Outdoor photos when it's dark out?

peachy13

Just curious about taking outdoor pictures at night. Do they come out okay? 

My ceremony is at 6pm in October (next year) and it will be dusk during the ceremony, and dark when we leave the ceremony. We are doing first look and wedding party formals during the day, pre-ceremony, for daylight purposes, but I am interested in possibly doing some outdoor photos post-ceremony, as we do have a 60 minute cocktail hour. 

Or if it will be a waste, I'll just plan to look into some indoor locations during cocktail hour. Just curious to see if anyone has had any luck with outdoor dark photos.

Thanks!

mimihankston15

The photos should come out fine. Your photographer should have the appropriate equipment for night/evening photos

klk111415

I would talk to your photographer about that.  Most bring their own lighting and can take photos in the dark no problem.  

But also, why not get your photos done before the cocktail hour so you can relax a bit?  My friend took photos during cocktail hour but guests were coming up to her and she got very distracted and we all had to stand there and wait for her.  Use cocktail hour to get a few more photos, get some food in your stomach, sign your marriage license (which can be a photo opp in itself) and take it all in that you just got married.  If you have a bridal suite area at your venue separate from guests, you can take photos there if you need an indoor location... 

photokitty

Have you considered doing a "first look" shoot? It would solve the problem entirely.

I love first looks bc...

-I prefer seeing the reaction of the B&G in one photo. The groom will still be moved by the moment of you walking down the aisle, a first look won't change how he feels about you. -He's not looking at the dress, he's excited to see you coming down the aisle to marry him - having seen you an hour before isn't going to change that emotion.

-It will save a LOT of time. You can go to cocktail hour and enjoy the yummy appetizers! You can spend more time talking to your guests, freeing yourself up to party on the dance floor more after dinner.

-You can have a comprehensive photo shoot with FI at multiple locations if you want.

-If calms your nerves and gives you some special time alone on an otherwise busy day.

-You can have the bridal party and family photos done just before the ceremony. Everyone can be there a little early and then your parents are free to greet the guests at cocktail hour and be good hosts.

DH & I went and took photos together for about 2.5 hours, just relaxing and having fun.

Then we reserved an hour for family photos. We did not have a wedding party, but have large family, so it was about the same as having a wedding party.

GL!

emmyg65

You need light to take photos. Will there be any artificial light in the area where you are? Our wedding was outside and after dark, we had globe lights, candles, and colored lights for the dance floor, plus our photographer had different flashes. Talk to your photographer and see how experienced they are with low-light situations.

But yeah, a first look is probably your best bet.

klk111415

I second what @photokitty said.  I was assuming that you would be doing a first look.  I decided to do a first look because it frees up our time to enjoy ourselves and our ceremony leads right into our cocktail hour (so we don't want to miss that or have family/bridal party miss that)

And of course it makes for some beautiful pictures!

JoanE2012

OP said she is doing first look.

OP - we were in the same boat. We just did the fist look and then enjoyed our cocktail hour. Suppose with artificial lighting, you could get some outdoor photos. Why not ask your photographer if it's worth going outside for 15 min or so?

photokitty

JoanE2012 said:

OP said she is doing first look. OP - we were in the same boat. We just did the fist look and then enjoyed our cocktail hour. Suppose with artificial lighting, you could get some outdoor photos. Why not ask your photographer if it's worth going outside for 15 min or so?

Doh! My bad - reading fail. Make sure you ask about low light experience as Emmy said. Also ask about their lighting equipment. Do they have strobes, on and off board? Check out the area this year around at the same time to see what it looks like, how much available light and man made light there is. GL!

jenijoyk

My reception was outdoors, after sundown. Definitely speak with your photographer with it before hand. Our photos turned out terrible. Like really, really terrible. I don't know if he ever shot outdoors before, honestly. Our biggest issue is that the vast majority of our photos are way overexposed. Every single photo, outdoors after dark, everyone's faces are so light, you just see their eyes, nostrils, and mouth in a bright white face. My dress, which was light gold and detailed, is just a bright stark white blob. So was our white cake. So yeah, it's not a given. There are a lot of shitty photographers out there. 

djh513

Definitely speak with your photographer about this one!

For our engagement shoot, we started shooting at dusk and went into sunset and a little after. Our photographer specializes in 'after dark' photo sessions and he was able to get some amazing shots. Granted we were in the downtown area of the city we live in and there were street lights/ light from buildings, but he did some really cool 'off-camera flash' type things and the pictures are FANTASTIC!

We've already spoken with him about doing some sunset/nighttime shots on our wedding day because we were so happy with his work.