relevant to the moment.
Here’s me shooting a very basic but very effective natural light shot. I’m shooting a very quick portrait of Sean while his groomsmen look on a couple weeks ago at Vintner’s Inn. Up to this point I was just shooting the guys getting ready and just being as unobtrusive as possible. But I knew the light would be great near the window so I asked him to sit down for a second and took 7 pictures while he was sitting.
And this is the result
For a much more complicated lighting setup…
While shooting Mary’s bridal session in a gorgeous vineyard setting it started raining so we had to move inside. While this could have been a disaster I found this awesome plastic tarp that could be used for a background then added in an overhead strobe and a softbox for fill. A background light hit the plastic just right to make a cool effect. Sorry for the poor quality setup shot, it’s from an iPhone!
The results are pretty striking!
I’ll definitely be photographing more of my lighting setups both at weddings (where I use more of a minimal setup) and during portrait and engagement sessions (where more lighting is typically used).
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