Weddings at the Museum of Science

For anyone who knows or has worked with me, it's no secret that I absolutely love photographing wedding at Boston's Museum of Science. Not only is it one of the city's most beautiful venues, it's located in a spot with a view of the Boston skyline you can't otherwise achieve. However, in today's post, I wanted to take a moment to point out how, while incredibly beautiful, the museum is not without its technical challenges.

Looking at this first set of photos below, hopefully your first thought isn't, "Wow, those photos look like he used a flash." Hopefully it's, "These couples were having the time of their lives." If that's what you see, I did my job well. Now I know many will think, "Why would you add light? It's already incredibly bright." Therein lies the problem, it's often too bright. Most ceremonies at the museum take place after 5p.m., when the sun is (or just about to) set, and bouncing off of the Charles River like a mirror. As you can see from these photos, sunset takes place almost directly behind where most couples stands for their ceremony.

That leaves me as a photographer with 3-options. Add light (as I've done below), take a photo in silhouette, or completely overexpose the background so that the couple is "properly" exposed. Now I'm not afraid of a cool silhouette, but let's be honest - nobody wants more than 1-2 of those as part of their collection. With my goal always to have the photos feel like you were there, that leaves me to add flash, as i've done below.

"But Doug, I don't want my ceremony to feel like a dance club with strobes popping constantly." I hear you, and I bet if you asked any of these couples, they had no idea there was a flash going during their ceremony. We set the lights up in a way so that they're out of everyone's sight line, and then I wait for the right moment for the photo, I'm not running around mashing the shutter creating a club vibe.

And even if you're not holding your wedding (or ceremony) at the museum, hopefully this post gives you something to consider when planning your wedding ceremony time and location.

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