Balancing sunset and flash photography

Lighting is key for a great photo and working during the golden hour can produce great results but with a few technical things to keep in mind.

Today, I want to share an example from a wedding that happen right as the sun was setting.

When photographing weddings, I’m always on the lookout for interesting light—unique situations that can make your work stand out. For instance, the shot below was fairly simple to set up, yet it truly captured the romance and beauty of the wedding.

At the time, the sun was about 20 minutes from setting. Due to some haze in the sky, the sunlight was soft, with a much richer orange glow than usual. The horizon and trees in the background were bathed in this gorgeous light, and I wanted to preserve that glow while ensuring the bride and groom were well-lit.

If I had exposed solely for the bride and groom, the beautiful background light would have been washed out. To balance both elements, I used a Q Flash, a powerful flash unit by Quantum. It’s more powerful than a typical flash, but not quite as intense as a studio strobe. These aren’t sold any longer but you can generally find them used on eBay.

I positioned the Q Flash about 30 degrees to the right of the camera, raised it high, and aimed it downward toward the couple. I then exposed for the background and adjusted the Q Flash to provide a soft fill light for the bride and groom. This balance was crucial to retaining that rich background color without allowing the sunlight to deceive the camera’s light meter.

When I don’t have time for a light meter reading (which is often the case during weddings), I take a few test shots on manual exposure and adjust as needed. Shooting into the sun also gave a lovely lens flare, which I’m quite fond of.

Post-processing was minimal—I only enhanced the sky and slightly darkened the top and bottom of the tree for balance.

Technical Details:

• Camera: Canon 5D

• ISO: 100

• Exposure Mode: Manual

• Shutter Speed: 1/200 sec

• Aperture: f/8.0

• Lens: Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 IS, set to 78mm