This bride is game for anything so I said how about we buy you a gown and go take some sort of trashy/sexy/80's/fashion type thing? She was all over it so we ordered the gown from eBay, it arrived straight from a suspected Chinese sweatshop, we threw a bunch of makeup on her and headed out.
Stay tuned for the trash the dress photos, it was just too cold this day to make her go in the water.
More on the blog later tonight (after the Gators beat Ohio St.)

1


2


3 This is straight out of the camera, no photoshop work


4


5

LOVE those - so funky and fresh!
<3 kristy

Great photos Colin.
1 and 4 are my favs.

1 and 3 for me. Awesome idea and I love the lighting in 3, is that a strobe?

Thanks everyone.
Bill- That one was from the darkest part of the tunnel so I had a strobe with a umbrella going into the opposite wall for a bit of fill (at -2 below the key) and a spotlight for the key. It was a new light that I learned would dramatically change color temp as the battery wore down even though the brightness stayed nearly the same. Live and learn I guess, but later shots the spotlight was around 2300K!

Oh that second to last one about stopped my heart ... I love it! I'd love something like that of me .... sigh. Fabulous work.

LOVELY!!
Ya know... I actually kinda like her cheap ebay dress!!

What kind of light was that? My experience is limited to Alien Bees and Nikon and Canon dedicated strobes (SB800/600 and 550EX) and so far they all seem to be maintaining pretty consistent light (around 5500k, right?).

Edit: you said 'spotlight', so a continuous light? Tungsten? If so it would be about 3000K normally, yes?

Cool shots man, very creative. Way to think outside of the box!

Great shots Colin!!! These are so good I cant pick a favorite! Beautiful bride! Cant wait to see more!

What kind of spot light were you using? And how long does it hold a charge? And was the dress fairly cheap (we have a couple of ladies that will model for us, we just need to find an appropriate dress and there have not been any in the thrift stores lately).

Right on. That rocks! (Lucky, no fair)

Stunning! These are really cool and edgey, I love 1, 3, & 4!!!! can't wait to see what happens when the weather warms up.

It's hard enough to get them to put aside an hour for an engagement shoot, much less buying a dress and running around town (if not into the ocean).

Thanks everyone! The bride is here right now and she is very happy that everyone likes them. I just talked her into a beach trash the dress session. She will do it as soon as it is over 80 (which it was today, weird weather). If we get really, really lucky maybe it will be warm for OSP West

The spotlight is a 1 million candlepower rechargeable spotlight from home depot with a plastic bag over it to even it out. It kept it's temp for the first 5-10 minutes (hard to tell because my assistant turns it off each time). The color temp was about 4200K to begin with but went down from there.

Check my blog for more (my blog needs some love!)

Great stuff. Totally diggin' the shot on the steps. Color...composition...expression...and just enough tilt.

Awesome.

--J.

Great stuff, thats awsome. I need to get some of my brides to trash the dress. Good idea about getting one on ebay.

I love the 80's Idea!(I'm stuck in the 80's time warp!) Great shots...I too love the one on the steps!

Love it!!! Nice shots!

I'm totally diggin' the black fishnets.. grrrreat choice!

Wonderful shots.

I have been wanting to get one of those spot lights. I almost got one this Christmas but it was during a game of "Dirty Santa" and it got stolen from me.

Thanks for the love everyone, I really appreciate it! I have been a bit down because of a lack of work but this shoot went a long ways toward making me feel like I am still in the right field.

It scares me that the '80s are coming back. I saw two girls in 5 minutes wearing pink Keds with thick socks and stocking! Next thing will be neon, yuck!

Adam- $25 at home depot. I recommend 1 million candle power, no more or it is too bright and will melt whatever you use to diffuse it.

awesome shots!

Colin - you ARE in the right field and you're great!

I think we all (MOST of us) feel that way from time to time. It's so scary for me sometimes to think about all of the money and time I've invested and then.....what if people just stop booking?! Then there are other times that I feel unstopable.

You are in the right place and you're learning! Have you read the E-Myth? I really think you should - it is both encouraging and challenging and it really makes you feel like you DO have control over your success (at least to some point!) and that you CAN make it!

These shots are wonderful and I know they're just the tip of the iceberg for you!!!!

Stacy

Thank you so much for that Stacy. It is funny (but not Ha Ha funny) how up and down this business can be, it is all peaks and valleys! I am just in kind of a deep valley right now as I don't have a lot of work and it is making me nervous. I looked at the "how many bookings do you have thread" and it sure didn't help. Jose Villa made me feel a lot better when he told me that his first couple years he was doing about 5 weddings a year. If a guy with that much talent struggled that hard I shouldn't feel so bad as I am not alone.
I already walked away from a career in photography once and I am determined not to do it again. Honestly, I don't care what I have to do to make it work, I am going to do it. I have a bridal show in March that I have high hopes for and I am about to implement a new marketing strategy that I hope will spark some interest. Here's hoping for the best!

I think that the last shot is so beautiful. It totally worked in your favor to have the cold weather-- it gave the images a crispness that works really well, especially combined with her dress and expressions-- its pretty cold and stark, which I really like.

Nice work! BE ENCOURAGED!

Those are AMAZING and I can't wait to see the dress trashing shots!! Keep up the good work!

Well done!! I love #3.

I really like the 2nd and 3rd one!

Great job and looks like a ton of fun.....

Heather

Oooooh I love these! My favorite is the one with the fishnets!