Outdoor v Indoor wedding?

I have been approached to serve as photographer for an outdoor wedding in May.

Now all of my previous weddings have been indoors. I've not been hired to shoot an outdoor wedding, so the only thing that I've really thought of so far is potential lighting problems. I haven't accepted the job yet, so I'm not sure of all the particulars. I do know that the couple is having the wedding at their home.

My main concern will be lighting. Assuming the worst case scenario, I'll say they are having the wedding at 12 or 1 and sun will be harsh. The speed of my lenses will obviously not be an issue, but rather toning down the contrast between shooting in bright light and trying to get a nice even exposure will.

I assume that my circular polarizer and ND filter will be of benefit if I choose to do this. What other issues have you more learned those faced in shooting an outdoor wedding as opposed to indoor? Any comments would be appreciated. Thanks

Everything will depend on the light and that will depend on the weather so you really won't know until you show up on the day of.

If you are going to do this, try to steer them in good directions in terms of where to set up and for them to think of light when they plan their layout. Most non-photographers think that being out in the sun would be great but we know better.

Typically, when the wedding is outdoors, I just do my best to document the ceremony as best as I can. If it's in terrible light, then just go with it and don't be afraid to try a lot of different exposure settings. Use the high contrast to your advantage and get artistic with it...and don't forget to back up and get the whole scene in.

When it comes time for more formal photos, then you can take control and get them out of the sun or at least set them up where it's best for you. Bright sun doesn't have to be terrible if you can fill in the shadows with flash or reflectors. Also, for shooting smaller groups or just the couple, you can try to use a diffusion panel to block the direct sunlight...that can often give you studio quality light.

One of my biggest concerns when shooting in bright light, is my flash power. In order to keep from blowing the highlights, I might need an exposure of F16 and 1/250. It takes a lot of flash power at F16 but the flash sync speed is maxed out at 1/250 (on my cameras). This will mean the flash is working really hard and recycle times will be longer, so I keep the batteries fresh. Using an external battery pack would be a good idea as well.

Thanks a million for that info.

This also depends on the time of day as to your quality of light and the setting will have bearing as well on sunlit or shadow.

Studio lights and reflectors for the "posed" shots. If they have a planner they will (usually) set it up so that the sun is to the guests back, which will help you. IMO polarizer is most important filter wise.
Maybe you'll get lucky and it will be slightly overcast.

backh0me652 wrote: Everything will depend on the light and that will depend on the weather so you really won't know until you show up on the day of.

If you are going to do this, try to steer them in good directions in terms of where to set up and for them to think of light when they plan their layout. Most non-photographers think that being out in the sun would be great but we know better.

Typically, when the wedding is outdoors, I just do my best to document the ceremony as best as I can. If it's in terrible light, then just go with it and don't be afraid to try a lot of different exposure settings. Use the high contrast to your advantage and get artistic with it...and don't forget to back up and get the whole scene in.

When it comes time for more formal photos, then you can take control and get them out of the sun or at least set them up where it's best for you. Bright sun doesn't have to be terrible if you can fill in the shadows with flash or reflectors. Also, for shooting smaller groups or just the couple, you can try to use a diffusion panel to block the direct sunlight...that can often give you studio quality light.

One of my biggest concerns when shooting in bright light, is my flash power. In order to keep from blowing the highlights, I might need an exposure of F16 and 1/250. It takes a lot of flash power at F16 but the flash sync speed is maxed out at 1/250 (on my cameras). This will mean the flash is working really hard and recycle times will be longer, so I keep the batteries fresh. Using an external battery pack would be a good idea as well.

Since you haven't yet accepted or declined, maybe do some backyard test shots and see how it goes. That might help you decide whether or not to take this on. If you decide to decline and refer them to someone else, but would like to do outdoor weddings in the future, you could start doing more outdoor photography so you can take on these type assignments later on.

I like a circ pol and fill flash. If I worked with an assistant I'd use a large reflector.

Off camera flash can help. I can move the flash(es) close to the subject which may allow me to use high speed flash sync. Normally it reduces power too much for my typical outdoor portrait distances (from subject to camera).

If using off camera flash and manually setting the power you can sometimes exceed the normal flash sync speed a bit. How much depends on where the subject is composed, but as long as the portion of the scene that gets blocked by the shutter curtain only needs to be lit by ambient light it works fine.

Shooting raw gives more bit depth, and allows me to recover shadow details better.