Wedding Season is Here

It’s summer, and the wedding season is in full bloom. We shot a real interesting wedding a couple weeks ago. The bride’s father performed a rather traditional Lakota ceremony, complete with food offerings to represent the four seasons (water, meat, corn and berries) and a ceremonial pipe. It was also a challenge since the ceremony was outside at Wildlife Prairie State Park near Peoria.

The park is a beautiful venue, but we were in the midst of a midwest heat wave (and a humidity wave), so it was rather uncomfortable. Hot summer afternoons also mean bright, unforgiving sunlight.

Bridal Party

We did a couple of things to deal with the weather. When you’re shooting outside, the main thing to avoid is having the sun shining on the subjects face. You can either position them so the sun is behind them, or better yet, find a shaded area. In the example above, we positioned the bridal group in the shade of some trees and a building. That allowed me to bring in the off-camera flash from camera left to light the group while balancing the exposure for the background.

Wedding Party

By the time we got to the larger groups and alter return shots, it was later in the afternoon and most of the ceremony area was falling into shade. Here, we used both techniques by having the groups in the shade, and we’re positioned so the sun is behind them. Again, we used the off-camera flash coming from camera left to create a more pleasing light than we’d get just from the available light.

About Craig

I have a passion to create, and I'm fascinated with the tools and technologies of creativity. I strive to produce images that are graphically simple and technically precise in order to render beautiful photographic fine art prints. I work with a variety of digital transformations to create a finished image that reflects my artistic interpretation.
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