So this July we had the pleasure of traveling to St. Barthelemy, in the French West Indies, for an intimate Caribbean wedding at Le Sereno. We last left off with Julie and Steven a month ago at their Cambridge City Hall civil ceremony. Our travels with them took us to the absolutely breathtaking island of St. Barths! This is NOT your typical Caribbean island. Just different. An all French island, including the culture, cuisine, locals, tourists, infrastructure, etc.. just so unique from what I have experienced before in the Caribbean.

The day before the wedding we checked out the resort to get a good feeling of where we would ideally photograph the bride and groom. An obvious but important step for any photographer working in an unfamiliar venue. Also, shooting with Julie a month prior I learned of her modest shyness in front of the camera. I then knew that come wedding day, these nerves would surely be heightened. But let’s face it, 99% of us out there are not Hollywood camera ready. So as a photographer you need to be prepared, ready for the unexpected, and most of all, Quick, and this day was no exception. We had budgeted an hour and a half to shoot with Julie and Steve prior to their ceremony, but like any well respected wedding, as I looked at my watch, our time to shoot dwindled down to 30 minutes. Hey, you gotta roll with the punches.

And so away we went. I knew the exact places to go, quick angles to shoot etc. ahead of time. And true to my style I offered up very little direction even with the short timeframe we had now been allotted. I don’t like to force pictures, my goal is to capture the bride and grooms personality as it unfolds in front of me. And in a really short amount of time I was happy to walk away with these shots given the circumstances. Here are some of my favorites from our 30 minute shoot.

The Details:

Venue: Le Sereno
Gown: Vera Wang
Shoes: Badgely Mischka & J Crew
Suit: Hugo Boss

I must mention this resort, Le Sereno, truly had 5 star service like I have never seen before. Anywhere! Not only were each guest treated like they owned the resort, but the same treatment was provided to Maria and I. Really fantastic and made my day of shooting there that much more spectacular.

The Full Day of Pictures:

Two key elements lent a hand to the success of todays shoot. Fantastic professional makeup by Dani Wagener (Best of Boston 2007 & 2008) and my trusty assistant, and lovely wife :-) Maria. Dani did an incredible job and Robin simply raved about working with her today! But having an on-site stylist is so clutch as well. Maria constantly adjusts hair and clothing, makes suggestions, and adds such a helping hand that I am nearly composing and watching my exposures.

Today’s photos were shot with the Canon 100mm f/2.0 lens and my Canon 5DII. I used a gold reflector to add some fill light but No artficial lighting was used for this shoot.

If you are in need of new or updated headshots, please contact Maria at Maria@BrianPhillipsPhoto.com and/or simply fill out our contact page on this blog. Photoshoots are done on location as well in our home studio. Studio shots are photographed side by side with a monitor so we can see exactly what we are getting as it is photographed.

Makeup: Dani Wagener

Maybe you will be a prospective or occasional fan roped into signing up because another friend on Facebook told you to (really, that’s OK with us). Or maybe a hard and true fan, someone that already knows us, most likely worked with us in the past, and wants to stay on top of our current studio news: from blog posts that go live to what fun people and places we are photographing these days. And of course you might be (or soon be) a Super Fan. We have a bunch of these fans already and encourage this choice of course.

Regardless, we are welcoming you and everyone to our Facebook Fan Page and encourage you to be interactive with us. Have a photography question, ASK! Are you a casual shooter? A following professional? Maybe a new parent? Reach out, say hello, and and don’t hesitate to throw me crazy mind twisting questions. We have a wealth of knowledge and are happy to share. From photography tips and tricks to questions about running a small business. Want to know what kind of camera I think you should buy, become a fan. What photo lab do I use, what type of lens did I choose for a certain image I shot, who designed my website, you name it, we are here to help.

So simply click HERE or on the image below to get to our fanpage. We look forward to seeing you there!

Below are just a few pics with my Nikon Coolpix point & shoot camera that I had to share. Isn’t the one of Santa just classic Florida? It was actually odd being in Florida just a few weeks prior to Christmas as the holiday music in stores and decorations on peoples houses and businesses was over the top. I guess they are just over-compensating. FYI…There was no color correction at all in the photos below, just a contrast adjustment…honestly!

So after a guest at a wedding this past weekend asked me about how my flash recycled so quickly and in such a dark room,  I decided to give a quick plug  about PowerEx batteries from the Maha Energy Corporation.  I have been using them since 2004 and they just rock.  One set of 4 AA batteries in my Canon 580EXII flash can easily last a wedding reception on top of my camera without having to change.  And the recycle time is fast, super fast!  These are ultra high capacity batteries and have no memory so you can charge them anytime.   

I own 8 sets of 2700 mAh rechargeable batteries, and this easily gets me thru a weekend with two weddings.  I also have the 8 cell 1 hour charger.  Charger is about $85 and a 4 pack of batteries is $16.  But spend a few hundred dollars now and have these batteries for the next 2 or 3 years.   I also use my older batteries from 2004 in household gadgets like TV remotes or cordless Mice. 

Check out their website at www.MahaEnergy.com

2700mAh NiMH rechargeable batteries
8 cell 1-hour charger
4 cell charger

Production Notes: While I shot these photos with my Canon 5D Mark II, this is 100% from the still clips as I did not use the HD video mode. About 75 percent of this engagement shoots photographs are are in this video. The custom music is from www.Neosounds.com.

Obviously a fun “loving” couple, they met overseas in New Zealand while Kaitlin studied abroad there. Kaitlin & Chris are getting married this July at the Seaport Hotel on the South Boston Waterfront, and we can’t wait to actually photograph their big day! Now is the pressure on to put together another video of sorts :-) ???