Drat. The honeymoon’s over, you get your wedding shots back and you look, erm, a bit pale. What’s more, the background is completely dark. No sign of the beautiful garden you were photographed in. And you have red eyes. Wanna wring the photographer’s neck? Sure, that’s a start. But think back about the time the pics were taken. Was it close to sunset? Aha. Now there’s a clue to the disaster in your wedding album.
So what went wrong?
The wedding picture session probably started too late. Which meant the photographer probably could not use the flattering late afternoon light at the venue to show you to your best effect. Quite simply because it was probably so dark he had to resort to unflattering straight flash.
Although unavoidable at weddings, any good photographer would try and minimise his use of this light source. Some careful planning and advice from your photographer are a start to plan your wedding pics. Ideally, you want to start your picture session at least 30 to 45 minutes before the sun sets.
That means you have to take the sunset time on the day of your wedding, and subtract: