Having a good plan for the location portraits could make a big difference to the quality of the photos. Professional photographers can always get the best out of a photographic situation, but logically, if the environment and scenery is better, the photos will be better.

So what makes a good photographic environment? A good photographic environment will be a combination of the location/scenery and the quality or suitability of the light.

Good photographic scenery: A good scenery location could be rolling hills, an interesting tree, dramatic headlands, white sandy beaches, country lanes or an old historic building, or countless other places. Sometimes the photographer has a preferred location, other times couples will have their favourite place which might have more sentimental value instead of aesthetic value.

Good photographic light: good light for portraiture should be soft, even, and preferrably come from the side and not from above. You see this kind of light early and late in the day, and even after sunset. The worst kind of light for people photos is bright sunshine directly overhead.

How can we plan for good light on your wedding day when you will most likely have warm sunny weather, and wedding location portraits are shot between 3pm and 6pm when the summer sun is still too high in the sky?

If your wedding is in early spring or late autumn, you don't have to worry about a thing, you will have the best light and possibly the most comfortable weather of the whole year!

If your wedding is middle to late spring, or early to middle autumn, then you could have a slightly later reception start time. Another strategy which works very well is to briefly go outside during your reception to get some beautiful shots around sunset time, and this works best when you are having your reception in a scenic location, like at a winery or a river-side restaurant.

If your wedding is planned for between November and March, you still have lots of options, but we should be even more careful to plan your portraits, or adjust our expectations on what styles of photos we can achieve.

Many of our customers love the photos we have shot in the late afternoon and evening light, and for good reason. They just look great. It's easy to assume that you can expect to get those kinds of photos at your wedding, and while we wish that were true, the truth is that you need to plan for them ... they don't just magically happen.

Whatever the time of year, you might actually have cloudy or overcast weather. This can be the solution to some situations, or it can ruin the potential of other situations. Seeing as we cannot control the weather, we just make the best plans possible and make adjustments on the day if we need to.

So what do you do? It can be a complex problem to solve, but that's what you pay a professional photographer to do, so rather than try to work it out on your own, give us a call and discuss your wedding plans and ideas with us. Together we can work out a plan for how we can achieve exactly the photos you want.

Call Lisa or Peter on 02 4422 1441, or email us at mail@shoalhavenstudios.com.au