I've had a misfire or two in the past and sometimes, I'm hating that... Possibly i was shooting too fast for the system to recycle or the PW connection with its trusty sucky cables and sync ports were not 100% hitched up well...who knows.
I was shooting at high ISO's 800-1250 with a 2.0 or faster Aperture and using my Speedlights on 1/64 power with a ND filter to bring the power level down...dragging the shutter at 1/30 or 1/40th to bring in the ambient.
These…
I'm very surprised by the amount of photographers I meet who are shocked to learn that we use flash in full sunlight. I know this topic has been discussed before here and other sites. Strobist remains the absolute #1 resource for those who want to polish up on your flash skills. Follow this link to read one of his lighting…
I've been shooting with the 5d II at night during all receptions and using higher ISO and bringing in more ambient light. One of the issues that always presents itself is the fact that its so easy to use a slave flash to light up everything under the sun (when there is no sun). This technique is fine, except it tends knock down or take away any ambient light that existed. Blast em doesnt = better.
What we are doing these days is using Neutral Density…
I shot a wedding in Birmingham Alabama a short while back and was presented with a few challenges as the bride and groom were leaving in a helicopter at the end.... This copter was in a big grassy field and was to be surrounded by guests waving goodbye to the new couple. I knew this thing would be leaving in a hurry, so what to do......
We went out to survey the location...setup one light with a red gel to back-light the copter for a scene setter type shot, then noticed that…
In follow up to this post.... Whew, after a few thousand miles lugging bags and bags of new gear, i've had one day to try to learn and ride my bike again for the first time.
Ride bike for first time = learn to use multiple underwater strobes (off camera) for the first time.... holy moly what a challenge. I'm not 100% in love with my results from this 2 hr test... but am on my way to…
We have been on holiday... sheesh, after about 90 or so jobs already this year, I'm totally done. Not really, we still have 40 or more left to do in these next remaining months!
Have you noticed less posts on FF? I have, no doubt. Why? Well, honestly Ive been seeing LARGE numbers of copycats out there, which is to be expected I guess if you give away your shoot concepts, lighting setups and locations. Where is the originality…
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…
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…
I'm not sure if your office is like ours when editing, but the every time a blooper pops up, we all share a laugh and keep going. I thought I'd share my latest flashflavor bloop that landed and got a chuckle out of the crew del sol.
Don't mean to offend anyone but If I do, let this be an apology ahead of time. I know many of my clients read this blog so oh well....
This one gets a Flashflavor SB-28 at 1/64th power on a monopod. Funny thing,…
Ok, so I'm shooting a wedding in Atlanta GA on May 16, a week or so ago. I knew that one of my old clients (bride & groom) would be there as guests, and the reason I actually had the job in the first place (word of mouth referral is so strong). I enter the reception and low and behold, I see a camera operator with a DSLR and an off camera EX series Canon Strobe.
I scratch my head and focus…
Sol & I are exceptionally stoked and honestly elated to be selected for this list. I've drooled over and studied the work of these same photographers. Its really an honor to be listed with them. Lots of inspiration shopping by visiting these sites. I promise, before your next wedding, go through an entire folio on one of these togs sites...…
**Updated** positions filled.
HOLY Cow... I'm sorta in a bind because I'm short a hand or two hands on May 16th 2009 in Atlanta. We have been CRAZY busy in the middle of high season in mexico and all my shooters are either on other jobs or attending weddings as guests.
My studio actually has 2 different weddings on May 16 in ATL. Anybody interested out there who is near the area? I really prefer…
I was surfing the web and have been trying to figure out what kind of gear would be great to have.....
We will be investing in primes since we have all the desired zoom ranges currently made by canon that fit with our shooting.... 15, 24 t/s, 35, 50, 85 are currently in the toolbox. We have been thinking heavily on a few and thought it may be nice to hear feedback from any readers about their personal fav's and why.…
Yep, the secret is out. Flash adds an element to the photographers toolbox that enables lots of creative freedom. Photographers are pooling their knowledge and offering hand-outs on tips, techniques and often or not, movies on what or how they do what they do.
Thanks to a FF reader, today I was directed to a writeup in the USA Today about the emerging…
Flashflavor dragging a$$ these days... sorry folks. Just clocked 10 weddings, 4 TTD sessions in March... holy moly we are off to a crazy spring spree of shooting like mad.....again.
Those that know us hang in there, we are still here and also working on a new project blog for del Sol Photography. This site has been a major drain on free time with all the development and data gathering, writing, idea brainstorms...etc... lots been happening and we aren't getting…
I was surprised to see the recent issue of Bodissima Magazine, a Mexican publication that hits the stands for the 1st quarter of 2009 in Monterrey and Mexico City. WOW, that's some serious coverage. We have been so lucky to participate with the Trash the Dress movement in the last few years and I'm so proud to see that Sol also got the cover photo too... I'm so stoked to see the movement start to move through…
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…
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…
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…
I took some time yesterday and gathered up my creative best of for 2008. This year has been a very good year for learning, hands down. I have dedicated this year to learning new compositional techniques and seeing the light in a totally different way... (using fast glass)
I have used less of my flash at higher powers and have had a great time using Neutral Density gels to even lower the power of my slave flashes, thus shooting at 1/256 power on an…
Shot this FF material at a location with a few creative camera / flash & creative lighting tricks.
This is an update to give a little more depth to the last completely underground Cenote TTD session.
Technically, this kind of session really can push the equipment to the total risk. We ended up tossing a Pocket Wizard Multi Max in the drink on this session. I never really liked that Max, too many buttons to push on the front. I'd find myself shooting and having brushed…
Recently, i've been exploring lots of photography in / around the water. This last weekend, we were neck deep in water shooting a client in a dark dark place. I wanted to add lots of color to the water but didnt want much of that color to jump out and light my subject.
I wanted to post this photo for my readers who stop by from time to time and see if you can figure out what I did here. I have a very clever idea for executing this technique and want to see if anybody can come up…
Recently, I was assembling a few galleries and found a few shots that Sol shot and wanted to share with you. Let this be a little motion motivation for you :) Here are 3 frames where a flash helped act as the shutter and freeze the action involved, just enough so the ambient and movement patterns would leave a ghosting look. This technique is easy to follow, drag shutter, add flash :) low power flash preferably.
She has done very well capturing motion…
Where have I been lately? Not writing too many FF posts... sorry bout that. I wanted to add a little weekly motivation to your wedding photography diet. I shot a wedding last night, Friday in Athens Georgia. To my surprise, I woke up this Saturday morning with a SMILE on my face that I didnt have to go to a wedding!!!!! Just to show you how my day started, here is the first awake thing that I did this morning...*note that the eggs fell as you see them, no arranging :)
I'm still doing a little testing and now that I have this new format, i can post bigger photos.
Are these images too big for your screen? My max size is 930 pixels wide... I figure since this blog is all about the image, then posting BIG juicy shots will have more impact.
Here is an example 930 image... Every year, Whale sharks migrate to the waters of the Riviera Maya for feeding on plankton. You can charter a tour and go swim with them. I took my underwater…
test post for FF...
Feel free to post a comment, had some trouble before with spam....
Man, IM sorry for the lame-O break that I took on FF. On the redesign, the comment system was not working as I had wished and I was getting flooded with spam. In addition, I went to Costa Rica on my honeymoon for 18 days....wow, what an adventure that was. I'll be posting the video that I shot on the trip. For once, I did not shoot any still photos! I bought a hybrid HD vid…