Wedding Photography in Bright Sunshine at Willow Marsh Farm
Beautiful sunshine sounds like the perfect ingredient for wedding photographs. But when Paige and Jason married at Willow Marsh Farm, with temperatures reaching around 37°C, we had rather more of it than we needed!
As a Nottinghamshire wedding photographer, I’m used to working around unpredictable weather. Strong summer sunshine takes just as much thought as rain — both for the photographs and for keeping everyone comfortable.
Why use flash on a sunny day?
It’s a question I often get from slightly confused wedding guests as we bring out the off-camera flashes: “Surely you’ve got enough light already?”
Absolutely! But it’s the direction and quality of that light that matter.
Harsh overhead sunshine creates deep shadows under eyes, bright highlights and plenty of squinting. Simply making the photograph brighter can leave the sky washed out while doing little to flatter anyone’s face.
For Paige and Jason’s group photographs, shade was limited, so we positioned everyone with the sun as far behind them as possible. I set the camera exposure to retain the sky’s colour and cloud detail, then used carefully balanced off-camera flash to light their faces.
The sunshine provided a lovely glow around hair and shoulders, while our lighting softened the shadows. It’s a technique that helps keep both the people and their surroundings looking their best.
Keeping the couple comfortable comes first
Good summer wedding photography is also about knowing when to take photographs.
We kept time in the direct sun to a minimum and saved more of Paige and Jason’s couple portraits for the evening. That gave them more time to enjoy their wedding, without turning the hottest part of the day into a lengthy photo shoot.
My approach is mostly natural, candid storytelling, with a little extra lighting and direction when a photograph calls for it. You don’t need to understand the technical side — that’s my job!
Planning a wedding in Nottinghamshire or Derbyshire? Explore my wedding photography and videography packages, or get in touch to tell me about your plans.
