I love big wedding days that feel like an adventure. For some reason I’ve already shot five weddings this year, and they’ve all been pretty incredible adventures what with rain, rain, rain, a tsunami warning, and funnel clouds. Of course the good part about getting married during this risky time of year is that you CAN be rewarded with some amazing images if the weather is juuuust right. Dramatic clouds and dramatic light are so much more exciting!
Anyways this wedding day started at Terranea Resort, then continued to Wayfarer’s Chapel, and wrapped up with a reception at Trump Golf Course. …And Donald Trump himself dropped by. If you don’t believe me, just scroll down! Oh and our awesome friend Kacee Geoffroy did Suzanne’s makeup, BTW. Kacee is awesome! I said that already… Note to self: hook up Kacee with pictures for her portfolio…
I’ll pipe down and let the light and the expressions speak for themselves…
=Matt=
(Photographers- all images were made on a Nikon D300 and the following lenses: Nikon 24 2.8 AIS, Sigma 50-150 2.8 HSM, Nikon 85 1.8 AFD, and the Tamron 90mm f/2.5 (also manual focus) I shot 100% RAW and processed the images in Bridge CS3 95%, with a couple touch ups plus the sharpening / watermark for blogging. :-)
In keeping with the excitement of last weekend’s tsunami warning (!!!) during a beach wedding in Dana Point, yesterday’s Laguna Beach wedding at Tivoli Terrace involved water spouts / funnel clouds. Yikes!
But the wedding and the photos turned out beautifully. I love photographing weddings around this area, especially around this time of year! The hillsides are gorgeous and green, and the weather, even though scary, affords so many opportunities for amazing pictures. And of course Tivoli is such a cute, intimate little wedding venue. The combination of beautiful light and happy, energized people always equals MANY great moments to capture. I’ll shut up and get to the images now… These are quick edit proofs straight outta bridge with no “photoshop”…
Many thanks to Alice Hu and Evonne Wong for assisting me yesterday… I’m excited to go through your photos next!
Take care,
=Matt=
(Thanks to ALICE for setting up this pic and letting me steal it with my 85 1.8… SO CUTE! (Those are the dog’s booties..)
Once or twice a year I blog some film images. I only shoot 1-3 rolls of film a year, as it is a hobby, but whenever I do I am thoroughly rewarded. Enjoy!
NOTES:
* These images were captured on a Nikon FM2, on either Agfa Ultra 100 negative film, or Velvia 50 slide film. I use a Nikon 24mm f/2.8 AIS and 50mm f/1.8 AIS, as well as (sometimes) a Nikon 85mm f/1.8, or f/1.4, AND recently I was given a WONDERFUL manual macro lens, a hard-to-find Tamron 90mm f/2.5…
* All of this gear can be had for less than $500, not counting the Nikon 85’s which are not manual focus lenses… I get all my film / processing from Pro Photo Connection, in Irvine. Film + Processing + low-res disc totals approx. $20 per roll of 36 images, when you’re using professional grade film and a professional lab. So you gotta make each shot count!
* Agfa went out of business many years ago, in 2006 or something, and I hoarded a case of it in my parents fridge. I’m down to my last two rolls now, so I really want to make them count. Anybody in the mood to shoot some film, whether they be portraits or nature photos, let me know! I’d love company… (and you’re welcome to try out any of my lenses, if you shoot Nikon!)
* All the images were processed slightly in Bridge CS3 for contrast or curves, and that’s it. ZERO color adjustments. That’s what I like about film- the colors aren’t digital-perfect, and yet that’s what gives each film, each shot, it’s character. There’s just something about it that makes me keep shooting. (I also have a passion for old cameras with their metal construction, their dials and switches, and the buttery smooth manual focus rings. Any photographer who has ONLY ever felt what manual focus is like on an AF lens, you’re missing out in life. No AF lens will ever match the feel of a MF focus ring… :-)
Take care,
=Matt=
Nikon Coolpix S210, 6.3mm, (38mm) ISO 1163, f/3.1, 1/150 sec. (I set the camera to “HI ISO” mode, whatever that is, and forced the flash OFF, then dialed the exposure compensation down to -2 to try and balance out the terrible empty black background that would have surely thrown off the light meter…)
And, on this note, I have a very fun project that I’ll be starting soon. It will involve this photo, and it will be very geeky, in a way that only ONE person can guess!
Take care,
=Matt=
It’s good to have my D300 back… I was about to say how much of a glove this camera feels like with the Sigma 50-150 2.8 on it, but I double-checked and this image was made with the 85 1.8 actually. F/2, ISO 1600, 1/250 sec, RAW image processed in Bridge CS3 with a little grain *added* in Photoshop. I love me some clipped highlights…
Take care!
=Matt=
by Matthew Saville
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