The
Storm
“There are two sides to every coin, two peas in a pod, two to tango and as far as photography is concerned there are two kinds of storms – good storms and great storms.“
I am nothing but an extraordinarily courteous photographer (that’s a lie) and since the bride was used to living in much warmer weather I called her at 1PM, five hours from the scheduled shooting time, and gave her the opportunity to reschedule the shoot for a different, warmer, more predictable day. Lucky for us she was brave… unlucky for her it was freezing. Did I mention that she is from Ghana, as in blistering hot and humid Africa?
The rain started smattering the windshield when we were just a couple miles away from our first shooting location, and then the icy wind started picking up. The camera is water-resistant, brides will dry off, and any amount of time the assistants spent feeling sorry for the poor girl in a wedding dress is a waste because technically it’s her fault we were outside in the ice-water rain. I think we can all agree that the bride should be feeling sorry for bringing the photographer outside into the nasty weather. Only kidding of course, it was a pleasure to make these images with the beautiful bride! Well, mostly kidding.
The weather held off pretty well, considering, just enough wind to poof the wedding dress, the shivering was manageable and the warm car breaks frequent enough to prevent any permanent frost-bite. The light was incredible, the dark clouds provided the worlds largest soft box creating a perfectly even, soft light on everything. A little oomph added with an off camera Canon 580EX II fill flash and we have some of the best photo conditions on the planet.
We shot in multiple places, pressing our luck as the sky continued to darken and then it eventually it happened. You know how every once in awhile you experience one of those incredible moments whose timing seems far beyond coincidental? I suppose that in a lifetime full of moments it would be more statistically remarkable to not have a handful of those remarkable moments but never-the-less they still seem other-worldly. After snapping the last photo we wrapped up and started walking back, as soon as the bride walked within spitting distance of the car (nope, you won’t hear that sentence many times in your life) the storm broke, and I mean it really broke. The cartoon-sized rain drops started pounding down in one of those theatrical displays of pouring normally witnessed only at the movie theater during a break-up scene. We rushed to shelter and as we all piled inside the warm-ish car the future-sister-in-law put it best.
“Jake, the photo gods must really love you.”
I sure hope she’s right.
Nice job! The photos look great!!
You can seriously write, kid. You kinda suck with all of these talents of yours! The sky looks incredible, she looks incredible… these pictures are AMAZING.
Jake i am a big fan of your work, I have even tried to copy your lighting style,with poor results I might add.These are great images man.They seem to well they provoke a response a feeling
Your camera is water resistant?! Which camera do you have or is it a cover you have on it, if so what cover is it?!
Great pictures, I really like the one in the middle of the road! You could have tried to shoot some with her getting wet! Of course I don’t know if the dress owner would have liked that!
Freddie, I was using the Canon 5D Mark II.
Beautiful shots! and great story here. Well worth the wait!
those clouds do look very ominous indeed.
Out of curiosity, what do you use to trigger your 580EX II? also will it work with a classic 5D?
Thanks Gallant! If you look at that small box at the end of the post it lists all the equipment I used for the shoot, including a Canon Off-Camera Shoe Chord, since it’s a Canon brand I’m almost certain it will work with an original 5D. I also have a wireless trigger, but it doesn’t seem to work right lately so I’ve been sticking with the handy chord instead.
Always nice to see what others have been doing!
Wow! what an idea ! What a concept ! Beautiful .. Amazing
Very informative article. I’ve found your blog via Bing and I’m really happy about the information you provide in your posts. Btw your blogs layout is really messed up on the Kmelon browser. Would be cool if you could fix that. Anyhow keep up the great work!
Dear Jake
I stumbled on your website and blog just a while ago searching for more hands on tips regarding photography.
My interest for photography is life long and for eleven years I’ve been married to a photographer (ex).
Recently, about a year ago, I bought my first, real, digital camera (same as you’re obviously using) and started taking serious pictures.
See, the thing is, I’ve been directing shots for more than 30 years as a Art- and Creative Director. “Light like that”, “Body like that”, “Shadows like that” etc happily unknowing the little knobs and buttons that made it all happen. At least not on the flashes/strobes.
I want to thank you for your free advice and complement you on your fine work. I have the same name on flickr.com and I will add you to my contacts. If you don’t mind.
I could write a book on how helpful this post has been to me – having a wedding in pre-winter November in Sweden to schedule, but I limit myself to simply write a short Thank You.
Thank You Jake.
P
What a great compliment Peter, thanks so much!
Nice site, very well made ~ Please keep updating, I will def read more. I’ll bookmark it and be backk!