[Zafar Iqbal]

I'm curious about how you guys and gals, especially the ones into event photography tackle light issues such as finding the good spots - in particular in indoor environments.

I'm not talking about placing a person next to a window or whatever to take a photo. I'm talking about on the fly scenarios where you might have seconds to either find a spot or interesting angles regarding the light.

My concern is as such: I do wedding photography and these can be split into 2 main groups. Group A cares about moody light and as such it's a no brainer for me to get decent or good looking photos during reception etc. Group B however does not care too much or at all about moody light and usually just have the place lit with (relatively speaking) evenly lit bright lights.

This even light can be practical but easily very boring in the photos - however there are always or often spots here and there where the light can be slightly different and even interesting. My problem is that because the light differs so little that it can be hard to recognize these areas - again, I'm not talking about obvious cases where it's very clear the light quality and intensity changes.

Shooting from a higher angle gets rid of darkened eyes but it's not always practical or reasonable to do so.

What do you do? What do you look for? I often can't spot the vague differences but it's not atypical when I'm back home, importing the photos that I spot some photos where some very nice light was going on - and I'm like "why didn't I see that while I was there?!".

Ignore flash usage - I prefer to use existing light for several reasons.

[MJL]

Speaking from my previous experience with Medium Format film wedding photography - 2 things you can to do to increase your chance of good candid or "moody" photos are good planning & communication.

First, visit the venue before the event and check out all possible light source. This give me an idea where and what kind of existing light photography I can use. It was the age of 400 highest ISO for 120 film and lens of f/2.8 or slower, therefore, I need to know where to position the tripod, reflectors and which correction or effect filter to use.

Second, talk to the clients to confirm whether they are willing to spend the extra time to post for such photos at the venue. Everythings fast forward 4X on a wedding day, it is better to have them (+ the families & freinds surrounding them) understand when & where they should slow down.

Yes, I often look at the photos afterward and wondered could I use more existing light? Time, however, is often a luxury on a wedding day when everythings are normally behind schedule. Did I mention crowd control?

[Zafar Iqbal]

Thanks for the input.

Regarding your suggestions, seems like a good idea to pre-visit the place. I'll keep it in mind however it's not always possible since I don't have good means of traveling and the distances from church/home to reception hall can be severe. Then there's also the differences from day to evening.

Communication is something I prioritize very high. I have always been insisting on meeting with the couple beforehand. We discuss the planned schedule - which I know can change. I let the couple know this as well to assure them I'll be on top of things. I've recently also started to put more attention to how the light is going to be. It's naturally a lot more vague to have it described than seeing it on your own but still helps to talk about it - for instance, I asked on previous occasion whether the lights would be turned off when the couple would arrive (it happens in particular with group B) at the reception hall. I was told they wouldn't be but they still were. I feel I'm routined enough to not panic easily, however such drastic changes at important key moments can easily give me missed shots (I still had the flash prepared - just in case). And what do you know. The lights were turned off :P Fortunately the toastmaster was super quick to react and I'm certain the talk at the meeting had something to do with it.

I'm doing what I can before the actual event - it's during the event that I find it hard to find the sweet spots even though I have tons of time. I have many concerns related to it and I'm not sure whether I'm over thinking it. For instance, I prefer to have groups stand perpendicularly against a wall and not towards one side or at an angle where I'd be forced to shoot from an odd angle myself. If possible I'd also prefer to have them grouped up in the middle of the hall so I can have some symmetry going on - most of the times I feel there is little to no room to move them around. This doesn't have anything to do with lighting but I'm just saying, I'd like my photos to be that tad more - that's also where my concern about the light sweet spots comes in. I feel I'm in position to be bring the quality of my photo a notch or two up but I'm having trouble reading the light.

I pretty much feel my gear is an extension of my arms (sure, theres room for improvements - but I'm not fiddling around with the gear, taking dozens of tests shots before I'm ready for a simply group shot etc), so now I want to plant the focus on actually improving the artistic quality of my photos. I previously saw a tip on a youtube video about using your own hand to see how the light is, and I'm not getting it :P I get the idea, but I can't really differ good from bad.

[MJL]

You are absolutely right on the many "can control" and "cannot control" aspects of wedding photography. Those are also the best parts.

I also agree you are probably "over think" a bit. After years of fulfilling the rigid requirements from clients & editors, I am getting to the point now let the "flow" carries me somewhat, especially at large public events. Sometime it is not necessary the "thinker" who can capture the essence, i.e. making the picture, but the opportunity just present itself, i.e. simply took the picture.

PS: I am a die hard MF fast prime lens & incident light meter user when it come to candid shots.

[Zafar Iqbal]

You are absolutely right on the many "can control" and "cannot control" aspects of wedding photography. Those are also the best parts.

Absolutely - and it is one of the main reasons why I'm into wedding photography. If everything was planned perfectly down to the smallest detail then I'd dare to say it would lead to a boring, in the sense of capturing natural expressions, event.

I also agree you are probably "over think" a bit. After years of fulfilling the rigid requirements from clients & editors, I am getting to the point now let the "flow" carries me somewhat, especially at large public events. Sometime it is not necessary the "thinker" who can capture the essence, i.e. making the picture, but the opportunity just present itself, i.e. simply took the picture.

You are probably correct in that I might be over thinking it - I have no problem with taking pictures when people are spontaneously asking for it, especially random guests wanting to have group photos while they are sitting by their tables - but I still feel though, that stuff like family and friend photos should be a bit more than just gathering up and have pics taken at any random place. I'd like such photos to be hang-on-the-wall worthy.

But actually, the before mentioned group A do tend to cooperate a lot while group B to a large degree has this "It doesn't matter, just take a picture".

I'm guessing they forget all that by at the end of the day and judge the photos for not what they are but could have been - I often ask for critique and comments and on after a recent event was told some of my exposures were dark. I've so far refrained from yelling "well, then you should have moved when I asked you to" :P

PS: I am a die hard MF fast prime lens & incident light meter user when it come to candid shots.

I very much like to use MF as well but need more practice to nail the focus - even with my better focusing screen. The incident light meter thing is something I've been wondering about lately. I'm very tempted to invest in one. I'm not expecting it to improve the quality of my photos as much as assisting me in "seeing" the light.

[Zafar Iqbal]

More input from various people would be appreciated