11th May 2007
out of the ordinary locations for your speedlight
Locating your speedlight in the haste of shooting a wedding can be tough, but with a little intuition and the ability to act quick on your toes, you will surprise yourself with an idea that adds a little flavor to an ordinary scene.
I have an example where I was without my personal assistant and was asked at the very last minute to ride along with the bride and groom in their get-away car, which I decided wouldn’t be a great idea when I walked out the front of the church and saw no car waiting. After short walk around the corner, I spotted the car some 200 yards away. I sprinted to the car and placed this speedlight in the floorboard, with an original intention of lighting the back window. I literally had seconds to make this idea work….
For this shot, I’m totally out of breath as I’ve sprinted 200 yards to locate this speedlight in the car, snapped a quick image to determine exposure. Flash was set to 1/32 + -.
Frame #1 of sequence….
This was shot at 7:41 with 6 seconds
I stepped back and layered the composition with the driver in the foreground,
shot 14 seconds after the Frame #1
Frame #2 Shot at 7.41pm with 20 seconds
Frame #3 was shot at 7.41pm with 52 seconds
…and finally, this last moment from the sequence. Honestly, I felt like I blew this one out a little too much… the car was rolling as I took this shot. I had rather they not be as camera aware as they are here… oh well. This ended up being their favorite photo, or the most commented on shot from the family. I later found out that the driver was father of the bride’s best childhood friend!
Frame #4, Shot at 7:42pm with 20 seconds, as they were headed out. My speedlight stayed with them then entire drive to the reception. 
Stay on your toes and have fun with your images. Drop a speedlight in the scene to make it a little more dynamic.
Cheers!
matt
You’re my newfound god! Pictures are awesome:)
Hi, I found this site via Strobist.com - very creative, and a great inspiration to try something new. I love your images, and that you tell us how you took them.
Yoree, well i’m humbled by your statement… Thanks for the kind words. Please keep visiting as I have some cool stuff coming!
Martin, stobist has been a bookmark of mine for quite some time. David Hobby, owner of strobist actually inspired me 100%. Somebody buy that man a drink!
Cheers & much love,
Matt
What are you using to connect the PW to the Speedlight? Enjoying your blog.
Jeff, we use the standard pc - mini phone cable that comes with the PW. Our speedlights are older Nikon Sb-28’s. They actually are very affordable and can be purchased used at used camera brokers!
Cheers and thanks for hanging out here!
matt
Matt, You and your Fiance take some of the most breath taking pictures I have ever seen. Matt is also my sons name!
How exactly do you take those breath taking pictures on the beach? Do you use the flash on the camera to get the clear faces and the gorgeous landscape, or do you position the strobes in different places? How about during the ceremony inside, do you also have the flash on the camera and do you bounce it off the wall or do you shoot it straight at the subject? Any help is appreciated.
Thanks again.
Gabe
Gabriel… Thanks for commenting and hangin out here! We appreciate the nice thoughts about our work on the beach. How do we do it??? Uhh, hard to describe it here in this comment box… We do position our strobes everywhere. Usually operated by our personal assistant who is consistently following us around. We also have a 580 on camera, we do bounce off any and every wall possible, occasionally will shoot strait on with flash. If there is anything to be more dynamic with lighting, we try it. There is no “right way”…but more what works for you.
Cheers & thanks again for commenting,
matt