I was recently working a big open dance floor, covering the father daughter dance.   I had a 5d II with an off camera speedlight, shooting at low power.  I was working with 2 cross light DJ hot lights that were very powerful as well. 

For a safe photo, I was shooting at ISO 1000.   I had a flash set to 1/32, about 20 feet from subject.  I was using a 135 at F2.0 shooting at 1/125 of a second (a bit slow for that shutter speed and no image stabilization).

Ok, so safe shots...we all should shoot one in this circumstance.   This was my moment to shoot safe.  I was using my off camera flash on a lightstick, operated by Melissa, my assistant for this shoot.   I communicated to her to quickly move into another placement for a different angle, etc.   At this moment (keep in mind, she was more than 15 feet away from me, she had turned her head and was going to a different direction.  Simultaneously, be the hyper active ready for anything gringo, turned and to see a strong breeze take her veil into a super cool crazy place. 

5d II at ISO 1000 1/160 at F2.0.  It was all I could do to have a snap reaction, stop down a tad (since my off camera flash was no longer  acting as my flash freeze shutter) and I snapped this frame.   My happy accident is that I told my flash to go away, so it was moving to a secondary spot and thus, I was able to get a silhouette (a pretty ok frame here) without flash.  Keep in mind, the light on the veil and all backlight is from the DJ's setup.  I think with flash, this moment wouldnt be the same.   So, i consider this an accident (or fate) that I shut my flash down just a few seconds prior to this moment!

have fun with your happy accidents.

Old happy accident 1

Old happy accident 2

Older happy accident 3

An even older happy accident 4

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