I got another killer shot from Dave & Quin Cheung of DQ studios to show you. I really love how they approach making beautiful portraits during a wedding. I am a firm believer that they are one of the best studios in the entire continent of North America... They raise the bar by challenging the ordinary portrait... a spoonful of flava :) Or shovels full, when DQ is in charge...

 

Quin describes her shot: Jess and Rob wanted to take some portraits at a historic burnt out church, just outside of beautiful Banff, Alberta. Well, we couldn’t find the church, but the ruins of a small building would do. It was cold and windy this fall day, so we had to work fast to prevent everyone from freezing. One of the difficulties of using multiple lights during the portrait time is engaging the couple in the experience, and capturing true emotion. This shot is one of my favorites from our time together because of Jessica’s easy smile and the capture of that magic moment-before-the-kiss. How it was taken. Here’s a shot of us taking this shot (courtesy of a cool pro race-car-driver groomsman. Thanks Choi!). A 580EX II was placed on the ground behind the dress and Dave was holding a Quantum T5d extended from high above on a light stand. The T5d was set to give roughly the same light output as the 580EX II and the frosted diffuser was removed to create a harder, more directional light. White Balance was set to shade to add a touch of warmth under the daylight balanced flashes while the exposure was set to overpower ambient by about 2 stops to add drama and darken the blue skies that are peaking through the broken walls of the ruins. I love how this pose accentuates Jess’s figure. All we needed was to capture Rob coming in for the kiss, and the natural smile of Jess’s face makes the image all the more powerful. Here’s the geek-speak: Camera: Canon 30D Lens: 16-35mm at 16mm White Balance: Shade Mode: Manual ISO: 800 Shutter: 1/250 Aperture: f13 * Light 1 (from behind the dress): 580EX II at 1/16th power * Light 2 (from above): Quantum T5d at 1/8th power (with frosted diffuser removed) * Both lights triggered via Pocketwizards. Double lighting takes more work and time to setup, but we love the results we achieve when we put the extra effort in. Don’t forget to have fun with your clients and make the experience a great one for all involved :) Quin Cheung DQ Studios www.dqquikeys.com

 

I'm totally inspired by this!!!!!! If you are a photographer looking for a source of creative juices, make sure you spend the next hour or so digging though the DQ Studios Website. Dave & Quin are one seriously dynamic duo. They submitted a few other killer shots to FF in the past... Check out This FF image that Quin shot with some definite added flava. Dave was flying HIGH with this killer idea. Anybody have any comments for DQ? Are you as inspired by them as I am? Please, let them know! Cheers! matt

I'm going to deviate from posting nothing but flash flavor and talk a little bit about why and how I got in the position I am in today. I constantly seek new inspiration and ideas. Every now and then, there are a few jems that stand out and I would like to mention them here. There are a few photographers that I admire and have learned quite a bit from in the last 10 years. Nature photographer John Shaw, was a major source of inspiration for me. I love this quote from Shaw: "Cameras and lenses are simply tools to place our unique vision on film. Concentrate on equipment and you'll take technically good photographs. Concentrate on seeing the light's magic colors and your images will stir the soul." **Update** Apparently, I've made a mistake, John Shaw was the individual to bring this quote to my attention, originally spoken by his friend, Jack Dykinga. Thanks to FF reader Todd Nordquist for bringing this to my attention. It was my late grandfather, Art Eno, who willed all his professional camera gear while still living...(nikon f4 film rig and a zillion manual focus lenses and the mack daddy tripod). He also handed me Shaw's first book on nature photography, which I read cover to cover a million times. I then bought and read every one of his other books. I shot transparency film for a few years and actually learned the craft. I was a pretty ok nature photog. This book taught me how to use the camera and how to think about composition.

 

Secondly, if you havent had a chance to check out images made by David Roberts, please take a look at these few I found posted on an old school link from the WPJA's site back in 2004. It was in 2003 that I was searching for photojournalism photographers and found David's site. (NOT the WPJA). I wish his old PJ site was still up, ctphotojournalist.com but it says "new website coming soon".... oh well. Anyway, back then, I had no idea what the WPJA was...All I cared about was that I found a photographer whose work was ALL FILM, and just some of the most creative work I had seen. I pretty much looked at every one of the photos on his personal site. I was truly amazed by his creative vision. Photo © 2002 by David Roberts I guess he had some of the first dibs on the trash the dress fad.

 

While I was in Guadalajara Mexico last week, I fell into the blessing of staying at a hotel whose neighbor parking lot was occupied by the majestic Cirque du Soleil touring production, Quidam. I ran across the street to buy tickets... These guys sell out every night! We got 2 tickets in the best section possible for only $75 each!!!!!! WOW, in Atl, the same seats go for $250! Folks, i'm here to tell you that Cirque is by far, the most amazing theatrical production company I have ever encountered. This was my 3rd time seeing Quidam. I'll go back 100 more if I could. Quidam was my first experience with Cirque back in 1997. Cirque brings together the most amazing technical elements. If you want to study lighting and composition, go to one of their shows... I'm in awe every time i go. I've seen: Quidam (3 times) Alegría Corteo DELIRIUM Dralion Varekai Go check out one of these shows! If Cirque comes to your town (all the shows I mentioned are touring shows), I would consider it a SIN to miss the production! I have a BFA in Theatre. I've seen TONS of shows and other performances, NOTHING compares... One of these days, I'll be hitting the Vegas productions... I hear they the jam pony! Anybody have any thoughts? Been inspired by these people too? Please share your thoughts. Cheers! matt

I often sit here wondering what I am going to do at the next wedding to change it up, making everything different. One thing I've been trying lately that will certainly make you smile a little bit more in your pursuit is to try and use the ambient! Add a little flashflavor and you will be hooked! I'm very happy shooting my receptions at ISO 1000 or 1250 with my Canon 5d and using my primes at wide open or my 2.8 lenses, shot with 1/30th of a second. That will pretty much allow you to BLAZE highlights in the background into your frame. Now, try adding a little flashflavor at a LOW power. This can be done in one million ways... If you have a static setup, flash on a stand, concentrate on small areas of the dance floor. Use the flash on 1/32 or 1/64 or 1/128 with these settings.... Bouncing may require you to add a little power, but may decrease the mood of the photo by making the scene look like a daylight lit photo. If you are going direct flash off camera, set it up on the lowest power and play... Check this example out: 1/32 slave bounce camera left | ISO 1000, 2.8 1/25th Also, try to add a snooted flash..I have found that my SB-28's at 1/64th power are too often very bright, at about 4-6 feet distance to subject. I will often take a piece of paper to damper the light's power. This works :) We shoot slow dances like this almost every wedding....ALL the following were shot with a snoot and 1/64th power on the slave... Check these out: ISO 1000 2.8 1/40th and this one: ISO 1000 2.8 1/15th.... how sexy is that light in the background???? With this one, I wanted to emphasize the background, but it was still semi daylight out side... ISO 1000 5.6 1/10th... I had to get a little movement in the background. A small camera movement helped me out here big time! Low light is also discussed in this FF post.

 

at night, drag and hang LOW with the power.... get some happy results! Anybody have any good PJ stuff to submit to Flashflavor? Will the image wow the world? If so, tell me why :) Anybody have any sexy low light stuff with slave flavor? If you want to submit them to the Flash Flavor Flickr group, please feel free to do so.

 

Cheers! Matt

As a follow up to my last post about dragging the shutter and keeping ambient, I'd like to showcase similar circumstances we experienced from last weeks wedding in a beautiful garden, very looooow lighting conditions. We wanted to photograph the first dance with a little added light, in order to make an exposure. We used a fast prime for a few shots without flash, which ended up providing a dynamic portfolio of the first dance.... so consider this when you shoot in similar conditions: I set up two Nikon Sb-28 speedlights on 1/64th power, each at 45 degrees on the columns (the columns 1 away from center on both sides) aiming at the ceiling for a small bounce. It was important to me that we were able to expose the ambient light outside the gazebo and make it appear that we weren't blowing the sky out of the conditions inside... If you look carefully, you can see the slave mounted on the left side cornice. Disclaimer: I've been asked how do I get away with ISO's over 1000... My answer: Canon 5d We were shooting at ISO 1250 1/30th at 2.8 (my favorite reception exposure settings) slave set to 1/64th and this one, to frame them up nicely :) ISO 1250 1/30th at 2.8 (my favorite reception exposure settings) slave set to 1/64th and this one, i put on my 50 1.4, shot this one at ISO 1600 1/4 at 1/30th... rather dark in there eh? NO Slave! Check out a slideshow of photographer favorites from Kellie & Kevin's wedding. I had my lovely wife, Sol Tamargo assisting me on this one! Anybody have any good PJ stuff to submit to Flashflavor? Is the image unique? If so, tell me why :) Anybody have any cool low light stuff with slave help? If you want to submit them to the Flash Flavor Flickr group, please feel free to do so.

 

Comments? Thoughts? Do you hate this stuff? Cheers! PS... I'm traveling through the Mexican country side, headed today to this little city, Tapalpa. I love little adventures. We are spending the week in Guadalajara Mexico, where Sol was born and raised. Our ring designer is making our wedding bands and we are making a little visit... Its pretty crazy to be in the wedding biz and planning your own wedding at the same time...Friday, we are headed to Mexico City for a traditional Mexican wedding, totally different than anything most of us have ever seen... 400+ people strong and culture filled! Hopefully, we will have some killer flash flavor to share from that one ! saludos,