Taking pictures at weddings can be a monumental task as a wedding can last many hours at a time. Due to this, you could be taking pictures with many different sources of light. These different light sources will influence the color hues of you photos. Imagine the different color cast that may appear in photos taken in a candlelit church versus on the dance floor at the reception. In this first article I will give you some tips to be able to identify and utilize different light sources, as well as give you some techniques to maintain a correct white balance in common situations.
The best tip I can give you to maintain proper white balance is to make sure you take pictures in RAW format. This RAW format is a lot more efficient than Jpg. In a Jpg photo, the white balance is already set from when you shot the image in your camera. But when shooting in RAW, it doesn't matter what white balance you had set in you camera. You can change it later in post production. Similarly, there is often a tool for choosing your white balance in any RAW editing program. To use this tool, just choose the white balance tool, then choose a part of your image that you think should be white. The advantage to shooting a wedding is that most of the time you can just click on the bride's white dress. If the dress happens to be off white or another color, you can always click on the men's white collars. This tool has its limits though; it will only work if there is just one light source. Therefore you always need to have a plan B.
This is why it is so important to be able to identify different light sources. The three main type of light you may find at a wedding are sunlight, tungsten (regular light bulbs), and fluorescent lighting. You need to identify the main light and then match it, you cannot have two competing sources of light in your photo if you want to have correct light balance. This means that your fill flash needs to match this main light source.
In practice this is easier than it sounds. Your flash, without gels, is calibrated to match the color temperature of normal daylight. This means you will not need any type of gel on your flash if you are using it as fill light outside during regular daylight hours, that is, not sunrise or sunset. This is also true if you are taking interior shots where your main source of light is window light. This is a common scenario to find yourself in when you are taking pictures of the bride getting ready. This is because it is early on in the day and the natural window light is probably your best source of light. If you find that there are competing sources of light like little lamps however, you may need to switch them off, as they will not match your main light, nor your flash.
With these techniques, you should be able to start identifying the various sources of light you might find at a wedding. In the next part of this article, I will talk about maintaining proper white balance in more complicated settings.
The best tip I can give you to maintain proper white balance is to make sure you take pictures in RAW format. This RAW format is a lot more efficient than Jpg. In a Jpg photo, the white balance is already set from when you shot the image in your camera. But when shooting in RAW, it doesn't matter what white balance you had set in you camera. You can change it later in post production. Similarly, there is often a tool for choosing your white balance in any RAW editing program. To use this tool, just choose the white balance tool, then choose a part of your image that you think should be white. The advantage to shooting a wedding is that most of the time you can just click on the bride's white dress. If the dress happens to be off white or another color, you can always click on the men's white collars. This tool has its limits though; it will only work if there is just one light source. Therefore you always need to have a plan B.
This is why it is so important to be able to identify different light sources. The three main type of light you may find at a wedding are sunlight, tungsten (regular light bulbs), and fluorescent lighting. You need to identify the main light and then match it, you cannot have two competing sources of light in your photo if you want to have correct light balance. This means that your fill flash needs to match this main light source.
In practice this is easier than it sounds. Your flash, without gels, is calibrated to match the color temperature of normal daylight. This means you will not need any type of gel on your flash if you are using it as fill light outside during regular daylight hours, that is, not sunrise or sunset. This is also true if you are taking interior shots where your main source of light is window light. This is a common scenario to find yourself in when you are taking pictures of the bride getting ready. This is because it is early on in the day and the natural window light is probably your best source of light. If you find that there are competing sources of light like little lamps however, you may need to switch them off, as they will not match your main light, nor your flash.
With these techniques, you should be able to start identifying the various sources of light you might find at a wedding. In the next part of this article, I will talk about maintaining proper white balance in more complicated settings.
About the Author:
Kevin Heslin is one of the leading Wedding and Commercial Photographers in Costa Rica. If you would like to see more of his photography tips check out his blog Costa Rica Photographer that is filled with posts on lighting, composition and other techniques. Or to see his images of destination weddings or his culture and travel photography, check out his website Costa Rica Wedding Photographer. Unique version for reprint here: Properly White Balancing Your Photos Part I - Wedding Photography Tips for Beginners.
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