Problem

Silhouettecutter · Jan 27, 2017

I will be doing a wedding for this dark skinned young lady (groom also dark skinned). She will be wearing a white dress with lots of detail. The venue is outside on a dock and it may be sun /shade or some combination of the two.
My nightmare is the sun getting just high enough to put the ceremony half in shade and half in sun.
She will be walking out of the woods onto the dock. Does anyone have suggestions on this type of situation? If I meter on her face will I blow out the details on her dress. I will be shooting in RAW so would it be better to error on the side of overexposure? I will only be using natural light so no fill light.
I will have two cameras a Sony a33 with a 50mm 1.7 lens and a Cannon EOS xsi with a 18-55mm
I figured I would set the Cannon on a tripod up on the bank overlooking the ceremony . Any advice on this situation? There will only be a couple dozen people at the most. The bride is willing to move things around for best results. Is it better to go sun or shade for the group photos?
Thank you for your advice.
Pam

480sparky · Jan 27, 2017

Personally, I'd bring some reflectors and some Voice Actuated Reflector Holders.

Designer · Jan 27, 2017

Silhouettecutter said:
..would it be better to error on the side of overexposure? Is it better to go sun or shade for the group photos?

I think you should not overexpose with digital. Open shade at midday is better than direct sun at midday. Set you camera to the high end of HDR. (test this before the wedding day)

Silhouettecutter · Jan 27, 2017

480sparky said:
Personally, I'd bring some reflectors and some Voice Actuated Reflector Holders.

Will do
and thank you!

Silhouettecutter · Jan 27, 2017

Designer said:
Silhouettecutter said:

..would it be better to error on the side of overexposure? Is it better to go sun or shade for the group photos?

Click to expand...

I think you should not overexpose with digital. Open shade at midday is better than direct sun at midday. Set you camera to the high end of HDR. (test this before the wedding day)

Thank you.

Derrel · Jan 27, 2017

Keep the highlights from blowing out, that would be my advice. Let the shadows fall where they may. Her face should get some fill light from the wedding gown and from nearby water: more fill than if say, on green grass. Shoot in raw mode. Be prepared for a post-processing session that's challenging. if you have a modern-sensor Nikon, Sony, or Pentax, you ought to be able to handle the total scene dynamic range by metering off the highlighs and under-exposing 1.3 EV in raw mode, and then re-working the shadows later, in software.

Drive-By-Shooter · Jan 27, 2017

this is an incredibly difficult situation. i can't imagine harder.
maybe bracket with a fairly big exposure difference. (what to do then, is outside of my experience!)
but first, i would explain the extremes to the family and suggest more inside shots. reflectors will help, but even so, the contrast from the dress to the skin will require some hard post work.

tirediron · Jan 27, 2017

Preserve the highlights! Fill flash is going to be your best friend.

Drive-By-Shooter · Jan 27, 2017

true dat! more than one.
do you have flashes with wireless connectivity? this is a very good strategy for this wedding.
p.s. nice shot of the bride-to-be

zombiesniper · Jan 27, 2017

All great advice above.
Both camera's you have listed will be very bad at recovering shadows so just based on the gear I would expose brighter but not to blow out the highlights.

Drive-By-Shooter · Jan 28, 2017

Drive-By-Shooter said:
bracket with a fairly big exposure difference. (what to do then, is outside of my experience!)

what i meant to say is to combine them with HDR, but i have not done so yet.

407370 · Jan 28, 2017

Sounds like a job for HDR / Tone Mapping Man!!! (that sounded better in my head)

Wide ranging lighting conditions in the same frame are a pain and depending on how much gear you have / want to use there are various technical solutions.
If you want to set up a stage with reflectors / fill lights / umbrella and assistants to get the best possible shot then go for it but.... all that preparation may just suck out any spontaneity and put a bit of pressure on the couple being married. Not to mention seeing all that gear will heighten the couples expectation of the final result.
My advice would be less gear and more bracketing. Process the pics tastefully (or not depending on customer taste) or get someone else to do it if that kind of processing is not your thing.
I have never done a wedding photographers job so I am only talking from my own experience of similar conditions.

Silhouettecutter · Jan 29, 2017

and so as you all probably guessed it was pretty much a cluster. High noon, High wind,shadows everywhere, intermittent everything LOL. Not enough shade but I rolled with the flow and learned a LOT. The lighting Goddess helped me out a little on this one.
No one warned me I'd be dodging a goose the entire time. At least this one never went into attack mode.
I got called upon(since I had a truck) to deliver the chairs and help unload and set up. It was an adventure. Thank you for all the advice it was very helpful.
Pam