I have never been to a wedding where something doesn’t go to plan. Because of the constant changing of schedules during a wedding, photographers must go with the flow on the wedding day.

It is almost impossible for a photographer to work alone for today’s weddings. If you are smart, you don’t look for anyone to help you. You find someone better than you in some way.

Laura Espeut is one of the best photographers I know; her personality is so wonderful. Her ability to help communicate her concepts to get the best possible photos with people is incredible. She also does an excellent job shooting creative images.

If you are looking for a photographer to shoot your wedding, you will likely have two photographers. If you ask them about the second shooter, see if they brag about them. I always brag about Laura.

Laura knows that photography is all about emotions on the wedding day. So she is coaching the bridal party to be sure those emotions are right on the surface for the photos.

She is also aware that if you are not capturing an expression, you need to make the light and composition create an emotion.

Having someone like Laura helps me relax as much as possible as a wedding shooter. I can problem solve the changing light scenarios throughout the day. If things are not going to plan, you often cannot count on natural light to stay constant for you during a wedding.

The one thing that is so difficult to deal with in photography is the natural light. Sometimes it is so incredible for a photo you have to capture it as it is. However, this photo of the groomsmen is when I was fighting with the light. I used an on-camera flash to help with the shadows. It just wasn’t working well.

I quickly realized that photo wasn’t so good with the harsh shadows. I moved the guys but the sun to their back and used the flash to ensure I was getting good light on their faces. Remember, remarkable wedding photos are first about capturing expressions.

During the wedding, I alternate between camera bodies and lenses. I shot a couple of ways in this photo of the groom saying his vows to the bride. The most significant difference is with and without flash. The first one is without flash.

I think the flash helped a lot in the second photo you see. The expression was better on the first one, but I hope you get my point of how a flash on a sunny day can help overcome the harsh shadows around the eyes from the sun overhead.

Carl House, the venue for the wedding, had a back porch perfect for natural light photos. I prefer overshooting with flashes and waiting for them to recycle between flashes. Expressions on faces don’t wait for flashes.

So the porch had beautiful light pouring in, and none was direct. This created a massive soft box effect for the posed photos.

While I would have preferred having the green background, I had already discovered how difficult it would be to do group photos in direct sunlight.

The best way to describe what light I look for outside for weddings is the shadow side of a building. This is where the sun isn’t shining directly on the subjects, but rather the big sky creates a giant softbox. It is often called an open shade.

When I have to shoot in the direct sunlight, as here with the wedding party all waiting for the bride, I use a flash to help open up those shadows.