Photography "Unplugged" at Hakone Gardens, Saratoga

As many of you may know, I've taught a fair number of advanced photoshop classes to many photographers near and far. They are really popular for the new inductees of digital imaging. Advanced photographers are interested as well. Unfortunately, a large majority of digital photographers have a "shoot now, fix later" perception to photography; only because they think they can.

Photographing a wedding or engagement with over 1,000 images, the "fix later" motto cease to be reasonable, efficient nor effective. Lighting is extremely important in making images come alive! For example, having a large light source behind you while you are shooting a group portrait will help you create a significant stride towards getting your subjects to love you (especially the older folks). They will look younger as their wrinkles melt in the beautiful even window light.

To prove my point, I did a wedding just yesterday with nothing more than a camera, a small Canon 580 EX Flash unit and capturing the images by following the light. Photography Judo or Photography Unplugged, if you will. Pushing and pulling my subjects to light them in resplendence. Enlist the fastest forces of nature as my ally, instead of battling it.

We shot in various locations, from the tea ceremony in the house to the challenging white balanced lighting within the buildings of the Hakone Japanese Gardens in Saratoga. Many of the group shots were shot at 2pm PST summer afternoon, under the harsh California sunlight. The end results however, are over 1,000 images that do not need to see the likes of a healing brush, or for the matter, any photoshop at all.

Of course, this isn't all about photography and light. Without a beautiful bride and groom (Sophie and Jimmy), good photography can only go so far. On top of that, well deserved credit goes to Tiffany, the makeup artist whom I've worked with numerous times. She did a phenomenal job with the hair and makeup, that's for sure!