We are looking for 2 dates to fill in the near future.   Our studio has 2 upcoming weddings in the USA and I'd love to get some help if its available.   First, we are shooting June 27th just outside of Boston.   This is my cousin's wedding and Sol & I are planned to shoot the event.  

We are looking for a personal assistant to help us with flash, bag holding, and possibly some shooting during the ceremony.   Is there anybody out there in the Boston area (Lyman Estate) who is willing to help?    The wedding is a 7 hour contract, we will likely be shooting from 1pm - 8pm.   Send your info to matt[at]mattadcock.com.

2nd Event we just picked up,  just north of Birmingham Alabama on August 8th. We are looking for 2 assistants for this date.   1 shooter and 1 personal assistant.   The event has 500+ people and a zillion people in the bridal party.   Due to the size and scope of this event, help is needed.   I'd prefer to get help from shooters who live in Alabama, if possible.    We would love to see your portfolio if you want to help us out as the 2nd shooter, please send your folio and inquiry to matt[at]mattadcock.com.

I was going through a folio the other day from our Associate photographer, Vincent.   This image stood out as one that really had me going back for a 2nd look.   I really don't know what he did to get this effect, other than use 1.2 with his super fast 85L.     I find that sometimes, we get bokah from odd places, such as a foreground element that simply causes blur around its edges.   So basically, framing something in the background through a small hole of other foreground elements, can blur the edges and make a dreamy look.... Have a look and let me know what you think...

Flash settings:  1/64 power, SB-28.    5d  ISO 1250 1/100th at 1.2    Flash is camera left.    I'm always looking for a dreamy technique...  Try this one, blending an element of the foreground in with your background... the blur and ethereal look is quite sexy...

Cool shot Vincent.... thanks for the awesome effort here to make a dynamic image.

Any takers for the assisting jobs, please let me know :)

Ok, I will admit that I have been living in somewhat of a fantasy world where our weddings happen on the beach in beautiful locations and usually have very small turnout and are generally, easier to photograph.

I've been so spoiled with beach weddings that I actually went 6 WHOLE months without shooting a church ceremony!   Wow, how refreshing it is not to worry about the NAZI church coordinators and the organists who won't let you stand on the conductor platform (even though he ain't there) etc.    After starting my career in Atlanta and covering more than 100 weddings in churches, I empathize with all togs who are forced to do this week in after week out.   Not to mention, most churches are dungeons and back in the PRE D3 and 5d II days,  ISO 1250 and FAST GLASS was the only way.

Well, I wanted to send a shout out to all my Atlanta buddies who shoot the "normal" wedding environment on a more regular basis.  On May 9th, I was with a few members of the del Sol team and we delivered one seriously awesome folio.   I am so lucky that my first wedding back in the USA in 6 whole months was at the Swan House, at the Atlanta History Center.    This place is awesome... not to mention the serious budget behind this awesome wedding.

We used just about every technique in the book with our flash system to get very dynamic results.  Cathi & Vincent helped me make this wedding happen...thanks amigos.    Vincent was using off camera flash while also using an on camera flash for fill while I never use an on camera flash and try to go for the more edgy look with my frames.  Together, the folio I'm linking  here is totally worth watching.  Keep in mind I had 3 shooters (including myself) and each of them is capable of shooting their own wedding without me!  

I feel like we really connected with the client's expectations and am very very happy with the final results.   Check the slideshow out here!

We used Video lights (2 powerful ones that the videographers were using) and also lots of flash mix.  We even used lots of just straight ambient.   Lots of flashflavor used with a snoot, Sb-28 set to 1/64th power, and sometimes even using 1 stop Neutral Density filter to tone the down the 1/64th power to 1/128th or maybe even 1/256th power, all because of the higher ISO power of the 5d II.   Here are a few favs...

First dance shots:  I always time to pull out the stops and get as many different uses out of my lighting setup as possible.  In this instance,  we had 2 very powerful video lights being used by 2 different videographers.  My flash is directly behind the couple, set to low power.  The video light coming from my left hand side is my best friend in this case.   The other video light is behind the bride, adding another element of depth to the frame.  With the use of the 3 lights plus making sure that the ambient had a very strong presence, we are able to communicate mood and ambiance.

Video light only.  In this case, there are 2.  One to the camera left and the flare or backlight is giving me the warm glow.   I find this something I've only known with my fast primes.  Vincent shot this one with the 85 at 1.4.

quick off camera flash moment, definitely a little hot, but as soon as I did this, the person became aware of my action and tried to clean the shoes off... cool detail though.

How do you get that one photo that has B&G but also has a zillion guests but you dont see them because of how the image was framed and lit?    I dont really know how... I wandered around from the opposite side for this keylight.  I used the 85 at 1.8 at 1/160th to get this look, ISO IOOO.

Video light again saved the day with the front light seen here in the photo.  This is also the answer to isolate the client against the others, if the light has a barn door or a snoot, for sure the way to get this look.   The flash is added behind the couple for offset them even further from the background.

Flash with Red Gel under the car, LOTS of ambient ISO 5000 F1.6 at 1/30th

Hope you had fun looking at these....  let me know what you think of the slideshow :)

cheers!
matt

On the topic of my last post on "Cake Humor", I decided I could be on a roll with more cake love this week.   

This one is pretty simple because you have the total choice on how you want to shoot this setup.   I chose to add color in my example because the background and other ambient colors presented themselves.   I honestly believe either shot will make a great album photo, or a super folio shot for that vendor.  

In addition to adding some flashflavor, I'd like to talk about the super high performance of the 5d II at HIGH ISO.   I love shooting with my big monster heavy 85 1.2 at wedding receptions.  Back in the Old 5d days (we still use them and love them) I could only get away with 1250 ISO as a max and still loved that paired with the 85 1.2 glass.    Well smack me silly when you can shoot at 4000 ISO and at a safe 1/200th of a second.    The 85 can be very hard to get great focus and you always jeopardize sharpness with slower shutters, 1/60th - 1/125th.    

both images were shot at ISO 4000  F1.8 at 1/200.  The first one shot IN JPG mode, at 2800k.  NO FF Value.

The 2nd image was shot at exactly the same settings but with a purple gel on an SB-28 Strobe triggered by PW set to 1/32 power.  I shot this using the 5d's AUTO WB setting.  

I hope this can throw another idea in your toolbox with the cake table....  If we want to keep shooting weddings....we must keep shooting the cake, eh?

Cheers!
matt