Secrets of the Sunkissed | Neenah Senior Photographer Wedding Photographer

With the arrival of any new piece of equipment comes testing and experimenting. When I got my flash last week, there was no exception.. :) I will primarily use my flash for weddings and other sessions where I'll be needing to shoot "on the go" and can't worry about natural light. I really find it hard to shoot in the sun (unless I'm shooting a silhouette) because everything ends up being so harsh. It just defies so many of my photographic principles. Heh.

Anyway, I really want to master this whole flash business. If you picture a white wedding dress, a black tux, and an early afternoon ceremony outside on a bright, sunny day, it could be a mess. The wedding dress is all blown out, the tux is just a blob of black, etc. That's where the flash comes in... filling in harsh shadows, bringing the darks back into the spectrum that a camera can actually capture.

Here you can see the sun hitting her neck and shoulder, but it's acting as a kicker. The main source of lighting is the flash, as you can see in the catch lights in her eyes, and highlights on her nose, cheek, lips, etc.

Although flash is great and wonderful, you have to be careful that you still keep definition in the face. Using the flash straight on is just like using an expensive point-and-shoot. 

Here you can see the exposure is good, the sunlight is controlled, but the flash is directly above the camera. Should we be in a rush to capture a bride and groom's getaway, and get something like this, we're still happy.

Just wanted to throw this in quick, too. Here's one where my flash didn't fire. Oops! See how the sunlight hitting her forehead and cheek is the same as the one above, but the face is completely in shadow? Quite obviously we could do some work in Photoshop and probably salvage the image. If you have that much time, though, come work for me! :)

I'm certainly not an expert... anyone else care to share their flash experiences and what they learned?