Last week I was at the WPPI (Wedding & Portrait Photographers International) Conference and Tradeshow in Las Vegas. My good friend and awesome photog, Alfred Bertulfo organized a portrait session with a local couple that he knew, Jen and Rudy. It was a good chance for a handful of us photogs to get together and practice some low lighting situations, play with off camera flash, and have some fun on the Vegas strip.
That evening was actually very cold and windy. In my head I was expecting to practice a lot with my off camera flash setup but the frigid wind and Vegas foot traffic did not make it easy. Twenty minutes into the shoot I was not happy with my results and more importantly our couple, Jen and Rudy were freezing. As a group we decided to switch things up and began walking. We found some cool spots, got inspired again, and warmed up. Once I let go of my preconceived ideas of what equipment I was going to use and went with the flow I started to have a lot more fun. The creative juices were flowing. Jen and Rudy were such troopers for toughing out the cold and being patient. They kept each other warm, began to relax, and started to be in the moment. Once we all started talking and got to know each other we discovered what a cool couple they were. We talked about the many years they’ve been together, their city, and lots of tattoo talk. When it came down to it, it wasn’t about my flash compensation, exposure, or ISO settings, it was about Jen and Rudy…. and of course Vegas baby!
I planned on practicing technique but got a lesson on adaptability. Lesson learned.
Special thanks to awesome Makeup Artist and overall great person Rose Anne Towers for driving all the way to Vegas to be our MUA.
Thanks again to Alfred B. for sharing and teaching.
And special shout out to Tiffany Dela Cruz Libiran for being one of my three blog readers!! woohoo Tiff! I was supposed to give you a shout out on Angie’s post but I got too excited to post it ; ). Better late than never!
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