lighting considerations

It’s best to discuss your family photo location with your photographer ahead of time so we can prep accordingly and discuss potential limitations due to available light, size of location, time of day, etc.  Please refer to our Timelines Page for more tips on making family photo time seamless and stress-free.

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Indoor family photos at the ceremony location:​

These images will be taken with available light OR with flash photography. They WON’T look like natural-light, outdoor portraits. If your location doesn't allow for these considerations, we recommend selecting a different location for family photos. 

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• Discuss with your photographer the available natural light, the available space to stand to take photos, and the size of your largest group.

• This can be the quickest/easiest way to take family photos after an indoor ceremony if a room flip isn’t involved. Example: church or dedicated ceremony location. However, this option is the hardest to replicate to the naked eye if there is minimal natural light (no large, clear windows). Most of the time, it takes flash to achieve a similar look to what it looks like in real life.  If it is a very dark space (no windows) additional light panels are often required to avoid grain in the photos.

• Large windows behind the subject can make it hard to balance a photo.  There is a lot of light coming into the camera, but not a lot of light on the people's faces.

• Limited steps, stage, and available photo area could make it difficult to fit a large group of people.

• The size of venue / how close we can get to the group directly impact our capability to use flash. For example, if the ceilings are very tall and we can’t capture the group standing on the same level, this makes it hard to use flash photography appropriately. The bigger the space, the more external lighting we will need to bring in. This takes advance notice and  additional time to set up and execute.

• Many times, there are artificial lights that light up these locations (spotlights, overhead lights, etc.) These can create difficult-to-correct colors/shadows.

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Outdoor Family Photos at Outdoor Ceremony Location:

We recommend having your ceremony end about 1.5 hours prior to sunset.  This allows time for family photos, bridal party photos, and couple photos within the golden-hour timeframe.  This gives the most flexibility in locations and backgrounds.

• Discuss with your photographer the time of day, the backdrop in relation to the sun, and the size of the largest group.

• The time of the day is crucial to achieve a well-balanced photo, especially if you want to take photos under an arbor or arch.

• How the arch or photo location is positioned in relation to the sun is important to reduce heavily back-lit images or harsh shadows.

• A large shaded area with the sun behind the subjects is ideal for outdoor family portraits.

• Think about a backup plan due to weather if needed.

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If time allows, we are also happy to take some indoors and some outdoors or some in the sun and some in the shade​:

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