Life Thru the Macro: The Wind and the 'BAM'...

My first introduction to using a 'reflector' was on our engagement shoot 3 years ago with Nate's Mom who ALSO happens to be an amazing photographer. It was a cold and cloudy day in February and we were on the beach in NH. In our family, this so-called 'reflector' had been christened with the name 'BAM' because of how it POPS wide open every time you take it out of its case. Nate's Dad was acting as 'assistant' that day and had us ROLLING with laughter at his antics with 'the bam', making it nearly impossible to get a good picture of us since we were cackling and guffawing so unabashedly, as featured here:

This past week, Nate and I spent some time in Aruba photographing the wedding of our dear friends, Nicole and Faruk. I found the situations similar [on the beach, windy, cloudy with tricky lighting] and yet reversed since THIS TIME I was the one with 'the BAM'. We were under a ridiculous time crunch, racing the sun before it set and so Nate was having me use the diffusor to get some images with the flash. Let me remind you, we were on the beach, and the wind was totally taking advantage of me as I tried to maneuver the flash and my 'sail' [a.k.a. the BAM]. Nate kept having to remind me to 'reposition', and 'hold my arms higher... and higher' and 'hold it steady' and 'keep the flash straight', and EVEN 'let's try pointing it at the couple'. My realization is that I need to work out my triceps.... and biceps... and shoulders... and probably my forearms as well. Perhaps I simply need to practice my ENTIRE Statue of Liberty pose; that should get me conditioned for the next 'windy' event.

*Stay tuned: Nate will be posting the rest of his amazing images about this amazing couple and location very soon. After viewing his post, you just might find yourself singing: "Aruba, Jamaica... oooohhh, I want to take ya!"