Photographers have long known about the magical time after sunset sometimes known as the "magical hour" or the "golden hour". In this time, it is said that the colors and the quality of light will be tip top. I am often in the Riviera Maya shooting and that particular coast looks east mostly so we end up waiting for the sky to change colors. I am a big fan of the 30 minutes after sunset and the next 30 minutes after that. This technique will improve your portfolio because it will enable the client to see the setting with the most beautiful colors. Start to set an automatic alarm clock in your brain (or literally set one for 30 minutes after sunset) and go outside and look around. For the purpose of this particular post, we will be talking about examples of where we incorporated nature and some form of architecture that represented the wedding / reception location.... all in a completely different light. My Canon 5d performs beautifully in this situation and I will typically shoot wide open at 2.8 at pretty high ISO's. Usually 800-1250. If you have a tripod (i usually don't carry one) but this will help greatly as you may need to shoot long exposures (1/2-10 seconds). I usually prop the camera on a handrail or on the ground or use a makeshift tripod, set the timer on the 5d and walk away. In this example, I determined my ambient exposure (to emphasize the blue colors) and set the light under this palapa thatch roof hut on the beach. It was the desert & cake table. I felt like the flash provides a contrast against the natural light that gives it a POP. If you are visiting a trade show in the US, Art Leather has a HUGE PANO print of this in one of their 11x14 montage art books as a sample. The print ended up rocking the house out. Here is another one from Cozumel. Sol Tamargo stepped back and gave us a super idea of the ambiance of the evening. I shot this one in the South of the Riviera Maya at the Palladium Resort. I had to walk a pretty good distance to find a bridge that gave me a higher prospective. Use the golden hour of beautiful light to showcase your setting. Add a little flash here or there to give your photo some EDGE. Experiment here. Shoot one with the flash and one without. This way, you give yourself options! Thoughts? Cheerios, Matt