We drove for 15 miles underneath some canopy trees along a country road, with a great view through the glass roof of my SUV.  Obsessive scouting for nature shoots had paid off, quickly distinguishing the best canopy trees.  The rain was beginning to trick down harder, but luckily I had my waterproof flashguns to add a touch of lighting in the quickly darkening, early evening sky.  Allie and Brandon jumped off and on the country highway as trucks passed through, sparking some laughs and great expressions; probably the best faces of all three shoots, IMO.

While driving them back to their home, I eyeballed a nifty looking, abandoned red shack; I hit the brakes on my Ford Edge and turned the wheel into a short clay/dirt trail.  Raining and thundering harder, and getting very late, we had little time to get in some good shots.  Out came my trusty my new flashguns again for an extra touch of lighting in the shade.  If you look at these pictures blown up, you can see some small streaks from the rain, which only enhance the photos and remind me of the experience of the shoot itself.  There really is something magical about the whole photographic process.  Some people get caught up in the look, I get caught up in the experience.  Each photo I capture reminds me of the moment, the rush I felt dodging cars on the highway, imagining the shot, doing what I love most.  Even if only for a moment, each shot is a carefully crafted piece and time in my life.  I have a story behind each and every photo.  Check out a selection here.

Finally, we relaxed for a few hours and then retired for the night after discussing our sunrise shoot on the ocean the next morning.  Morning light has only 15 minutes to resolve a certain look, and preparation was definitely not optional.

Off we go at 5:30 A.M. to Stuart Beach!  I forgot my sandbags, and the umbrellas on stands were blowing over left and right.  Brandon helped me burry the light stand into the sand, and I captured some gorgeous shots of light pinks and purples at sunrise.  For the rest of the morning, I packed away the lights and followed them running around in spontaneous, natural light shots.  We played around a lifeguard-less old guardhouse with the paint chipping, looking out into the redding morning sun, ran around in the ocean, shot together, separate, posed, and running.  This shoot was so fast moving and action packed, I only remembered the feeling of the shoot, not really clicking the shutter.  With so many over-planned nature treks to the same spot to get the perfect light, I appreciated just firing away in the moment.

I (or we) do remember one thing very well; the mosquitos!  We were getting eaten alive toward mid morning.  It was time for a hasty end to an exciting morning.  We found some cool little crabs on the way out, check out the last picture of the slideshow.

A few big lessons and fumbles I must admit, however.  My old non-waterproof flashes had a nice “real button” that allowed an obvious switch to wireless master mode.  The new versions had a buried menu option; I had to fumble through the flash’s instruction manual. Oh God, I was so embarrassed.  Lesson learned, never shoot with gear you haven’t tested on a paid shoot.  Also, make a list of everything you need and double check before leaving, like how I forgot the sandbags.  But with my crazy schedule these days, sometimes over-planning comes at the expensive of other more important tasks.

In the end, everything worked out better than I had planned; they booked me a plane ticket the other day to Ohio on October 31, 2009 for a Fall shoot to complement the Summer/Spring shoot in Florida.  This will allow me to create a contrasting summer, spring, and fall book before their wedding on September 2010.  I’ll update you in the future.