Family Beach Photos

This past weekend I had the opportunity to take some family photos on the beach. It rained all the way till sunset. It stopped and then turned into a slow drizzle. Half of the family was from out of town and leaving the next day. So we went out and took these photos.

With a group this size you want to keep everybody close. First,it does give a sense of unity. Second, it allows me to get close so we don't have tiny heads. The most important thing is to make sure nobodys' head is hidden behind anybody else.

Look at the color coordination! They put a lot of effort in this by making sure everybody matched. This keeps everyone in as a family member adding to the feeling of togetherness.

Next we got a shot of all the cousins. I did a formal shot and then this. We all liked this better because it looks like they were having fun. On all the photos I used 2 flashes. One on camera and one off camera held by my assistant. The photos were taken at ISO 400 at f/5.6 at 1/30 of a second. The one of the cousins at 1/15 of a second because it was getting really dark.

Went to see the Shuttle take off!

There were people everywhere waiting to see the Shuttle blast off. Some were standing on the island in the middle of the road. It was fairly crowded.

To bad it was cancelled because of the weather. Oh well, that's okay I prefer taking photos of people. Which brings me to the next set of photos.


The photo below was taken around 11:30 AM. on the beach. Normally taking a portrait of someone mid day is not good because of the harsh shadows on the face caused by direct sunlight. Fortunately the sun was behind some clouds and we had "Flat Lighting". Whether the shade is provided by a tree or a cloud the end result is almost the same. The photo was taken without flash or reflectors.

We later took photos at sunset. When photographing a person with a sunset remember to get the exposure for the sunset first. Here is what I did.

First I put my camera on "manual" and set the ISO for 100. Then I put the shutter speed at 200. This is the highest shutter speed that the camera will synchronize with the flash. Next I aimed the camera at the sun and adjusted the f/stop according to the light meter indicator in the viewfinder. I took a photo to make sure the exposure (brightness level) was good. I took this photo at 1/200th of a second at f/8. Background looked good.

All that is left now is to turn on an external flash. The built in flash in your camera is not strong enough so you'll have to use a flash that attaches to the top of your camera. Even though your camera is set to "MANUAL" both flash and camera "talk" to each other. Your flash will set itself to f/8. Now your flash will match the brightness on your subject to the brightness of the background. Both will expose properly. The end result will be similar to the photo above.

If you want your photo to come out exactly like mine you will have to invest in a second flash. This photo was taken using two flashes. One was on camera and the other my assistant held to the right of me. Using two flashes makes a world of difference when you print the photo.

When buying a flash unit buy the most powerful. Canon and Nikon flashes have built in transmitter and receiver so one will set off the other. If you have any questions about this technique call me and I will explain it to you over the phone. 727-375-0480. Typing is not one of my strengths.

To everyone that has ordered my Instructional DVDs thank you. Thanks to those of you that emailed me to tell me how much you liked them. In the future I will post some of those emails. . If you still have not ordered yours now is the time!

Sam and Brittany's wedding

This past Saturday I photographed Sam and Brittany's wedding. Great couple and family, terrific locations, and a lot of dancing made for terrific photo opportunities.









Church was huge so for a few shots I used a 15mm fisheye lens to capture all of it. I use the Canon 5D and 5D Mark II which have a full size sensor so nothing is cropped out.















Photo of Sam before wedding using existing light. The photo of Brittany after the ceremony was taken with flash on camera and another off camera held by my trusty assistant.
















Lots of dancing and fun photos























This coming Saturday I have a wedding and we'll be taking some photos at Phillipe Park