My friend Kari was looking for a unique way to commemorate her first wedding anniversary, so we decided to do a “trash the dress” shoot in Florida.

The thought process behind TTD is that it’s better to get your wedding dress dirty and make some great photos instead of hanging it up in a closet never to be seen again. In most cases, the dress can be cleaned to look like new afterwards.

We found a secluded spot in a park by the ocean in Dania Beach and spent a few hours making photos. Kari was a great subject and was willing to lie on some uncomfortable rocks.

(Nikon D3, 70-200 lens, 1/6400 sec, F/4, 400 ISO)

She wore a mermaid-style wedding dress, so I thought it was appropriate to have her pose against the splashing water like a certain Disney princess.

(Nikon D3, 70-200 lens, 1/1200 sec, F/4, 200 ISO)

Then it was time to really get the dress dirty. I had her lie in the water so I could show the contrast of the white dress against the dark sand.

(Nikon D700, 14-24 lens, 1/1600 sec, F/5.6, 200 ISO)

After we finished with the dress, Kari changed into a bikini. She’s six feet tall with an athletic build like Gabrielle Reece, so I did a low-angle “hero” shot up on the rocks.

(Nikon D700, 14-24 lens, 1/1600 sec, F/5.6, 200 ISO)

To make the final photo, I added an SB-800 flash with a Pocket Wizard for wireless triggering at camera left. I put a warming gel on it and dialed in a tungsten white balance to make the sky turn deep blue.

(Nikon D700, 14-24 lens, 1/250 sec, F/8, 200 ISO, gelled SB-800 strobe at camera left)

The sun was completely gone about five minutes later — right when the beach security officer showed up and kicked us out of the park.

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Last week, I photographed Japanese rock band FACT on their first U.S. tour. They weren’t coming to New York City, so I met up with them before their show in Scranton, PA.

I found a wooded area near their hotel and lit them with two Nikon SB-900 strobes on either side.

(Nikon D3, 24-70 lens, ISO 200, 1/640 sec, F/4.0)

A woman who lived nearby asked if we had permission to shoot there because the vacant lot was owned by a local church. I can deal with permit problems in New York City, but never expected to be questioned in rural Pennsylvania. I told her we would leave that location and move to a public street.

Even with the language barrier, I was able to convey to the guys what I wanted them to do next.

(Nikon D3, 70-200 lens, ISO 200, 1/500 sec, F/4.0)

I was concerned that the woman had called the police, so we finished up quickly and went on our way. I didn’t feel like explaining myself to the town sheriff if he asked why a New York photographer was photographing a group of young Japanese rockers running down the street in Scranton, PA.

Especially without a photo permit.

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When Steven Page left the Barenaked Ladies to embark on a solo career, one of the first things he needed was new photos.

I recently met him in Syracuse to make a series of portraits. We wanted to keep the shoot fun and loose, so I worked with minimal gear and no assistant over the course of a couple of days.

For this shot, I lit a white bed sheet from behind with a Nikon SB-800. In the front, I had a large Chimera softbox up high with two SB-900’s on my twin-flash speed ring. I did the black and white conversion using Silver Efex Pro in Aperture.

(Nikon D3, 24-70 lens, ISO 800, 1/125 sec, F/2.8)

We got lucky and had a gorgeous sunset at this windmill farm way outside of town.

(Nikon D3, 24-70 lens, ISO 400, 1/1250 sec, F/5.6)

Before we left the area, I made a tight headshot by hand-holding an SB-800 with a Honl 1/8″ speed grid and an amber gel. We faced the opposite direction, so I had the sunset behind him.

(Nikon D3, 24-70 lens, ISO 200, 1/500 sec, F/8)

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If you’re in New York City on May 20th, I hope you’ll come to my seminar at Adorama Camera entitled: Sports, Music and That Inauguration Photo: Separate Yourself from the Pack — An Evening with David Bergman

I’m going to show my work and tell the stories behind many of the photos. Registration information is available on the Workshops@Adorama site.

Special thanks to Nikon for sponsoring the event. Adorama’s Monica Cipnic has done a wonderful job building up the live programs at the store and they offer something for everyone.

I’m also in the planning stages for a separate, all-day workshop that will allow a small number of photographers to come along with me on a portrait shoot from beginning to end. Look for an announcement in the coming weeks.

Lastly, a “must-have” photo book is Joe McNally’s new one: The Hot Shoe Diaries: Big Light from Small Flashes.

He certainly doesn’t need the plug (the book is currently on backorder at Amazon), but if you have any interest in using flashes like the Nikon Speedlight to create and sculpt light, you’ll love the stories in this book. Joe’s book The Moment It Clicks was a huge hit last year and might tide you over until your copy of Hot Shoe Diaries is delivered.

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Last week, I photographed Shinedown in concert at the Filmore New York for Kerrang Magazine. I’ve done portraits with them before, but this was a live concert review.

One thing I always try to do is shoot from dfferent angles. At the beginning of one song, lead singer Brent Smith got the crowd going by saying that they should get louder as his hand went higher in the air.

There was a spotlight right at the front of the stage pointing straight up, so it gave him a “monster light” effect. I immediately crouched down in the pit right in front of him so I’d have his hand in the foreground. All of the other stage lights were off, so the background went dark.

(Nikon D3, 24-70 lens, ISO 2500, 1/500 sec, F/4)

Later in the song, he brought his hand down again to work the crowd, but since I already had the low angle shot, I stayed at eye level.

(Nikon D3, 24-70 lens, ISO 2500, 1/800 sec, F/4)

Now I have two completely different images of Brent doing basically the same thing. It gives me more options in the edit and I can decide which angle to send to my client.

In this case, I sent both.

More concert photos below.

(Nikon D3, 24-70 lens, ISO 2500, 1/500 sec, F/4)

(Nikon D700, 70-200 lens, ISO 2500, 1/160 sec, F/4)

(Nikon D3, 24-70 lens, ISO 2500, 1/800 sec, F/4)

(Nikon D3, 24-70 lens, ISO 2500, 1/200 sec, F/4)

(Nikon D3, 24-70 lens, ISO 2500, 1/800 sec, F/4)

(Nikon D3, 24-70 lens, ISO 2500, 1/640 sec, F/4)

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