Profoto is back with another episode of Walk Through a Wedding with Justin and Mary Marantz. In this new episode they're talking about one of the best featured images in any wedding album, a night shot of the venue. It's a classic component of the story of the event and you've got to understand the technique to get the shot.

Remember, it's not just about the bride and groom, but also about the venue. This is the perfect image to share with the sales and management staff at the venue itself and a great way to start building a relationship for future referrals.

Later this week, I'll have a new post featuring more of Justin and Mary's images from real events, all night shots on Walking the Talk. 

If you're not already on Profoto's FREE newsletter list of subscribers, click the link below. This way you'll never miss a beat...or a video! Plus, this is the link to watch any of the past episodes, just in case you missed any. 

Intro by Skip Cohen

Wandering through Profoto's archives, I feel like I hit the jackpot with this pre-wedding shoot by Simeone Quarrie. After you watch the video visit his site to see more of the images from the shoot. Then, think about your skill set and if you had a couple wanting a themed session, how would you accommodate the request.  Simeone is a wedding photographer, but had all the skills to set up what could have easily been a commercial shoot for a client.

Not only did he have an understanding of the technique, but the gear to light the set, thanks to Profoto. I've written about this a lot in the past...

I love these posts, because they give you so much insight on how to raise the bar on your work. Profoto's dedication to quality and your education are two great reasons for their blog to be on your radar. 

by Fredrik Franzén 

Some people fantasize about their wedding until the day it occurs. If you’re one of them, Simeon Quarrie might be the wedding photographer you’re looking for. Because his images sure do look like dreams come true. 

His recent series Released by Love is, by no definition, an exception. On the contrary, it shows Simeon taking his signature style to a whole new level. By skillfully balancing the ambient light in a meticulously decorated attic with the light from his D1 monolight and Pro-7b pack, Simeon creates a series of images with a soft, dreamlike beauty. As mentioned before, it looks like someone’s fantasy just came true. And judging from the wedding couple’s reaction, that’s exactly what happened.

“Sometimes you have to just seize the opportunity,” says Simeon in regards to the theme. “Take who or what you want, despite the seeming restrictions from friends, family or a past that can act as an obstacle. Tied. Unavailable. Restricted. However, wanting to be released. Hence the title, Released by Love.”

The final images can be seen in the end of the video. But if you want our advice, watch the entire video from start to finish. It is worth every second of your time.

After that, you should check out Simeon’s website.

Intro by Skip Cohen

In the last couple of years there's been a common theme from a number of great photographers. Kevin Kubota has talked numerous times about the importance of personal projects. Matthew Jordan Smith has shared ideas on how special projects help him stay focused on fine-tuning his creative skills. When I first met Jason Groupp it was because of his "I Heart New York" project. Then, just recently, I heard Scott Kelby speak and he talked about the importance of constant practice to help artists fine-tune their skills and raise the bar on their skill set, no matter how accomplished they might be.

While wandering through Profoto's archives, I ran across this relatively short post about Jonathan Menga. I simply love stuff like this - images where a photographer has a vision and then sets out on a course to capture what's in his mind's eye! It's not work specifically for a client, but just like Kevin, Matthew, Jason and Scott have all shared, this is about pushing the boundaries of creativity and just doing something different.

Jonathan's Twitter description pretty much says it all, referring to himself as an "image therapist". Check out more of Jonathan's work with a visit to his site and follow him on Twitter.

by Fredrik Franzén

One day when Jonathan Menga was out walking in his neighborhood, he fell upon a baseball park he hadn’t really noticed before. Jonathan’s mind started working. Soon, he had an idea. With a clever use of gelled flashes and smoke machines, he would be able to turn the small park into something else. 

A few days later, Jonathan returned with a model, an assistant and a make up artist. In his gear bag was two Profoto Acute2 packs, two Acute/D4 Heads, a speedlight, a Softlight Reflector and a bunch of colored gels.

“I wanted these forest photoshoot images to have some sort of mood to them and give off a story,” writes Jonathan on his blog.

Jonathan had some help from the weather conditions. It was a cloudy day and the trees were dark. The mood was further enhanced by the gelled flashes and the smoke machine that Jonathan had brought.

Jonathan explains how the image above was created:

“I wanted to create a scene flooded with smoke to give it a little mystery. It was lit with 3 lights, a YoungNuo speedlight, a Profoto Acute/D4 Head and another one in a silver beauty dish. On camera left, my assistant held the speedlight up high and further within the woods while on the opposite side, I had the Acute/D4 Head on the stand and much closer to the model. This light was specifically placed behind the tree to create a light splash while defining the smoke. 

I used multiple coloured tiny smoke bombs that created rapid smoke burst,but didn’t last as long as I had hoped. Therefore, I had to use about 6 of them in different places and combined them in post later on. I used the beauty dish on camera left, slightly feathering the model. Shooting lights through trees created a very mystical mood, and by shutting down a bit of the ambient light, it really gave it a night look.”

Head over to Jonathan’s blog for the full story, including lighting breakdowns for the images below.

Each episode of "Walk Through a Wedding", thanks to Profoto USA and Justin and Mary Marantz has some great technical "how-to" tips. The series has covered virtually every aspect of photographing a wedding and can help you raise the bar, in this episode, when you're photographing a key part of many receptions, the Hora.
 
After you've watched the video, jump over to Walking the Talk and check out Justin and Mary's real world images of the Hora from actual weddings. You won't be disappointed and you might even pick up a few ideas to help you at the next event.

Intro by Skip Cohen

It's Profoto Friday and I've been wandering through their blog archives and found a real gem, complete with a behind the scenes video of one of Alexia Sinclair's signature images. As you read the story, think about your skill set and how you'd handle a project like this.  Starting with the smallest details and never missing a beat, Alexia Sinclair demonstrates why she's one of the finest artists in our industry.

There's a lot of incredible content in the Profoto blog and well worth your time to wander through and see the other gems they're sharing to help you raise the bar on the quality of your images.

Written by Fredrik Franzén 

Fine art photographer Alexia Sinclair was given the keys to a frozen castle left untouched since the 17th century. “When you’re given such an incredible opportunity, you have to create something equally incredible yourself,” she says. “Otherwise it’s just a failure.” 

Keep reading and learn how she pulled it off.

It all started with an email from the Royal Palace in Stockholm. The Royal Armory was preparing an exhibition on Queen Christina and wanted to feature the portrait Alexia had done of the flamboyant queen as part of the portrait series The Regal Twelve. Alexia was also invited to the opening ceremony in Stockholm.

Never one to let an opportunity pass, and with a well-documented fascination for kings and queens, Alexia asked the Royal Palace if she could photograph a real-life princess while in Sweden. The reply she got was: “No. But we do have a castle you may use.”

A couple of months later, Alexia arrived at Skokloster Castle – a 17th century Baroque masterpiece situated just outside Stockholm. She had done weeks and weeks of research and planning. She had rallied people from all over Scandinavia willing to travel to Skokloster to style, model and assist. She was now ready to start her brand new portrait series, which was eventually named A Frozen Tale.

“I like to produce narrative pieces so I started by researching those important historical figures who had visited the castle over its lifetime,” she says, “I also studied 17th century paintings to get a feeling for the period and this is what I got truly swept up in. Painters like Johannes Vermeer did so much exploration of middle-class life, showing ordinary people doing ordinary things. Ultimately, the series explores two different worlds within the same castle walls: the famous ruling class visitors and the people in the shadows, the middle and working class running the castle.”

The amazing thing about Skokloster Castle is that it is preserved in almost exactly the same condition as it was when it was built 350 years ago (the tools that were used the build the castle are still lying around!). This was obviously a tremendous source of inspiration for Alexia in her quest to capture everyday castle life. But it also brought about certain challenges. For instance, there was no electricity or heating. In fact, some parts of the castle freeze during the winter – which it was when Alexia and her team were there. Hence the title: A Frozen Tale.

It goes without saying that the exotic location had a huge impact on the shoot. The lack of electricity meant that Alexia needed battery-powered flashes, the extreme cold meant she needed reliable equipment that would operate continuously in cold weather, and the flawlessly preserved environment meant she had to work under extreme restrictions.

“The smoke, the leaves, the dog, the goose, the water, basically anything that isn’t a person in these images had to be composited in later. I wasn’t even allowed to bring a bottle of drinking water, and I was pregnant at the time! I had to hide some almonds in my pocket so that I wasn’t ravenous by the end of the shoot!”

 
The lighting was another challenge. Alexia had decided to shoot each room when the sun was shining through the windows. This meant that the team had to chase after the sun, as it moved around the castle and hit it from different angles. Time was of the greatest essence, and there was very little time to set the lights for each shot.

“I always try to capture balanced light in camera before moving into postproduction,” says Alexia. “The Pro-B4 battery packs were used to fill in the harsh shadows cast by the sun. Doing so gives me complete control of the treatment I apply in postproduction because I’m capturing a full tonal range filled with detail.”

The two Pro-B4 battery packs she brought along were equipped with RFi softboxes in different sizes and shapes to light the various sets in exactly the right way. Once everything was in place, the image was shot on a PhaseOne 645DF with a Phase One IQ180 digital back.

“There’s detail and then there’s mind blowing intricate detail,” she says. “The later is what excites me as an image maker. I love the ability to weave layers of subtle symbolism into an image and then watch the penny drop. You can only create that imagery with the dynamic range and resolution of a phase.”

“I light everything as best I can, shoot as sharply as I can and begin in post with the best files I’m capable of shooting,” she concludes.

As mentioned before, not all things could be shot on-location. The goose, the pouring water, the sunlight shining though the smoke, all this had to be shot in Alexia’s studio in Sydney.

“In those days, the castle was heated with stoves and open fire places and, as a result, filled with smoke. But we couldn’t fill this priceless piece of history with smoke! So what we did was that we filled our studio in Sydney with smoke and flashed through it with our Pro-8. So the light beams you see coming from the windows are actually the light beam from the Pro-8.”

The model looking through the spying glass in the series hero image was also shot in Alexia’s studio. The reason for this is simply that Alexia did not notice this spectacular location until the very last minute.

“I spotted this extraordinary room on our way out of the castle,” she says. “Without the time or resources to shoot another character on-location, I shot a background plate of this room to produce a composite artwork later. Titled The Cabinets of Curiosity, this particular image celebrates The Age of Discovery. Forming the hero image for the collection, the frosted fantasy figure embodies the series title, peering through a telescope out to the frozen lake beyond as snow flakes drift into the castle.”

Considering how much time Alexia spends in postproduction, you might ask why she even bothers going though all this trouble? Why go to a frozen castle in Sweden? Why not just shoot everything in the studio and fake it?

“I don’t believe anything you do in Photoshop can ever look as real as something you actually light and photograph in real life,” she says. “This might come as a surprise to some, but I actually add as little as possible in postproduction. Anything I can shoot in camera I do. The things I do add are the things I believe I can’t capture in real life. It might be something that only exists in my imagination, or it might simply be a goose I’m not allowed to bring indoors.”

This way of thinking also explains Alexia’s choice of lighting. While there are many lighting tools and solutions to choose from, she is utterly convinced that it is vital to do everything as perfect as possible right from the start.

“Consistent light from Profoto is crucial to my speedy post-production pipeline,” she says. “I don’t want to spend hours color matching assets because of cheap light. It’s far cheaper and inspiring to use the best gear and get it right in camera.”

Learn more about Alexia Sinclair and her Frozen Tale at her website.

Learn more about the Pro-B4 and other Pro packs here.

On a final note, below is a complete gear list for all the gear heads out there:

2x Profoto Pro-B4
1x Profoto Pro-B3 (just in case)
6x Pro-B Head Plus
2 x Softbox RFi 3×4’
1x Softgrid 3×4′
6 x C-Stands
PhaseOne IQ180 + 645DF Camera
PhaseOne 28mm Lens
Schneider 55mm Lens
Schneider 80mm Lens
Gitzo GT3541 Tripod
Induro PHQ3 Head
Macbook Pro
Wacom Intuos5
HyperJuice External Battery OWC Thunderbolt Enclosure running Seagate 4TB Constellation ES.3 Drives