Matthew & Kimberly One Year Later

When I was young and loved to watch the Smurf, I usually like to see Mother Nature and Father Time do their magic. Now these days, I sometime wish Father Time would slow down. I can not believe it is almost one year to from a very special and fun wedding shoot I participated last year with Joan Day (Matt & Kimberly Wedding - May 15th, 2010).

Fast forward almost one year from then, I am honored to be asked to do their very special anniversary picture. For me, being a hobbyist, I like to shoot pictures when I feel like it and enjoy the freedom of not being under pressure. All of my pictures allowed me to try new technique and explore new area without having the pressure to produce or perform to meet a client demand. With Matthew and Kimberly, it was a perfect setting. By already done their wedding and knowing them, it allowed me to relax and enjoy the moment. I was able to tried out my new Nikon SU-800 and some off camera technique with Lumiquest Softbox III attached to my Nikon SB-800.

That weekend was perfect. It rained the day before, so the sky was perfectly clear. The weather was in the mid 60's to low 70s. Wonderful weather.

Setup:

Nikon D300s w/ Nikkor 70-200mm F2.8
Nikon D200 w/ Nikkor 17-55mm F2.8
Nikon SU-800 Commander
Nikon SB-800 Flash w/Lumiquest Softbox on Manfrotto Monopod
Voice Activated Manfrotto Monopod

Key Technique:

Outdoor - Exposed for the sky and compensate -1 -> -2 in camera. Use voice activated monopod to situate flash in right position and compensate flash to +1 -> +2. Use full Nikon CLS and iTTL entire time
Indoor:

Method One: Nikon on Aperture Priority, flash off camera on CLS and iTTL, no compensation adjustment required
Method Two: Set on Manual and expose for ambient light (allow to bring shutter speed very slow) and use Nikon CLS w/ iTTL to compensate on subject. (Thanks Frank Wisneski for that lesson).