Fernworthy reservoir is a lovely backdrop for a ceremony, but not without its challenges. Let’s take a look at how the day went…

I was assisted by my Son William today. It was a fair old drive to Fernworthy Reservoir so we left two hours early to be sure we got there in plenty of time. There is LOTS of parking here, as well as toilets and benches down by the water. You have to pay to park there but it is part of the Ring Go parking so if you have the app (and you can get a signal), no money is needed.

The biggest challenge was the ceremony being at 11am, so all the group shots, formals and Bride and Groom shots had a midday sun, on one of the hottest days that year. Let’s take a look and I’ll show you my options and solutions for the overhead sun.

After the ceremony came the big group shot. They wanted the reservoir as the backdrop so there was no choice but to position them so some were squinting in the sun. For the rest of the formal shots I had to position them away from the reservoir, with their backs to the sun, using the bushes and trees as the backdrop.

For the Bride and Groom shot there was no way I could not get shots of the reservoir as the backdrop, so one of the photos above shows you the lengths we had to go to get the shot. William was holding a large diffuser over the couple. I was using a powerful 600-watt strobe to try and balance the light between them and the background. The photo following the ‘behind-the-scenes’ shot shows you the final photo. The two photos after that, with the couple laughing, show just how harsh the sun was when we weren’t softening that light.

After these shots, we headed to the Double Locks in Exeter.

This venue is truly beautiful. The marquee, I’ll admit, looks like it has seen better days, but the surroundings are fantastic!

The couple opted for a BBQ and thankfully we were one of the first to eat. This means we were ready for the speeches because we had finished before everyone else.

The temperature was pushing 34c so it was seriously hot. We wear black and bow ties for weddings, so you can imagine how we felt. The venue supplied free iced water so I’d drunk 8 pints of water to try and keep hydrated.

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Wedding Photography Talk

All but one wedding this year has been clear skies and harsh sunlight. If I didn’t use lighting, I don’t know how I would have managed. It is SO important to know how to use on-camera lights and strobes if you’re a wedding photographer.

People talk of overheating with the Sony A7IV’s. Although I only shoot photos, the camera was hot but never overheats. I leave the flip screen with the screen on the camera. The camera is on pretty much the whole day. This was the hottest the cameras would likely ever face and on Dartmoor they all had the sun beating down on them the whole time. I didn’t have a single issue, nor did William on his cameras.

Wedding Photography Equipment

• 2 x Sony A7IV
• 1 x Sony A9
• 1 x Sony A7iii
• 1 x Sony 85mm f1.4
• 1 x Sony 24mm f1.4
• 1 x Sony 24-70mm f2.8
• 1 x Sony 70-200mm f2.8 V2
• 3 x Godox V1
• 2 x Godox AD200
• 1 x Godox AD600 Pro