My good buddy Jake gave me the grand tour at APA the other night and what a night it was. I thought the weather was going to be fine all week, but with almost 4 inches of snow it was anything but fine. Pure IFR conditions, and the snow crews were hard at work. I think what really added to the night was the low storm clouds that surrounded the airport. It created an unbelievable ambiance through out the evening. I find it so much easier to photograph people, but this was for sure a great experience.

About 7 of us got together in Golden on Thursday night for a interactive class on the Nikon Speedlight System. Basically what it is, you can use your camera, or a SB-800 commander light to fire other Nikon SB-600 or SB-800 flashes remotely for more dramatic flash effects. I think it is a great system for a very controlled environment, or even perhaps a studio type shoot. Out on the streets, it can be useful, however they are not quite as flexible as a set of pocket wizards. The big downfall is they need line of sight to work properly. Most of my lighting dilemmas come about during the first dance of a wedding, or the cake cutting in a dark reception venue. There is just to much going on during these events to guarantee line of sight. Overall it was great to get together and learn more about the system. RJ's next meeting is on using gels in conjunction with a flash to help control your light output temperature. I'm hoping I can attend as I really need to learn more about it.

Kevin and Jessica of KB Photography hosted our somewhat monthly meeting at their house in Golden. We had a great time and mostly talked about album design which was great because I really need to develop a better understanding of the many options available. I brought my camera to snap off a few pictures, but I think I only took one. Shannon of Center Avenue Imaging got ahold of my D3 and is responsible for most of these pics. Thanks Shannon!!!!

I didn't think I would be doing any weddings until at least late spring, but my good friend Julie Harris asked if I could help her on a couple shoots this month and I jumped at the opportunity. Especially because this was going to be my first chance to try out the D3 at a wedding! Anyway, I met the guys at the Brown Palace in Denver where Gregg wanted to get some shots of him and the guys just hanging out at the bar telling stories and joking around. Then we headed to Sara's house for the ceremony. This was the most beautiful and meaningful wedding I have yet to attend. This may sound kind of corny, but at one time, I felt like I was a NatGeo photographer documenting some ancient tradition on the other side of the planet. The Jewish religion has so many rituals with so many different meanings. The candle light added such an amazing atmosphere. Overall I had a great time, and really got to learn a lot about shooting in harsh lighting conditions. All the photos below were shot without any flash or strobes.