Help...high sun...no shade

Joined: 28 Mar 2006 Posts: 58

We are shooting a wedding tomorrow at 1:00 outdoors with a lake 3 feet away. I'm concerned that with a fill in flash to counter hard shadows we are going to have a lot of blown out images off the water and her white dress.

Does anyone have any tips that might help get the light and color under control?

We are shooting with a Canon 20d

TIA

Posted: Fri Jun 15, 2007 5:29 pm

Polarizing filter to control the glare?

Sigma147

Premium Member Joined: 02 Apr 2005 Posts: 2020

Sorry, this is going to sound a bit harsh.

Uh, you're waiting until T-minus 24 hours to noodle this problem? Did you just get notified of this wedding shoot this morning?

You've got very few options.

1. Careful composition and use fill flash.

2. Expose for the face and blowouts be damned.

Unless you're shooting posed shots or formals, reflectors are pretty much out of the question. And "raccoon eyes" are ugly and completely unprofessional.

Are the B&G aware of your experience level and do you have a written contract?

Joined: 28 Mar 2006 Posts: 58

We already had an idea about the fill flash and polarizing filters. I was hoping someone else might have experienced this situation and had some other tips that worked for them.

The B&G are friends and are completely aware of our level of experience. We did this for them as a favor.

Thanks for your input.

Joined: 31 Jul 2005 Posts: 131 Location: Boulder, Colorado

Do a "rain dance" and pray for cloud cover!

Seriously though.....I have no idea what the shooting environment looks like....it could be terrible and it might come out ok.....I've shot many mid-day weddings with few issues. Just keep your wits about you and work with what you have.....you are there to photograph a singular event in time, and as such, you cannot control the circumstances and conditions of the event. You do, however, know your camera and equipment and both will be able to adequatley capture images. It is the wedding planner that chose this time, date and location after all.... (This is why it is generally a good idea for couples to work with a photographer from the start of their plans.....)

Joined: 18 Nov 2006 Posts: 288

The whole purpose of fill flash is to balance exposure between the back lit subject and the background. If you want blown out backgrounds, then you don't need fill flash. You seem worried that the technique will do the opposite of what it is intended to do.