Black Creek Pioneer Village - For the love of photography

As the wedding season is coming to an end, and all I have booked now are family portraits for the holidays, I realized I hadn't shot anything personal for a very long time. Well, I shouldn't say that, because thanks to Chase Jarvis and his Best Camera project I can now roam the streets with my iPhone and be confident that any photo opp won't be missed. However, now that my DSLR camera is part of a money-generating venture in wedding and portrait photography, I think twice about taking it out "just to take pictures". I became a photographer out of pure love for the raw power of images, be it a landscape, a portrait or any other image. That kind of thinking got me worried, so last Sunday I decided to bring my camera along for a little trip my wife an I took to Black Creek Pioneer Village. It was great to break from the wedding mindset and just capture whatever felt right to me. Here are a few shots from the trip:

Using the Lumiquest Softbox III and HONL grids for wedding photography

As much a I love my Alien Bees strobes, when it comes to weddings I always try to pack light. Don't get me wrong, I always bring the ABs with me, just in case, it's just not practical at all to carry them around with you. For that reason, I try to resolve most of my lighting situations with SB-800/900s. In addition, if I can get away with not using an umbrella, I will and the Lumiquest Softbox III has become a permanent resident in my camera bag for those occasions. Another item that has found a permanent spot in my camera bag is David Honl's Speed Grid. I have both versions, the 1/4 and the 1/8. If you want to add a new level of dramatic lighting to your photography, then you definitely need to get these and keep them in your bag!

In this particular example below, I used an SB-800 with a HONL 1/4 speed grid behind the couple and pointing at the wall to get some detail on the brick wall. I lit the couple using an SB-900 with the diffuser cap on and the Lumiquest Softbox III attached to it. I triggered both lights with an on-camera SB-800.

Street Photography by Clay Enos - A different style

I couldn't resist posting this here, enjoy: