Carrie, to answer your question – We did not shoot flash at all. We try desperately to avoid flash unless it is absolutely necessary.
We were at Baker beach just as the sun was setting at about 6PM. We had only about 20 minutes to capture what we needed. For the GGB shots, we started at about 320 ISO and ended up at about 1000 ISO for the Champagne photos. The light fell away very quickly. We LOVE this time of day for shooting. The quality of light is so smooth and elegant. But, I do have to say that another key to achieving this look is to use fast, fixed focal length lenses. We were using the Canon 50mm f/1.2L USM and the Canon 85mm f/1.2L USM lenses, wide open. The focus is a little slow and difficult sometimes with these lenses. But when its in focus, you just can’t beat these lenses!