Outdoor Wedding. Ocenside. 3:00 pm. Harsh Sunlight. What To Do?!?

[Todd Patten]

OK, today my brother got married for the second time. I think this one is a keeper I was not the photographer, but seeing that they did not have a photographer, I went ahead and took a bunch of pictures. This wedding was outside, right on the ocean. It started at 3:00 on a VERY bright and sunny day.

I knew the photography would be tough, with very hard shadows and very bright highlights. To make matters worse, I flaked out and left my D70 at 400 ISO and for half the photo's, had it set to +1.0 Thankfully I was not paid for this job!

However, here's the main matter at hand. How the heck do those who make a living at this handle such a scenerio? How does one prevent the harsh shadows without blowing out everything else. How does one eliminate the bright highlights without making evrything else too dark to see?!?

I got home and upload the images on my machine and was so incredibly frustrated. Even my wonderful wife could pick up on my irritation with my work. I'm currently up to my eyeballs in PS corrections.

Advice? Anyone?!?

[schrackman]

if you don't have one already, and start using some fill flash to soften those harsh shadows and even out the highlights. Don't rely on the onboard flash. Of course, this is the simplistic answer, I know, but I've never shot a wedding so I'm quite limited in the advice column here. But a good flash does make a world of difference. I didn't know what I was missing till I got the 550EX for my DRebel.

I hope others here will give you some more detailed advice.

Ray

[Lionheart]

I agree with Ray. Get a flash, and you might want to get a Quantum pack with it if you plan on shooting any more weddings. I shot under those same conditions for my patient coordinator's son's wedding, and it was TOUGH. I used a fair amount of flash fill during the ceremony and used several reflectors for the posed shots. Even at ISO 100 and squelching the fill flash -2 stops, the flash can still overexpose the highlights. Bring an assistant or recruit the wedding coordinator's significant other-they're usually willing to help. Thankfully, the reception was indoors, allowing me more even lighting with my flash. If you can, try to scout the area ahead of time with input from the wedding coordinator very helpful for determining the best places to position yourself. Look for good locations for posed shots ahead of time, but try to be relaxed enough to allow yourself spontaneous creativity in posing your subjects during the shoot. The toughest wedding I've shot was my dental assistant's wedding. I was not allowed in the sanctuary during the ceremony-can you believe?- only from the rear balcony could I shoot, but no flash allowed, in a ceremony barely lit with candles and ambient lighting through small stained glass windows. All I brought was 20 rolls each of ISO 160 and 400 Portra SVC, not nearly enough even with a tripod, and I wasn't about to try push processing this stuff since I've never tried it with this particular film. I had my D30 with me, so I test shot some at ISO 800, found it acceptable, and so shot my first ever digital wedding. The pics actually turned out pretty nice. They did allow posed shots with flash in the sanctuary after the ceremony, but at that point I was feeling pretty comfy with the 3 Mp D30, so I shot digital the rest of the way. I haven't shot film for a wedding since that time.
I'm not a professional shooter, but I enjoy shooting weddings for friends and family when they ask me.

[natatbeach]

what they said...fa good flash and practice would have made al the difference in the world for the wedding I did...it tooks me hours(days to "go thru" all the shots...

and I sadly enough, made the same mistake with ISO 400 (BRUTAL)

hey lesson learned....since then I have spent a good amount of time taking the kids to the park(one next to the water in glaring blazing sun...and practiced taking shots using the only available flash I have(camera) and getting great results(blue skies-green grass, nice water and relatively normal colored people) practice practice practice...share some photos

[Todd Patten]

I'll be posting some post processed soon. They're simply not good. Which is a bit embarassing.

[another view]

Fill flash is the way to go. What happens is that in the conditions you're in, there is too much contrast to record on a digital sensor and the flash helps lower that contrast range by filling in the shadows. Color negative film is able to handle a bigger contrast range, b&w more yet - but I'd still use the flash with film. Generally, the flash is set one stop below the ambient exposure. If you're using some version of TTL flash, then just set the flash at "-1". You will need an external flash to do this.

If you were hired to do this, then you'd really need to get either a Quantum battery or one of these for Nikon flashes: http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/cont...=146171&is=REG
I use one of these with an SB28. The flash uses four AA's and the pack takes six - so with ISO400 film (like at a reception), at f5.6 there is no recycle time. A few hundred flashes, no problem. I also use NiMH rechargeable batteries which last longer than Alkaline batteries too.