Lost Without You

When shooting weddings, I'm always on the look out for a nice location for some great photographs near the church. The ceremony was held in a church in San Lorenzo Ruiz Church in Walnut,CA. As I was looking for a place to park, I saw this nice trail and said to myself, this is a perfect spot for the newly weds. Their DVD montage song "Lost Without You" by Robin Thicke fits the location. I underexposed the background by a stop, and lit the couple using an off camera flash. Shot was taken with Canon 5D II with 24-70mm at 24mm, F/5.6 at 1/1600 second, ISO 100. 580 EX Flash was triggered by a Pocketwizard mini TT1 attached to the camera and Flex TT5 attached to the off camera flash in hyper sync mode.

Wedding Rings

I've been playing around with lighting lately...cheap lighting that is. In the photo above, the lighting used was an Eveready Flashlight which I bought at Lowes for $2.99 for 2. Can't get any cheaper than that.

What I love about this light besides being cheap and light, is that it gives enough illumination to create a dramatic lighting. Like in this case, looked for a window with just enough light to illuminate the background but not overpower the flash light.
Set my camera to Tungsten White balance (which gave me the bluish background) and the same time to match the color temperature the flash light produces.

Shot was taken with a Canon 5D fitted with a macro lens. Exposure was set to 1/160 sec @f/2.8 ISO 800.

Baby Portrait - Adrian

It has been a while since my last baby portrait. And after this shoot, I realized how much I miss shooting baby portraits. While waiting for Adrian and his parents, I started setting up my lighting. With baby portraits, a simple one light setup has always been in my bag of lighting tricks. A large soft light from camera left and a large reflector on camera right.

When Adrian and parents came, his Dad told me that he had just fallen into sleep. This is a good sign, we just had to wait for baby Adrian to wake up. After a few minutes, he woke up and like any another baby he was wondering where he was. When Adrian saw his mom and dad a touch of smile came out of his face, and I said this would be an awesome session. Adrian is in a good mood. We hurried down to start shooting.

He was such a good boy during the whole shoot. Can't wait to follow up shoot with baby Adrian.

Here are some of the shots:

Lito Sy in Los Angeles

I'm always looking for a workshop that would help me take my photography to the next level. With the current economic troubles we are having, it is very difficult to find a very informative and valuable workshop without spending a fortune.

Luckily, an International Award Winning Wedding and Portrait Photographer named Lito Sy will be in Los Angeles for a 2 Day workshop. Yup, that's right a two day workshop. It get's better for only $395 for a 2 day workshop, this a simply a no brainer. It get's even better, there are payment options that I believe are very attractive, not to mention lunch buffet for two days. That's right Lunch buffet.Register before Feb 20, 2010 and get the early bird rate of $375.

For details on the workshop click here.

Mark Wallace US Meetup Tour by Pocket Wizard hits Pier59 studios.

When I heard news that Pocketwizard has released their Flex mini TT1 and Flex TT5, I was intrigued by what these little devices can do. Not only you can shoot at shutter speeds of 1/8000 of a sec, it also does e-TTL communicated via radio, no more line of sight issues. Unfortunately, I wasn't too impressed with the outcome I was getting. Misfires, over exposure, under exposure, etc. I was not a happy camper.

Then I heard that Mark Wallace from snapfactory.com has partnered with Pocketwizard to promote the enhancements and finally resolved the range issues, over and under exposures, etc. that a lot of photographer has been complaining. As it turned out, some Canon flashes were emitting noise that interferes with the communication between the mini TT1 and flex TT5. Instead of pointing the blame to Canon Flashes' RF noise, they developed a sock (yes you read it right, "socks") and called it AC5 soft shield. These socks blocks the RF noise coming out of Canon's flashes. I said to myself, please let there be a stop in Los Angeles. I guess Pocketwizard heard me. Not only they are giving an AC5 soft shield for free, Mark Wallace will be hosting a workshop on lighting and demonstrate the two devices. To add icing to the cake, there will be Models as well. What else could you ask for.

With the AC5 soft shield on the Canon Flashes, Pocketwizard has resolved the range and other issues that you might have read or heard with the AC5 soft shield. With the addition of the optimized hypersync speed and configurable rear curtain sync, getting one is a no brainer.

As always, Mark Wallace workshop is very informative. He explains characteristics of light, direction of light, e-TTL, speed sync etc.. etc.. without that assumption that all attendees are armed with this knowledge already.


Here's Mark Wallace in action:








Here are some photos of models I took. These photos were shot in e-TTL mode.

580 EX II (TTL Mode) with flex TT5 on camera right bounced thru an umbrella trigerred by mini TT1
Shot @ 1/60 - f4



Bare 580 EX II (TTL mode) with flex TT5 on camera left trigerred by mini TT1
Shot @ 1/125 - f4

New "L" series from Canon - 100mm macro f/2.8 IS

Canon recently added another "L" series to their macro lens lineup. The best part it has Image Stabilization. Based on initial reviews, the new Canon 100mm L macro lens is extremely sharp wide open.

This is also th first lens on the market to incorporate Canon's new Hybrid Image Stabilization Technology. Hybrid IS effectively compensates for both angular and shift camera shake during close-up shooting. The lens was developed to expand users' photographing range and allow a wider range of users to easily enjoy macro photography.

Click here for more details

Creating Lighting Styles and Using the Mini and Flex's Features Educational Session - FREE

Mark Wallace photographer and educator, will be holding educational sessions throughout the event on Creating Lighting Styles and Using the Mini and Flex's Features for Creative Results.
Sign up now limited seats available.

The best part, Pocketwizard is sponsoring the Tour.

For details on this free education session, click here.

To sign up, click here.

Ian & Erin E-session using Available Light

Using available light during a engagement session provides the best light IMHO. This is the case here. Shot at the Santa Monica Pier in California, sun was setting at camera right. The sun was setting fast so I exposed for the white dress; quickly took snaps before the lighting that the was sun was providing changes.

Image was captured with a Canon 5OD II with a 70-200mm lens at 100mm; F/2.8 @ 1/40 sec, ISO 320.

High Speed Flash Sync

Just a quick tip on how a High Speed Flash Sync can produce a dramatic image. The picture above was captured at 10:50 in the morning. I just finished taking photos of the ring and saw the throw pillow in the bed. Loved the colors and texture of it and decided it would be cool to put the bride's shoes on the pillow. The first image I took I wasn't too impressed on how the image turned out. In order to kill the ambient light, I had to use a shutter speed above 1/250 sec.
To control the light from the off-camera flash from spreading out even more, I used a DIY snoot and zoomed the off-camera flash to 105mm (the max on a 580 EX II). Image was captured with a Canon 5D Mark II with a 24-70mm lens at 46mm; F/3.5 @ 1/500 sec, ISO 320. Off Camera flash was triggered by an Canon ST-E2 Transmitter.

Here's another example:



Image was captured with a Canon 5D Mark II with a 24-70mm lens at 68mm; F/2.8 @ 1/1250 sec, ISO 400.

Proud Parents - Reception Shot

"Proud Parents"

Capturing happy moments during a wedding is what I enjoy the most. The Bride & Groom were dancing their first dance; I saw the bride's parent looking at their daughter with just pure happiness. Their smile just says it all. Image was captured with a Canon 30D with 24-70mm. On camera flash was used, bounced through a wall on camera left. Exposure settings 1/60 shutter at f/2.8, ISO 200.

A View from Above - Ceremony Shot

"A View from Above"

This image was captured at a church in Huntington Park, California. As I was scouting for a good spot to snap a photo during the ceremony; I looked up and saw the beautiful arches and chandeliers which I could use to lead the viewers of this image to the Bride and Groom and the huge Crucifix. Luckily, the church had a loft that I was able to use to produce this photo. Image was taken with a Canon 30D with a 17-55 EF-S lens. Exposure settings at 1/25 shutter speed at F/3.2.

Two Rings- Detail Shot

"Two Rings, Two Hearts, One Love"

Every wedding I do, I see to it that I do this type of shot. It's simple enough to do, and every couple always picks this type of photo when they select their images. Creating heart shape shadows is very simple, it's classic and gets that "wow" factor every time. All you need is the couple's ring, a bible or any book and a window sunlight or an off camera flash.
To do this, open the bible or book halfway, lay the ring in the fold of the bible and that is it. If you're using an off camera flash, position the flash opposite the camera pointing downwards toward the ring. The hardest part is making sure the ring stays up during the shoot.
Image shot with a Canon 50D with a 100mm macro lens. Exposure was set at 1/25o sec @f/6.3, 100 ISO.

Bouquet of Roses - Detail Shot

"Bouquet of Roses"

Shot this image during my last wedding gig back in June. I was done with all my detail shots and I have been waiting for the bouquet to arrive. Talk about worth the wait. As soon as I saw this beautiful bouquet, I said to myself , "I have to produce an image of this bouquet that the bride will remember for a long time." I went looking for a spot and saw this floor outside their patio and thought that this would be the perfect spot for this bouquet. The sunlight made it a natural setting. After a few saturation boost in Lightroom, I was pretty happy with the image I came up with and I'm sure so will the bride. Image was capture with a Canon EOS 50D with 70-200 lens. Exposure settings at 70mm focal length, 1/640 @f/6.3 ISO 100.