It was blasted all over the news. A hurricane called Irene was bearing down on the east coast. One of the biggest storms to hit the east coast in history. Wow! Batten down the hatches and hunker down for this? Nah, I had an engagement session scheduled and if my clients, Diana and Bryan, were up for it so was I. We met at Nashoba Winery in Bolton, Massachusetts at about 1pm. By that time the bands of rain were on a 30-40 minute cycle. As I was driving the rain started, I arrived and the rain stopped. We quickly moved through the vineyard and shot some fun images. No sooner was I hitting my rhythm shooting the rain started again. We quickly moved to a dry location, waited a little bit, and headed out in a light drizzle. Yes, I do shoot in the rain. This is why I use professional weather sealed gear.

We came upon a set of apple trees and I had this idea to capture them underneath it. Though, I had to light them to get the clouds to show up in the image. I ran back to my little Smart car, picked a sunflower that was nearby, and grabbed my Cheetah stand with a 580ex fired by the Flex 5. I choose not to use ETTL and went with a manual setting. I find it’s easier after learning DOFE. I setup the flash, fired off a few test shots, and nailed it after 2 shots. Yup, I was pleased with the results and had to chimp a little to show the results. We shot some  more but, for me this image was THE image that portrayed their love to me.

Shooting an engagement session is a chance for the clients to get to know their photographer. It’s also a time for the photographer to create unique images and tickle the creative soul. What I learned from the shoot is to never give up come rain or hurricane. Clear the tablet, get to know your clients, and make an effort to create images that represent their love.

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INSPIRE Boston 2010 is halfway done and it’s been a great success from all accounts. This is the first ever INSPIRE Boston mini-conference for professional photographers! This retreat-format conference is hosted by the Boston Photographers Guild and Lens Pro to Go. Here’s some of the after hours fun and excitement that is brought out when the sun goes down. Tomorrow is the last day of the conference and the wrap up party will prove to be an amazing event. I can’t wait!!!

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3. Just signed up for Mystic 5 – Jan 3-5, 2010 – Mystic, Connecticut **Very limited availability, Sign up NOW!** I just signed up...

**Very limited availability, Sign up NOW!**

I just signed up for 3 days of fun at Mystic 5 (a smaller convention in the northeast for portrait and wedding photographers)  in Jan 2010! I can’t wait to see Jerry Ghionis, Joe McNally, David Williams, John Michael Cooper (Alt F), David and Quin Cheung, Tricoast, Andy Marcus, Greg Gibson, Michelle Turner, George Weir, Jason Groupp, Storey Wilkins, Andrew Funderburg, Jerome Braga, and the one, the only, the supah suacey Stacey Doyle!!!! Take a look at the schedule, it’s amazing!

I attended Mystic 4 earlier this year and I have to say that I was very impressed with the setup. I had heard about Mystic 4 from the local photographers and they raved about it. I guess I was a bit renascent from attending the bigger conventions but, honestly.. I was blown away. The venue was sweet, the layout of the seminar room was astounding, the speakers were way cool, and offered a plethora of information.

Additionally, the hotel staff were way cool. No bs for shooting indoors, serving myriads of drinks to the wee hours, and tolerating our late night social scene with much patience.

I’d highly recommend Mystic as a regular gathering for those local and from far away. Great job Walter! You really impressed me!

Here’s a taste of the Mytic 4 experience:

Walter van Dusen Mystic 4 extra footage from Vladimir Chaloupka on Vimeo.

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I saw this overview of the 5d Mark II on Canon’s Professional Network site today. It’s a great resource to understand the major improvements in the Canon 5 line.

My personal view is that the camera simply rocks!

Canon Professional Network – EOS 5D Mark II Masterclass:

EOS 5D Mark II Masterclass 15:38 David Newton examines the key features of this groundbreaking camera that shoots stills and full HD video.

EOS 5D Mark II – David Newton, CPN’s Technical Editor, explains the major features and technologies in this 21.1 megapixel full frame SLR.

Here’s the link to the page: EOS 5D Mark II Masterclass

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