According to some sources about retrieving shutter actuation count on a 1-series Canon camera, my up to date odometer reads 472,022 actuations since October of 2005. That equals 157,340 per year, 13,111 per month, 3,277 per week, 468 per day. For those of you who struggle with your learning speed, maybe you just aren’t shooting  enough, consistently. I don’t mean shooting 5 burst frames in a row every time just because your camera can do it, but spending every bit of your free time shooting something. Does that sound like too much of a commitment? If so, now you know the reason why you aren’t as good as you want to be.

Once a year, there comes a wedding that tops all the previous ones and sets a new benchmark for myself and for future wedding couples. My latest and best is Karen & James who had their wedding at the Metropolitan Building in Long Island City, New York.  Three floors of antique furniture, mirrors, and plenty of windows for natural light.  Each floor is a challenge and whole new setting to really test your photography skills and creativity, it is an amazing experience for anyone to be there.  Words can’t do it justice, so I will just let the photos do the talking.

If you’re not from the New York area, you might think I was making fun of the couple. DUMBO is an extremely popular location for engagement photos, a few spots are instantly recognizable by other photographers or locals. Though the locations are similar, I think each couple can bring a new taste to the photos based on their style and personality. My next lens will most likely be a tilt-shift lens.

Driving in excess of 40mph is not the proper way to execute a moving vehicle photo shoot.  This was our only makeshift method to get the motion blur as we were driving on the Pacific Coast Highway by Los Angeles, CA. This also happens to be my first attempt at a moving vehicle shoot, with my  brother on the Harley, his wife driving the chase car, with my 1D strap wrapped tightly around my arm hanging out the window, shutter activated by the wired remote, and communicating over a Bluetooth headset.

Without a neutral density filter, I was forced to shoot at ISO 50, f/9.5 at 1/90s with my Canon 16-35mm. There is obviously some major post processing and composites for the visual effects, but the motion blur is real. The overcast sky made it easier to get a softly lit image.

On my third trip back to California, I spent the first half of the week shooting at the beautiful bed & breakfast, Korakia in Palm Springs, about 2 hours from Los Angeles. It was an average of 110F degrees, but it was dry so I didn’t even break a sweat. 4 models in 4 days, I have to admit I haven’t had a disappointing client from the LA area yet, it’s been 100% success rate compared to New York’s 50%. The modeling photos will take some time to edit, but here are the location shots. The follow shots are all taken with the Canon 16-35mm 2.8L II USM.

My suite, Aegean Bungalow

The rest of Palm Springs