Nighttime & Lighting – Fun and Frolics

Most of us don’t see sunrise, but on a wedding day sunset is a vital time.  It gives us the chance to get some iconic photographs with amazing colours in the sky, and probably most importantly gives the two of you a chance to have some “you” time reflecting on the amazing day that has unfolded.  There are two articles that discuss this a little more:  I’ve put links to both below for you.

But other sources of light also give us some really interesting chances to try something new.  Whether it is a chandelier in the ballroom, the fire pit outside the venue, the front of the venue lit up or even something as simple as light pouring through a window.

Often though, it’s that couple of notches better if we apply a little bit of what I call “helper light”.  All the images here have some form of helper light, be it an extra lighting panel, a flash or even opening the curtains to let some more light in.  In some cases it’s obvious, in others you can barely tell.  But actually that’s the thing:  if it’s not obvious then that’s a good thing as it won’t overpower what is trying to be achieved.

This can be in the form of either flashes, or more frequently for me LED lights.  The beauty of LED lights is that they are consistent and you can visualise more easily the final result as you’re putting the shot together.

However, LED lights that are small enough to be with you on a wedding day aren’t the most powerful and that’s where flash comes in.  Flash is super powerful: frankly it is controlling the power of the flash guns that sets the amateurs and semi-pros apart from the professionals.  Flash is powerful enough to be colour gelled, shaped into patterns and bounced off surfaces to enhance its effect.

To do this, I use a family of products by MagMod.  As you’ll see from the picture below, they’re super easy, super clever and frankly an amazing addition to my arsenal.  Ultimately it’s with these little babies I can make a good image that little more amazing.  If for whatever reason you’d like to know more, the image is a link through to them as well.

Of course, as always, if you like what you see, and want to know how I made one of the images on this page,and ultimately do the same for you, please reach out to me!