JT & Linda

A relatively quiet weekend allowed for some backlog to be cleared - mostly images from JT & Linda's wedding.

I've been bringing less gear for actual day shoots - you can't beat the reach or the comfort in having a telephoto or telephoto zoom at the ready on a second body, but you sure can move closer a lot quicker without that lump of glass on your shoulder.

As the second photographer I had the luxury to shoot with two lights - quick 'n dirty with two 580EXIIs, the off-camera flash being attached to a Justin clamp and triggered by the on-camera master.

It's a hit-or-miss affair more often than I would care for, but more so with regard to positioning than exposure. Times like these, the old 580EX is preferred to its Mark II replacement- switching between Master and non-wireless mode is unnecessarily painful with the latter.

Bride 'rim lit' through the veil by a second Speedlite.

A less hectic moment, here the second 580EXII provides fill.

When you're beaten to the spot by a compact wielding relative...

5-6-7-8

Who DOESN'T like photographing cheerleaders?

Photogenic, flexible and not the least bit camera shy... =D

Mun Chun: -

As promised, a few of the 'outtakes'.

Enjoy!

Porta-Brace

Ever since man moved that lil' hotshoe flash off the hotshoe, so began the eternal quest to find that perfect 'light' bag.

Yes, the bag that swallows 1,000 lightstands, super clamps, umbrellas, flags, magic arms and other assorted whatchamacallits.

The bag that you grab and go without packing (because its never unpacked...) and arrive on location with everything you possibly need. And then some.

In a short span of two years I have bought, sold or disposed four lightstand bags -three SLIK bags (one busted, one sold, one given away) and a Lowel (too big, sold). And the search went on.

Till today.

Boy, this bag absolutely STINKS... of quality. Porta-Brace clad this bag in rugged blue Cordura, with enough room to swallow four lightstands (or three and a tripod), miscellaneous clamps, digital transcievers... and a design that STAYS open when its supposed to be OPEN.


Yup, stays open. Look Ma, no hands!


Mine was inspected / crafted by Vicki S.


Thanks Vic - from a bunch of grateful Manfrotto lightstands... =P

A Branch Too Far

Cherie was also with us @ the Botanical Gardens on Saturday and to keep up with the 'sports' theme, we had her vault over this low hanging tree branch...

... which has been smoothed over by generations of kids sliding their asses all over it.

Repeatedly.

Unfortunately it was a branch too far (or too high, to be precise) and the idea was probably half-baked to begin with.

Kudos to the model for enduring so much abuse... I hope the knee and bum aren't as sore as on Sunday... =P

Mucho gratias!

Water Parade

This photo has been in the back of my head for sometime after catching a glimpse of it while browsing through a magazine.

It's shot by Danish photographer Erik Refner and clinched 1st Prize in the World Press Photo Awards for 2007, Sports Features Stories.

Been wanting to steal replicate emulate this image for a while, and wasted no time when a kind soul (Thanks Charlene!) volunteered to get wet, and really hot, for this shot.

So we trooped down to good old Botanics @ 1600hrs. All thoughts of a quick and easy shoot literally evaporated into the 40°C-like heat and a blazingly bright f/22 background.

We lucked out though, with full power pops from the AcuteB600 barely registering f/22 on the lightmeter.

There wasn't a marathon to establish the scene.

But we had water.

Lots of it...

And as we found it, it takes considerable skill to splash water on someone's face.

The end result certainly isn't anywhere near the original, but we had a splashing (pun intended) good time.

And boy does the water taste sweet after an hour long shoot in the sun.