This weekend I am shooting a small wedding in Anaheim in conjunction with Esquire Photography, and with 5 days to go before the shoot I thought it would be good to go through all the preparation that goes into a shoot like this. A wedding is very different than any other shoot as there are no re-takes, no reschedules, and you can’t make any mistakes or miss any of the important shots. So how do you prepare for a wedding shoot? Simply put, planning, planning, planning!

Along with dissecting different photo shoots like we have done in the past, we are now beginning a new “Lighting Basics” series that will start with a single light source and work up through multiple lights and advanced lighting techniques. Today we will start with a single flash and show how to make the most of an on-camera flash, an off-camera light, and how reflectors can make it appear as if you have more light sources.