Shoot Weddings Like a Pro: There Is No Retaking Wedding Photos. It’s Got to Be Right the First Time!
- The Trick for Low-Light Shooting in a Church
- Getting Soft, Diffused Light with Flash, Part 1
- Getting Soft, Diffused Light with Flash, Part 2
- Use Your Flash at Outdoor Weddings
- Keep Backup Memory Cards on You
- Formals: Who to Shoot First
- Formals: Where to Aim
- The Trick to Keeping Them from Blinking
- Reception Photos: Making Them Dance
- Your Main Job: Follow the Bride
- Formals: How High to Position Your Camera
- Formals: Dont Cut Off Joints
- Formals: Build Off the Bride and Groom
- Formals: The Trick to Great Backgrounds
- Shooting the Details (& Which Ones to Shoot)
- Change Your Vantage Point to Add Interest
- Finding That Perfect Bridal Light
- How to Pose the Bride with Other People
- What to Shoot with a Wide-Angle Lens
- Back Up Your Photos Onsite
- If Shooting JPEGs, Use a Preset White Balance
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Getting Soft, Diffused Light with Flash, Part 2
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The other method of getting soft, diffused, and better yet, directional light using a flash (the key word here is directional, because it keeps your flash shots from looking flat) works if you’re using an external flash unit (and not the built-in flash on your camera, which is pretty limited, as you’ll soon see). The advantage of an external flash unit is that you can change the angle and direction of the flash. The reason this is cool is that instead of aiming your flash right into your subject’s face (which gives the most harsh, flat light you can imagine), you can bounce the light off one of two places: (1) the ceiling. If the room you’re shooting in has a white ceiling (and chances are the ceiling is white), then you can aim your flash head up at the ceiling at a 45° angle (as shown above, and provided that the ceiling isn’t more than 10 feet tall) and the ceiling will absorb the harsh light, and what will fall on your subject is much softer, smoother light and, best of all, it won’t cast hard shadows behind your subject. Instead, your soft shadows will cast on the ground (and out of your frame). Now, want to take this up another notch? Then instead of aiming at the ceiling, (2) have an assistant (a friend, relative, etc.) hold a reflector on your left or right side, slightly above shoulder height, then angle your flash head into that. So now, the reflector eats up the harsh light, but better yet, since the reflector is at an angle, it casts soft directional light on an angle, too. This puts soft shadows on one side of the bride’s (groom’s, bridesmaid’s, etc.) face, giving a more pleasing and less flat lighting effect (think of it as side lighting).