Lighting for Weddings: Formals Suck

Step Three

For this next shot, I had plenty of time to get my lights set up but was presented with a bit of a challenge. I was in the giant marble atrium entrance of the catering hall, and there was a ton of foot traffic. I could get away with using one light on a stand, but not two. I knew I needed a broad source of light up high because that light was going to fall off quickly.

Using my on-camera flash—I removed the diffuser this time—I pointed the flash up and took advantage of the big, white ceiling above. To prevent “raccoon eyes,” I used an LP160 with a large 60″ umbrella at a 45° angle. That gave me the spread I needed plus a nice soft light to fill in the eyes.