My Blog

How A Bright Sunny Wedding Day Can Ruin Your Photos

Photo of a bride and groom smiling to someone to the right of the photographer on a bright sunny wedding day photography in rural Hampshire by Nadina Bee

A sunny wedding day can make for terrible photos

I keep talking with my couples about the weather. Specifically, what to do in case of bad weather on your wedding day – or weather that’s too good. Like what problems does a bright sunny wedding day create for your wedding photos.

And this is not small talk!

The weather can and does impact your wedding photos. Over the last couple of blogs I talked about rain, wind and storms.
You can find this blog here: Storms on your wedding day

But today, let’s talk about how we can save your photos from too much sun on your wedding day.

Why bright sunshine can cause problems for your wedding photos

If I had a pound for every time a wedding guest says “at least it is nice and sunny for the photos…” well, I could retire.

It is a common misconception that the nicer the weather the nicer your wedding photos will be. In fact, of all the weathers, bright afternoon sun is the trickiest to photograph. Yes, worse than rain.

Everyone will be squinting. Pale people’s skin will be glowing like a lightbulb (that’s me). Until they turn red like lobsters (not me, I use factor 50). And everyone’s eyes will look like they are wearing panda bear masks.

Yes, summer sunshine is in the doghouse for trying to ruin your wedding photos!

How you can prepare for sunny weather on your wedding day

Please, don’t schedule your group photos for 3pm in summer!

That is seriously all you need to do.

Speak to me about scheduling your photos, I am happy to advise for your specific wedding date.

In winter, the light is generally softer, so sunshine does not tend to be a problem. Unless we are surprised by snow and suddenly everything is super bright. But wow! That would be a fairy tale… (*photographer-dreaming-over-here*)

What I do to prepare for bright sunshine on your wedding day

No matter how bright the sun, all is not lost! I have quite a few tricks in my toolbox to even defeat the sun.

Ok, I sound like Napoleon gone mad now, but hear me out.

When I am taking photos in bright sunlight, I will do things like use a flash to fill in the panda eyes.
During group and couples photos I might ask you to close your eyes for a few seconds before we take the photo. This reduces squinting.
Or I might turn your backs to the sun…

We’ll leave it at this.
Bright summer sunshine is my most common weather challenge, so my box of tricks is huge. But I can see your eyes glazing over already.
You get the idea.

We can get great wedding photos, whatever the weather!

The final line of defence with weather that is not photo-friendly is: post processing. This is a last resort, but a very useful one. And since I edit every photo individually anyway, I make sure every one of your wedding photos is the best it can be.

If you would like to discuss your wedding plans and how to best avoid bad (or indeed excessively good) weather disasters, or you just want to find out if I am available on your date, get in touch here: Contact me!

Bright blessings,