Jackson and Suzi
I’m sure many of you, like myself, get asked to take wedding photos from time to time. This last weekend I had a great time photographing my sister’s wedding. Now, as I’ve mentioned before, I’m not a wedding photographer, but I must admit I couldn’t have picked a better wedding to shoot. The setting was a campground in Northern Michigan. And for those of you who don’t know my sister and her husband (Jackson) it was a very laid back scene. These shots were taken late afternoon to early evening with a lot of tree cover and a lack of quality light. I found it imperative to use a reflector. For those of you who have never used a reflector for portraits, wedding shots or even the occasional macro shot, listen closely: go buy one now. A reflector is a wonderful tool in aiding all sorts of lighting challenges. They come in all shapes and sizes, but what I found to be the best all around size is the 42 inch translucent ZipDisc with reversible gold/silver cover. The 42 inch seems to be the perfect size – not too big that it becomes cumbersome to carry, and not too so small that’s efforts are insignificant. For instance, last weekend the ceremony was taking place quite late in the day and the light was slowly dissipating. Like a duck I was calm on the surface, but paddling like hell under the water trying to figure out how I was going to handle this lighting problem without a flash. My solution to the problem was simple: I had my very tall brother-in-law, Blake, stand 25 yards away while using the reflector to grab whatever beam of light was available and shine it back towards the newlyweds. We were using the gold side of the ZipDisc because it complimented the available light as well as skin tone. It worked beautifully. I think the disc cost me about $60.00 or so with the gold/silver cover included. If it’s not part of your photography arsenal I recommending putting it on the wish list. As you know, light can make or break a shot.
A reminder: Lightroom updated to 2.5 recently, so if you haven’t updated click HERE for the link and if you’re interested in the latest Lightroom / Aperture professional photography trends check this link out HERE.
Have a great weekend…John
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[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by John Batdorff II and PLPortraiture. PLPortraiture said: RT @johnbatdorff Tough light, easy solution http://cli.gs/5DS8G [...]
One thing I learned the hard way was not to stand too close with the disk or the light can be too harsh…
Why didn’t you use a flash; to decrease the distraction? Do you have a preference between Photoshop CS4 and Lightroom?
Laurie,
Whenever I can I try to use natural light and with a gold reflector it really adds to the skin tone. I do 90% of my work in Lightroom and 10% of my specialized work in CS4.