joseph_federer

<p>I assume you are talking about concerns during the ceremony, itself... because during the directed/posed time, you can control things and can easily just find some open shade (or at the very least, put their back to the sun). <br> For the ceremony, shoot in manual mode with your exposure set such that it doesn't blow out the dress (or only does slightly in small areas). The background and subjects are going to change so much based on framing/events that anything else is a recipe for disaster. If there are no clouds, the exposure should be the same no matter what -- so figure it out at the start and then just leave it. Manual is way more consistent in that regard.<br> Unless it's a small ceremony, your flash isn't going to have a big impact on the subjects 100 feet away in mid-day sun. Fill flash is a great suggestion when you are close enough -- but for anything other than an informal, small, wedding -- you'll be too far away for on-camera fill-flash to work. You could try putting some off-camera flashes nearer the front, but given you are already concerned about being obtrusive, I would try to keep it simple.<br> Shoot at your lowest ISO possible, in RAW. You'd be amazed what modern cameras can pull out of shadows.<br> Remember that you need/want your subjects to match the background (at least in brightness) for the formals... so you still need to be able to light a group of people out doors. I'd suggest putting the subjects in shade and then lighting them with off camera flash (modified or not depending on how much you are leaning on the speedlights)<br> During your posed stuff, if shooting in the sun and you can't find shade, use your speedlights (off camera, of course) as fill rather than trying to 'overpower' the sun. Also, dont' forget that you can just embrace the sun -- flare and such.<br> http://clients.federerphotography.com/img/s7/v159/p71751851-4.jpg<br> Also -- see if you can shift the schedule around a bit to get some photo time at a less-than-horrible time of day. For example, this couple's entire day was pure sun with no clouds... so we shifted stuff slightly so we could do 'informally posed' stuff for a few minutes later in the evening between other events. (2-3 minutes before dinner, 2-3 minutes after speeches, 2-3 minutes before we left for the night, etc) Just one quick shot (that you have time to pre-set-up) can really make a set.<br> http://clients.federerphotography.com/img/s6/v137/p469870760-4.jpg<br /><br /></p>