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I’m about to cross over into Cambodia from Thailand, so I’ll be short on words, but here are a few images from Onnie and Mike’s engagement shoot a couple weeks back :D

Bobby

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RJ and Kelli… What an awesome couple. RJ emailed me a while back about his 10th anniversary with his wife Kelli. RJ’s an avid photographer who’s been reading the blog for a while — so when he and Kelly flew out to celebrate 10 years of marriage together out in San Diego (vacationing from a much colder Michigan :), RJ decided to surprise Kelli with a portrait session. I’m so glad he did. Lindsay came along (woohoo!), as we got a sitter for Clive, so it actually felt a lot more like a double date than a shoot!

The photos where these two love birds are staring into the ocean? That wasn’t me directing them to stare off into the sunset just in case they eventually needed an album cover on the off chance that they form a family band… There was a pod of dolphins right in front of us in the shallows! This made for a fun 10 minutes of me shooting the two of them just enjoying the San Diego sunset — with the horizon lined with a few boats and plenty of dolphins. Couldn’t have asked for a sweeter ending for these two.

RJ and Kelli, it was so much fun hanging out with you guys! Can’t wait until Lindsay and I can join you in the 10 year club!!!

Bobby

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So Matt and Courtney have taken part in the full Bobby Earle experience :) I met Matt at a workshop I was speaking at. He then booked him and his girlfriend on my RPTE to Thailand/Cambodia in 2010. Then about 8 months later I shot their wedding at the Smog Shoppe in Los Angeles (one of my favorite weddings ever — definitely worth a look see ;). Unless they hire me to practice Chopin on their living room piano, they’ve exhausted all that I can offer them :P

Anyways, while we were out in Thailand and Cambodia, we grabbed a few shots here and there of the two of them. Hope you like them!

The image on the right actually took place during the Kanchanaburi, Thailand leg of our trip ;)

In Cambodia, you’re the odd one that the monks take pictures of :P

To see Matt and Courtney’s Smog Shoppe wedding, click here :)

Bobby

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Click here to see tilt shift lens tips for wedding photography, part one. Below is part two ;)

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6. Tidying up a cluttered scene. Due to the ability to play a role in the focus of the image, with tilt-shift lenses one can choose to make what might otherwise look like clutter (and steal attention from the focus) instead look like a pleasing part of the story.

Shot at Barry and Yulia’s wedding at the Hotel Del Coronado with the 45 tilt.

This is one of my favorite tilt-shift images (of my own — not in general ;). There’s so much happening — and if I had shot it with the 50L, I believe it might have been a bit too busy. But tilting it enough sort of swirls the busyness into a pleasing part of the image. Instead of the busyness stealing attention from the focal point, it plays a supporting role — showing passersby, people enjoying their day at the beach, and some who had to stop and watch two people become man and wife.

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7. For simple, pleasing to the eye portraits. I’m often asked what lens is better — the 45 tilt or the 24 tilt. They’re too different for me to even think in those terms. But one of the ways I differentiate between the two is portraits. For tighter, closer portraits, the 24 tilt is practically useless. The 45 tilt, however, shines as one of my favorites, in this regard.

Shot at Daniel and Lara’s wedding at their house in Del Mar with the 45 tilt.

Until I got the 45 tilt, I rarely took individual portraits vertically. Now with the 45 tilt, I take them all the time. There’s something about the look of portraits when done this way that I personally love.

Shot Kelly in downtown San Diego with the 45 tilt.

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8. Targeting an emotional moment. One of the things that tilt-shift lenses do best is highlighting emotional moments. It can draw your eyes right to the strength of the image.

Shot at Daniel and Michelle’s Morgan Run Resort wedding with the 24 tilt.

Shot at LeAnna and Mark’s Nashville couple shoot with the 45 tilt.

Shot at Ryan and Megan’s Old Richland Schoolhouse wedding with the 45 tilt.

Shot at Meghan and Sebastian’s beach wedding in Del Mar on the 24 tilt.

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9. Sometimes you want parts of the image in focus that are in both the background and the foreground. With other lenses, you’d be force to shoot at f/18. But often times, this isn’t a preferable aperture. Well, in bending the focal plane, you can have things in the foreground and in the background in focus — while not having everything else in focus.

Shot at Astami and Chan’s Bali wedding with the 24 tilt.

Chan and Astami had these awesome Balinese lanterns at their wedding and I was able to highlight both the lanterns and the couple in this image because of my 24 tilt.

Shot at Shelby and Steven’s Beijing shoot with the 45 tilt.

In the above image, we were out on the streets of Beijing. These two have lived in Beijing for many years and wanted China to be included in their shoot. So when people walked by them as they were sharing some PDA, since I can bend the focal plane with my 45 tilt, I was able to get what I wanted in focus (Shelby, Steven, the guy on the bench, and the lady walking by) and keep the rest out of focus.

Shot at Terry and Jen’s wedding at the Darlington House in La Jolla with the 24 tilt.

It sounds unimportant, but I like the fact that the window frame in which I’m peeking through is in focus as is the couple. The wedding venue is an old, historical house and I felt this would go along with better telling that part of the wedding story.

Shot at Astami and Chan’s Bali wedding with the 24 tilt.

Same for the above image. I wanted to couple and the hanging lanterns in focus — without the entire image being in focus, of course.

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10. Go green. It’s the latest crazy, right? But in all seriousness, I absolutely love the way that the tops of trees move out of focus with tilt-shift lenses. So if ever there are trees around, I tilt away.

Shot at Chris and Monique’s La Habra wedding on the 45 tilt.

The above image is a perfect example of the tilt-shift trinity. A tilt-shift lens, trees, and sunlight peeking through. Those three things combined are magical, imo.

Shot at Daniel and Michelle’s Morgan Run Resort wedding with the 24 tilt.

Michelle and Daniel hired an awesome Woody for their wedding day. Throw it in with some huge, backlit tree and I’m a happy camper :)

Shot at Amy and Ian’s day after session at the Pechanga reservation using the 45 tilt.

Same again. The tilt-shift trinity. Tree + sun peeking through + tilting = me likey.

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That’s it! If there’s enough people to push me to do another in the comments, I could probably get a travel/landscape tips post for tilt, as well. Let me know ;)

Bobby

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LeAnna is SUCH a sweet girl, a long time blog reader, and an awesome photographer! We’ve actually nearly shot her and her husband on a couple of occasions while out in Nashville — but it never seemed to pan out in the details :) Anyways, shooting for fellow photographers is always a bit more challenging (as you know that these people will REALLY know if you screw it up :P), but people like LeAnna and Mark just make it so fun for me.

We shot these at Percy Warner park in Nashville — man I wish we had places like this in San Diego! Heck, maybe we do and I’m just not aware of them? Either way, what an awesome place to shoot at…

Bobby

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