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here is what we did
by: Matt
posted on Tuesday, May 20, 2008 in Photographers  Matt Adcock  Sol Tamargo
Well, I must say that I'm impressed by all of your creativity with ideas on how to light this setup. Everyone who commented has a great idea and we all have respect that there is no right answer on how do to this stuff... matter of fact, I'm a bumbling idiot at most of my weddings with last minute inspiration to do whatever it is that I do... I'm liking all the suggestions, even the one of attempting to light the ocean. I'd be curios to try this setup at an upcoming wedding. Possibly a blue gel? Climbing the tree probably isnt going to be an option but I like the idea of possibility focusing one light on the tree. I wish the palms were fuller and more mature. My ideas for this setup came to me at the very last second and I was very lucky to pull it off as I did. Its amazing how busy you can be walking around just after the light is PERFECT shooting the couple for the last 30 minutes and then realize that its time to focus some attention to the logistics of how you are about to light the next sequence of the night. In this case, we did have a serious dance floor setup. As I watched these guys test the lights, the colors were everywhere. DJ's in mexico believe that they louder they can make the colors, the better the party. Basically replicate a club environment. First, before you decide to add lights to this dance floor, its important to go to them and ask to see the first dance light setup. You will be amazed to watch them scratch their a$$ and pull something out of it as a preset for lights. I spent some time working in the technical theatre in my undergrad and when I see stage lights, I know what they are capable of and especially after watching some of the tests. I requested that two of the spot lights on one side be turned on and NOT move. The floor was also lit from underneath too, which made for a nice balance. The spot lights were crucial here as this would form my dramatic lighting. If you can go ambient, don't waste your time setting up slaves. Lets face it, when you are in a pressure environment, who the heck has the time to do anything? I wanted to keep this flash setup simple because I had no time. I only had 3 slave speedlights with me at the time and just like most of you, decided to light the palapas (mexican name for umbrellas) with the colorful fabrics. They were aimed to bounce the light, placed in some of the wood used in the construction of the top of the umbrella. No need to gel these because they are already gelled with the beautiful sheer fabric. They were all set to 1/32 power. I determined this number because it needed to be low, not to overpower or overexpose on the wide apertures were were going to be using to get the available light exposures. All I wanted to do was create some depth to this setting. To the untrained eye, the scene looks untouched. This is exactly as I wanted to keep it! Final note to say that we used the videographers video light set up on one stand as a source of more available light. The last speedlight was placed in the final palapa (umbrella) as the bride and groom were announced and actually already dancing before I took my first shot. Here are my results: tt1300.jpg Canon 35mm ISO 1250 1/125 1.4 tt1277.jpg Canon 85mm ISO 1250 1/125 1.4 This one was a happy accident for me. Sol was actually triggering the same slaves in under the umbrellas, so we were stealing each others slave recycle from time to time, here I missed it. But, I think a darker background with this spotlight just MAKES this moment.... tt1327.jpg Canon 85mm ISO 1250 1/100 1.2 And here is the same moment, 3 seconds later. I got my flash back... tt1329.jpg ***Update*** Sol just passed along a few of hers. She too had this happy accident happen when I stole her slave flash :) Don't ya just love it how accidents can be blessings and compliment the dynamic range of your portfolio! whatwouldudosol1.jpg Sol has cooled down her images quite a bit from what I was going for.... 2 shooters, 2 different editing styles. I like her touch here! whatwouldudosol2.jpg Thanks for all the comments... I hope I didnt let you down with my efforts. Cheers! mateo
15 comments for "here is what we did"
tomKphoto say's

> I’m a bumbling idiot at most of my weddings with last minute inspiration to do whatever it is that I do… Nice to see we're on the same page - pass me that oar will you?
May 27th, 2008 9:53 pm
matt say's

Thanks everybody for participating in this one. I think its fun to see what everybody else will do in situations that present us with challenges that we didnt even know existed... I'm thinking that I will put a few more "what would you do" posts out there... hopefully we can all learn something by this! cheers! matt
May 21st, 2008 7:35 pm

Killer post, Matt!! I'm sorry I missed the earlier one and the chance to contribute! I honestly would have missed the opportunity to light the Palapas - which would have been a HUGE loss! ): I love all the shots but easpecially the wide scene-setters. Wow!! Bouncing flash on white sand - LOVE IT! You guys are tearing it up over there!
May 21st, 2008 7:04 pm
Leo say's

As always it's awesome. It's kinda like the when the strobes are placed under tables. Simply lovin it!
May 21st, 2008 11:36 am
Clayton say's

Hey Matt Y Sol, Very good work! This Flash Flavor post is rated: SPICCCCCCYYYYYY VERY SPICCCCCCCYYYY OUCH! THAT BURNS
May 21st, 2008 9:21 am
Luis Cruz say's

Wonderful images! I especially like how you used the spotlights. I started out playing with theater lights in college too, so I really love the touch with the spots.
May 21st, 2008 4:36 am
Nicolle say's

Yeah matt you seem to be favoring the warm images lately, i've noticed. both are nice, you guys rock! i tend to err on the side of blue-er images for some reason. these are fantastic and give me lots of inspiration to mess around with lighting at the wedding i'm shooting on saturday! :D
May 21st, 2008 12:06 am
Amish say's

Matt, Thanks for all that info. You have no idea (okay well maybe you do) how much this one post + images helps out. The slaves inside the palapas make the shots, but funny enough I REALLY like the one shot where it did not go off. Keep up the great work!
May 20th, 2008 11:29 pm

I have a small question. I'm using the 580ex II, how do I stop it from turning off automatically after a few minutes of inactivity? This really bugs me. Any ideas?
May 20th, 2008 9:26 pm
matt say's

well, thanks for the comments.... the 3rd and 4th photos are completely out of camera, 0% editing done on them. I like the look of the orange light with the 1.4 glass. In these moments, I was trying to convey mood with the color temperature. I think it worked. :)
May 20th, 2008 8:39 pm

Let me be honest. Your pictures are superb. Of course, I wouldn't do such a marvelous work. It is very very (twice) easy to criticize other people's work, but when it come to do it ... What I don't like so much in these photos are the areas which are too white, burned, on the ground. I mean, those areas where the light from above "kills" the blue from the ground... completely blown away without any detail. Sorry Sol. What doesn't happen on the first photos, where we can see some detail. The third and fourth photos aren't a bit too yellow ? Or is it just my monitor ? Thank you for showing your amazing work. :) Oh and BTW: thank you for teaching how to do it. :)
May 20th, 2008 8:20 pm
Billy Ng say's

Stunning .. absolutely stunning - no other words to describe it.
May 20th, 2008 6:14 pm

You made the most of it, Matt & Sol. Looks amazing. And I like the happy accident shot a lot!
May 20th, 2008 3:20 pm

Hey! Nice shots and great drama.
May 20th, 2008 2:00 pm

Wonderful, dramatic lighting. Made for some really compelling imagery Matt. Great work! I am glad I am not the only one who feels like he is flying by the seat of his britches. Thanks for the inspiration and keep fighting the good fight!! -Jason
May 20th, 2008 1:30 pm
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