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!}

For those of you on smart phones who can't see the slideshow below, click here to be whisked electronically to the facebook album.

See more at www.jonwoodbury.com

Jamison & Amy Part I - Salt Flats Engagement Session

Jamison and Amy came up all the way from Las Vegas to have me do their engagement session and a formal session (That one's next.) It's a shame I couldn't do their wedding but these sessions allowed us a lot of freedom and creativity. We basically spent all weekend together and I felt like I became like a member of the family, especially after watching fireworks with them on the golf course.
I loved the ideas proposed and I love the images that came out of them.

For those of you on smart phones who can't see the slideshow below, click here to be whisked electronically to the facebook album.

{PHOTO IQ: I went with the obvious subject on this one--wind. There's not much you can do about it in most cases so just go along with it! You'll notice lots of poses with Amy's face into the wind to keep her hair out of her face. Sometimes the wind and the light simply don't agree, you have to take your pick. (Notice in the closer poses sitting down, good light, bad wind direction.)
Other ideas are to:

- Pose less formally so the wind feels like a natural part of the shot instead of something breaking up the "perfect" pose. I would even advocate a desperate measure, the dreaded camera tilt...hey, everything comes in handy at one time or another. In this case, it works to make the shot feel less formal.

- The more movement you use in the shots, the less out-of-place the wind will feel--Have fun!

- Have someone hold the hair as a natural part of the shot. (See this Salt Flats engagement session as well.) 

- Shoot more. The wind will change all the time. I try to shoot 5 or 6 shots at a time and most sets I got one with hair will work.

The bottom line is that anything you can't control, embrace! 

Cue cheeseball wind joke of your choice.}

See more at www.jonwoodbury.com

Jon Woodbury Photography Fine Art Prints and Canvases!

I am so excited to finally announce my Online Photography Gallery!
After literally years of work, I have collected many of my favorite and most popular images into an online gallery where you can browse, share, and purchase your favorite images.
You'll notice many images from my trips to Europe as well as many locations from around the United States.
You can share your favorites on Twitter and Facebook or comment right there on the site. I'd really love to hear your feedback!
Enjoy it, it's been years in the making.

PS. If you follow my photography page on Facebook or Twitter you can get a code for a discount on purchases through the end of September!

{Photo IQ: I'm going to talk about the image of the leaves for the instructional part of the post. Sometimes the most important aspect of photography is simply being in the right place at the right time. I went out for a walk with my camera on an autumn day after a frost and saw these leaves trapped in ice on the pond near my house. It's a rare and beautiful phenomenon and only lasted about 30 min before the pond melted again and the leaves sunk to the bottom. The tip for today day is simply to SHOOT! Get out there with your camera and make images. Take photo walks, either by yourself or with a friend. If you're in Utah you can go to http://www.photowalkingutah.com/ or organize your own. I'd LOVE to go shoot }

For those of you on smart phones who can't see the video below, click here to be whisked directly to the album.

See more at www.jonwoodburyphoto.com

Sunbrook Country Club - St. George - John + Maree, Part 2

I know how often I say that I work with awesome people, but I really do!...and I can certainly prove it when it comes to John and Maree. When we first met to talk about the photos they dreamt about, we all thought that we could combine forces and create some great images. We all had some inspiration and some innovative ideas to add to the collective pot, and we were proven right. Their engagement session on the Salt Flats has been a portfolio piece I adore, and Maree's bridal session at the Union Station in Ogden was some of my best work, and both shoots make up some of my favorite memories as a photographer. Add in a fantastic wedding day in Manti with a follow up reception in Riverton, and how could we go wrong? With such wonderful photos and so much time spent together we all grew to like each other and trust each other implicitly.

The final reception for these amazing kids was at a fantastic golf club in St. George, Utah. The course looked out at the red rocks in the background, and as the sun started to set it was too beautiful for me to pass up. I knew that I only had about ten minutes tops to capture the light, but I was able to run inside, pull John and Maree out of their receiving line, and take some of the most amazing photos in my portfolio. I trusted that they knew it was important. They trusted that I was going to give them something awesome in return for those ten minutes away from their guests, and they followed me out onto the green without hesitation. Through our entire relationship, in the choices we made, I think we've been proven right at every turn...but I'll leave it to you to decide.

For those of you on smart phones who can't see the slideshow below, click here to be whisked electronically to the facebook album.

See more at www.jonwoodbury.com

Video of Photography -- Who knew it could be so fun?

I just got the video of John and Maree's engagement session out on the salt flats and I love it! The videographer is Aub Marie productions. She was fun to work with and you can see that the final result is awesome! I have quickly become a big fan. I like how she integrated the photos within the context of the video to tell the whole story of what was a crazy, fun, wind-swept shoot.
The back of my head makes an appearance or two...I desperately needed a haircut.

AubMarie Productions
www.aubmarieproductions.blogspot.com

Photos by Jon Woodbury
www.jonwoodbury.com

Not a bad place to spend a Friday morning -- The Salt Flats

This was the next morning after we shot the John and Maree's engagments. I got up early to get some good landscape shots of the Salt Flats. I like my job.
This was taken with my phone camera for quick uploading. Fat lot of good THAT did.

John & Maree - Engagements on the Bonneville Salt Flats

I'm so excited to finally post these! We went out to the Salt Flats in Utah's West Desert with certain expectations. As seems to always happen, nature had something totally different in mind. Instead of a calm, blue sky type of day we got wind, wind, and more wind. The sky was blue one minute. then yellow or black the next. To their credit, John and Maree just went with it and had a good time. It turned out to be a bit of a waste of money for the hair stylist as that was ruined the second Maree stepped out of the car but the wind made for dynamic, fun, stylized photos and in the end, that's the goal anyway, isn't it?
We brought a whole bunch of water balloons in their wedding colors as well as a candlelight picnic. We used the balloons but couldn't get the picnic set up in the wind. Most of the time I used either one off-camera speedlight on a stand or totally natural light. You'll notice the point at the end when I added a second speedlight with a small honeycomb grid as an accent light.
This shoot has a much more commercial feel than most of what I've done before. It seems to be a trend in the way I've been shooting lately. (See Ixchels' Bridals)
I had a hard time cutting down the numbers so it's a big gallery. I hope you like them!