Well, not any added flash flavor value as we recently decided to take on natural light on one of our most recent trash the dress sessions in Belize.  We had an opportunity to shoot an amazing couple (Josh + Lara), lots of energy and every other 2 minutes, Lara kept making me think she was a paid actor playing the perfect fairy-tail bride out on an adventure to trash the dress, no rules, no expectations...just fun.

Read about their wedding plan here.

Technically, these images were difficult for me to make and without the proper gear and technique, these photos are tough to duplicate.  One of the things I've been noticing is that its tough to stand out and be different in the photo market.  As a photographer, I'm constantly challenged to make technically better photographs.  I encourage you to ask yourself, are you doing the same?

Shot a few images in the ocean.... bloody flare... perhaps we should embrace the flare!

An abandoned fishing shack, miles away from any shoreline.  More on the photo shack here. 

I think I got lucky with these next two frames, shot only 3 seconds apart from one another.  We didnt have much time for this, it just happened quickly.  I was using my 45 Tilt / Shift lens (with no tilting or shifting though) keeping in mind thats a manual focus lens.  I stopped down to F16 and shot at 1/30th of a second to get the motion in the dress.  The first frame (timestamp 5:08:01) was shot at ISO 400.

notice in the corner, I had no tripod so the 1/30th slow shutter was made possible due to the 55 gallon trash can that I improvised to be my make shift tripod...it worked :)

This next frame, timestamp 5:08:04.  Just a quick pan and suddenly I've been lucky enough to freeze motion on the moving guy vs the b&g standing still(ish).  Anyway, this technically seemed difficult to pull off.... each frame almost targets different concepts.  45 T/S lens, shot at F16 at 1/30th ISO 400. 

Beautiful sunlight, everything here was shot using available light, such a gift to us this day. Shot this one with my 50 at 1.6, 1/3200 shutter.

This last one was one of my fav's.  I shot this laying down on the beach, using my 135MM lens 1/500 F2.2.

Sorry for the No flavor post... just thought I'd add some inspiration / something to look at on this blog that never gets updated :)  Thanks for your patience!  Let me know if you like em :)

cheers!
matt

More Josh + Lara Wedding photos here

More Josh + Lara TTD photos here

I love to play at my receptions.  Some of my peers in this industry and others on forums have blasted photographers for experimenting at their clients events / weddings.    Uhh, I'm guilty of this in a big time way.  I like to play with different angles, different lighting conditions and sometimes, trial and error myself into something NICE.

This shot is a result of some trial and error.  After a setting adjustment or two, I nailed this couple on the dance floor and popped some "flash freeze" on them with one of my Nikon Speedlights.   Have you ever had brain freeze from eating ice cream too fast.... howa bout "flash freeze?

Canon 5d II

Lens (mm): 35
ISO: 1000
Aperture: 2.2
Shutter: 1/25

Nikon Sb28 at 1/64  from a light stick camera left, about 8 feet away.  You can see how powerful that light is at its lowest setting... The guest on the floor camera right still has some residual exposure from this flash head.  Probably about 15 feet of distance from flash head to his body...thats some serious power.   The 1/25 drag with the ambient DJ lights produced this kewl movement look here.

I posted LOTS of images from this wedding on the del Sol Blog...Hope U like!

I was browsing around the Internet today looking for some inspiration and came across my new favorite photo of 2010 so far...  Senor Tony Hoffer posted a review recently on his use of Canon's new Mark IV, specifically targeted to his use at weddings.  I found it very insightful and think you may want to take a peek too. 

Read his review on the Mark IV here.

Tony is also a serious flashflavor dude too... I found this image and was drooling alll the way through the rest of his site.  I asked if he minded me posting it here and he obliged :)

Tony writes:

I was on an engagement session in May 09 with one of my favorite couples. They had bought an umbrella since it looked like rain that day. Well it didn't rain and we ended up shooting the whole session. About 5 minutes before the session ended, Maria mentioned that she had actually wished it had rained since she wanted to use her new umbrella....

Well, within a few minutes it started raining after all. We were already packed up in our cars and couldn't decide if we should get out for one more shot or not. The other side of the parking lot was empty, so we just went to the empty area and set it up. The whole shot and set up took only about 30 seconds. I fired two shots, one wide, one close, and we left. Pretty amateur set up actually.

So, if you're curious, there was still some daylight (it was just after sunset), so I went to ISO 100 to drown out the ambient. Then I simply backlit the couple to bring out some of the rain. The shot was taken almost a year ago, but if I had to guess, the settings were probably close to this: ISO 100, 1/125 shutter, f/2.0. Shot with a Canon 5D and an 85 1.2 L. The flash, a 580exII was set around 1/2 power ish...

You can visit hofferphotography.com for more inspiration!   Thanks a zillion for the submission amigo!  Friggen SWEET frame amigo... What I love about this shot is not only is it technically well done, it will remain a timeless classic and a major portfolio addition for a long long long time!

Mucho saludos!
matt

My friends Dave & Quin are always producing work that makes me do a double take and try to break down how and what is going on to get the desired results.   At the end of the day, these two have to be some of the best the market has!  They are consistently producing WOW imagery on a day in and day out basis.

Recently, I found a gem from Quin's camera...

Quin Writes:

My motivation for this image was complete fear. LOL!  The room was extremely dark with horrible lighting, and just plain ugly.  I needed a way to simplify the space and easily tell the story of what was going on.  When you can't rely on the ambient light, it's so nice to be able to control your own light.  I always carry a flash on my belt, using QuiKlips, so within seconds of my initial ambient shot, I placed my flash on the floor aiming upwards on the bride to throw shadows on the ceiling.  The flash was triggering in manual mode via Quantum FW10w Transceivers at camera and flash positions.  It was divine timing that her bridesmaids came and stood in the perfect position to have their shadows and expressive hand gestures thrown on the wall too. 

I've also included a couple other shots in the ladies prep room to show you what it was like at ambient light, then my first attempt with the flash (totally blown before I tweaked my settings) where you can see my flash placement, and the final image in BW.

The Ambient exposure really sets the tone for "What the HECK" am I going to do now?

After seeing this frame and evaluating the one setup shot before this one, I'm thinking she has placed 2 flash units on the subject for the dynamic shadows.  I've always used this technique with one flash unit... If my assumption is correct, nice work Quin.  Regardless, I'm sure your clients appreciate your creative approach!

WOW, I'm so impressed.   I love how you have isolated what really matters in this room.  I'd call this complete organization of chaos, which is what we are all faced with when we see a pretty boring room of clutter and are forced to calculate decisions that turn heads.   Great work on your toes here Quin.

PS... did anybody catch the cool clip on their belt, the Quick Clips to hang the flash on the belts???  I like their clever branding QUIKlIPS...  Thats pretty nifty!     Maybe I can get them to send us a set or 3 :) I think Dave may be sending me one of his magic images soon, so I can share that too!

Saludos,

matt