Have you given your Wedding reception photography some thought?

After all, it is within this setting where you will experience some of the most memorable laughs & tears with your most beloved family & friends. Whether you’ve thought about it or not, we would like to formally bring your attention to this very simply rule.

LIGHTING IS EVERYTHING.

(Pssst, …We’re here to spook you a bit with a taste of why its difficult but then completely put that stress to rest by showcasing how well we’ve bothered to handle these dilemmas.) (Stay tuned. The wash of ease is coming. We promise.)

Lighting is everything but also a complete challenge depending on how its being implemented. Colour temperatures can change from cold bright LED to cozy warm candle light to high contrast colourful fireworks against a jet black night sky. There are times where the venue lights one half of the room with a hard Red or Neon Green Gel & the other with soft Edison bulb. Suddenly we’re in MUCHmusic Electric Circus on one side of the room & a cozy Lumineers music video on the other. ALL of these colours & values can have a massive effect on what shows up in our frames.

“We want to amplify the warmth & the love in the room & make certain that your memories are clear & breathtaking.”

I’d like to take this time to mention we’ve shot in a LITERAL cave that was entirely lit by every colour you can think of. For those who know of the Science North Cavern, we can’t wait to shoot your wedding this upcoming 2021 or 2022 wedding season.

The point is the options for your reception are VAST & within that, the options for lighting are quite VARIED. Lucky for you, we have likely been there (THE actual venue or something similar to it) & know EXACTLY how to solve the problem in order to document the valuable memories WITHOUT sacrificing the ambiance you’ve worked too hard to achieve. These memories include Candids of Cocktail hour, Detail or your Decor, Entrances, First dances, Speeches, Reactions (to speeches), Cake Cutting & of course DANCE FLOOR MADNESS! (YUSSSSSSS!!!)

We need YOU to understand that our number one priority is to tell your storyline as true to the atmosphere present as much as possible. We want to steer clear of anything TOO flash intensive. We want to amplify the warmth & the love in the room. We want to remove light that can be unflattering & WE WANT to make certain that your memories are clear & breathtaking.

Together we as a team jump back & forth from many options that include flash & diffusion but we also take artsy risks with shooting through use of available light. Every moment is very different & demands a particular solution. Our dance floor photography particularly is most often shot using a technique known as a shutter drag. This often makes the party look “OFF THE HOOK” (I took a chance, all it did was make it clear that I can’t pull off the term “OFF THE HOOK”. Please accept my apologies & let’s move forward.) By “OFF THE HOOK”, I mean, it makes the dance floor LED’s more intense & movement becomes very obvious IN THE COOLEST WAY. (See MANY examples below) This VERY effectively captures the vibe of the party & is also one of our favourite moments when photographing a wedding day. (PS. If your cousin Carrie has mad dance skills, ..you’ll know about it in the stock)

Despite our efforts to keep this currently hefty blog “light” (hehe), we really just wanted to give some mild info on the importance of reception photography because many photographers can photograph beautifully in natural light but if you haven’t thought to ask them about how they handle their own in the very challenging light of a wedding reception, you might be stepping into a bear trap.

Say it with me. Once more with feeling.

LIGHTING IS EVERYTHING.

Below are quite a few frames to give you a good example of how we think a wedding reception should be photographed. We hope these frames solidify our dedication & enthusiasm to “Nailing it” when it comes to Photographing YOUR Wedding Reception & the many lighting curve balls it might potentially send our way. WE LOVE OUR JOB! & We’re ready for anything!

For more work that showcases different lighting environments, check out the following blogs & find one that might resemble your venue best.

This blog doesn’t quite touch on the importance of wedding reception detail photography so WE’VE GOT A BLOG FOR THAT!

Much of your time, money & effort goes into creating all the perfect little details such as centre pieces, flowers, linens, table charts ETC!

We make sure to make the time to document all the details, big & small, when covering your day! We’d like to give you an idea of how we cover such a topic, check out this Blog appropriately named BEST WEDDING DETAIL!