This time, Aaron and I went up to D.C. for Jen and Felder's wedding. They started at New York Ave Presbyterian Church, went to the Jefferson for some shots with the bridal party and finally to Heldref Publishing for the reception. How did they get between these locations? I'm glad you asked.

They rented a Hummer Limo as they had a very large bridal party (over 10 people). As we were finishing up at the Jefferson Aaron asked if there was enough room in the limo for me to tag along while Aaron drove his car to . I'm sure Aaron would have preferred to be the one getting in the limo but since we had taken his car and I can't drive stick, Aaron didn't want me blowing out the new clutch he had just had repaired. So I jumped into the limo and into a world of pain. Not in terms of the bride and groom, they were great. I mean in terms of getting a good shot in the limo.

I asked the driver whether my flash would bother him and he said he would just put up the privacy divider. I was the last one in and despite it being a mammoth hummer limo, there wasn't much in the way of moving around. I didn't want to be one of those wedding photographers who tramples guests all in the name of getting shots (also since I was the assistant) so I stuck mostly to my seat.

The limo was dark but I figured the reflective roofing in the limo would bounce my flash nicely.

Wrong. The best shutterspeed I was getting was maybe 1/30th of a second and while Joe McNally might be able to handhold that, I can't while being jostled around driving through the streets of D.C.

Fortunately, I did manage to get a few good pictures from the experience. This is my favorite:

Now if you should film, god bless you. Personally I think that's quite quaint and it would drive me up the wall to wait to find out if I had a made a good exposure but if it floats your boat fine. Different strokes for different folks and all that.

However, I really dislike that now if you shoot film, your photography is automatically considered edgy and artistic because you're using that medium. Not out of focus, noisy and poorly composed as it would be if the shot was done in digital. No, because you bathed your celluid in a chemical solution it is the awesome.

Not bitter, just saying. Just because you exposed it on film, doesn't make you Henri Cartier Bresson.

Strobist Boot Camp II

Better brush off your speedlight and charge those NiMH because it's Strobist Boot Camp II time. I didn't participate in the first Strobist Boot Camp since I had just stumbled upon David Hobby's site when it was starting up. Didn't even own a speedlight at that time either.

Since then I have obtained a speedlight (580EXII) as well as other lighting accoutrement, went to a Strobist seminar in NYC and practiced more than anything else. So I'm ready for Boot Camp II and eagerly anticipating the first assignment. I'll post and talk about my progress here.

When you get your first dSLR, a tip many experienced photographers will give you will be this: "Get out of the automatic modes and put it in manual."

Meaning, those modes with the icon's of a persons head, a mountain and someone running are for people who use point and shoots. You just graduated to a dSLR so you should take advantage of it. It's good advice and I recommend it as well.

Experienced photographers also use this as a test. If you say "I shoot in Automatic.", they'll smile and then scoff at you behind your back. It's nothing personal, they just think you're a fool for wasting your time.

For most, it's manual or nothing. Aperture and Shutter priority don't even exist. Even those are too automatic for them. But there I disagree. I shot in manual for awhile but now I prefer AP simply because it saves me a lot of time and I'm really doing the same thing as I would in manual anyway.

Answer me this. You're in manual, you set your aperture, then you change your shutterspeed till as Bryan Peterson says your camera's lightmeter tells you it's a "correct exposure". How much difference was that then shooting in AP, choosing the same aperture and just letting the camera change the shutterspeed? More than likely, you will choose the shutterspeed that the camera would have.

Of course, if you want to be creative or there is a need, you can jump to manual and adjust the shutterspeed if you don't like what AP is giving you. But I'd bet 90% of the time, we're trying to get a "correct exposure" and the values for a "correct exposure" are the same in manual as they are in AP or TV.

Now someone could jump in and say well how is that different then the automatic modes you dismissed earlier? Simple. I actually chose the aperture or shutterspeed I wanted. While I used the camera's brain for the final leg, my brain was the starting point and that makes the difference.

Photographers like to be cocky and boast that they use manual. But a real photographer knows it's about getting the shot. If you're shooting a sporting event or a wedding, that moment is not going to wait around for you to get your manual settings straight.

Kyle and Nicole's wedding took place at Maymont in Richmond which was an unknown gem to me. Aaron Spicer let me tag along on this wedding and it turned out to be a lot of fun. Maymont is a beautiful venue to have a wedding and Kyle and Nicole's love for each other only added to the beauty of the scene. Their wedding was fun and relaxed with just the right amount of luck thrown in with the weather holding the rain back for just enough time to do an outdoor ceremony. Best wishes to Kyle and Nicole.