Jamison & Amy Part II - Fireworks, the Salt Flats, and the State Capitol

After shooting their engagements, Amy and Jamison changed clothes and modes to a more formal style. We made use of a dramatic sunset, some balloons, and their names in the salt (carved by Jamison with considerable effort.)
The next day of our shoot-a-rama weekend was the 3rd of July. We did a session at the Utah State Capitol then hurried up to Eaglewood Golf Course for a KILLER fireworks show and some pretty amazing images. We had every possible problem with equipment but we went to Plan D and pulled it out.

{PHOTO IQ: Like I mentioned, I had a total tech meltdown while shooting with the fireworks. The entire show lasted 10 minutes or so so we knew we only had that long to get the images we wanted.
Some of the challenges:
1. Knowing in advance where the fireworks will be.
2. Focus, The subject is not lit while the fireworks are like focus magnets.
3. Very little time to figure out settings
4. Posing in total darkness

The solutions need to be thought out in advance with several backup plans, this is a situation where if you don't know what to do should a piece of equipment go out, you lose. You simply won't get the images.
We didn't know and although we were set up when the show started, we were facing the wrong direction. They had moved the show more south than it had been the year before so we had to pick up and flip directions.
Focus was tough. I had an assistant holding a laser pointer on them but it ended up being too faint. Plus, the radio receiver wasn't triggering the back light. (Oh cruel irony!) I had to change tactics. I don't know that I've ever changed tactics quite that fast. I had been set up with two off-camera speedlites, (flashes) a main light up and left with a Fong Bong directed up, and a back light straight behind. Both were set on manual with Cactus V4 radio triggers. I didn't use my Pocket Wizard TTLs because I simply couldn't afford for them to crap out like they tend to do at the least convenient times (Ask me about my abusive relationship with my Pocket Wizards), plus, this was no situation for TTL flash. Since I had no flash on-camera, there was no auto-focus help . I feared that I was missing focus since my camera kept hunting for focus, and I couldn't take the chance. I quickly switched to the Canon slave mode on my 7D--the only Canon camera that can trigger speedlites with its pop-up flash--and used the focus assist option to make sure I was hitting. This worked well after some adjustment of the flash position--triggering via infrared requires that the speedlite sensors be pointed towards the camera--more time wasted. The other disadvantage is that because there was no line of sight between the back light and the master, it couldn't fire. I made sure I got some good, focused shots with just the main light before I jumped up to try and get the backlight firing again. Sometimes you just have to get something. I didn't know how long the fireworks would last so I didn't want to spend so much time fixing the setup that we missed it all. Once I knew I had SOMETHING good I jumped up to make the adjustments.
Fortunately, the back side flash was a cheaper, lower tech model. You see, the Canon 580 ex II doesn't have a photo cell to trigger from another light source. A HUGE oversight in my mind since it solves a lot of problems by working into any system. I jumped up and set the backlight to trigger from the flash of the main light. Finally the perfect setup, just in time to get about 5 frames of the finale. Fortunately, I think we got the RIGHT 5 frames. They turned out great.
The moral of the story is, no matter how prepared you think you are, learn how to do the same things several different ways. That knowledge is what makes someone a professional, the knowledge to get the shot no matter WHAT goes wrong with the equipment or situation.
Another thought, I never changed the output amount or settings on the camera or flashes. They had been set beforehand and were right on. That left me the time to solve problems without trying to figure exposure first.

It's been a long rambling Photo IQ but I hope, worthwhile. I'd love to hear your thoughts, either here or on my facebook page!}

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