Washington DC Wedding Photographer. Destination Wedding Photographer. Commercial Photographer. Armin DeFiesta. » CHILDREN & FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHY

Recent Photography Work | Lifestyle

Armin — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 04:00:56 +0000

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Despite the 100 degree heat and humidity I had a great time shooting these photos for Jennifer and her family. My Canon 580EXII flashes were just no match for the strong hot sun and clear sky, so the big lights came out – one White Lightning X3200 and one White Lightning X1600. I can still use flashes when I’m doing more close-up work. But since I knew I’d be shooting larger things like a truck and a motorcycle, I needed all the juice I could get! The X3200 would be my main light blasting 1320 watt seconds of power (at full power), while the X1600 (660 watt seconds) provided catch. I was having issues with my large softbox so I resorted to the big 60″ umbrella to shoot through and soften the light. I also used two flashes on one light stand as needed.

I was a total sweaty mess after two hours but I’m pleased with my results.

: Here’s a mobile phone pic I took of my lights at the beach – a White Lightning X3200 shooting through a 60″ umbrella at full power (I prefer a soft box but was having issues with mine), a Vagabond Battery for power (thanks Peter!), and two flashes at 1/2 power on one light stand for catch. One of the flashes had CTO gel on it.

: I used my Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS telephoto lens with a circular polarizer filter attached. The filter helps reduce some of the reflections you might get from the water.

: I only had 5 minutes to get these done because it was awfully hot. Mom knew what to do, but the girls just kept looking at dad though =)

: I always love working with Brooke, she just loves to be in front of the camera.

: I saw this old neglected truck on the way to the beach. You just never know what you’ll get sometimes!

: Hot girl, hot bike… what else is there to say?

: A little gritty post-processing

: Harley Davidson Heritage

: Every once in a while B&W finds its way into my work.

SUNFLOWER PHOTOS | DC PHOTOGRAPHER

Armin — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 04:05:25 +0000

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I’m slowly catching up on blogging more of my work, I’m so behind! Over the weekend I did a photo shoot for Melinda in a sunflower field in western Montgomery County, MD just outside DC near the Potomac River at McKee-Beshers Wildlife Management Area. Despite the 90+ degree heat, bees, and other critters everywhere, we had a good shoot.

An iPhone photo of the field.

I used my Westcott Apollo 28

softbox with two Canon Speedlite 580EX II Flashes inside. The softbox is not made for two flashes but there are several ways to mount two or more on a light stand to increase the amount of light output, especially on a bright sunny day when this photo shoot took place. I purposely chose to shoot on a day when the sun was high and the sky was clear so the sun could provide some rim light, while the soft box would be my main light. Even with two flashes and slightly underexposing the background and ambient light, I still had to keep the main light about 3 to 4 feet close to my subject in order to achieve the right amount of coverage.

Ideally, using more powerful strobes with portable power would be the way I’d go, much like I did on a motorcycle shoot. The downside would be weight and size for some of this gear. Here’s a list of some that I’m looking into:

Elinchrom Ranger Quadra (starting around $2300 it’s probably the most portable on the list)
Profoto 900795 Acute2R 1200 (a strong but pricey kit getting close to $3500 or more)
Alien Bees 1600 (Black) (affordable around $360, then add around $300 for their Vagabond portable battery power system. I would likely buy two or three of these so I can have main light, key light, rim light, etc.)
White Lightning 3200 (another affordable and powerful strobe for around $550, then add the Vagabond battery for another $300. Again I’d likely buy two or more)

There are a lot more options out there to look at, and many are more expensive than what I listed. If any photographers out there are considering these strobes listed don’t forget to budget for the variety of accessories to complete your system, including light modifiers (e.g. softboxes, umbrellas), radio/remote triggers, carrying cases, and additional power supplies. Of course, one other way to go is the Strobist route and buy more flashes. For example, I would guess that three Canon 580EX II’s would be the rough equivalent to the power of one Alien Bee 1600 light (just a guess, I could be a little off). While not necessarily less expensive, the advantage of a Speedlite system is having a lightweight portable system. Not to mention the added dimensions of creativity with multiple lighting configurations.

My goal was to balance my lights with ambient light. The high sun brought out the vibrance in the sunflowers (hence why I wanted to shoot in this light) and I wanted to capture that contrast and detail so I underexposed it slightly, probably about 1/2 stop down. The exposure settings remained fairly consistent for all the photos at 1/200, f/16, ISO 200. One flash was set to full power (w/battery pack), the other was set to 1/2 power (no batt pack). If you set flashes at full power you sacrifice recycle time, meaning you'll have to wait a few seconds or more before your flash is ready for the next shot. Since time was mostly on my side, I didn't mind going full power with a battery pack attached. Both flashes were inside the Westcott 28 Apollo softbox.

The exposures out of the camera were great and pretty much look very close to what you see now. But a little contrast and color temperature adjustments gave it the look I wanted.

Overall I was very pleased with the results. I'm glad I got out to this field before the sunflowers wilt away.

As most professional photographers know the softbox diffuses the light (or softens it) so your subject is evenly lit. The Westcott Apollo 28" softbox is so easy to set up since it's basically like an umbrella light modifier, except it's a softbox. Some of the great things about it are affordability, ease of use, easy to set up and start shooting. Some of the not-so-great things are that it's somewhat fragile (two of the rods bent easily after taking a somewhat gentle fall, but it was easy to push it back into shape), accessing your flashes require lifting the diffuser out of the way, and the position of the zippered light stand access makes it difficult for tilting it downwards. Despite its limitations the convenience of this softbox makes it worth every penny.Image by www.fjwestcott.com.

Jordan and her cousin were with me too because they really wanted to check out the sunflowers. Naturally I got a photo of them together.

Of course I wanted to take advantage of the setting and photograph my lovely assistant and wife Denise.

Naturally Jackson made it into a photo.

Jackson Update

Armin — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 03:34:16 +0000

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Unless you follow me on Facebook, it may have been a while since I posted a photo of our youngest, Jackson. Here is he with his momma

Photographers: No processing or "Photoshop/Lightroom fairy dust" was used for this photo, just lighting. Westcott Apollo 28 softbox from camera right, about 3-4 feet away, with two Canon 580EXII flashes inside, both 1/2 power – 1/200 sec, aperture f/16, ISO 200.

Photo Shoot With Friends and Family | DC Family Photographer

Armin — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 14:13:36 +0000

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I met Boston, MA couple Bill & Maria almost 2 years ago when they asked me to shoot their wedding. We kept in touch and finally got together again for a fun, laid back photo shoot. Even Maria’s dad brought his Canon SLR so he could photograph his grandson Alex. It was a very, very dreary and rainy day in the DC area but we managed to sneak in some shots during a break in the rain. I decided to break out some lighting gear to enhance the color and depth on this otherwise flat, gray day. I kept the lighting gear to a minimum since I knew we’d be dodging raindrops and running around with a 1 year old – light stick with a Canon 580ExII and light modifier attached. My Boda V3 lens bag served me well as always. Here are some of my favorites.

Newborn Photo Shoot

Armin — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 23:36:53 +0000

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I recently had the pleasure of working with a past wedding client and their beautiful newborn son in Philadelphia. It was wonderful to visit them and take a few photos of their new baby boy.

The Whittingtons Spring Photo Shoot | DC Family Lifestyle Photographer

Armin — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 12:00:15 +0000

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It was a fun photo shoot with the Whittington kids in Annapolis, MD! These two are ready for anything and their energy came through so easily in the photos. I hope to photograph them again soon. Here are a few of my favorites…

Family Spring Photo Shoot | DC Family and Lifestyle Photographer

Armin — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 12:00:29 +0000

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Despite the chilly early morning in Old Town Alexandria I was able to capture some sweet moments. It was the greatest pleasure to work with such wonderful people. I look forward to seeing them again soon at one of my fall weddings where their oldest boy here will be the ring bearer!

Enjoy a few from their photo shoot…

More Jackson… and Jordan and Nate Too | DC Photographer

Armin — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 23:48:38 +0000

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Of course this father is all over photographing his newborn! … and Jordan too! Jackson is 8 days old in these photos.

Our Son Jackson | DC Newborn Photographer

Armin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 01:19:01 +0000

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Introducing our latest addition to the family, Jackson Reid DeFiesta, born March 2 at 2:04pm at 6.9 pounds, 22 inches long. He’s an amazing miracle! This birth was also much easier for Denise compared to Jordan. We were in at 9am, started pushing around 1:45pm, and Jackson was born 20 minutes later.

: I love how he’s looking at his mom =)

: Poor little guy started scratching his face up. Don’t worry, we filed his nails down since!

My Ladies | DC Photographer

Armin — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 01:27:47 +0000

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It’s been too long since I posted a few personal and family photos! And in case you didn’t know, Denise is due March 8 with our baby boy! These impromptu photos were shot in dark conditions using only available window light. ISO settings were at H1 (12,800) on my Canon 5D Mark II, hence the noise/grain. Shutter speed ranged from 1/30th to 1/60th of a second, aperture was f/3.5. I also used a PhotoFlex MultiDisc Reflector 5-n-1 Kit 32

: My beautiful wife!

: Denise & Jordan… Jordan’s excited about her new baby brother coming next month! In this image I was holding a 32″ reflector with my left hand to bounce some of that window light onto them.

: My ladies!