J May Photo

I carry lighting with me to every wedding.  I use an on-camera and off camera lighting.  I used to work in a studio with other photographers many years ago.  At that time, I wasn’t a photographer… in fact I don’t recall even touching a camera other than a shutter button tethered to a computer that the photographer had set-up.  I was there for almost 5 years and consistently each photographer used lighting in most every shot whether we were shooting models or product, inside or out.  Many times the lighting would have a color film or gel placed over the shade to produce a different color or a different temperature of light.  When I started my road of photography I quickly learned to pay attention to my light, the temperature of my light and the direction and strength.  I’ll discuss my approach specific in a later post.

Here I wanted you to see the power or beauty rather of event lighting.  Essentially there are lights placed around the reception room with gels or bulbs that produce different colors of light.  The wedding below is from Audrey and Rob at SouthFork Ranch in Dallas.  The place is huge!  It would or could be dark black hole without the stunning display of color from the lights!  Some of my shots I used natural light only because I didn’t have anything specific in the shot that I wanted to light and because it was perfect as it.  Others, like the cake, I put two external lights in a ‘loop light’ set-up and turned off my on-camera flash to capture what you see. Thus giving it a special glow and still capturing the color behind the cake.  I am a huge fan of event lighting!  It’s not only beautiful but drastically changes the feel of the party!  Audrey did a fabulous job putting together areas for her guests to lounge during the cocktail hour, with a separate section designed for the dancing and eating.  The room was flawless and memorable.  If you are trying to decide between event lights or not…. if budget allows… I highly recommend putting color up the walls and throughout the reception hall.

I’ll post later the pics from the wedding.  For now… enjoy a stunning display of pinks and purples!