RF Wedding of the Week: Bryan and Mae Master Purple Venue Lighting

As the weather gets warmer and bookings pick up, there’s sure to be a full season of weddings with challenging photographic scenarios in venues across the country.

When I came upon a recent shoot of our old friends (and one of RF’s 30 Rising Stars 2013) Bryan and Mae, I was impressed by the way a toughly-lit venue (The Henry in Dearborn, Michigan) that was so very purple was photographed so expertly. The bride and groom, Manal and Farhaad, came together in a Pakistani-Arabic ceremony that was filled with laughter and traditions.

“Using an off-camera flash was important to being able to have my subjects well lit and to keep the background from being blown-out,” says Mae. “I used Canon’s 600 EX speed light on-camera, triggering an off camera speed light that I moved to various places around the room, depending upon the look I wanted to achieve. It also allowed me to create a more natural look than direct or bounced on-camera flash would have offered.”

Otherwise,the wedding was shot using the Canon 5D Mark III. “I mostly used the 35 f/1.4 and 50 f/1.2 as my lenses, along with the 135 f/2,” says Mae.

The bride and groom Manal and Farhaad “were such a sweet couple,” says Mae. “They are both incredibly intelligent and driven individuals who have a huge support system in the friends and family who came to celebrate with them at their reception. A Pakistani Arabic wedding was bound to be fun, but this one just topped the charts. It was an honor to photograph it for them.”

To see more of Bryan and Mae’s beautiful wedding work, visit their website.

Click to see past RF Weddings of the Week!

To submit a Wedding of the Week, email Jessica Gordon.