photo shoot with R&B

Shortly before K&B left the island, KK and I had the opportunity to do a fun photo shoot with a couple from our church small group, R&B. It was truly an honor to be asked to do this shoot, since both R&B have tremendous artistic flair and plenty of camera equipment with which to express their creativity. Still, as a photographer, it's hard to take a lot of your own photos, so that's when friends-with-cameras come in handy.

We began on a rooftop along SMB where the large gray walls are like canvases waiting for a new bright painting.

B's dress was the perfect pop of color in an otherwise blank background.

Sunglasses were both a fashion and environmental necessity in the afternoon sunshine.

One of the main challenges for me during this portion of the shoot was that I was limited to my 70-200mm f/2.8 lens - a wonderful piece of glass for distances, but challenging in close spaces! KK was using a 50mm f/1.4, and my 24-70mm f/2.8 zoom lens had been shipped off to the States for a warranty repair, so no wide-angle shots for me. RA lent me his 24-105mm f/4.0 for a later part of the shoot, but for these rooftop shots, I was standing far away and zooming very little.

I felt a lot better knowing KK was getting similar, but different shots, so it was all fun and no pressure!

As I said, R&B are basically creative geniuses, so most of the main ideas for the shoot were generated by the two of them, with us adding comments as to lighting and positioning.

Isn't this such a great idea? They used a Polaroid to take a self portrait...

...which we then photographed. When it doubt, take a picture of a picture. (More of that later on.)

Also, huge props to these two for being willing to run around in full clothing (RA) and high heels (BB) in Cayman's humid June weather!

As the sun started to lower, we left SMB and moved along to Boggy Sands Road in West Bay, were this brightly-colored building was just begging for attention.

I really like that B changed from hot red to basic white, adjusting from the drab to the bright backgrounds.

Boggy Sands Road runs right along the seaside with a great little wall that inspires a Singing in the Rain-type shoot.

BB was stealing with the show with her winning smile and pink umbrella, and since two photographers simply weren't enough, RA picked up a DSLR and got to work. BB handled the spotlight like a gem.

 And then, golden hour happened. The best time to get photos every day. Fleeting, but magical.

I'm not anti-flash, but I really love natural lighting when it's this warm and glowing.

And there she is! One of my best friends who handles a Canon like a champ. I'm always amazed at the quality of her photos, using only a Canon Rebel t1i and a 50mm f/1.4. Inspiring.

Sunset! Love! Magic!

I guess we could have ended on that high note, but these two have hyperactive funny bones, and they had a "beach picnic" planned for the finale.

It started off civilized...

...and ended pretty messy.

More pie-in-the-face shots are included in the album link below.

What a fun couple! We'll miss them dearly when they move to London later this summer. Save a couch for us, guys; we'll be visiting!

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I learned a lot on this shoot. It was my first time shooting RAW. Shooting in RAW is imperative for post-processing images in Photoshop or Lightroom, but since I own neither of those programs at this point, I typically shoot in large jpeg format to save on memory card and hard drive space. But RA was outfitted with proper photo editing software, and I was happy to give him all the photos right from the camera, so RAW it was. Man, even my 32GB card filled up rather quickly!

Also, it was interesting to have two people shooting at all times. Mainly, it was fun, but we had to take care not to get in each other's way or take completely redundant photos. But primarily, I think we were both happy not to have the full pressure of the shoot's success.

It also pays to show up at the shoot with a physical list of ideas and any related props, most of which R&B took care of themselves. I have to say, I get a lot of my inspiration mid-shoot, just observing the lighting and the subjects and how everything is interacting, but that is no excuse to start a shoot without preparing.

Finally, I learned that intensively using the creative side of my brain for such a concentrated period is exhausting! But so worth it when you see the final product. Plus, don't they say you should do things that are challenging to keep your brain active and healthy? Mission accomplished.

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For all of my favorite shots, check out the full album HERE. And for a sampling of KK's work on this shoot, check out her related blog post.

Lastly, here's a picture of a picture of me taking a picture. Can't have enough of those!

Two Canon Rebel t1i DSLRs inside a Polaroid PIC-300 photo
inside an iPhone 3G photo. Absolutely no post-processing.
Other than the Polaroid shaking.

Like I said, you can't have enough: Here's another.

If you can't tell us apart, I'm the one with the elbows.

Great shoot; great friends!