It all started with a little sunday drive through the east end of St. Croix (an island in the virgin islands). I was driving through and stumbled upon this relic of a resort that was completely thrashed, trashed and desolate. I thought it would be the coolest thing to do a TTD with the amber (for which I was on the island to photograph her wedding on the 1st). Once in a lifetime chance to shoot at a location as cool as this? YES.

I knocked around in the neighborhood and spoke to a number of people about the resort, whom all said it was completely destroyed in hurricane Hugo in 1989. It has since sat there. Some owners purchased it 2 years ago but still have not made any plans to restore it, although some minor things have been worked on, so they say. It used to be a huge vagrant housing center until the local authorities cracked down on it. From what the neighbors said, it was a hopping place in it's hey-day, but once the 5+ category hurricane completely destroyed everything on St Croix (fascinating history about it, you should read), the hotel owners just walked away, as there would be multi million dollar repairs.

We meandered on over this afternoon and just had a blast. Bats, broken things and other oddities lined the resort. We were lucky to not have been harmed, although most of the structure is still very sound and intact. No vagrants (luckily). Just pure awesomeness. Carraig (the groom) filmed with his HD camera that might turn into part of a promo video I need to get working on.

I'm not much of a talker, but thought I'd give a little history about why I thought this place was just awesome. The more I found out about the resort, the more rich and interesting it became. Enjoy

Hard to choose out of so many, but these are my quick favorites! I guess it's not really a TTD, but a post-wedding exploit the dress purchase session, lol.

Gear: 5D2s, 16-35L II, 24L, 50L, 85L, 70-200; AcuteB with Elinchrom Deep Octa, bare 580EX

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5

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7

8

9



Here's some scenic and setup shots too

Wonderful series ... awesome location man. The lighting in 9 is absolutely gorgeous - was it the octa or bare 580?

This really has a natural grunge look to it - no textures needed at all. Number 5 is also an amazing scene. Hope you had fun on your trip!

they're all beautiful, but 5 and 9, wow-you've upped your game, i think (and that's saying a lot for what you've previously posted)-great story, too

daniel

9 is magical, I've been aiming to mix up my lighting like this. I love the location spence. It looks like you were having more fun than you're supposed to have while working!

The last thing i think of when viewing and admiring your work is grungy. I don't feel you clicked with the decreped parts of the place but when you got back to what you do best, fresh and clean, now in a tropical setting, you shot some of the best stuff I've seen. 9 and 5 are perfect 10s IMO. 8 is very stong also.

I just found something i don't like about 5 - I would clone out the shadow on the inside of the arch and the rusty bolt on the opposite side. Actually did you take a version of that shot without the arch at all?

Thanks for the behind the scenes - when you guys do that it does help us new guys out a lot. Enjoy the weather - good thing hurricane season is over.

#9 FTW. Rockin.

i love 5 & 8

Spencer... I can't wait to hear the tales.... wow. when I got to #7 - I literally gasped ! "ooooh" just pure awesomeness as you would say.

I'm very fond of 5 and 9 - and I imagine that Carraig and Amber will be elated with these.. how cool. It was all the more fun to be apart of the snake shoot with Amber and April (http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/698161/0?keyword=amber,april#6281945)

excellent bud... i've got so much to learn this year with you professor Boerup !

- travis

First off. Awesome location! Secondly. #5 and 9 are STUNNING! Some of your best work yet, period!

Scott

best set to date

I'm going with the flow and loving 5 and 9. I love the pose and light in 7, but the empty pool isn't doing anything for me.
Looks like a lot of fun!

Dude... the lighting on 5 is PERFECT. What a capture. I'm a sucker for scenic portraits, and that shot is a clear winner. How did you light her so well in that shot?

3, 5, 7, 8, all rock! All the others don't use the scenery for what it could look like. As some have stated, they just don't mesh with your style. They are nice shots, but you can do better!

Easy choices #5 and #9 are tops!

watch the skin tones. Some have a lot of red and others are very cold. They are getting a bit splotchy, I am guessing a few of these were 2/3 stop off before raw conversion. Try to nail the exposure to help with the skin tones

sboerup,

First, don't get upset with my comments. It's one person opinion vs everybody else liking your photos.

#9 is the best. I think that the bride is beautiful but I don't see that in most of your pics. She looks best in a certain angle such as #6,#1 . #5 could have been better if she just turned her head a bit more to you. #2 & 3 make her face looks fat. Her poses looks similar to the other pics.

Five and Nine FTW!

Do you have a variant shot of five with her looking towards the camera? That's money right there sir! Nice balancing!

contraryto others i think the location is terrible.. the beautuful dress and model clash with the surroundings which imho are beautyless. just dont get any feeling... sorry

thanks all for the comments, much appreciated as always.

Mathew, thanks for the critique, I'm quote aware of the skin tones when I process and exposures. The 5D2 handles everything beautifully, either pushed or pulled, so any skin tones are intentional.

Bruce, that's the point! Using something so run down and ugly with something so beautiful, it's the juxtaposition that makes it tick for me. These aren't your traditional wall portraits

Btw, what is FTW?

FTW = "For the Win"

I found the torn down building being way too much of a distraction, drawing my eyes away from the beautiful bride, she is lost in it. Her sitting on the ocean wall is probably the only one in the bunch, unless of course the veranda shot had PP treatment.

I'm glad to see you realize this isn't a true TTD, Del Sol Photography sets the bar for those pretty high.

It looks like you knew exactly what you wanted the pictures to look like and got the look. Nice job!

My favorites:

2
4, particularly the left frame
5
9

Like most TTD sessions, I dont see much trashing of any dress, but the pics are great none the less

#5 is my favorite in this set.

I absolutely LOVE number 5! What a great place to shoot. 6 is a beautiful portrait... The first setup shot is great, hope you blogged it so people can see you work!

You did a great job working with this environment. I like #8 the most. She sorta has a Leibovitz pose and light quality on her. Nice to see wp's using real lighting!

-m

Wow, Spence. How do you carry your lighting with you? I have a travel-worthy apollo softbox that I make my husband drag around. But I will be doing a few sessions by myself and would love to know how you carry your gear with you.