Wedding tips
Seattle Wedding Photographer: John Crozier
Seattle Wedding Photography
When I was just starting out I met a wedding photographer who lives and works in Arizona. He said he envied me for living in Seattle because the cloud cover made life “easier” on us to capture flattering images. Six years later I don’t think I could disagree more. Over the years as my style and skill have changed and increased I have learned to shoot weddings in every type of weather, whether that be sun, rain, cloud cover, etc. For those brides reading this I hope you can see that the time of day in which you shoot does make a difference in the feel of the image. That being said every time of day has its secrets. Stay tuned for more posts displaying what techniques I employ during multiple tough situations.
Shooting at mid day when the sun is shining
Due to the natural flow of modern weddings I often find myself shooting a large portion of portraits at mid day when the sun is high, and it is super easy to take unflattering photos. Harsh shadows on the face cause the couple to squint, and for dark raccoon eye shadows to form underneath there eyes. This strong directional light doesn’t have to ruin your wedding photos however if used properly.
Back lighting
Back lighting is the simplest and most prolifically used technique employed by wedding photographers to achieve acceptable results while outdoors. Notice how in both of these photos the bride’s veil in glowing and the subject is rimmed in glowing light. Back lighting is beautiful is used correctly and is definitely something you will want in your wedding portfolio. Two ways to make this even better is to have the background be a dark subject (see the blue wall behind Taylor), or have the background have speckled light. A reflector is effective in these situations as well.
Shooting in the Shade.
Next thing I look for is some shade to position my couple in. Shooting in the shade gives a very soft light. Also you can remove distracting blown out highlights that will distract attention away from the subject (you). For these shots I positioned the party and bride in the shade of this building. Notice the lack of the rim-light and the soft simple quality this style provides.
Wedding Portraits using the sun.
The last technique I use when the sun is blazing is to turn the bride and groom into the sun and use it to my advantage. While we know that shooting directly into the sun may not make for the best portraits due to the raccoon eye and squint factor, it doesn’t mean that it cannot be used to create some fairly stunning and contrasty shots. For these first two shots I used the direct light to create some hard shadows and add a whole lot of drama.
These next two shots were also shot facing into the sun. Using the sun to highlight your subject should be a no brainer, and I believe that not every picture needs to have the subject looking at the camera. The last shot is simply using light that is a little lower in the sky to our advantage.
Check in later as I plan on doing separate posts on shooting indoors, shooting in the late afternoon, and also how I use off-camera flash to make your images really shine.