Beercat Loc: Central Coast of California

shooting the portraits at 2pm, wedding at 4pm

Not an once of shade other than under the pier.

Going to use the ol' Neil Van Niekerk scheme.

Have subject face you directly 180 degrees from the sun

Use the histogram to set my exposure and what white is. While zoomed in and using spot metering find the brightest area of the dress (close to the rim light), work manual, overexpose to about +2.5, lock AE, recompose and focus, snap the picture. Check the histogram to see if there is a small dip on the right side before there are a few trails halfway up on the right wall. Check for blinkys to make sure they are only present on the rim light of the head and dress. Use ETTL bare flash set to -2 FEC, HSS

Shot a practice with my better half as the model jpeg, 1/400, f/5.6, ISO-160, 50mm, 15 feet away

BTW, my better half is wearing one of my white shirts to duplicate the white of a wedding dress, she is a real sport, I shouldn't tell but she is in her mid 60's ............ yes I'm a blessed man :)

lizzy5553 Loc: FL

Your last paragraph is very sweet.. Good luck shorting the wedding! 😀

Beercat Loc: Central Coast of California

Was a tough one, harsh harsh harsh light, did I say harsh .............

Even the evening was disappointing, though for sure there would be some color in the sky, but nothing ..........

Lemon turned into lemonade

BEFORE, nada, no color in the beach sunset


Don't you just love PP tools

Beercat Loc: Central Coast of California

Better half did a tummy tuck and a bit more work on thier faces

bkyser Loc: Fly over country in Indiana

Better half did a great job. I've done several ethnic weddings, and it is very hard to get the lighting to look great on a mixed couple's faces. I would actually do just a little more dodging on his face to bring it up just a tad. The up side is, that people of color understand it up front. I've had couples ask me if I know how to photograph "mixed skin types" I do, but it still boils down to needing extra PP, especially in a beautiful setting like this.

Very nice looking couple and I love the background (after the PP)

Beercat Loc: Central Coast of California

Keep in mind often SOOC RAW looks bland ...........

bkyser Loc: Fly over country in Indiana

I hear you, I still only shoot RAW. It is more work on the front end, but it has also served me well in tough lighting conditions.

Beercat Loc: Central Coast of California

Here is an example of that tough harsh back light from Saturday's wedding on the beach. 3 PM, 102 degrees outside. Measured on the hot spot on the Brides dress, +2.5 stops.

6D
24-105L at 45mm
1/200
ISO-160
f/8
Bare HSS flash on -2 ETTL, on auto zoom and the head slightly turned up to only place the flash on their faces, just a tad to get a bit of contrast.

(Download)

superpijak Loc: Middle TN

Can I say awesome? You bet, great results Jerry.

Beercat Loc: Central Coast of California

Tough stuff but I learned new tricks. Snapping white and darker skin subjects at the same time is another new one for me. Think I'll need to add a few extra dollars when shooting this type of wedding as your PP time is increased.

New bride and her new step-daughter

6D, 24-105L at 50mm, f/8, 1/200, ISO-160, on-camera 600EXRT set to auto zoom, ETTL -2

(Download)

The Saint KK4GO Loc: Florida

Whats with the double ear processing on miss blue dress ?

jaysnave Loc: Central Ohio

Nice job Jerry. Also, good job on the tummy tuck by the better half. It is not really noticeable unless you see the before pic. You are becoming a master of the harsh light images. I am fascinated by your use of a ND filter in a previous post. How often and when do you use the ND filter?