Occasionally I pull up the behind the scenes one, and I'm like, Please don't let them think that this is actually the final image because it's not some shooting at this place in New Jersey. It's called Mallard Island. It's really interesting. And it's super hard because there is a time of day when the light literally just beams straight in through the windows and makes everyone blind. When we were talking about, find your light, find your background, make your equipment decisions. I walk through this lobby to get to something going from one place to another, and I saw that light and I said, OK, hold on. Element number one, We've got a light. I've got a potential background. I've got these kind of dark arch things going on back there. I think that if I combined the light with a good composition and brought in the right gear, I could make something really interesting here. So the focus is gonna be on this chair down here to the bottom left, take a bride and groom and sit them in that cha...

ir in the chair right next to it. And we have this and how did we get there. So first of all, let's look at the exit and then let's actually talk about it. I've got the light coming through. I know the light is going to make this gorgeous halo around their faces, but anyone who's heard me talked before about using light and the relationship between the light and your background. Take a look at the front of the bride's face. You don't really see that halo of light around her face, and the reason why you don't see it is because she's against the lighter part of the background. But if you look at the back of her head in the back of her back, you can see the light more strongly because she's against a darker part of the background. So if you have the light and it's beautiful, but you're not really seeing it. This is where your background actually majorly impacts what the image looks like because you have to have that dark background so that you can see that light. Um, 72 200. At 110 millimeters. I would have gone to 200 but I was literally shoved against a wall and could not go any. It could not go anymore. If I had zoomed and more, it would have changed the look of the image. Ah, 4/100 of a second. Because when I'm shooting my 72 200 I try to stay at a 4/100 of a second or above. So that, um so that if anybody is moving the combination of the focal length and the heaviness of the lens and moving subjects for me a 4/100 of a second is my sweet spot F three to so that you can see most of both of them. I s 60 because my camera is doing its thing Aperture, priority and exposure compensation minus 0.7. And then I simply had them stand up and using the same settings. But changing my angle of you a little bit, made a silhouette and you see look same light. It's the same light hitting their entire face. If you look at the front of her face, you don't see the light. If you look at the back of her head, you see the light. It's because of the background that it's set against. If you took them. If the same like quality was on them and you put them in the middle of the frame. That light would have really stood out around their heads. But I couldn't do that because the light wasn't going in that angle. So that would reason. When I'm outside, if I'm shooting light around a bride and groom's head, a beautiful sunset, I'm trying to make sure that their heads are against our trees or a dark building or dark background so that you can really see that light. Sometimes we get crazy. That is Sandra, my assistant in the background. I really hope she's watching this today because she feature strongly in many of these images. We were at a hotel in Newport, Rhode Island, which is gorgeous. I highly recommend you go there, and there were some mirrors on the walls, and I was like, How fun would that be? Let's take the mirrors down and use the mirrors, and she's like, Oh, my gosh, really, because she knows she has to take them down, and then she has to put them back. But we didn't like pry them off of the walls. They were just like on a little hook. So we took them down, who made a little light box, and you can see we're right next to the window. So the window is coming through the window is lighting the subject. And I shot both the shoes and the invitation, which you can see there on. What I love about doing these case studies is you can see exactly what I'm doing. You can see where the lights coming from. You can see exactly what it looks like. There is no trickery here. So we get this, the shoes and the invitation. D three s 85 millimeters. 160th of a 2nd 18 I s 20 after competent aperture. Priority exposure, compensation minus one because the camera got a little crazy. The only thing that I changed between the image of the shoes and the image of the invitation is I changed my f stop, the image of the invitation. The F stock goes up. And why is that? Because if I shot the invite at 18 it's not. All of the lettering is not going to be in focus. And if they want me to take a picture of their invitation, it's because they want to actually read what's on the invitation.

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Susan Stripling

Susan Stripling never knew that she'd end up a wedding photographer. Though she purchased her first camera in high school she went to college to study theatre and dance, obtaining a BFA in 2001. Shortly upon her move to New

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topics covered in this class

Wedding Photography Lighting

Ratings and Reviews

user 1c7bd6

Wow! Fabulous course! Ditto with the above reviews! Thank you, Susan, for giving us such helpful information for shooting weddings in such challenging situations. You have such a brilliant and quick mind for making the magic happen! The camera settings by each photograph was so very helpful. Since I didn't write anything down I shall be in search of your books. Susan's class is a must for anyone considering a career in Wedding Photography. Thank you Suan and Creative Live!

Kat Penniman

As the description says: MAKE SOMETHING OUT OF NOTHING! Spot on! Thank you Susan for sharing what you know and helping me become a more creative photographer despite less-than-perfect scenarios. As photographers, oftentimes, we find ourselves placed in a position where we are expected to create beautiful photos in the midst of difficult situations like low light scenes or crappy background. Her explanations are very clear and she definitely knows her craft. She cares about her clients and she's determined to give them great pictures despite what's thrown at her. If you are a strobist or use flash in most of your work, this course is not for you. But if you a natural light photographer and sometimes struggles to take photos indoor where light source is very challenging, take this course! You won't regret it!

Jessica Lindsay-Sonkin

Susan is amazing. This class is a pile of case studies, with behind the scenes and camera settings, to help you find the light. There are parts that can be repetitive, but that is because Susan is passionate about helping photographers memorize this message and put it into practice. A worthwhile watch!

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Using Light in Interesting Ways Scenario

Using Light in Interesting Ways Scenario

Lesson Info

8. Using Light in Interesting Ways Scenario

Lessons

Class Introduction

Looking for the Fundamentals in Photography

Equipment Selection: Lens Breakdown

The Importance of the Moments

Macro Wedding Ring Scenario

Brides Reflection in the Mirror Scenario

Family Moment Scenario