Matt Adcock

Here are a few from a recent wedding at Aventura Spa Palace. This place is very very similar to that of the Royal Gazeboo. Inside, its night time compared to the blazing sunshine blue sky turquoise ocean. Bonus because you can shoot bride walking in with a mid / towards the back setup... Its CRUCIAL to be able to get images of the bride and groom seeing each other as they walk down the isle! You can see the people inside are all in silhouette. Scenic View First Kiss Night vs DAY examples of the Silhouette (exposed for outside light vs exposed for inside light) A few seconds later, exposed for the light inside... Big difference eh? Remember, with a Gazebo, its almost impossible to get the best of both worlds of exposure... Your eye sees way differently than the camera. You can view more of Kelsey and Royce's slideshow from Aventura HERE: Kelsey + Royce Cheers! matt PS... I have way way way more to post on different gazebos, just no time to do it.... hopefully more later! mateo

Quote: Originally Posted by abbypoo That was such a great post! Thank you. So just to be clear, you think it's best for the wedding party and bride and groom to stand at the very edge of the gazebo with the guests sitting outside the gazebo? de nada, In some cases, yes, this is exactly what I'm suggesting.... sounds crazy as it may totally defeat the purpose of a wedding under a shaded gazeboo. Remember, my suggestions are jaded towards wanting the photos to look UUUMMMMMAAAAAZZZZZZING.

Quote: Originally Posted by AngieEH Royal Playa del Carmen (adult only resort) This photo showcases the "darkenss" that I write about in my above post. Grass is super green, sky is super blue, ocean is turquoise purrrrfect... PEOPLE ARE DARK, silhouette. This is how it goes for us pros, unless we use obtrusive flash, which del Sol Photographers do not use) during ceremonies.

Good thread... I spent half a day writing about my thoughts on the Gazebo at the Royal as and what it means for your photographs. This can be applied to most gazebos out there too. Quote: Originally Posted by Matt Adcock Ceremony location at the Royal, PDC. Gazebo... the big question.... Do we have the wedding inside or outside of the Gazebo, or at the edge? What about it being dark? My thoughts on gazebo's go pretty much hand in hand for all gazebos. I thought I'd clear a few things up... or to throw a PUN in there... shed some LIGHT on the situation. The biggest problem we have at the Royal's Gazebo location is that more often than not, brides are planning their ceremony spots INSIDE the Gazebo. While this sounds like a super nice idea on paper and in your mind, lighting wise, its real tough on us photographers. A few things...and let this serve as my disclaimer... (we don't claim to be the overall authority either, just an opinion and you know what they say about those Consider these basic principals when trying to visualize how light actually works and then try to apply them. I don't expect you to completely understand all of this, so if you want to play it safe, just trust me 1. Light vs Dark. Its obvious...where there is light, you can see better. Where there is dark, you can't see detail as much... Seems pretty simple eh? Well, consider that the human eye can see about 15 levels of detail in a subject falling under any given light circumstances from the brightest bright to the darkest dark. 15 levels of detail. This can also be considered a latitude of detail from brightest to dark. Well, the camera only sees 5 levels of detail under the same lighting conditions. Sounds confusing...well, not really. Just know the human eye is VERY sensitive to light and the camera is NOT. 2. Apply light vs dark principal to under the gazebo vs not under it. Its that simple, just stand at the edge and by principal alone, there will be more light falling on you vs what would be inside. This is major for our cameras. 3. Gazebo by the ocean. This needs to be a reality check here because we seem to be realizing a lot of misconceptions, specifically at the RPDC. Just because you are choosing a location that is near the ocean, or "oceanside" as the Royal's Marketing may suggest, its very less likely that your photos will actually have anything in them suggesting you were oceanside... i'm going to provide photo examples below to explain my point.... There are lots of positive points about the Gazebo location... 1..that its private is a BIG bonus. PDC has a LOT of tourists on the beach, just about every day. This can't be avoided with lots of by-standards hanging around in clothing that may make you blush The Gazebo eliminates that. In closing on my initial thoughts about the Gazebo, I'd like everybody to know that the privacy element to the Gazebo is one of our favorite elements about weddings here... There are lots of possibilities in and around the garden area for great shots too, so we highly recommend this spot. Just use discretion when planning here. Ok, i'm going to provide a few photo examples just to shore up my thoughts on the Gazebo and lighting around. Most of my examples relate to weddings that are shot in the afternoon 3pm before daylight savings or 5pm or so after daylight savings. When you plan your wedding next to the far back side, meaning your bridal party stands inside (usually all the guests are in there too) this is when the photographic problems start to begin for us. In this wedding, bride and groom are at the very back edge with such a beautiful ocean background... but, without some sort of artificial lighting (big studio strobe flashes) they are standing in darkness. Make sense? The ocean is about 100-150 feet away, and in TOTAL brightness. Remember my example above, bright vs dark. The light at the ocean is more than 15 times brighter than the light under the gazebo. Remember, the human eye sees 15 levels of detail, but the camera only sees 5. So, in this first example. Shot October 29 at 5:15pm, right around sunset We used the silhouette technique here, and notice that the sky and ocean are dramatically dark... this is a photo technique where we underexpose the background to draw emphasis. But, you get the idea bright vs dark. Ok, here is the same bride (Tracy + Brent) at the moment mentioned above, shot from a different photographer. Here is the natural light photo, exposed to see detail on their skin. They are backlit here, light from the ocean side is lighting them). Keep in mind, we shoot mostly available light for every single ceremony we have ever photographed at, this is a style choice and Id say that most of our pro photog buddies do the same. Direct flash during a ceremony is kinda ugly. Now, my above photo example you can now notice, all background of that pretty ocean is GONE, all white. Thus, the backlight. Now, a flash may be a problem solver, but it would be a little intrusive for us to use during a ceremony, which is another reason we use natural light. Here is the SAME couple, just a few seconds before the first kiss, here we have exposed for the background (WAY darker, which puts the people totally under silhouette. My intention by posting these images and giving my short descriptions is to help you visualize what we are thinking and seeing as we shoot. Ok, here is a different couple, we used natural light to illuminate the subjects, background is GONE... Now, unless your photographer uses very powerful flash during the ceremony (almost studio quality lighting), your photos with available light will look like this. I don't think this is bad at all, just a style choice. You can see that this couple is inches away from the back side, the fence on the edge of the gazebo as well. You can check out Veronica + Paul's slideshow..their wedding was awesome, just in a tough place for us to snap photos. Logistically, being on that back edge brings 1 more challenge. As storytellers, we are stoked to get those moments where bride sees groom walking down the isle and groom sees her, or a handshake to dad giving his daughter away...a moment that we feel deserves to be shot from both sides. IF you want to stand a few inches away from the beach side edge of the gazebo, forget about seeing these kind of photos... In this wedding, the bride stood at the edge of the gazebo, giving our photographers the chance to shoot from two perspectives.. These two are all about daddy...he gets the look from his daughter Daddy gets that handshake of respect from the groom... Keep in mind, if you stand against the back edge, this kind of photojournalism is nearly impossible. I'd change the entire setup for this reason alone, if it were my wedding to plan. Ok, so now I think we are getting somewhere in terms of planning ideas and what Light VS dark is really all about. Now, lets throw in 1 more twist. Keep in mind, that most afternoon weddings take place when the sun is at such a low angle in the sky, that the actual building of the Royal casts a shadow on the entire location at the gazebo. This makes the light nice and even, meaning LOW CONTRAST, which essentially is an easier condition to make photographs in. BUT, a few things to consider... The light outside is on the ocean side is going to be WAY stronger, thus if we expose our images to light the wedding area (in shade) then the background is going to appear over exposed. Here is an example: Image shot on March 29, 4:12 pm. This is a beautiful photo for our clients to remember exactly what happened and what the setup looked like on the wedding day, it shows a scene setter and displays all the guests in attendance. With the way the camera works we have a tough time shooting the sky and ocean unless we underexpose (make the people in the foreground in shade, darker) and then you wouldnt be able to see any guests, bride and groom would be in Silhouette. Make sense? We always shoot the wedding in hopes to portray what we felt the guests saw and what the bride and groom remember. Standing inside in the middle of darkness, the waves and ocean and sunshine aren't actually a big memory here. The photo session on the beach is what the sunset and 'beach photo session" is all about, after the wedding! That above photo comes from Julie + Greg's wedding at the Royal March 29. I had the conversation with her about this ALL THIS INFO in this post... we feel she planned the perfect potential ceremony setup at the RPDC. Also, during Spring break, no by-standards in bikini's... Julie's setup slightly elevates B&G and gives some interesting angles for photography, vs being standing on the grown outside. NOW, here is another photo taken from the same exact wedding, just keep in mind that in the background, the sunlight exposure on the beach is 10-15 times brighter (in full sun) than the people watching the gazebo and also the bride and groom watching them... Make sense? In this frame, Julie and Greg are shown in the right side of the frame, and we back focused on the beach to show the 3 zillion people WAY away, not invited...only shown here in this post for a perspective. March 29, image shot at 4:15. Are you rolling along with my examples? I'm going to post a little bit more in another post because my image limit is 10 MORE on that here: http://bestdestinationwedding.com/fo...ography-58731/

during the recessional, they stopped in the PERFECT LIGHT for a romantic kiss to savor the moment... I COULDNT HAVE SCRIPTED THIS BETTER...wow Bride dancing with father. This is a photojournalism moment to die for.... wow, amazing snap by Sol Tamargo. Zoetry has a catamaran that leaves every evening for a sunset cruise... i shot this one of the boat returning from a sail. Great scene setter of the pier at night... Scene setter from the pier of the entire property with the beach reception showcased in the lower foreground. Globe detail...nice ambient lighting touch! A toast detail Ok, hope that helps. This wedding was absolutely amazing for us, just amazing! cheers! matt

We recently covered another Zoetry wedding... Umm, this place is unbelievable. You can see more photos from Whitney + Vaughn's wedding on our blog: OR, a slideshow of our favorites: This was a first for us shooting in their "GARDEN" which is behind the spa. Wedding in the grass, with a view overlooking the amazing Caribbean sea. Nothing short of amazing details at Zoetry, every time! LOVE the colors here. Zoetry has little details everywhere that give this place a very signature feeling....here is a perfect example Another little detail. Whitney's guests had hats....this one was my favs. COLORS COLORS WOW... A little moment while the girls wait to come in.... I really love the fabric that they staged at the exit of the Spa.... SO nice for framing. Whitney actually got to the end of the isle and did a panorama look back at the guests for more than 15 seconds...HUGE grin ear to ear at how amazing the day was and a testimonial to her really landing on cloud 9. A detail shot through the harp... more coming....

Quote: Originally Posted by Lady_Di I am back from my wedding!! You ladies have NOTHING to worry about. My wedding was fantastic and I have zero compliants. Loved loved the Royal! It's so worth to stay there instead of Gran Porto. CONGRATS and welcome back amiga. Was a pleasure to meet you! Mucho saludos ---photos coming soon mateo

Quote: Originally Posted by NaM There are tons of threads with reviews and suggestions, do a search and I'm sure you'll come across some that catch your eye. I would have to recommend Del Sol though...they did my wedding and are AMAZING at what they do. Good luck!! Gracias NAT for the kind words, LUV ur folio. good luck finding a tog Mateo

Quote: Originally Posted by Jackie22 I'm back my wedding was wonderful!!! Loved Del Sol, Full review to follow in the next couple weeks. GRACIAS AMIGA... PHOTOS coming in a few saludos, mateo

Quote: Originally Posted by nsbride2010 that is so gorgeous!! And how unique to have in your wedding album... cant wait to see the rest We were thinking like a 40x60 size print or something HUGE... This is one where you can always look back at the little frustrations in life that we see every day and remember that there is always something positive coming from a little negative.... ebb and flow, everything is going to be ok now, i just need that to be my mantra from now on too HA! cheers, matt

Quote: Originally Posted by callamonster 04.20.10 Valerie + Maxime | Wedding at the Royal Cancun | Photos by Sol Tamargo There are a ton of pictures of the Royal Cancun gazebo here. I got the link from a review on here... Sorry I don't remember the bride's username but thank you Here is that review http://bestdestinationwedding.com/fo...ictures-59534/ AWESOME photos Here are several photos from that post, showing off the gazebo very well Quote: Originally Posted by Matt Adcock Bonjour et bienvenue Valerie! I wanted to post a few of my favorites here.... BEAUTIFUL DAY IN CANCUN! Wow, what an amazing detail and a beautiful day! I love it when the groom interacts like this, raw emotions! Ok, now this is just TOO perfect, too cute! WOW, that is some serious SPLIT action!

Quote: Originally Posted by Elizabeth Medina Well you know what that means, right Matt? Time to retire! Congrats on getting the shot for such an awesome bride! Yep, I quit amiga...its all yours gracias for the nice words ya'll

This place friggen rules. I'd say by far, Xpu-HA beach is one of the sexiest most beautiful beaches (water color RULES) in the entire Riviera Maya. Xpu Ha beaches have Hotel Esencia, Al Cielo, Catalonia, and a few others... Just amazing wow, wow wow. We were there yesterday at Esencia (right next door to Al cielo) and the beach/blue sky/aqua water combo made us both drool.... sheesh, makes me want to go swim right now thinking about it! Cheers! matt Here are a few Al Cielo weddings to check out: Tobie + Tim Michelle + Phil Julie + Jeff Susie + Steve

We haven't done too much work at Secrets Silversands so I thought I'd show this one here so our brides can see what the place looks like. Vincent, our talented associate, shot this one, its friggen AMAZING. Xaviera + Jason - Secrets Silversands Here are a few of my fav's... Wow, these mirrors in the rooms are super awesome for getting ready and FUN FUN shots, like this one. GO VINCE! Precious getting ready candid moment... and yet we still have clients asking for no getting ready moments...to which we respond that we have a 1 hour minimum prior to ceremony for these kind of moments I wish I could see more of these types of flower setups around the alter, super nice detail!!! Award winning candid with mom, walking out for everybody to see! Again, this flower setup has to my personal favorite vs the big clumps of flowers positioned on the sides, etc... LUV this. wow, sunset, wow. Super tripod scene setter! nice table shot, with a ghosting waiter in the background who walked through the frame during the exposure..nice technique amigo! DJ lights that are even colors and not moving around like a night club are PERFECT for a first dance setup, just hotness! ok, there are a few few select of my favs... saludos, mateo

Quote: Originally Posted by Superval Merci for all your nice comments !! Thanks for del sol for posting some pictures I didn't know how :-) If you have any questions about the Royal, feel free to ask... Valérie DE NADA My only comment about the Royal: Sol was physically accosted by the security there. First, she entered at the security department, they had to inventory every piece of equipment she and her assistant had. As you know, del Sol charges by the hour as well as many other photographers. We always plan a 30 minute window of time in for problems there, but then another security guard stopped her when she was going to the room, told her this was an all inclusive property, bla bla, and physically grabbed her arm and stopped her. He was beyond rude and if it weren't for her doing a mad dash to the room, she would have been very very late because of this ignoramous. get your photographers a day pass, this is the only way cheers! matt

When everything seems to go wrong on the big day, THIS is the kind of photo you want to have to remember that nothing can slow you down... serious Ya'll, I've waited my entire career to snap a shot as cool as this one... Means a lot to hear all the comment LOVE Saludos, mateo

concerned: YES Will it reach Me Hi CO: don't think so Am I frustrated with deep water drilling: Umm, yeah. Do I drive a car (2 of them actually)?: yes, so I'm supporting this shiat mateo

Well, it happens to the best of us every so often, a rainy wedding day. Recently, I was shooting a wedding at Dreams Tulum here in the Riviera Maya and they sky was just POURING hardcore rain. Rain Rain Rain, and serious rain too. Buckets, cats and dogs, etc. Keellin+ John's big day was not about to be ruined by some stupid rain cloud, no way! Keellin has to be one of the biggest spirited brides I've ever encountered on a rainy day... I've had a few in my career, for sure Keellin took everything with a smile and the end result was a photo of a lifetime. Really, this kind of photo is one that we photographers dream about making, just a beautiful shot as well as a technically difficult shot to make. A shot that is impossible to make without the rain!!! Here is what del Sol does with a rainy day Congrats Keellin and John!!! mateo I'll update the full slideshow when we get the edit complete...this is a preview photo for her. PS. Wanna read about my thought process behind the making of this image Check out our creative flash lighting blog where we talk about the how to's of the shots.

Quote: Originally Posted by Superval Photograph: del Sol 9/10 Sol f10/10 !!! I love my pictures and really its a great lifetime souvenir, I recommend them 100 %, worth every penny. Voilà , Merci !!!! Valérie Pictures: 04.20.10 Valerie + Maxime | Wedding at the Royal Cancun | Photos by Sol Tamargo Bonjour et bienvenue Valerie! I wanted to post a few of my favorites here.... BEAUTIFUL DAY IN CANCUN! Wow, what an amazing detail and a beautiful day! I love it when the groom interacts like this, raw emotions! Ok, now this is just TOO perfect, too cute! WOW, that is some serious SPLIT action!

Quote: Originally Posted by Chill Bride Hi I have a question for Christine or Matt.... I have Vincent booked for our wedding at small place in Tulum similiar to La Zebra. We hired him for 6 hours. Is that enough? I guess my question is how long did you have the Matt and Sol, Christine? They seemed to have captured the whole thing and all of your special events. I was just wondering what your thoughts were on how long to book them. Your wedding photos are so beautiful...if mine turn out half as nice, I will be a very happy camper! Hola Natalie, As it works out, Vincent has a scheduling conflict and will be attending a personal friend's wedding in France. We just learned of this... SO, that means I will be replacing Vincent....can u say WOOT WOOT, upgrade!! 6 HOURS is super sufficient. I usually shoot 5 hours actually. not to worry, del sol will take care of you. PS. if you have questions like this, don't hesitate to send Melissa an email at info @ delsolphotography .com C U in Tulum! mateo

Quote: Originally Posted by Sita&Nate Matt, Thank you so much for putting those up (a few I haven't seen yet!). You are just so swept up on your wedding day that its hard to take in all the details. I realize now just how great it is to have it all 'immortalized', and captured, digitally anyways! The people I have shown the slideshow to have said the pictures look unreal and breath-taking. I don't know how you guys do it, but Sol managed to really highlight moments and make it look bigger and better! I have an element of "I can't believe these are our wedding pictures". thank you thank you!! Thanks Christine! I hand picked those out of the whopping 799 total images that you are getting on disk....just so many awesome frames, details, and subtle nuances that you would have never imagined happening. Coming soon to a doorstep near U Quote: Originally Posted by Sita&Nate ..."I can't believe these are our wedding pictures". thank you thank you!! happy to put you in that state of mind Sol rocked it out! Mucho saludos amiga, thanks so much for the kind words. mateo

A few more images of the setup.. The beach space here is so sweet, with the palm grove, it really makes a hot spot for a reception / lounge area! The background....wow. Can you imagine a more sexier backdrop to your first dance thanks again love these! mateo

I wanted to add a few of my favs to this thread The FAB Fernando Fuentes on Makeup... Sol Tamargo with her creative off camera flash (we call it flashflavor) I love that your brother is a photojournalist and he had his cameras blazing Thank him again for recommending us Ceremony site...uhh (Puuuurrfect)! Sol has some amazing use of layering in this image. I love the forground element of the thatch from the palapa just visible...sweet one. LUVE the colors of the building This shows a nice setup of the deck area.

This may help you visualize Iberostar Good luck with your photographer hunt! iberostarparaiso iberostardelmar iberostargrand iberostarmaya Mateo

Quote: Originally Posted by Matt Adcock Yesterday, Sol & I went on a tour with the event director at Hotel Esencia to swim with whale sharks in the Caribbean ocean... I dont have the exact info for the tour as I didnt set it up, but wanted to share the experience so everybody can visualize exactly what is in store for this amazing day of adventure. Boats leave from Punta Sam (north of cancun a tad), Isla Mujeres, or Isla Holbox (the longest amount of traveling). This is the 2nd time we have done this tour. The first trip a few years ago departed from Ilsa Mujeres. our 8/1/08 trip departed from Punta Sam. Boats depart early as it takes 30 or 45 min trip to get to where the fish are swimming so be prepared for an early rise. The sharks are on the surface early in the day and go deeper at night. The season is June 1- Sept 15. Average cost per person: $100-150. Tours include travel to port site, 3 swims with the sharks (usually in pairs of 2 so everybody gets a unobstructed swim/view of the animals) Then boats go to a reef off of Isla Contoy to a beautiful reef, swim 1 hour or so on the reef. Refreshments and Drinks (cerveza's) available. Sandwiches also provided. Our boat caption made ceveche as well! LOADS of fun and here is what an actual jump into the water feels like (be sure to watch the end for a few photos from our underwater housing!: del Sol swimming with Whale Sharks on Vimeo Incredible! cheers! matt Here comes Whale Shark Season....I have heard that they have been spotted already. We are SO GOING Again this year. If you are looking for a very fun activity while visiting this region, Whale Sharks is your plan! Cheers! MATT