I just happen to peek over my shoulder yesterday while Sol was editing one of her recent TTD sessions.    She is always using her flash creatively in the right bright light conditions, admits to finding a newly learned technique quite helpful.

I was visiting Digital Pro Talk a bit back and did a ff post on David Ziser "tricking the sync speed".

Here is Sol's version of this technique...I'm loving the light here..

Shot at ISO 100 F6.3  at 1/400.  Canon 5d max sync is 1/200.  Full power SB-28 PW Triggered slave, 1/2 CTO Gel on slave.

This one is was shot at 1/200, no tricking here.   BUT, its still a nice FF shot.   Shot at 1/2 power with a modified snoot, 1/2 CTO gel.

This one was shot without flash at all....  ISO 50.  1/8000 at 1.2.   WOAH, sexy DOF.

She hopes this was inspiration for you all this week!

Great stuff as always Sol!  
Cheers!
matt

 A little flashback on a technique...

A few years ago, I was inspired to get my camera UP IN THE AIR to get a different look.  Recently, I ran into Jeff from Trident Photography while speaking in Playa del Carmen at the PPOC-A.

Jeff had replicated my idea with his own twist.   Color flavor always makes a change from the ordinary... Anybody else trying to add color to the floor to enhance the depth of the shot, adding some drama?  I'd love to see it? 

Jeff Writes:
I told my assistant about the shot that I wanted to get, with the bride and groom silohuetted against the reflection on the floor, so I sent him to the second level balcony to shoot it.  All I told him was to keep the shutter up around 200 to knock down the ambient, and make sure that he got them head to toe without me in the photo.  He chimped 2 frames, and shot it at ISO 640 and F2.8 to get the result.  I had the 550EX flash on a PW with a red gel, set to 1/16 power since I knew the reflection off the light hardwoods would be pretty bright.  In addition to keeping the power low, I also zoomed in the head to control the spill from the flash.  Then I made sure to aim the flash at a place on the floor a couple feet in from of the couple in order to center the reflection off the floor with the camera.
 

Cool result amigo!

Cheers!
matt

I definitely enjoy hanging out in venues that are bigger than life.   Recently, I needed to fill some space with light.  We were dealing with powerful theatrical stage lighting and added a 1/1 full power blast to the right of bride and groom.   The light spills and gives some dimension to the space.

I just used this as a quick way to execute a shot when on the run, walking around the building to get just about every photo along the way.  I shot these guys from many different angles, using the available theatrical lighting in the venue...we got some pretty beautiful stuff, for sure.

This spot is a massive cenote, dug out by Xcaret theme park, in Playa del Carmen Mexico.   We have some pretty lavish receptions here and its always exciting to see the spectacle each return!

this one from with a little soft bounce from the rock wall of this huge CAVE... Earthen rock wall bounced, the colors take the tone of the warmth around them.

This one has no real Flashflavor value... just another shot of these amigos...

Cheers!

matt

I recently was hanging out with the Professional Photographers of Canada-Alberta here in the Riviera Maya and was speaking on my photojournalism ideals and giving a quick demo of using low lighting conditions and accenting a subject with flash / video light and using color correction gels.  Sol accompanied and helped assist us on the beach with the demo.  She also provided well needed moral support for her rambling husband... gracias Sol!

Thanks PPOCA for your hospitality.   The Cava Brothers also spoke for this crew.  Do take a spin around their website...commercial section is way tight...their pretty much spot on in all genres and give workshops of their awesome craft!

We had a short talk and a demo session and a hotel party session afterwards with a few tequilas and some good times!   I met many very talented and successful photographers from Canada and we all were able to share and learn / ask questions together.  Everybody was very positive and the learning environment . Thanks for the hang time amigos!

*Special thanks to Kim & Lynn at Studio 9 Photographers for helping organize this and their assistant for volunteering to model for us, GRACIAS!

**Disclaimer**  I have been posting wedding related content / engagement content on FF up to this point.  I still plan on doing so.... If I have material that I'm teaching, its just easier to post it here :)  My apologies about the drift in content...

My demo emphasized a very LIGHT equipment load, enough to fit in a tiny Canon 200 EG backpack and work some model lighting on the FLY, at the dusk hours...

Using low power strobe and shooting JPG on the 5d Mark II, we gelled the flash tungsten 1/2 CTO, and switched our white balance to tungsten.  The two cancel out each other on the skin tone but the sky goes BLUE crazy.   Results may very in different atmospheric conditions or with different gel brands and different amounts of CTO...there is  no real right answer.   We also shot a LOT with a flash not gelled and camera set to AWB.  Remote flash units triggered using Pocket Wizards.

Photo on left: 2 flash units. Model 1/4 power,light not gelled, Camera AWB, back flash gelled 1/1 CTO, 1/2 power.

Photo on right side shot with1 flash unit,1/32 power with subject walking.  Camera set to AWB.  No gel on flash.

Auto white balance handles the color of the background very well, going with the warm look.  On the right, 1/2CTO gel on flash, camera WB set to Tungsten.  Blue Sky Effect.

Video light from the front (1/2 CTB gel) , Background flash (no gel) set to 1/4 power. Camera set to AWB.  Flash gives a sculpting keylight on hair and the edge of her body... ISO 320 1/200th 2.5

Video light (1/2CTB Gel) coming from Camera Right to light model.  Flash (no gel) set on 1/32 power, triggered from 9-11 feet from the model.  ISO 320  1/100th 1.4.

SALUDOS!

Cheers & thanks again for hanging out..
matt