Review | On Location with Mike Colon: Jamaica

One of my goals over the slower Winter months (even though we still have photoshoots, weddings, and general work to do!) is to contribute more to the collective wedding photography knowledge base and write more blog posts with equipment reviews, training books/DVDs reviews, and helpful How-To posts. This past Thanksgiving weekend, Mike Colon marked down his instructional DVDs for Black Friday. Last year, which seems soooo long ago, I bought two of Mike’s previous DVDs, On Location: Toroto, and Reaching the High End Bride. Keeping with tradition I added another to our video library with his newest offering, “On Location with Mike Colon: Jamaica.”

Mike is someone I look up to in the wedding photography industry not so much for his photographic style (since it differs a bit from my own preference), but rather for his total knowledge of the business and his experience over the years. I really enjoyed and learned a lot from his “On Location: Toronto” movie last year and it really helped me out as I made the leap to fulltime wedding photographer at the start of 2011. With a few more… ok, almost 30 more, weddings under our belt this year I wasn’t sure how much more I would learn about the basics of wedding photography but I knew I would pick up a few tips and tricks here and there in this latest work. With our upcoming Mexico wedding in February, I really wanted to see the destination wedding side of this with a beach setting like we will have for Jess & John.

Summary
Mike takes us along with him as he photographs a destination wedding in Jamaica and talks through the challenges he has and the creative choices he makes for each scenario he encounters during the day. With a lot more experience this year I can totally understand why he is doing the things he is doing but it is nice that he vocalizes decisions such as scouting locations and helping position people in the best possible light. One of the things I really like is that Mike doesn’t talk too much about actual camera settings, just speaking in general terms usually about shooting wide open and cranking up the ISO. If there is one truism in wedding photography is that setting don’t matter at all because no two weddings or venues will ever be the same. I’m thankful that Mike talks more about available light, using flash if needed, and his creative choices in depth of field rather than talking to the camera every 10 minutes saying “one over one hundred f/1.4 ISO 1000!” Of course not all of us are going to have the same type of gear that Mike is using to be able to pull off all of these images or an assistant to give him lenses when he needs it, but in general 90% of the tips he gives you can apply to any wedding photographer. For me the most valuable parts were the posing insights and vocalizing the decisions to shoot certain angles over others. All in all the day was no where near as tough as the one he encounters on his Toronto DVD (where it rains during the ceremony), shooting a ceremony outdoors on a tropical island presents it’s own set of challenges.

Reaction
In summation the photography tips are spot on and why Mike Colon is one of the top wedding photographers. Maybe it’s my own evolution of a personal wedding photography style I didn’t see anything super creative or dramatic from the photos at this wedding that really inspired me, however all of the shots are well executed and album-worthy. New photographers will definitely find all of the tips super helpful and even us veterans will pick up a thing or two.

After the initial live shoot, which runs about 40 minutes, we get into the “bonus features” where Mike takes us through all of the gear he brought along to the trip and gives some other general travel advice. The gear of course will make you jealous, but Mike does talk a bit about the reasons behind each lens and why he carries it and what shots he uses each piece of equipment for. We’ve done a couple destination weddings already but nothing international yet until our Mexico wedding in February so I was more interested in the travel tips which come at the 50 minute mark of the video. Again, no Earth-shattering silver bullets to make you magically into a better photographer or traveling, just lots of solid advice.

In the End…
At the end of the day, was it worth it? I would have to say yes. As I get more experienced myself I find some of the advice a little too entry level, but that’s no fault of his as this video really has something for every experience level from those just getting started in wedding photography to even seasoned pros. My only critique would be for Mike to go into a bit more about the traveling side of destination weddings which is sprinkled only ever so slightly throughout the movie and just in 5 minutes at the end with a few tips on not to check your cameras if possible.