Let this be a lesson to never cancel just cuz of weather.
Just be prepared.
Know how to make it work.
It might mean you have to different stuff than on a more normal day.
But that’s how a good photographer and a good photo shoot goes… Roll With The Punches.
This was slated as an 8 hr formals shoot.
I didn’t realize it was a 2 and a half hour drive so it ended up being 6 and a half hours long.
I had several people asking me how in the world we’d be able to go for that long when most times it’s more like 2hrs.
Well I just told them several times to be prepared to work hard too… that’s 6-8hrs of modeling, it’s a two way road.
They were naturals and since they knew and picked how long it would last they never once complained and were totally into it.
What an awesome photo shoot.
By the end her hair was totally wet and nothing like when they started… but we adapted and adjusted just fine.
And we actually all stayed pretty warm.
We had a lot of traveling in between spots… abt 2hrs driving in the car… that was the saving grace.
Being able to warm up from time to time and to reset and find new places with new pictures.
Just cuz it’s snowing doesn’t mean you’re excused from not laying on the ground.
You better have prepared for what you’re wearing to get down and make the shot happen.
If she’s in a wedding dress in 6 inches of snow you can lay down once or twice.
Thank goodness for a lightstand so that the assistant can park the car while you take advantage of the last reminents of twilight.
On the left is a spot he was planning on for a while and very excited about.
On the right is a spot he’s probably past a hundred times and never even noticed… but I saw on the way down and new we’d need to stop there. Both winners!
I took 1400 pictures many reasons
They were really good looking
We shot for so long
I loved the locations
When snow is falling you have to take a bunch to avoid the snowflakes showing up in bad spots like in front of their eyes.
But the picture above was in the first minute of shooting and is amongst my favorites.
They did a great job at expressing emotions in their pictures… and that’s something you can’t really pose.
Props to the bride for not only being willing but more than happy to go out to the stinky gnat infested waters of the Great Salt Lake.
And to her Mom and two sisters and niece that came to help.
And to my wonderful Intern Heidi who braved the swarms of mosquitoes that came out about 5 minutes prior to this shot
Annika (the bride) had no problem going out into this little area in her beautiful wedding dress and in between being sucked dry by mosquitoes she even posed and smiled.
Now for the exciting part…
Usually I spend a good 10-20 seconds editing pictures… but I was happy to see with the great lighting and flash assistance from Two directions
There was NO Editing on this picture.
(It makes me happy to be able to say that)
I didn’t have time to really even review pictures because we had overstayed our welcome with the blood suckers. So I was just hoping things would be in focus.
And to top it all off it was pretty much the very last picture of the night. Huzzah
I kinda wonder what we could do to it if i do decide to edit it…
what a beautiful sunset and what a beautiful bride.
I will post the rest when i get to them i suppose… but for now back to the weddings from a few weeks ago.
Here’s another photo shoot I did about a month ago and they’ve since gotten married
It was in a week or two span that every bridals i did she had the groom come along as well.
It’s a break from tradition but it seems that they specially enjoy it if they’re not big fans of getting pictures taken by themselves, or if they want pictures up at their reception.
I’ve got some fancy new toys like new lenses and lighting stuff.
I’m working better with all the people coming to assist.
It’s a lot of work getting each person to know what to do specially when it seems i have to deal with someone new each time.
But i’m getting better at it and showing them their job faster and better.
While still keeping the connection with my clients.
Things are starting to get even busier around here with 3 weddings each week for the next few weeks.
It’s just about the right time to start getting in a groove.
And I think I’m in a groove, taking things to the next level.
I’ve been spending a bit more time on lighting my pictures.
ALSO, after years trying to get faster at editing… I think I’ve slowed down.
Sometimes I’ll edit all the pictures then go back through and see what I missed.
Checking a second time to see how I can improve the pictures.
Yes maybe I don’t have tons of time for it at the moment but i think it will help step up the level for times to come.
The plan is to do Fewer jobs and focus on them a little more.
(Which happens to mean an increase in price, but shhhh don’t tell anyone. haha)
I hope you all have enjoyed what you’ve been seeing these days.
The following set is from the SLC library in case you wanted to know the location.
Finding and working a new location on a whim… Pays off.
Don’t you just love the reflection off of the glass.
The one on the right looks almost fake. For some reason it just came out that way. I did add a bit of vignette.
I admit it’s not the perfect wedding picture, but as a regular kinda modely picture for some reason I love it
Girls love their veil, their ring and romantic moments… so that’s a 3 in 1
Are they technically called “Formals” since the groom was there too? I’m not sure
But since I wasn’t going to be around for the wedding (conflict of weddings) while i was there I did these.
Yes I know… It looks somewhat fake eh?
We did shoot middle of the day because I went 4-wheeling later that day.
So I was happy for the chance to get into some shade.
I do like that she had these flowers… they look real don’t they?!
They really liked these types of plants… I thought they were awesome.
I put the f stop up high to catch a bit more of the sun and of course flash to light up the foreground (them)
Just so you know this is just a fraction of the amazing pictures taken that day.
I’m doing this wedding in combination with another professional photographer Julie Harman
So imagine this list of pictures X2 because she also took just as many awesome pictures
I’m sure Julie will get around to posting some on her blog… and I’ll link it here when she does.
For a view of all the pictures from that day visit the SmugMug Gallery
A little explanation… They’re both College track stars
Her = U of U
Him = BYU
Here is just a glimpse of the shoot.
Many more good things are to come!
I just selected one … i haven’t even looked at a tenth of the pictures i took.
Reasons why the shoot was so good?
The couple was awesome to work with
And I worked in combination with another awesome photographer and it was a great great experience (One of those synergistic partnerships as discussed in my previous post)
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