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Monolights
Monolights can be a saving grace to wedding photography. A monolight is similar in size to a regular flash unit, making it highly portable. The powerful lights are also fully adjustable so they can easily be synced with your camera settings. Wedding photographers should keep two or three monolights in their lighting kit. The unobtrusive lights can quickly be set up near the altar before the wedding to allow the photographer to properly light the wedding without getting in the way. When working with monolights, use lights of the same make and model. Not all monolights are the same wattage nor or they assembled using the same parts. Using different lights can cause uneven lighting patterns and cast undesirable shades of light on the wedding.
Speed Lights
Most serious photographers will already have a TTL speedlight. A through-the-lens speed light is the type of flash that mounts to the hot shoe on your camera or can be mounted on a stand. It is called a speedlight because it recharges itself quickly enough to take consecutive photographs. A good quality speedlight will feature a head that rotates upwards, downwards and will swivel in a circular motion. Most wedding photographers will have a speedlight attached to their camera and a few more speedlights set up at various backdrops in which the photographer will be staging photographs.
Sync the Lighting
Syncing your moonlights and speedlights to your camera is just as important as setting the lights up. Both types of lights are considered to be strobe lights. That is, a light that fires quickly and goes out. Much like a regular strobe light, only a photography strobe will not fire in such rapid succession. Your strobe light setup should fire light at the precise moment that you press the shutter release button on your camera. This is achieved by connecting the entire lighting system to a triggering system. A multiple moonlight system will usually work by syncing one master light to your camera. As the master light fires, the other monolights will also fire. The master monolight and all of the speedlights will need to be attached to bases that send radio signals back and forth with a second piece that is attached to your camera's hot shoe. When the camera takes a photograph, a radio signal is sent instantly to fire the lights simultaneously.
Natural Lighting
As a wedding photographer, you will most certainly want to have a collection of strobe lights to use in difficult lighting situations. This does not mean that the use of natural or available lighting should be discarded entirely. Lighting from the sun is capable of creating a flattering light in ways that artificial lighting is not capable of. Many professional wedding photographers will chose to mix strobe lighting with natural lighting. The strength of the strobes will help eliminate shadows created by the sunlight and will balance the lighting perfectly. Having the wedding party do a photo session outdoors if good natural light is available can fill out a portfolio nicely.