Luminaire Images Blog • by Molly Ann

Last weekend Matt & I had the brilliant luck and unparalleled pleasure of photographing Chrys & Rick’s wedding in the Dominican Republic. Destination weddings are decidedly more difficult than local ones, but I can’t even begin to describe how awesome of a time we had. Chrys’ & Rick’s families were open and welcoming, and their friends are all so impossibly cool and friendly that I’ve half a mind to move to Ohio, D.C., or NY myself just to find more people just like them!

I’m hard at work editing through the 4000+ images we shot and I’ll be in Napa Valley this weekend for another destie, but for now here’s a little sampling of our Memorial Day weekend in the Republica Dominica:

Sugarcane fields

View from our room at the resort

Warm tropical storms at the resort

Workin’ hard!

More photos to come!

I can’t truly say who originally asked this question, because it seems like I get it all the time.

What kind of equipment do you use?
So what’s in the bag, eh? To start, I shoot using Nikon equipment: a D700, a 24-70mm f/2.8, an 80-200mm f/2.8, and a 50 f/1.4, which I most frequently use for portrait close-ups (like headshots). I also have an 105mm macro that I sometimes whip out for close-ups of rings. The next lens I intend to get is an 85mm f/1.4, for similar-but-less wide imagery as the 50.

I once bought a Tokina wide zoom lens but found the focus was not as sharp or reliable as Nikkors, and there was more chromatic aberration when I used it, so I no longer shoot with third-party equipment. Third party (Tokina, Sigma, Tamron) is recommendable if you need the gear to get your business off the ground and some shoots under your belt, but not if you’re aiming for the highest image quality possible.

I also use a Nikon SB-900 flash unit, and occasionally an off-camera SB-600 flash on a light stand, triggered by PocketWizards.

Additionally, I consider Adobe Lightroom and Adobe Photoshop CS4 to be as vital tools as the camera and lenses. Every photo that you will ever see of mine has been in some way touched by an Adobe program. They help my work become better, faster, and easier. I heart my little digital darkroom. If you already own a camera and a lens and are trying to decide between an image editing program and another piece of hardware equipment, I’d personally recommend Photoshop over anything else!

TIP: Can’t afford Photoshop? GIMP is a similar image editing program (albeit fewer advanced features) that you can download for free. I can’t say I’ve ever used it, but I hear about it often enough.

What’s that? Time for more furry widdle faces that I just wanna nom-nom-nom?? You got it!

Little Lolita

Peiler isn’t winking at me, he actually has a cold…poor fella (it is a funny face, though!)

This little baby hasn’t even got a name yet.

Jelly Bean was interested in a kitty toy. And yes, those are her long, lovely nails!!

Daisy

Carlita is such a doll, she likes to shyly high-five people.

Rudy got a summer haircut and couldn’t be more pleased (what a smiley face)!

Andrea is like my one-woman fanclub. I’ve known her since college, and if there is one person who heralds nothing but praise and admiration for what I do, it would be Andrea—she must be the hands-down the most supportive person I know. Zach is a lucky duck to have nabbed a gal like her…and he knows it!

Location: Weins Family Cellars (winery) in Temecula, California
Flowers: Allison Stevens of Magnolia Flower Shoppe
Additional photography by Matt (of course), and Temecula native Amy Boring.

Weins Winery on a BEAUTIFUL April afternoon…perfect for a wedding!

Amy got this lovely shot of Andrea’s dress

Andrea decided to put a sixpence in her shoe…because as the rhyme goes, “something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue…and a lucky sixpence in her shoe!” Did you know that?

Her “something old” was her grandmother’s handkerchief.

She also had her lucky gator!

I always get comments about how Andrea and I could be sisters, we look so much alike. All I can say, if I look half as drop-dead gorgeous as Andrea did on her wedding day, then I’d be thrilled!!

Zach lookin’ pretty spiffy, too! Image by Matt.

Zach’s father; Image by Amy.

MANLY

Zach and Andrea opted to do a ‘First Look’ before the ceremony and it was brilliant! Image by Matt.

Seeing each other in their wedding finery for the first time.

Ye gods, what a beautiful day to get married!

GOOFIES!

Couples who are down to have some fun in front of the lens are THE BEST!

Andrea in the Weins barrel room

HEY. (Image by Amy.)

CAKE SMASSSHHHHHHH!!!

Why do you need a second shooter? This is a shot Matt got of the observers of above cake-smashing! This is why it pays off to have two lenses in opposite directions at the same time

GIT DAAAOOOOWWWNNN

What the–?? I’ve seen loads of guys duck the garter, but girls ducking the bouquet? It must be a new century!

Andrea’s grandpa goes to funkytown with the ladiezzzz

I love this shot for some reason. It makes me feel like I’m right there.

Bringin’ sexy back? Yeaaaaah!

The artistic trio!

If you’re a photographer yourself, maybe you’d consider a film boutonniere for your own wedding/prom/special occasion?

More cool “floral” boutonniere designs found here. Thanks @bridalinquirer for the link via Twitter!

Katelyn came out from New Hampshire for her brother Zach’s wedding (that’s another blog!) and was eager to get her senior portraits taken while she wasn’t among the “pine trees and maple leaves” of the East Coast.  Katelyn is actually only 16, but wanted to take advantage of the Californian scenery; what she didn’t count on—what nobody in California counted on—was the massive heat wave that blew through here the week we shot her pictures.  Can you guess how hot it was by looking at the photos?

WHAT A HAM

When I commented to Katelyn that she could easily be a model, she replied that she was mistaken in the airport for an actress, though the person who stopped her couldn’t identify exactly who she reminded them of.

Have you guessed how hot it was?

Gotta get an orange shot for a non-Orange Countian!

It was 103, by the way. 103 sweltering degrees during this shoot. Katelyn was (obviously) cool as a cucumber the entire time, though. In fact, I think she was enjoying the warm Cali weather!