Sultana Sandwich

This time last weekend I was battling one of the most interesting hangovers I've had in sometime, the night before was Guy & Fede's pre wedding get together, nestled in the old section of Montorosso, the setting was beautiful, the food was incredible and the wine flowing, oh was it flowing.

When I come along to friends or family functions.. ones that don't have an official photographer I take it upon myself to mingle and document the scene. My standard operating procedure goes a little something like this:

1. Drink until I become an obnoxious Australian.
2. Insert myself into somebody's conversation.
3. Wait politely until a pause in conversation, then quickly (although I'm usually pretty drunk at this time, so to others it's probably not that quick nor polite) move people into position.
4. Grab an innocent standbyer to hold up a napkin to create the effect of off camera lighting.
5. And presto, shots like above seem to arise... Of course my camera's autofocus is doing all the work here, and I usually pre-set my camera's aperture and shutter & ISO before hitting the wine. But once set I'm good to enjoy the evening.
6. Depending on how much you are going to enjoy yourself you may want to adjust your aperture. I find shooting approximately the aperture that you've consumed works well.
   • up to 5 units: f5.6, 1/60th, ISO 400 ~ 800 w/flash
   • up to 8 units: f8, 1/60th, ISO 400 ~ 800 w/flash
   • up to 11 units: f11, 1/60th, ISO 400 ~ 800 w/flash
   Obviously ISO or Shutter will vary depending on how much ambient you want :) I usually always shoot functions at 50mm on a Full Frame sensor, This gets a little tricky for group shots, so if you think you've got more than four to a photo, you're probably gonna wanna go for a wider lens.

The night had drawn to an end and clearly, I had, had too much to drink, I think this became apparent when I kicked my thong (flip-flop / jandal) over a rather sharp pointy fence that according to Jason looked like the fence of the Montorosso police station. Clearly being Australian and having grown up on a farm climbing fences all my life, this pithy fence was not going to stop me getting back my little piece of heritage footwear. I climbed, I skewered, but in the end I conquered... twice.

The next day I woke to a barrage of text messages wishing me well, the best, love, and something about life. Clearly at some point through the night I had turned twenty-six, and let me state for the record that I'm never mixing red wine, white wine and beer again.

As most of you know if I'm hungover, you can probably find me in the shower, of course I don't recommend trying to find me, just that you can rest knowing that I'm safe in a shower somewhere... Unless of course I drift off while showering and then flood the bathroom, which in turn floods my entire hotel room. Just one of the many problems I was going to have this day, the day of my birthday and the day of my good friends wedding.

Challenges I would soon face!

1. De flooding my room.
2. Getting into a three piece suit that I bought seven years ago.
3. Wearing a three piece suit in 28º C, 99% Humidity.
4. Navigating the winding roads of Montorosso without being sick.
5. Manufacturing makeshift cufflinks.
6. Asking for safety pins in Italian.
7. Walking around a steep dusty hill in leather soled shoes.

All of which I managed except the last, thanks to Roy for catching me before I took out the front row seats (mid ceremony). Luckily other people fell over on the same patch of hill, so I didn't feel so bad, also the upgraded position did allow me to catch some fantastic virtually unobstructed shots.

The progression moved from ceremony on the hill to nibbles on the dance floor, where I got the opportunity to snap probably my favourite shot of the day. The light coming through the trees and over Fede's shoulders was simply amazing.