I already have windows in my studio but the sun rarely comes in and certainly not today. So I went outside with my Speedo, er, Speedotron 2403 power pack and a 2400 ws head and blasted it at full power toward the studio windows. I jacked the pack and the ends of the power cords up off the snow with a crate and packed snow around the light stand for stability.

Here is a view looking toward the windows. I moved the light source several times before I got the effect I was looking for.

Meanwhile, back inside I shot tests to work out my camera position and where the light fell to tune in everything.

My modeling light was useless with so much ambient light so I placed Stephanie into the scene to further fine tune the angle of the light. This shot revealed shadows falling right across her face so it was back into the snow to move the strobe.

Success! Now I have plenty of time to scrutinize while the models are getting hair and make-up.

Turns out that the shadow side was getting a little lost so I added another strobe to the right of the set with a Photoflex half-dome and a grid attachment to control spill.

I had the main light set to full power while the kicker with a grid was set as low as it would go since it was so close. This allowed me to shoot at 1/125 sec at f5.6-1/3. I warmed things up in-camera by manually setting the white balance to 7600K.

This tutorial uses a much-misunderstood feature called Smart Objects. Not since the Pen Tool have Photoshop users been so scared! But fear not. Smart Objects are your friends. So just click here to start!

Not bad considering I shot video with one hand while reaching over everyone else to grab stills with the other. Ok, on with the rest of my life.

I already had some Quantum FreeXwire slave units. They’re cool because they’ll allow you to wirelessly fire flashes from waaaaaay far away. But did you know you can also use them to fire a second camera?

All you need is the sync cord for your specific camera. Then stick it on a tripod and wait for the fun to happen!

I shot these with intentional motion blur. I actually was shooting on the floor with one hand while holding the wireless transmitter in the other. The camera was set to continuous mode and caught several frames. I also set it manual exposure, manual white balance and manual focus to keep things simple and not get tripped up by a camera who thinks it’s smarter than me! Then I shot several tests on guests strolling up and down before the ceremony.

What goes up must come down…including brides!

Settings: 1/5 second @ f4.0, ISO 200, Canon 16-35 zoom set at 35mm.

This tutorial is the Glowing Skin tutorial. Even though every bride is awesome from the get-go, this effect will make your albums really pop. So just click here to start!