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View Full Version : Question: too much sun, no shade


Nicole Faith
27th of July 2007 (Fri), 20:41
I recently did a wedding that I thought would have an appealing setting based on what the Bride told me - which was that it was at a boat marina, on the water front, with plenty of foliage and trees. However, when I got there, I was disappointed to see how it really looked.

It was a boat marina and the ceremony was at the "point", in the grass area away from the BQ pit and docks. However - it was just grass and mostly dead grass at that. About 10 feet from the water in was dead, yellowish grass and tall weeds. There was only 2 trees close to the ceremony - one which was very close to the water, infront of one of those orange, constuction site fences and next to a bonfire pit. The other was next to the pavillion which was filled with strangers and members of the boat marina - also where the grandparents' parked their car. So there was no way to use the only 2 trees for shade. It was extremly bright out and when putting the subjects' backs to the sun to fill flash - were the docks and massive amounts of mis-placed boats and onlookers. This may have been nice being it was a "beach" themed wedding - but the docks weren't the best and there were just various placed boats or skiers. Something that would cause me excessive PP work. So most of the photos were taken on an angle to the sun or with direct sun light. Adding to this - it was pretty windy. So I had to work with squinting and wind-blown everything.

To add to that - there was no decoration at all to the ceremony. There where white chairs put in place about 20mins before it started - no color anywhere, no flowers, no runway, no nothing. And there was some weird pole at the end of one of the rows of chairs - so any photos taken of the crowd - I had to PP it out.

I am looking for suggestions on what could be done in this situation - when really all I had was the sun and some grass. What can you do with harsh, direct sun and a displeasing backdrop for all the formal related photos. Yes - all the formals were taken out here. It didn't help that the couple was not into taking photos and I felt totally rushed - but looking for suggestions either way. Thankx.

tim
27th of July 2007 (Fri), 21:03
Not much you can do, and I wouldn't photoshop out anything unless asked. Shoot to fill the frame with people, otherwise all you can do is show what really happened.

howzitboy
27th of July 2007 (Fri), 22:06
shot with a long long lens and crop out all the junk in the background. or lay on ground and shoot up at them filling the shot with only sky?

GertS
28th of July 2007 (Sat), 02:35
Use a grey filter & fill flash. Grey filter that you can open the aperture for lower DOF and fill flash against the harsh shades in the faces if the sun is very high. Helps a lot.

inthegarden
28th of July 2007 (Sat), 03:25
"It didn't help that the couple was not into taking photos and I felt totally rushed - but looking for suggestions either way."

One point I would like to make is to always interview the b&g and make sure you connect with them and understand what their expectations are.
Also, I always go to a location that I am not familiar with a week or two before the wedding at the same time of day as the ceremony so I can take test shots and know what I am getting into. I have made suggestions on possible changes in where the b&g will be positioned, and it is often appreciated because they aren't aware of the importance of details like that.
I also always go to the wedding rehearsal so that I am totally clued in to where everything will be and how the flow will be going.
It is surprising how many people need to have certain details pointed out to them. A photographer can often be very helpful when they can step into the midst of uncertainty and offer assistance by virtue of thier past experiences.