This is one of the things that we all must do, and the question is how do we do it dynamically? The cake is an intimate object, sitting over there in the corner, next to nothing sometimes... but, often there will be a few candles and maybe some ambient light focused on the table, adding to the mood of the reception. Ok, so now we found some ambiance, now what? I recommend that you change up your game! First, I would like to get you in the mindset of how we can utilize a room's ambiance by focusing on the beautiful, sometimes tungsten colored light. On this first photo, we use no artificial light from a slave, just candle light...dont forget about this option folks!

 

Ok, so add a little flash at a very low power, 1/64 power in this case, zoomed to 85mm with about 5 feet of distance. Flash at a 45% angle on camera left, slightly aimed from high to low. Gives a nice little shadow detail on the icing writing. I've isolated the cake away from all the candles on the table. The Black & White frame from this sequence was very sexy to me...especially with the flashflavor coming in...

 

Typically, I'm not a big tilt guy for the sake of tilting just because... I am usually lining up other pieces of the frame to make the tilt work, but in this case, I knew that I had shot this cake 5 times from sunday and this way was going to be different. And, after paying attention to the highlight spots on the M logo from the above example, I decided to zoom on in and focus on the logo. This image ended up being a 12x12 print in the wedding album. Again, same flash settings as above.

 

And finally, add the homemade snoot to the equation and play with shadows.... simple stuff.

 

I have some more flavor to suggest with some other cakes, I'll save that for an upcoming post :) Anybody have any thoughts on this? Care to share your examples and idears on our Flash Flavor Flickr group. Got some discussion threads going there, I think this thing could actually start to become educational!! Comments? leave them here porfavor... Have a blog? Flash Flavor is looking for you... we are trying to spread the word to other photographers, and through links on your photo blog, we are literally spreading around the world! I'm humbled by all the folks that have been sticking our link on their blog-roll. Too cool! Cheers! mateo

We are moving towards doing 100% destination weddings, BUT, we are still contracted here and there to shoot in a big church or cathedral, where you can expect DARK dungeon type lighting. I always find it a challenge when the ceremony starts at 7:30 pm in the summer, Catholic service, so you are easy looking at 1 hour ceremony and 15 minutes of formals... Basically, there is NO natural light outside for any bride & groom shots... oh well. Pull out the homemade snoot and make some magic, or at least try to :) We use pocket wizards to trigger our remote slaves. However, have you ever have a night where things just didnt work? I can recall one wedding where I was convinced that ALL my pocket wizards were broken, or cables jacked up, who knows as nothing worked. In hindsight, I think there must have been some type of interference that caused total shutdown. Technical problem nights like that aren't fun. I do find that sometimes, the pocket wizards become tricky as the PC cables tend to get bent, or just dont work. Often, I share the same slave as my 2nd photographer and we steal each others flash when we trigger the slave during a recycle and end up with a frame with NO flash. I have spoken previously about Happy Accidents before in this post...however, today is all about a totally different type of happy accident! Sometimes a non-working flash can be a happy accident! In this old church, Sol Tamargo stole my flash recycle, and we ended up with this happy accident. This is Sol's image, not the happy accident.

 

Don't ask me how or why the flash didnt go off, I'm assuming I fired during her recycle. We had the slave set to 1/32 power. I called it a HAPPY ACCIDENT :) I was pleasantly surprised to see this shot. My intentions were to see a flash on the couple, 100%....something about the grand background behind the couple that works well against their silhouetted outline. I needed to open my mind and not worry about needing that stupid slave. The lesson here is to think about your resources available, at all times. Ask yourself the question, to light or not to light? Then, try the frame both ways.

 

Anybody have any happy accidents? If you want to submit them to the Flash Flavor Flickr group, please feel free to do so. Cheers! matt

I have written about Epic Photography in a past FF post, and after seeing this week's submission, I'm happy to suggest another photo that I feel defines the subject perfectly! Today's image comes from an awesome photographer in Atlanta, Andrew Niesen from the LaCour Studio, a group of 4 photographers, 2 husband and wife teams. Mark Adams from the LaCour studio submitted this GEM a while back showcasing how one photographs a beach ceremony with NO available light.

 

Strictly Ballroom First Dance at the Historic Biltmore By Andrew Niesen, LaCour The iconic Georgian Ballroom at Atlanta’s Biltmore was the centerpiece of Robin Best and Brian Gage’s wedding. They scheduled their wedding based on the ballroom’s availability, and they described its beauty during every conversation we had with them. The Biltmore was the hub of Atlanta’s social scene in the 1920s. With lavish marble floors, sparkling crystal chandeliers and handcrafted plaster ceilings, the Georgian ballroom exudes the dramatic elegance of the “Roaring 20s.” As Robin and Brian’s wedding approached, I thought about how to create a striking photograph that would serve as the climax of their wedding story. To be meaningful, the photograph had to communicate on multiple levels. It had to reveal the personalities of the main characters, the context of the story and the mood of the event. This communicative aspect of photography is especially important because I believe that our work becomes the foundation for family legacy. The story we tell through our photographs will be shared with several generations. Robin and Brian’s children will learn about their parents’ personalities and values through the wedding photographs. By selecting the Biltmore’s Georgian Ballroom, Robin and Brian were making a statement about their style, personalities and values. The grandeur, classicism and history of the ballroom were consistent with other details they had carefully planned for their wedding. Since the intricately textured ceiling is the hallmark of the ballroom, I chose to accentuate it by skimming light across the ceiling by backlighting it with a single White Lighting monolight. The monolight was triggered by a Pocket Wizard radio remote. My assistant set up the strobe on a stand in the rear corner of the ballroom about 10 minutes before the first dance began, and I shot several test images, adjusting my ISO and aperture until the histogram showed data across the entire spectrum, from solid black to small areas of pure white. I used a 17mm lens on a Canon EOS 1D Mark II to emphasize the magnificence of the space. Then, I waited until the couple moved to the center of the dance floor and were positioned in a way that a silhouette was visually “legible.” The resulting photograph appears as a 12x18” photograph in the center spread of Robin and Brian’s wedding album. It’s their favorite photograph from the wedding.

 

I've shot in this ballroom numerous times...Haven't tried this.... I like to see other photographers interpretations of a wedding venue and how it all comes down to ONE defining photography. Andrew tells a wonderful story here and just imagine yourself in his shoes... "This communicative aspect of photography is especially important because I believe that our work becomes the foundation for family legacy"..... Don't you think your photography would take on a new meaning if you used this motivation to photograph your next epic image?

 

The LaCour team have produced some studio management software that I have recently purchased. Although I don't have it customized and working with my system, I have seen a live demo by Mark Adams. ShootQ is innovative studio management platform that almost mimics a studio manager. All I can say is that you must check out their product video demo. They are currently hosting studio setup parties for ShootQ across the United States. Also, would also recommend that you take a look at their blog, as they take a different angle to blogging than the typical wedding photographer.

 

Comments? Are you inspired by this photo? If you have any photos that you would like to reflect the "epic ballroom" type shot, please send them to the Flash Flavor Flickr group

 

Thanks again Andrew and LaCour.