The bride and groom have invested thousands of dollars to make sure their wedding venues and details are gorgeous; and it's our job as photographers to make sure we capture it with the same attention to detail that the coordinators and bride had when setting it up. Among other tasks, we need to maintain the natural ambiance with the right lighting techniques. We need to capture each item, from the place settings to the centerpieces, with techniques that show the beauty of the entire scene in some images and show the small detail in others. Here are 10 ways to improve your wedding venue and detail shots.

My photography is changing and my lighting style is changing with it.  I am enjoying the new technologies in the latest hybrid photo+video cameras that allow me to make images - both still and moving - so quickly with rather stunning quality.  But I cannot change my lighting too much from years past because my clients still want that quality "look" to the images I make for them and they really don't care how I create it.  In order to work faster and stay as flexible as possible, I've been using smaller, battery powered flashes in rather creative ways to make the light take the shape I need for the shoots. So what are the big changes?  Well, using more wireless TTL is one, adapting small lights into large light modifiers is another, and still relying on pure horsepower when it's the smart move too.  Here's what I mean...  

Flashing in the street became quite popular over the years, and I'm not talking about the kinky kind utilizing a beige trenchcoat...

The Three-Dimensional Illusion Lighting, when we are referring to photography, helps in the translation process from a three-dimensional subject to a two-dimensional image. For example, the job of the portrait, fashion, or editorial photographer is to reveal the contours of the human face—to use highlights and shadows to create the illusion of roundness. A good photographer, through accurate control of lighting, can reliably produce a sense of depth in the two-dimensional medium of photography.