It is so important to get expressions like this one during a wedding ceremony. My favorite lens for a ceremony is my Canon 28-300 L lens. You can move so fast from situation to situation and get close like in this image without disturbing the moment. Light, technique,and style is all important, but a great EXPRESSION is the difference maker, a must in a truly great portrait whatever mood it is.

I was in a wonderful home on the river in Idaho photographing the wedding cake, when this beautiful flower girl came into the room. I was at that moment using a tripod, long exposure and natural light. Wanting to get a great picture of the girl and use the room as a background I decided to have her lean on a wall by the entry way to create some distance so I could blur out my background a bit. All I was missing there was really good light! It was solved in a snap by opening the entry door and there it all came together. I love warm tones in people photography and so do most clients.

When I first have a set up working I like to try to create many compositions and styles, if possible, with smal changes. See how just a little tilt on the camera and conversion to B/W make this a whole different image. I don't say better or worse, but 2 different styles in seconds, both working well. Trinidad was a blast, Kenneth

This is the front and back page of a swimsuit catalog I photographed in Maui last January. I just looked at the file and thought wooow what different perspectives different lenses give you! The one to the left is shot on a Canon 5D (full frame) with a 17-45mm at 17mm, the one to the right on a Canon 1d Mark II (1.3 conversion) with a 50mm 1.4. This is a great lens to get a telephoto feeling with when it's dark if it is used right. Lighting on the right image: one tungsten spotlight.

While in a "desert" in northern Denmark years ago I was just ready to photograph this Norwegian bass player on my 50mm when some people walked into my shot way in the back. I was shooting Polapan B/W slide film so I wasn't thinking Photoshop. My solution was to change to 20mm and move in close to hide the people in the back. I really like the perspective it gave the shot and it also brought in more of the great "desert". This is a technique I still use in stressed situations today. My philosophy is to try to fix it all in camera and not think SO MUCH what can be done afterwards!