Lighting problems: Shot a wedding the other day and boy oh boy did I come across a problem. The Bride was black and she had her back to the sun putting her in shadow and the groom was...

Philipschmitten Loc: Texas

Shot a wedding the other day and boy oh boy did I come across a problem. The Bride was black and she had her back to the sun putting her in shadow and the groom was a pale white guy in bright sun. I didn't have a clue so I shot P and the white guy got blown out and I had to PP his side. Any suggestions if that happens again? Some of ya'll are on the ball and some, well....

lighthouse Loc: No Fixed Abode

Yes.
Move the couple into better lighting conditions.

Philipschmitten Loc: Texas

That would be excellent advice but it was the ceremony itself that was in the conditions they were...."Excuse me Reverend, could ya'll move over there, please?"

lighthouse Loc: No Fixed Abode

OK, shoot in raw, manual and use right side exposure.

Philipschmitten wrote:

That would be excellent advice but it was the ceremony itself that was in the conditions they were...."Excuse me Reverend, could ya'll move over there, please?"

JR1 Loc: Tavistock, Devon, UK

You have now learnt the biggest lesson and reason for a PRE shoot at the wedding trials which most hold

jjestar Loc: Savannah GA

There is no easy solution to this, make sure you are not on spot metering use matrix, shoot for the "white" person" and adjust as needed in post, it is easier to work on an image with dark elements than with an image with no data in the highlights or white person in this case

Pentony Loc: Earth Traveller

jjestar wrote:

There is no easy solution to this, make sure you are not on spot metering use matrix, shoot for the "white" person" and adjust as needed in post, it is easier to work on an image with dark elements than with an image with no data in the highlights or white person in this case

I learned some more. Thanks :lol:

Peekayoh Loc: UK

Ooh, tricky but, 3-shot bracket set to 1EV steps (or whatever your camera supports).
Decide on your base exposure; usually that would be the point at which the Bride's dress is white but not clipping the highlights.
Exposure compensate to +1 over before taking the shot.
One shot will be at the correct exposure rendering the dress and the Groom's face correctly.
The other two shots will be at +1 and +2 stops respectively.
Layer and mask to suitable blend in PS.

SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

Peekayoh wrote:

Ooh, tricky but, 3-shot bracket set to 1EV steps (or whatever your camera supports).
Decide on your base exposure; usually that would be the point at which the Bride's dress is white but not clipping the highlights.
Exposure compensate to +1 over before taking the shot.
One shot will be at the correct exposure rendering the dress and the Groom's face correctly.
The other two shots will be at +1 and +2 stops respectively.
Layer and mask to suitable blend in PS.

Yes, and since the ceremony is often pretty slow moving, there may even be the possibility to HDR some of the shots. That might produce some very good results. If not, you still have the three shoots to work with.
Peek, that's a good idea. SS

BigD Loc: The LEFT Coast

This is a routine Environmental Portrait situation. Expose for the brightest part, which is usually the background. Then light the couple with strobes to expose them properly. I use a pair of Elinchrom Ranger packs with "S" Heads and either large Softboxes, Beauty Dishes, or the Maxi-Light reflectors depending on the look I want to achieve or how far I need to "throw" light. Triggered with Pocket Wizards Mini-TT1 and the matching ST-4 Transceivers on the Ranger Power Packs I can get up to 1/1000's Shutter Speed with perfect Flash sync. The combination can quite easily overpower the Sun in any conditions and then some including lighting a very large Reception Hall. The setup can also be used for the formals simply by grabbing the lights and moving them into position. Total cost about $10K for the lights, welcome to the club.

Armadillo Loc: Ventura, CA

Philipschmitten wrote:

Shot a wedding the other day and boy oh boy did I come across a problem. The Bride was black and she had her back to the sun putting her in shadow and the groom was a pale white guy in bright sun. I didn't have a clue so I shot P and the white guy got blown out and I had to PP his side. Any suggestions if that happens again? Some of ya'll are on the ball and some, well....

Philipschmitten,

Try this before the next wedding. Place your new subjects in the same lighting conditions, don't worry about Black vs White complexion. Set camera to Program, raise flash head, enable camera flash. Meter on the White subject, and press the shutter button half way down to lock exposure and focus.

Recompose the image and press the shutter all the way down. The camera will expose on the White subject with sunlight illuminating the bright area, the flash will trigger exposing the shadows and the Black subject. (This is also called TTL metering [Through The Lens]).

You may have a Rear Button for Exposure Lock to lock the exposure without activating the shutter button, with this you can press the Back Button Exposure Lock to lock on the White subject, move the center spot focus square in the viewfinder to lock focus with the Shutter release button and recompose the image and capture the image. You may also have a Rear Focus Lock button to manage your exposure requirements.

Michael G

SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

BigD wrote:

This is a routine Environmental Portrait situation.

BigD, I was under the impression that at most weddings, lighting is not allowed during the actual ceremony.
I will assume the OP had a flash that he could not use. Even one flash would have resolved the problem.
To the wedding photogs. Could one use some reasonabley powered continuous LED lighting? Is that allowed for fill at a wedding during the ceremony ?? SS

boncrayon

Dark subject in front of the sun? The meter really can't handle that calculation without sacrificing something. Step to another side or move the subject to another angle where the sun is an ambient source, then polarize to adjust the facial highlights. A scrimmed fill flash will also help.

BigD Loc: The LEFT Coast

SharpShooter wrote:

BigD, I was under the impression that at most weddings, lighting is not allowed during the actual ceremony.
I will assume the OP had a flash that he could not use. Even one flash would have resolved the problem.
To the wedding photogs. Could one use some reasonabley powered continuous LED lighting? Is that allowed for fill at a wedding during the ceremony ?? SS

If the Sun is the issue I assume it is an outdoor wedding and I have never shot one where you could not use strobe lighting. And a small light source like a "flash" is about as horrible as it gets. Using real lighting is what separates the snap shots from the rest. To do it right requires a large, diffuse, and powerful light source such as what I mentioned or one of the other systems out there. Once you see the product of good lighting you won't use a "flash" unless its the absolute last resort even if you can get it off the camera.

Peekayoh Loc: UK

SharpShooter wrote:

...Peek, that's a good idea. SS

Thanks SS :thumbup:

To those advocating flash. The OP made it quite clear that his problem arose during the Ceremony, the Subjects could not be moved and, as you would expect, neither was the use of flash an option.

Anyone would have a problem with this one. Getting decent exposure on a Wedding dress and a dark complexion in the same frame is a nightmare.