The Best of Wedding Photography.pdf - Free

On location, sometimes you can find a fill light, sometimes one must
manufacture it. Here, Joe Photo needed a fill source to counteract the
strong window light. He used on-camera strobe bounced into a side
wall to fill shadow side of the face.
mal posing and lighting techniques. Often the photographer
will arrange to make the formal portraits on the day
of the wedding, but several hours before the day’s schedule
commences. Couples relish the alone time and it is another
good opportunity for the photographer to break the
ice with the couple.
Because of the importance of these images, it is essential
that the wedding photographer be skilled in studio
portraiture, which is quite different but related to the techniques
normally employed on the wedding day. The key to
understanding good lighting and creating it in your photographs
is to understand the concept of “single-light”
lighting. The sun is the primary light source in all of nature,
and all lighting emanates from the sun. While there
may be secondary light sources in nature, they are all subservient
to the sun. So it is in the studio.
60 THE BEST OF WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY
Most photographers opt for studio strobes—either selfcontained
monolight-type strobes or systems using a single
power pack into which all lights are plugged. Some use
a combination of the two types. A full system of reflectors
and diffusers is required with any studio lighting system.
THE FIVE LIGHTS
Basic portrait lighting can be done with as few as two
lights, but to get the full effect, five lights with stands and
parabolic reflectors are often used. The five lights are: the
main light; the fill light; the hair light; the background
light; and the optional kicker, a backlight used for shoulder
or torso separation.
Main and Fill Lights. The main and fill lights should
be high-intensity light sources. These may be used in parabolic
reflectors that are silver-coated on the inside to reflect
the maximum amount of light. However, most
photographers don’t use parabolic reflectors anymore. Instead,
they opt to use diffused key- and fill-light sources.
If using diffusion, either umbrellas or softboxes, each light
assembly should be supported on its own sturdy light
stand.
The main light, if undiffused, should have barn doors
affixed. These are black, metallic, adjustable flaps that can
be opened or closed to control the width of the beam of
the light. Barn doors ensure that you light only the parts
of the portrait you want lighted. They also keep stray, flarecausing
light off the camera lens.
The fill light, if in a reflector, should have its own diffuser,
which is nothing more than a piece of frosted plastic
or acetate in a screen that mounts over the reflector.
The fill light should also have barn doors attached. If using
a diffused light source, such as an umbrella or softbox for
a fill light, be sure that you do not spill light into unwanted
areas of the scene, such as the background or onto the
camera’s lens. All lights, whether in reflectors or diffusers,
should be feathered by aiming the core of light slightly
away from the subject, employing the more useful edge of
the beam of light.
Care must be taken when placing the fill light. If it is
too close to the subject, it will produce its own set of specular
highlights that show up in the shadow area of the face,
making the skin appear excessively oily. To solve the problem,
move the camera and light back slightly or move the
fill light laterally away from the camera slightly. You might
also feather the light into the camera a bit. This method of