Let’s be real, as photographers, there are just some things completely out of our control. Gosh, we wince at just writing that! We’re the super organized type and help walk our clients through the entire wedding experience, including creating them an ideal wedding day timeline. You’re excited, the wedding day is here, everything is perfect, they’ve used your timeline to the minute, and you walk over to the wedding ceremony and they’ve placed the chairs to face directly into the setting sun. Now don’t get us wrong, the light is absolutely dreamy, but it would have been perfect if the chairs were just turned slightly to one way or another, not only for us photographers, but for guests as well.

Education. Education. Education. We have learned throughout a wedding day, if something isn’t quite right, we learn from it and it makes us better photographers. Instead of a face palm moment (which by the way we’ve had plenty of), we work on how to better educate our future clients. Your couples want to know tips on how to make their wedding day run more smoothly and how simple little things can take their portraits from good to jaw dropping gorgeous.

Here are five things we’ve learned that can totally change your look of your ceremony photos if the sun is setting behind the couple:

1. Use a Lens Hood :: This might seem like a no brainer, and most of time it’s on our wrist as a bracelet, but there are certain shots you can’t miss and a lens hood will change keep the couple sharp, and without a lens flair. Don’t get us wrong, we love a good lens flair and soft portrait, but during a wedding ceremony, you need to nail clarity on these shots!

2. Find Something Natural To Block the Sun From Your Lens :: If there’s a tree, lamp post, tall speaker stand, umbrella, or another person, use it! Whatever you can find that will provide shade to your lens. You can find us hunched in the tiniest of spots and in yoga positions to get good light!

3. Use Your Hand (or someone else) to Cover the Sun :: The hood doesn’t always block out the entire sun, but your hand can, and it’s usually easier to Photoshop or crop your hand out of the sky later than trying to edit the light in the photo from the sun. This is also another reason we feel it’s so important to have at least an assistant with you on a wedding day. They can stand and angle themselves to shade your lens with a reflector or their bodyto ensure you get a good clean shot!

4. Angle Yourself :: That aisle shot might be tough, but move those feet! Look how beautiful ceremony shots are from side angles!

5. Give Yourself Grace, There’s Only So Much You Can Do :: The couple has hired you for you. They trust you. So take a deep breath, use that hood, find natural sun blockers, use your hand, and move those feet. Just remember, couples sunset portraits are up next and the light is going to be GORGEOUS!

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