Mike & Diane

Michael & Diane had invited me to photograph their small intimate affair down at Kikaua beach. No major expectations, just something simple and private, it was nice to see the couple so happy on this day reminds me of my own wedding which wasn't so long ago.

Shooting info: This was my first wedding I shot during the morning, and it was certainly a little different then what I was used to. Considering at the time I didn't have my 2.8's at my disposal although I was shooting from the shade it worked out good . Various shots were taken with a bare SB600 on a 8' light stand. 1st shot in sequence was shot a through umbrella 1/200 @ f10 ISO 400 flash @ 1/2, controlled with nikon SU80. Lenses used 18-200vr, 70-300vr, 10-24. Processed with NX2, some additional work through CS3.

Strobist Portrait

An afternoon in Kona with a blue sky and without sun blown out highlights... rare during this time of year. Every photoblog posting, I'm always in a battle against the harsh late afternoon lighting during this time of year in Hawaii. With a blue sky, clouds softening up some of the ambient light, out come the strobes for a portrait shoot during this small window of good lighting. The fist shot in this sequence is actually one of the last taken during the shoot, and you can see that the blue sky was only there for a few minutes before it had gotten overcast. Hawaii weather is so unpredictable.

Shooting Info: All images were shot using a single SB600 shot through an umbrella close to the subject and to the left of the each shot. Lenses used: Nikon 18-200mm VR f3.5-5.6. Processed with Adobe Photoshop CS3. The beauty about shooting strobist, is that you dont really need to use expensive lenses to get good shots, as if you were just shooting in a ambient light only situation. Fast glass doesn't really mean anything if your limited by your body's max flash sync speed. Heck you dont even need to have the latest and greatest body! simply being able to balance the light makes all the difference.

1/200, f8, Iso 400 SB600 camera left @ 1/4 shoot through umbrella

1/200, f9, ISO 100, SB600 camera left @ 1/8th shoot through umbrella

1/200, f7, ISO 100 SB600 camera left @ 1/8th shoot through umbrella

1/200, f9, ISO 100, SB600 camera left @ 1/2 light modifier - diffuser

Fuga Wedding 8/8/09

Inah & Pat had their wedding @ Pohoehoe beach. On the weekend that local residents were expecting a hurricane to hit the island. It all worked out in favor Inah & Pat, because it turned out to be a very clear day with a lot of light to illuminate this late afternoon wedding in Kona, and the hurricane never did show it's face! Inah, Pat... Good luck to you both

Shooting info: The group photographs were shot using my typical two light SB600 off camera flash and SU800 wireless commander and setup using a crosslight pattern. I didn't have much time allocated to get in the family, group, plus the seperate bride and groom photographs. So I shot the family and groups using Nikon's CLS in TTL mode. I honestly didn't want to waste time setting up my lights with the rapidly changing light, so I shot in iTTL. A strong back light reflecting off of the wather just blew everything out as far as the background is concerned. I had some reflective fabric on the bridesmaids dresses to I tried to dial down my flash to minimize the highlights off of the dresses. Lenses used Nikon 18-200vr f3.5-5.6, Nikon 70-300vr f4.5-5.6, Nikon 50mm f1.4, Nikon 10mm fisheye f2.8, Nikon 24-70mm F2.8. Processed with Nikon Capture NX2 & Photoshop CS3.