working in anguilla – pros and cons of destination events

so people are always asking about what it’s like shooting destination events.  most people don’t realize that photographing destination weddings are quite a bit of work.  first of all you’re traveling internationally with a ton of gear – in this case 5 camera bodies, 9 lenses, 2 supercharged laptops each weighing about a ton, 6 flashes, 2 tripods, lightstands, sandbags (empty), 2 power packs, a printer, tons of batteries, chargers, lights, weatherproof cases to carry it all, etc. etc.

then there’s international work permits (which require not only approval from the foreign government but in this case we also had to get certificates of good conduct from the NYPD which meant fingerprints, background checks, etc. etc. to prove we were good people (so in case you were wondering, we don’t have criminal records).

of course it’s true;  there is an upside…

our room…

the view out the back of our room…

how you kill time waiting for your subjects to show up…

great weather… although i did thoroughly dunk my $10,000 1DsMkIII and 70-200 lens into the damp sand moments after this shot was taken.

but it is work.

here Kim grabbed a shot of me taking 3 seconds to calculate how many more seconds before the sun broke through the clouds, how many stops I’ll have to open up to compensate for the backlight, how many minutes we have before the sun falls below the horizon, whether or not gen’s hair will blow in her face if I have her stand over there facing that way, and how wet we can let her dress get before it gets too droopy looking….

And of course, most importantly, how can i make sure that Gen and Steven are having a good time while we shoot because without that – everything else is for naught.

I also wanted to give a special thanks to Helen Richardson www.anguillaweddingplanner.com who made sure everything went smoothly for everyone. She was not only the driving force behind all of the wonderful events we attended in Anguilla, but she made a complex weeklong series of things to do and places to be effortless for everyone.  Thanks Helen!