Photo Details:
Camera: Nikon D80

F-Stop: f/2.8
Focal Length: 16 mm
Exposure Bias: +0.3 ev
Speed: 1/200
ISO: 400

Untitled originally uploaded by foolscircle.

As the title implies, this photo was the end of the shoot at the hotel where Todd and Cassie’s wedding reception took place. It’s also one of my favorites.

You see, when you shoot theatre photos, there tends to be one truly goofy photo of the entire cast in the bunch.  I know, I know: it’s juvenile and stupid, but everyone ends up having a great time.  I mean, honestly, who doesn’t enjoy making faces at the camera?

Photo Details:
Camera: Nikon D80

F-Stop: f/2.8
Focal Length: 16 mm
Exposure Bias: +0.3 ev
Speed: 1/3
ISO: 400

Untitled originally uploaded by foolscircle.

When I photograph weddings, I always try to get a photo or two that gives a sense of the ceremony’s location. The main difficulty with getting a photo that includes the crowd is that you never want to be intrusive during the ceremony itself. However, if a balcony happens to be in the building, you’re in luck: the platform will often give you a spectacular view and you’ll be far enough away from the audience to snap away without distracting anyone.

The other option depends on the building’s architecture. Sometimes, a church’s transepts (the arms of the cross in the building’s layout) will wrap around the area containing the altar. When that happens to be the case, you can capture an image that not only shows the wedding party in action, but also gets the overall setting. Of course, this all depends on where the marriage is actually taking place… if the wedding was taking place in, say, a cathedral, I’d probably be running all over the building and getting photos from every angle possible. However, if the building was just a one-room church… well, I probably wouldn’t end up focusing on too much outside of the bride and groom. Thankfully, this weekend’s church was really pretty and allowed for a couple of fun shots like this one here.

Photo Details:
Camera: Nikon D80

F-Stop: f/13
Focal Length: 32 mm
Exposure Bias: 0
Speed: 1/200
ISO: 100

Cassie originally uploaded by foolscircle.

This was a more traditional portrait I shot of Cassie during the outdoor portrait sequence. Because of the intense sunlight, I used a flash on an arm bracket to reduce the shadows’ intensity, which in this case wasn’t enough to achieve the look I wanted.

Because I’m a one man operation, I tend to carry a bunch of portable equipment in my photo backpack. One of the biggest aids one can have in an outdoor photo shoot is a collapsible reflector, I’ve got a 22″ one that travels really well. I had one of the groomsmen hold the reflector just outside of the camera frame, and the difference it made was stunning.

Photo Details:
Camera: Nikon D80

F-Stop: f/3.5
Focal Length: 18 mm
Exposure Bias: 0
Speed: 1/60
ISO: 200

Untitled originally uploaded by foolscircle.

When it comes to wedding photography, I’d like to think that my technique falls under the photojournalism camp… I’ve never really been one for glamour photography -largely because I don’t enjoy the results- but that doesn’t mean you can’t get creative when documenting the day’s events.

I snagged this shot while I was driving over to the church with the bride’s party.  Essentially, I liked the way the colors of the limo’s interior complimented the floral bouquets, so I put my camera on the ground and snapped off a couple of photos while using my speedlight to provide some extra light.

This was the only photo out of the series that I really liked; but I’m glad I managed to get it, as it provided a unique perspective and some great colors.

Photo Details:
Camera: Nikon D80

F-Stop: f/16
Focal Length: 16 mm
Exposure Bias: 0
Speed: 1/200
ISO: 400

Man Eater originally uploaded by foolscircle.

I basically used the same photo technique for this shot as I did for the playful portrait of Todd yesterday: fisheye lens, flash, higher F-stop ratio.  While this may not be the type of portrait some people like, I really enjoyed the softer shadows and color intensity brought about by this method.

It really helps when your subjects are people you know as friends: they tend to let you experiment a little with the photos, and it really helps when everyone involved has a good sense of humor.  The facial expressions and poses I managed to snag during this shoot were great, and I was really happy with the results.

Photo Details:
Camera: Nikon D80

F-Stop: f/16
Focal Length: 16 mm
Exposure Bias: 0
Speed: 1/200
ISO: 400

Ladies’ Man originally uploaded by foolscircle.

This was my favorite photo from yesterday’s nine hour shoot. After Toddy and Cassie’s wedding ceremony yesterday, we shot some quick formal portraits in the church and then did a number of scenic ones on the lawn behind the hotel where the reception was being held.

I always like these moments, because I get to experiment a little with my portraits for a few minutes. Even though it was kind of warm out in the sun (it is Arizona, after all), everyone was a total trooper and let me direct the photos without any whining.

The lighting was kind of extreme, so in order to get this perspective I used my fisheye lens and then put a filter over the pop-up flash in order to soften the shadows a bit. Because the D80 will only go up to 1/200 when you use a flash, I had to crank up the F-stop number in order to prevent the photo from being completely washed out.

Anyway, this was meant to be a test shot, but everyone’s expression was so perfect that I ended up keeping this one as a final portrait.

Photo Details:
Camera: Nikon D80

F-Stop: f/4
Focal Length: 32 mm
Exposure Bias: 0
Speed: 1/30
ISO: 100

The Kiss originally uploaded by foolscircle.

I’m in Arizona shooting a wedding this weekend, so I guess the next few days are going to be some choice wedding shots that I’ve taken. At the moment, though, you’ll just have to consider this a precursor for the run of images, as I’m currently running around making sure all my gear is working properly and my batteries are charged.

Photo Details:
Camera: Nikon D80

F-Stop: f/5.6
Focal Length: 34 mm
Exposure Bias: 0
Speed: 1/80
ISO: 100

Untitled originally uploaded by foolscircle.

This is my other favorite photo of The Bottle from my month-long trip across the USA last year. I shot this on some fresh blacktop in the middle of the Craters of the Moon National Monument, and I’m still amazed that I didn’t get run over by one of the various RVs I saw on the road.

To me, this image became symbolic of the trip in general… for obvious reasons.

Photo Details:
Camera: Nikon D80

F-Stop: f/9
Focal Length: 55 mm
Exposure Bias: 0
Speed: 1/80
ISO: 100

Origins & Endings originally uploaded by foolscircle.

I took this picture on the same day as yesterday’s PotD, about 20 feet away from the truck I’d just used as a prop.  I was looking at the bottle from almost the same angle as before, which meant there was basically no visible shadow.

As opposed to the previous image, I enjoyed how this picture’s colors are a lot more muted but manage to compliment each other.  The title, as silly as it is, seemed appropriate because it showed where the Red Truck grapes came from and where they ended up.

Photo Details:
Camera: Nikon D80

F-Stop: f/7.1
Focal Length: 24 mm
Exposure Bias: 0
Speed: 1/100
ISO: 100

Starting Out originally uploaded by foolscircle.

Well, I guess this week’s Photo of the Day theme is going to be product photography.  Funnily enough, most of my work in this genre has been regarding either booze or food.  Go figure.

I took this last year on the first day of my sponsored road trip with Red Truck Wines. Cline Cellars, up in Sonoma County, is rather unique amongst a group of beautiful wineries because -aside from being simply gorgeous- it embraces a feeling of fun and local history.  I shot this around 3 or 4 in the afternoon, when the sun wasn’t at too extreme an angle.  There’s an old red truck at the vineyard, which I thought would make for an interesting prop.  When I was playing with the different angles, I realized that the shadow was completely hidden by the bottle from this shot’s perspective.  My one difficulty with this image was the reflection in the bottle, which I wasn’t sure I wanted to keep.  I tried using a polarizer, but bottle just ended up looking like it was a giant shadow instead of a three-dimensional construct.  As a result, I kept the reflection; I’m pretty certain I made the right decision.

It’s strange for me to look at this picture nearly a year after it was taken.  It’s particularly strange because, to me at least, it symbolizes the start of a six month period that was spent on the road.  I sometimes wonder who I’d be if I hadn’t spent all that time traveling around the country… I like to think that I’m a better person for all the experiences, but who’s to say something equally as educational wouldn’t have come along had I stuck around the Bay Area during this time?

Anyway, I’m getting nostalgic and reflective, which are always dangerous elements to combine.  I think I’l leave you with this thought: this photo is one of my favorites, and it’ll probably always be one of them for the memories it’s tied to.  Well, that and it looks pretty.