Brigitte & Wolfgang

Aside from traditional local weddings with 500+ guests, huge reception venue, 20+ in the wedding party including 2 best men, 2 maids of honor, and 3 flower girls, food prepared days in advance, a wedding procession mistaken for a parade, and all the bells and whistles... Sometimes the small and intimate weddings are the best.  They seem to bring out the very emotional side of a couple.  Although just as meaningful, there is a certain ambiance about a two person affair that sets the mood and brings out the the "love"  On this day, this couple didn't even care that we were there.

Working with Brigitte and Wolfgang, it was easy to photograph great images when everything they do was so REAL. I don't normally get couples like Brigitte and Wolfgang, in fact this was a first for me.  I love it when I hardly need to pose my subjects, when the newlyweds  set the mood, it's just a matter of shooting at the right shutter speed!

enjoy

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