Two weekends in a row I have had workshops… three counting next weekend in San Francisco. Wow… that’s some serious travel… Seattle, Bermuda, San Francisco. Sheesh, extreme distances…

Seattle was a blast, even though we had a small group. Lots of models and I am sure you have all seen the images on Flickr (lighting-essentials forum). Wow… lots of good shots.

Bermuda. What do I say about Bermuda? It is small… 26 square miles of island way the heck out in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean east of North Carolina. It is a tropical Island with colorful homes, businesses and some of the most wonderful people you will ever meet.

They drive too fast (posted speed limit is 35 and ain’t nobody doin’ less than 55) on scooters and bikes. They have the most amazing affinity for having fun and they paint their homes pink, yellow, blue and chartreuse. Seriously beautiful scenery even in the towns.

We visited St. Georges and I fell in love with that place. Old and quaint with colorful walls, doors, buildings and lots and lots of textures, it is simply a photographers paradise. We are going back to shoot there on Monday after the workshop.

Speaking of the workshop… we started the day at around 9 at Clearwater Beach. Guess why they call it Clearwater? Yep… you can see the bottom even way out in the water. After the warmup and the lighting tools talk we started putting some of what we had learned to use.

We had 4 models, great models, from Hamilton and they really brought all the enthusiasm to the workshop we could expect. Dynamos.

I captured this image of ‘Kita when she was working with her first team shoot. I don’t shoot very much during the workshops as it is mostly about the workshop attendees, not me. But occasionally I do catch a shot or two.

Here is one I grabbed of Oterro, our male model for the day.

And here is Oterro jumping in the sea. I gotta tell you, this guy is really a solid talent.

Here is a shot of one of the roads we took this morning. Cool.

Here are some shots I did of the workshop folks having fun and shooting their asses off at Clearwater Beach Nature Preserve.

Sunday went super well. That is to say, we did have a few model glitches. Seems that a fashion show came to town and used up some of the models that Ivan had for us, but it ended up that the few we had were so terrific as to be totally amazing.

We started at Fort Hamilton which is in the city of Hamilton… the main city in the Island. It overlooks the entire Bermuda area. Headshots were done in the old cannon turrets and the models were loving all the textures that they had to play with. We then set up some headshots in the location – blending the existing ambientm, sunlight and strobe for a very nice feel. This included a study in how the flash sync isn’t an absolute… it’s a choice.

Lunch was an incredible dish served in Bermuda. The tender herbs and spices blended together for a rich, rewarding chicken experience. Yep… they got KFC in Bermuda. Bermudians love KFC. LOL.

After lunch found us in a tunnel with ringflash, a grassy area where Otero was leaping with his sacrificial ceremonial really awesome for real sword. This guy jumped all day long. What a tremendous athlete. We ended the day with a blow out lighting excercise on the steps of the old fort. One ABR800 for a main light and 4 speedlights all around for kickers… this shot really rocked and I am so hoping that someone will post a few of these soon.

Thanks to all the Bermudians for their hospitality, warmth, enthusiasm and great fun. I will be coming back to see my new friends again. Hopefully soon.

Tomorrow is a personal day. Allison, Ivan and I are heading around Bermuda by boat to find some stuff to shoot. I didn’t shoot much at all during the workshops, but tomorrow… watch out… gonna fill more than a couple of cards.

Here are a few shots from today…

This was the last shot it turned out. We had Kita and Otero as Mayan lovers on the steps. Shot with a ringlight as main, and four speedlights all around the subjects to add interesting light and speculars, the shot was a favorite of everyone.

A few from the town today…

It’s Monday now.
Got up before dawn for a trip to the Island tip to try to catch sunrise.
Photos later today…
Look to the end of the Alison shots.

Alison and I just got in from shooting the sunset and she is running off for work. She left a few of the images she did over the workshop and I will share them with you here. I need to point out that these are simply processed images right out of Lightroom and have not been Pshopped in any way. Alison is a recent High School Grad in Bermudavand is heading off to Kent, UK, to study the law. Alison Begman’s images:

Single speedlight held by humanbooms and high over camera left.

Softbox with fill in sunlit Fort Hamilton, Bermuda.

Umbrella and portable studio strobe, Bermuda.

Speedlight and reflector and sun. Otero was quite a sport to do all we asked him to.

Single Speedlight and careful metering of the ambient.

Single speedlight, reflector and human boom.

Umbrella main light with no fill inside a dark gun turret wall. Additional speedlight for backlight.

Otero brought his ceremonial sword and Alison had him jumping till she hot her shot.

Otero with shirt flying. We helped a bit, but the shot is dynamic and fresh.

Michael Jones just sent one of his shots from the last setup of the day. Bright, bright sunny afternoon, so we made our own reality on some mythic looking stairs. There are a lot of lights in this shot. It took a while to set up. The models are hot and tired at this point, and yet… look at the emotion they brought to Michael’s shot.

Here are a few sunrise pics I got this morning. Loved the clouds.

And the seaweed made beautiful little patterns on the sand.