Guest blog Brendan Stewart : Weddings ? yes Weddings….

In our series guestbloggers today it’s time for a very dear friend of ours, Brendan Stewert.
A time ago Brendan approached me if I would be interested in doing a workshop in the Boston area and we started a very nice mail conversation and I think we hit it off right away. He visited the Netherlands for a 1:1 workshop and a nice diner (:D) and during that time we decided it was probably wise to move the workshops to New York which became a huge succes.
We never lost contact after the workshops and we are now planning some workshops in the Boston area in 2011 in his brand new (awesome) studio complex.
For me Brendan has an unique look to what he does and is without a doubt a photographer worth following, and now before I’m taking to much blog space myself, here he is Ladies and Gentleman… (always wanted to say that) Brendan Stewart :

Frank Doorhof’s blog.

Where does one start? Well first I must thank Frank of course. I had the pleasure of meeting Frank, his wife and son at his home studio in Emmeloord, The Netherlands and we had a great couple of days at the studio. When you first meet Frank, he’s a rather imposing fellow, but his soft character and demeanor is very inviting and relaxing.

I had the luxury of spending time there learning about light. Of course in these internet days, you think you know a lot about something just because you read a lot of articles about it. I’m certainly guilty of being the faux resident internet expert on a few things, when in reality you meet the true expert and you are then humbled.

Frank was that expert to me. I learn by seeing and doing. I don’t learn as quickly by simply reading. So I came to Frank’s studio in the hopes that by seeing and executing his methods, I’d take away quite a bit of useful real-world information. And as a true testament to his teaching – I walked away with a lot. Emmeloord is less than an hour away from Amsterdam proper, and after I spent my final hour with Frank, I went back to my hotel room, with all sorts of ideas popping in my head. I started to write some things down – fearful that I’d forget something by the time I got back home to Boston.

When I did get home I immediately started to write out a plan for action. You see, I’m a bit different than the usual demographic that frequents Frank’s blog and work. I’m a Wedding Photographer. Yes, you heard right. Those two dirty words – WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER. What the hell am I doing with Frank learning about light? I should be out using speedlights and little Photoflex Litedome’s right?

When I first saw Frank’s work, like many, I was immediately inspired. His usage and control of light was outstanding. And I thought to myself, if I can bring this to weddings – I’d be able to make some great photos. It sounded great in theory at least. As any wedding photographer can tell you, it’s a really tough job. Time constraints, anxious mother-in-law’s telling you how to do your job, uncles wanting to talk about gear not realizing that you are indeed working…. It’s a very stressful situation. And many folks burn out in just a year or two.

Anyhow, in practice, I suddenly saw a lot of my ideas immediately go out the window – what bride is going to wait for you to setup your lights and set the power and match your shutter and aperture to proper ambient balance? I’ll tell you the answer right now – NONE. Weddings are typically on too tight of a schedule and I was relegated to simply hoping I can pop off a handful with an assistant. And so far that wish has been coming true. Sometimes when we have flat spots in a wedding (Where nothing is really going on) , I’ll have the light setup and ready to go in the car, I’ll grab it, get my setting right and ask a bride and groom to come over for a fantastic shot I have in my head. And this typically works quite well.

This shot here was during a reception during the dancing, when nothing too exciting was going on, the bride and groom weren’t huge dancers, so it was easy to whisk them away for a couple of shots:

This was a simple shot using the Elinchrom Quadra on a pole with the Deep Octa to camera left.

This next shot here was a gamble. Unlike many glamor photographers, we don’t often shoot into the sun. We were lucky in that it paid off quite well and added a little flair to the photo:

This was also with the Elinchrom Quadra and Deep Octa on a pole camera left.

We always scout our locations before the wedding begins and in doing so, I always keep a mental note of places I may want to use light. Our car with the Deep Octa is never too far away at any given moment. Sometimes we’ll be lucky to get brides that want to devote time before their ceremony that simply want beautiful bridal shots of themselves. We love this, it gives us the opportunity to really shine in our creative skills and that usually means I’ll bring the Deep Octa or maybe even the Maxilite out with me.

Here are a few examples of brides that I was able to take our time with:

All shot with the Elinchrom Deep Octa and Quadra.

Sometimes those rare instances appear when I have lots of waiting time and I have time to setup more exotic gear, such as the Elinchrom EL Octa and Ringflash with Hensel Standard reflector:

This shot is taken with the Elinchrom Ringflash and Hensel Standard reflector with grid.

These two are groups, setup with the large Elinchrom EL Octa running off a Ranger pack.


This was with a Maxilite hidden away (Thank you Photoshop 🙂 )

I hope everyone is still with me. 🙂

And lastly the money shots:


Top is Deep Octa/Quadra and bottom is Maxilite and Ranger RX AS at FULL POWER!

So if you are still with me, you may be asking….. where am I going with all of this?

Well firstly, I’m hoping to inspire some wedding photographers out there the way I’m constantly inspired by so many to use more creative lighting. And secondly, I’m hoping to bring some awareness to the glamor folks and those hoping to work as a fashion and glamour photographer one day that shooting weddings is a great way to see if you can handle the business of real art directors and creative managers. One day I was talking with Art Streiber in New York and he didn’t know I shot weddings, and he says to me, (and I’m paraphrasing) – ”you know I shot a wedding for a friend and I realized that it’s the perfect training for editorial/glamor and fashion photographers who are overshadowed by creative director types. Having a family huffing and puffing down your neck and the time constraints are just as bad if not worse than working most of my jobs.” And I knew he meant it.

Timelines are very difficult in weddings and simply pulling people away for your artistic shots isn’t realistic. You will need an assistant and great knowledge of your system to get things quickly and efficiently. So far my weapon of choice, when it’s not full blast sun outside, is the Elinchrom Quadra. It’s so light for me or any assistant/girlfriend/Emo guy to carry. Instead of dreading taking gear out, I look forward to it with the Quadra, because it folds up so compact and at 400w/s – it’s a great choice for wedding photographers as you’ll rarely find yourself in a position that you can’t power through.

I’ve been very blessed to be quite successful here in my hometown of Boston, Massachusetts. Our style is very much in demand and we are happy when our customers are happy. Oftentimes, a client will see our lighting gear and roll their eyes and these are my favorite type of clients – because after I show them the results, they sit there dumbfounded and in awe of how dramatic artificial lighting can be when used properly.

Now with that said, no photographer could be worth their weight in salt if you couldn’t balance that knowledge with some fun ambient lit shots as well. We try to deliver a healthy blend of both flash and ambient when available. I’ll leave my posting with some of our favorite ambient lit shots for your (hopeful) enjoyment!

Before i go, I just wanted to say thanks again to Frank for letting me blog on his wonderful site that regularly delivers tidbits and tips on lighting every week. He’s one of the hardest working people I know.

Enjoy!