Alexandra was the final model that I met with that day, and we only had a limited amount of time and energy to get a few final shots in. We discovered the captains quarters near the rear of the ship, which was probably the best location that I found all day. The room had plenty of light and props to work with. Unfortunately we had to rush the session because Alexandra had to leave, but I think we walked away with at least a couple keepers.

My first pinup girl of the day, and I was fortunate enough to have the pleasure to work with this wonderful woman. Tia brought a lot of positive energy and professionalism to the shoot that kept my spirits up as we shot in a hot room. She didn’t require much direction and came prepared with many poses fitting the pinup genre.

Crystal probably had the most unique poses that I shot aboard the SS American Victory. I’m guessing that she is hoping to fill her portfolio with more fashion work, which is something that she seems to be suited for. She has a long, slender body that may have been over-elongated by my wide lens. Her hair stood out among the other models. I give kudos to her make up artist for coming up with an interesting style, but not-too-interesting that it becomes distracting.

Crystal was very willing to take direction, though I was not providing her with much input at that time of the day. I took her to the same room that I shot Tia in, trying to reproduce some of my better lit shots at different angles. I think the indoors shots resulted in a couple good photographs, but it took a lot of mediocre shots to get them. God bless digital for allowing me to take a hundred shots just to get 1 great one.

As I recall, Regina was my wife’s favorite model from the SS American Victory shoot. She had more spunk and character than any of the other models that we worked with that day. I suspect that she has a background in acting in the theater because she was able to tell a story through her poses. I was only able to spend a short while working with her due to inclement weather, but I look forward to having another opportunity to work with her.

Molly Johnson and Michael Philips celebrated their marriage on January 2, 2010 at the Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown, OH. The above video was edited together using footage taken following Molly around on her wedding day over several hours. The result is something called a “wedding trailer”, a brief collection of some of the key moments and emotions from the day. Wedding trailers are becoming a popular choice for couples selecting their wedding video packages because everything is edited down to a nicely packaged video that you can share with your friends and family.

I was only on video duty for this wedding, so most of my stills are candids taken between video takes. I also skipped color correction and touch-ups on the photos because they weren’t taken for professional purposes.

Music

Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol
Calling by Leona Naess

Tech Specs

Canon 7d Camera Body
Sigma 50mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM (majority of shots)
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 IS USM (all ceremony shots)
Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM (chapel exterior)
Tascam DR-100 (ceremony audio)

The music used in the video is from the Pixar’s motion picture “Up”. it was composed by Michael Giacchino, who has written for other Pixar films as well as the television show “Lost”. Giacchino writes a lot of intimate piano and string scores that I usually love.

The Butterfly Garden is part of the Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville, Florida. It is a special exhibit that costs a $10 to gain entry to, but it’s worth it to have a chance to take photos of the butterflies.

Busch Gardens Tampa is a great location to take some photos of some more interesting creatures that you won’t see outside of a zoo. I took the above images while doing a photo expedition throughout the park with my wife. All of the images above are not color corrected, which says a lot about how nice the lighting was and how well the Canon 7d performs during the “magic hour”. Most of the shots were taken using my Canon 70-200mm lens because I had just received it in the mail that week.