Well, we just finished and delivered the images for Zach and Sarah Park's wedding. As usual, I had a blast shooting their wedding! Sarah and Zach are both fun, fun loving, playful, and a joy to work with... and they loved their images! In all honesty, the lighting at this wedding was a big challenge. There was a powerful spot-light on the bride and groom in an otherwise really dark auditorium. Since even the best DSLR's only have about 13 stops of dynamic range, it is virtually impossible to expose for the brides white dress in the spot-light and still get a visible exposure in the rest of the scene. This should be an important lesson, or let's say a tip, for all brides and photographers reading this. Brides, invite and insist that your photographer comes to the rehearsal, so he can see the lighting situation in advance, and make sugestions on how it could be made better. In fact, get your photographer involved early in the planning stages, maybe even before booking the venue. A good photographer will know which venues are likely to give you the best lighting, as well as what time of day will give you the best lighting at a particular venue. If you have a venue already selected, make sure that the person in charge of the lights at the venue is present at the rehearsal as well, or at least has an opportunity to show the photographer how to work the light board. This may sound like it shouldn't be a problem, but many venues have complicated lighting with spot-lights, different colored lights, house lights, overhead stage lights, etc. which are all controlled separately by a board with a lot switches, buttons, and sliders (which may or may NOT be labeled). The day of your wedding is not the day you want to figure out that nobody knows how to operate the lights. Lastly, look at your photographer's work. If he only has shots from outdoor weddings on his portfolio, don't hire him to shoot an indoor wedding where lighting is typically more challenging.

Difficult Lighting SituationThe Bride and Groom was in a spot-light, but the rest of the auditorium was dark! This can be a very difficult lighting situation for many photographers.