[hearno]

I wanted to know if anyone could through some seggestions my way for me to experiment with.. My last assignment is on lighting and asks "if out doors in bright sunshine and you were taking a prtrait of a bride you face problems 1. being if the subject faces the light she squints 2. if you turn her your left with deep shadows across her face which makes her eyes black 3. if you turn her so the sun is behind her her face seems black with shade and her dress is less brilliant. How do you deal with the situation ? obviously some compromise is called for or is it ???? If not what compromise would you advocate"
Another student and I summed up a few different hings like 1 you could stand her diagnal so she was half facing the sun half not and use a reflector. 2 you could use a flash but we were not sue how powerful or what difference if any the flash would make. 3 make sure we have chosen the correct film We then thought hmm well is there really the perfect solution ?? So we thought yes lets go outside and do a few different experiments ahhhhh yeah well thats not going to work today yesterday or tommorrow so we have now thrown our arms up in the air.
Are we on the right path or have we just gone haywire ?

[Kombisaurus]

Sounds to me like you are on exactly the right track Hearno.

Apart from the obvious suggestion of being aware of the sun in relation to the camera and subject, your ideas of reflectors and fill-in flash are ideal - both will help balance the huge amount of contrast between light and shadow in such shooting conditions.

Do you have a digital camera with a built-in flash? If so, then simply experiment! Simple reflectors can be made or found everywhere around the house - metal platters, mirrors, or even white paper or sheets will reflect more light than you might think. Probably the most versatile and widely available reflector I can think of would be a roll of aluminium foil though. They might not be ideal if you were shooting a *real* wedding, but they'd be good things to experiment with.

And speaking of using household items to get interesting lighting effects, below is a link to an article that looks quite ingenious.
It gives instructions on how to make a very simple diffuser for a camera's internal flash, and also a tool to use the internal flash as a bounce-flash.
No rocket-science here, just good simple ideas.

http://194.100.88.243/petteri/pont/How_t...op-up.html

[hearno]

thank you so much Kombisaurus. I guess i was after some reassurance what i was thinking was right. Ive had a look at some of your posts and have picked up some great ideas from you - especially the one where you used a candle to take the phot of the rose in the dark AMAZING !!!!. Thanks once again

[slejhamer]

Do not shoot the bride in the sun!

You'll be MUCH better off moving her into a shaded area and using off-camera flash - even if the sun is lighting the background (just get your foreground exposure to a similar level.)

HERE is a tutorial on shooting with a scrim and reflectors at the beach; you don't need anything this elaborate for outdoor bridals - just an assistant or two.

That same site has a similar lesson on outdoor senior portraits using a handhed scrim and reflector, but it costs a buck to view.

[EnglishBob]

Your on the right path, fill flash and reflectors witht the bride having the sun on her back.

[Kombisaurus]

umm.. thanks Hearno.

Slej.. you've turned into a Dinosaur!

Thanks also for that link... and I'd be happy to hear some other tips about wedding photos too!
I'm going away to a friend's wedding in just over a week. I'm not the official photographer, but you can bet I'll be using it as a good opportunity to practice and learn - and it is in Kununurra where it *will* be sunny now they are in the Dry season.

[shuttertalk]

Have fun guys!

I think there's a thread here with some wedding photography tips:
http://www.shuttertalk.com/forums/viewtopic.php?id=40