I know, I’ve been talking about “the shot” that I took a few weeks back. But I’ve been very busy and I’m now getting some time to talk about it. I also wanted to have it shown for the first time publicly at our new space, the Candy Factory, in downtown Lancaster. Basically, my wife Melissa, owner of Stylish Occasions, put together an awesome faux wedding photo session at the Cork Factory Hotel in Lancaster, PA.

I found out about a week before the shoot that Amy, our “bride” for the day, was the owner and teacher of Premiere Danse studio. So, after thinking about what I could do with that info, I drew a little thumbnail of something that popped into my head. It was a bride jumping in a flowing fashion over a cake. But how would I pull that off? I thought about a few lighting scenarios including thoughts about how the cake would need lit as well. After considering everything, I knew that I would need my big dog Alien Bee light for some added power. There was just no other way to stop the motion of a full deal jump.

Jump ahead to the shoot itself. The day started with Amy getting a little trim of her hair, then some make up. We added in a groom, some cake, a limo, an awesome location and flowers. Voilá, we had all the makings of a wedding day. I started with a few simple photos in the ballroom of the Cork Factory. I lit the couple in the first set with a hair light, camera right. A main light, above. A reflector, below. And a light through a soft box, off camera left to light the cake. After a few more locations in the ballroom, we made our way to a room in the hotel. Then outside for a few rainy shots with the limo.

After all of that was done, I decided it was time to try this jumping shot. I set up a light off camera right behind the cake and bride to light a little of the cake and give some separation off the back of the bride. I had another flash off camera left and behind through a soft box pointed directly at the cake. Then I had my main light (the Alien Bee) camera left above the bride to get enough light above her when she jumped. I had someone stand in to check the light. Then I had her do a test jump to see how she moved through the frame. Then I snapped one off and was so close on the first shot. The second shot was pretty close as well. On the third shot I thought I clipped her toe in the frame as she moved through so fast, but then when the preview came up after a second I knew I nailed it. So, without further ado here are few photos along with an awesome video put together by my man Noah Stoner of the behind the scenes. He did such an awesome job and was all over the place. Then skip to the bottom to see “The Shot”.

Setup: Melissa Miville and Katie Slauch from Stylish Occasions
Location: Jill Fanning and the Cork Factory Hotel
Cake: Megan and Scott Smith from Monkey & Me Sweets
Dress: In White Bridal Boutique
Linens: Special Occasions & Queen St. Linens
Flowers: By Splints and Daisies
Make-Up: Patricia Solis of Elegant Xpressions
Hair: Dianna Allen
Limo: Kevin Bippus from Expressions Limousines
Video: Noah Stoner

See more photos from this session at my Facebook Fan Page.

Awesome Video by Noah Stoner

MiVille Photography Behind The Scenes from noah stoner on Vimeo.

A little trim

Make up time

Kevin’s limo is awesome!

The Monkey & Me Sweets team

Melissa adding some finishing touches

The Happy Couple

The bride and her cake

Is the phone attached to you?

Naughty time in the bedroom

Clean up time

Alone time in the limo

Leap of Faith

So, I’ve been working hard in conjunction with my great friend Olé from PhotOlé Photography and we are proud to have created the next metamorphosis of Gobo Photo Workshops.

Do you own a new advanced camera or DSLR? We’ll make you feel comfortable with all the buttons and settings. Do you need to learn how to “See The Light”? We’ll show you what “Good Light” really is and how to find it.

Join us on August 14 from 1pm-4pm, at the all new Candy Factory, 323 North Queen St., Lancaster, PA, for a hands on photography workshop. This workshop will concentrate on available light photography, how to modify it and work flow afterwards.

Some of the specific topics covered will be Camera Basics/Shooting in Manual while using the RAW format. Artistry with composition, seeing the light and creativity. We’ll have modifiers ready to show you how to move and shape the light. Work Flow in post production using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom and Adobe Photoshop. The workshop will include 2 models so that everyone gets some time to pick up their cameras and shoot. Isn’t that really what it’s all about?

At only $99 for this 3 hour workshop, you will be enrolled in an intense training class. This workshop will be based on seeing “The Light” and is open to photographers of all levels. Make an investment in your education today! We are planning on making this a bi-monthly workshop, so keep an eye out for each new session and the type of training we’ll be working on.

We are having a special to kick off the whole thing. If you sign up by July 31st, 2010 we will give you a spot for 50% OFF. That’s right, only $49.50 for an intense 3 hour photography workshop. So, spread the word and sign up today. You can email us directly at GoboPW@yahoo.com or head to GoboPW.com and fill out the Contact page. We look forward to seeing you there.

Recently, I was fortunate enough to win a spot at a Jessica Claire workshop in New York City. The workshop started and finished at Adorama, a great photo equipment store in the Big Apple. We started out in front of Adorama’s storefront getting to know each other. Jessica then did a few touch ups to the couple, adding jewelery to Mary, and made sure Pax had his tie on straight. We walked down the street away from the store, stopping along with way. Jessica did a great job telling us what she  looks for on a typical photo session like this. Specifically lighting situations and interesting backdrops and fun locations. We walked a few blocks uptown to Madison Square Park, and at one point, which you’ll hear in the video, we tried to keep from getting kicked out. The theme for the day was that you can always say your sorry if you don’t ask to go in a location. After walking around the park in a few locations we headed back towards Adorama. Jessica was so cool and approachable. At any time we could ask her questions and she had great insight and responses to any and all questions.

It was then time to head up to the 5th floor of Adorama where they have a classroom setting. A couple of us road up in the elevator with Jessica and when we got to the 5th floor we realized that the classroom lights were off and it seemed locked. So, Jessica stayed up and the rest of us went back down in the elevator at which point we heard her say that she got it figured out. But, it was too late. So, we hit the next floor thinking we’d just be able to head back up the stairs instead of riding all the way back down to the 1st floor. We got off on the 4th, then a security guard let us into the stairs, which were only opened with a key card. So, we didn’t realize we would need another key card to open the 5th floor door from the inside of the stairwell too. We were trapped, in the Adorama stairs. We tried banging on the doors, but they were too thick and then tried calling a few numbers we had. Nothing seemed to work and then finally one of the girls working on the 4th floor must have heard us and opened things up for us. We finally took our seats in the classroom while Jessica downloaded her card of images. We were then joined by more winners that won the opportunity to see her work flow and ask some more questions of her. We got to see her work flow and how she goes about toning of images. It was very insightful and a great time. I was truly blessed to have won this opportunity. A big thanks to Jessica, check out her Shootsac and to Adorama for hosting it. It was a great time!

If you’d like to see more stills from the video, head over to my Facebook Fan page.

Jessica on the streets

Mary & Pax

Jessica Claire NYC Workshop from Michael Miville on Vimeo.

Such an awesome couple!

Be sure to check out my other site iPhone Faces which Jessica was cool enough to let me snap a few of her for.