Wedding Photography at Night
17 MAR – Tips and articles – by Lucas Kraus
A skilled wedding photographer should be able to utilise other forms of light other than natural. When the sun is behind the horizon or setting rapidly, it is almost impossible to use natural light for photos. Photographs can end up grainy, dark or underexposed and the subjects are basically shadows. If a photographer uses their flash aimed straight at the subject, the lighting will be flat and unflattering and will require a huge amount of editing.
This is when off camera flash can be used. The wedding photograph below was created using two off camera flashes on a trigger. One was behind the subjects giving them some backlighting, and the main light is a off camera flash on a stand, fired through a shoot through umbrella. As you can see, the light is soft and flattering as it is coming from an angle. Directional light is important as it creates a more dynamic image through shadows. What’s more important is using some kind of lighting modifier. If there was no umbrella on the flash the light hitting the subjects would look harsh.
Ask your photographer if they are able to do night photography and if they can use off camera flash. Off camera flash is a skill that can take years to master and requires certain equipment that many photographers may not have. Off camera flash allows you to push the boundaries of natural light and utilise the time between the ceremony and reception if the sun has already gone down. If done correctly the results can be spectacular.
If you would like to see more examples of our night photography, please visit our wedding photography gallery.
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[…] we arrived back to Panorama House, we did some night photography under the pergola and off to side of the venue. Using off camera flash and lighting modifiers, we […]
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