thursday, may 08, 2008

"Will my pictures turn out if the lighting is low at my wedding reception or ceremony?"

I hear this question quite often from my brides. The answer really depends on the rules of the game. Will the wedding officient let me use a flash? If the answer is no, this can make things quite difficult. The flash is a critical tool for any photographer, especially in low light situations. If the photographer is allowed use a flash your pictures should be fine.

"But my preacher won’t allow flash photography – is this really a problem?"

From time to time I run into a stubborn officient who refuses to let me use a flash. This can be quite frustrating, especially when the lighting is poor.  In these situations, I use widest aperture possible and turn the ISO setting up on my camera.  But there is a cost to this – the photos can turn out grainy and lack sharpness. I always urge the importance of flash to my brides. Many times with a little pleading, they can persuade the officient to allow the use of flash. Your photos are going to turn out the best if the photographer has the freedom to use the flash. I can’t stress this enough.

Large dimly lit receptions halls can be another issue entirely. With high ceilings and soft tungsten light, it can be a challenge even with a flash to achieve good results. Over the years I have developed my own methods of dealing with these situations and I think the results are amazing.

I found through trial and error that direct flash is absolutely useless in a reception hall – it yields a brightly lit subject with a pitch-black background.  I hate photos that look like this. It gives makes for a flat composition. The only way to overcome this is with a flash diffuser. I personally use the Gary Fong Lightsphere. It is a cool little gadget that fills 360 degrees of light throughout the room. It gives a nice soft look to the reception hall and you would never know the lights were turned down. It does however require some tinkering with the flash and aperture settings to get a good result, but once you figure it out it is amazing.

Ultimately any photographer will tell you the more light the better, but there are ways to compensate for low-light situations. I can work around almost any condition if I can use my flash. The flash is the key. And Brides, I am going to say it again. If you have a stubborn Officient please beg, plead, or do whatever necessary to allow your photographer to use a flash. Your results will be the best.

If you are looking for more information on the Lightsphere light diffuser please visit: www.garyfong.com

thursday, july 19, 2007