We all can call ourselves, “natural lighting photographers” but if you are a wedding photographer, it is CRUCIAL to know indoor lighting. I remember sitting in my college photography class listening to a guest speaker talk about artificial lighting. At that moment, I was thinking to myself that I don’t really haveeeee to know this, right? First of all, at this point of my life I was thinking I would be a full time graphic designer … which I did eventually achieve after graduation. Secondly, I was just doing photography for fun and was all about the outdoor lighting. It was a great thought, but realistically as a wedding photographer in Virginia, weddings are 75-90% indoors. Occasionally there are brides who will have the outdoor wedding if the weather is ideal and then of course portraits are outside. But what about the prepping time when the bride is getting ready? It’s always inside where the groom cannot see her… so now you are having to deal with the indoors.
During the prepping time, we are running around taking photos of the details, hair, makeup and dressing up. It’s important to be in control. I ask for the bride to stand angled 45 degrees towards the window and have all lights turned off. This allows the natural light to pour and fill the room with a nice consistent light. Even with one lamp one, there is a noticeable yellow glow reflecting from the direction of the lamp. So ideally in a prepping space, it’s nice to have a window with plenty of natural light with no lamps or overhead lighting on. To demonstrate my point, I have taken photos of my fake plant … looks real, right? 😉
This is ideal lighting below. Nice balance of highlights and shadows.
In this photo, I turned on a couple lamps around the room. There is a clear difference from the natural light to this photo. My eye is drawn to the above image as this image has yellow tones blown into the whites and the shadows of the object. Lamps REALLY reflect badly in ring shots. Diamonds soak in lighting from all directions, so make sure you turn off all lights around you and use your natural light if possible.
This is the worst type of lighting for photos … overhead artificial lighting. The yellow light is from above creating shadows below. If you were to take a photo of the bride getting dressed in this lighting, she would have a shadow under her eyes creating dark circles created by the eyebrow bone. This mainly is unattractive because it is dulling out the eyes. When looking at a photo, we are always drawn to the eyes. If you were to flip through a magazine, you will notice a sparkle in the eyes of the models … these highlights are important. In this photo, even with having a window, the overhead light still overpowers.
If the space is like a dungeon and there are no alternatives to the space, don’t feel the need to rely on the artificial overhead lighting for the shots. Use external lighting to create that nice balance of lighting in the shots. Turn your external flash 90 degrees from the object you are shooting and point it 45 degrees up. Before doing this, understand your surroundings … where the walls. The point of turning your flash is so you can bounce the light so it isn’t hitting your object or bride harshly. We wan soft highlights with deep shadows. In this shot, I still have a nice balance of highlights and shadows. And with using your professional external flashes, you don’t have to worry about the horrible yellowing created by lamps and overhead lighting.
If you ever want to take a lighting intensive class, I HIGHLY suggest signing up for one of Justin & Mary’s classes! They are not just amazing photographers and teachers, but amazing people!
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