Projectus Interruptus ......

A set back in my Cancer Project with Photosensitive ... looks like the zigging didn't work so well so it is time to try some zagging towards plan B. Today I received a note back from the VP Public Relations at Cancer Care Ontario. He had spoken with his counterpart at Princess Margaret Hospital. She seems to have had me confused with some other photographer that she had turned down. It seems like they get a lot of similar requests and just cannot manage the time or interruptions not to mention the privacy concerns. All totally understandable.

But the VP at Cancer Care Ontario did hold out the offer of putting me in touch with some other community based organisations who provide care giver services to survivors of cancer. ... hence Plan B.

Today I also heard back from the TTC's Special Events Representative. She seems to be cool with the Subway Musicians project..... so I have going ahead. She was also kind enough to provide me with a list of the stations where musicians can perform.... it is now up to me to approach them and gain their permission to be photographed. I am hoping that this work will form the basis of an exhibition in the 2010 CONTACT Photography Festival next May. Hmmm perhaps they'd even provide a venue .....perhaps even some of the advertisement space they have on the subway platforms .... hmmm whir click whir ....

This is an image I took a while back of some musicians playing at Union Station.


Today is a sick day .. again. I'm growing increasingly tired of these persistent colds. Tomorrow I have a shoot with a couple of models from the FORD Modeling agency in conjunction with a major up scale womens clothing store .... I'll be working alongside a friend of mine... should be fun... cold get thee behind me!!

Down to the last 1600 and a bit of the Vigil

I'm sitting here working through the last 1600 images from the the AoJ ... got to get them down. For some strange reason I am avoiding finishing them......arrgh the ever elusive focus. One day when I find it I'll be dangerous, until then, well I'll muddle through. I heard back from the VP at Cancer Care Ontario last Sunday when I wrote him a note... a gentle reminder that I still haven't heard back from any of his staff on my request to photograph care givers. But I did get a reply back, "My apologies. I had asked someone in my department to follow-up and obviously they haven't. They are run off the ground but no excuses. I have forwarded your email to counterpart at PMH and will speak to her Tuesday ..... and will follow-up with you directly after that". That was a reply from last Sunday and I am still patiently tapping my toes, although note exactly twiddling my fingers.

I have another project on the go ... not so socially enlightened perhaps but I am hoping it will be interesting. I've been passing emails back and forth with the Toronto Transit Commission's Filming & Tours Co-ordinator and now the person in charge of the Subway Musicians Program. This is something that I can do immediately after work or before work. I have some ideas around this project that may raise the bar a little. If nothing else it'll be fun and I'll meet some interesting people. I'm thinking that it may span the year. I've got to get enough images to develop my idea. I have to mention a special thanks to the Filming & Tours Co-ordinator for offering to waive the fee they normally levy to do any photography in the subway. Now all I need is to get a $2 Million insurance/liability policy in case someone trips over me and decides to sue the TTC.

Last Thursday I photographed the performances at the 25th AIDS Candlelight Vigil at The AIDS Memorial, Cawthra Square Park here in the city. A friend of mine was photographing a jazz group who was performing there. I decided to stay and photograph the entire evening. Yet more images. But these ones I've give to the organisers.

In the meantime here is a portrait I did of Ruthie from about a year ago (yes I know yet another one). I saw it in the dumpster while searching for something else....


Now back to the 1600 ....

Sick day .......

I woke up this morning with a migraine .... I hate it when that happens. It kind of puts a crimp into the entire day. Oh well at least I got a lot of sleep... basically takes some meds and crawl back into bed and pull the covers over my head. Not counting the sleep from the night before I slept for a total of eight plus hours. I could still sleep and I think I will after this entry.

This weekend I am off to my third photography workshop to see if there is something I can learn. I've taken two so far and am left wondering if it was worth the expense... hmm jury is still out and ordering in pizza. Could be a while yet. Last weekend in between shooting my brains out at the Art of Jazz I did a shoot with lovely young fitness competitor/model. This is an image of her.... it was done using a single large strip light about a foot away from her ... camera right. I was experimenting abit because I'm thinking of using this type of lighting for my book.... I'm away to visit the Land of Nod.

All that Jazz .....

The Art of Jazz Festival is a wrap for another year. This year it was smaller than last year due to a number of issues including a reduction in the number of sponsors and the amount of available money. This weekend was also the start of Luminato, so the competition for attention was an additional factor.

Luminato has become a big event in Toronto with all sorts of street and theatre performances all over the downtown core. I likely won't go this year but last year the downtown was just buzzing with people. I bugged out at close to midnight leaving behind people overflowing sidewalks into the streets. I suspect because the weather isn' your giving us the typical balmy June evenings that even Luminato may see its numbers reduced.

For me the highlight of the weekend was my brief photoshoot with Rita Chiarelli. Rita is kind of gruff with a voice to match, but I found her to be very genuine and was immediately comfortable with her. For the photoshoot I took Rita up to the second floor of the Case Goods building where there is an old (circa 1921) freight elevator. There is also a tin plated swinging door attached to the outside of it. The cool thing besides the age and rustic look of the elevator is that there is a skylight at the top the shaft that creates this fantastic soft light. I placed Rita against the door and photographed her there.

I showed her some of the images on the back of the camera. She immediately liked them and asked if she can use hem on her upcoming CD because they fit the mood that she was looking for. Of course I said... "We'll talk".

This isn't an image from that shoot, because, well even though I'd like to post the shot that I like it is likely best not to. This is an image I took while having a coffee outside of Balzac's in between performances.

Hurumph ....

I'm getting a little frustrated with the folks at Cancer Care Ontario. I first wrote to the VP of Public Affairs on April 27th about the opportunity to photograph Doctors and Nurses in one of Toronto's Cancer Wards. After trading some initial emails and me offering to speak directly with someone from his office rather than taking up his time I've not heard a word. I guess I'll either have to continue pursuing this line or find an alternate.

I haven't heard from my book partner since she arrived back from Hong Kong last month .. oh well it is still early days, but time is moving on. Note to self write a note to M.

This weekend I'm doing a shoot with a fitness model that I worked with once before ... so that is Saturday afternoon done. Afterwards it is off to the Distillery District to shoot the performances at the Art of Jazz event. That runs Friday through Sunday. I'll have the van (rental) loaded with the lighting gear from the Saturday afternoon shoot so I'm thinking of snagging some of the performers for impromptu portraits in the AoJ studio. It looks like Thursday afternoon I be doing a portrait shoot with Rita Chiarelli ....

This isn't Rita ... it is Andre. It was the last day of the exhibition and we had only a few people stop by so we killed some time by taking portrait shots of each other using only window light. I rather liked the light coming in the East window.

Come and gone

Today was the last day of my first ever photography exhibition. Andre came by to take down his photos.... some of them will be part of his forth coming book on New Music Composers.

Alan came by to shift his photos from where they were to where Andre had his photos. He and I will leave our work up indefinitely.... or until the AoJ people get tired of seeing them.

Overall I'm happy with the way the exhibit went. We had about a hundred people wander through... considering it is on the second floor and up a rather obscurley located staircase I think we did pretty well.

 

Alan shifted his photos so we can put up a backdrop close to a large window. I am going to make use of that space to do some informal portraits of the musicians in this coming week's Jazz festival. One performer, Rita Chiarelli (www.ritachiarelli.com/) will be sitting for me sometime this coming week. Rita is the 2007 Canadian Folk Music Award winner for best solo World Music act, ...the others will likely be catch as catch can ...it'll be a hectic time. I hope to snag some good portraits.

So next weekend will be busy ... and hopefully a good time.

How to find an idea …. or there is not excuse for lack of inspiration.

We can all take photos. It is simple, just point the camera at anything that catches your eye and depress the shutter button.Click. You have a photograph.

In my brief time as a photographer (I am still not used to that appellation, but it is growing on me) I have come to believe that making good or even great photographs is much more than simply pointing the camera and pressing the shutter button. I am sure it is obvious to many that each great photograph begins with an idea. By comparison taking the photograph is often simpler than coming up with an idea and then executing it. Sometimes that idea begins with a story that the photographer wishes to tell through their photography. If one is a photojournalist, the idea needs to be compelling and if possible contain drama.

This month I had the opportunity and good fortune to listen to Chris Anderson speak about his experiences as a photojournalist. He recounted his adventure with a group of Haitians who after building a boat out of scavenged timbers, wood boards, and nails ‘liberated’ from nearby buildings, set sail for the coast of Florida. Chris documented the building of the boat and the men who built it. He could have left it there, gone home, and try to convince some photo editor to purchase and run the photos, but he did not. He asked himself how he could tell the full story of these men and the enormous risks they were taking. His idea; set sail with them. It was not too long after they had lost sight of land that the boat began to take on water… it was slowly sinking. About the time when they believed, they would drown because the boat was full of water an American Coast Guard Cutter showed up and rescued all of them. The name given to the boat was ‘Believe in God’.

What Chris did was dig around looking for a way to give this story some added traction, to find some tangible idea that would bring the true drama and risk of this intended voyage to the World. Chris changed his environment and produced an idea that won him the prestigious Robert Capa Gold Medal Award in 2001.

We all seek some sort of originality in our work as photographers. But really, is there much out there that is truly original? Fashion designers watch what the kids on the streets of New York, Paris, Rome, Milan, and I dare say Toronto are wearing in order to come up with ideas for next season’s fashion statement. Architects are often of this school or that school. World Class Chefs scour piles of cookbooks looking for menu ideas.

I myself… should it ever happen that I get to shoot serious fashion in the future … have a file drawer full of tear sheets from some of the best fashion magazines I can find. Those tear sheets are full with my notes about the poses, the lighting, the make-up, etc., just so that when and if the call comes I have a deep source for shoot notes and ideas. Obviously I will not recreate the photos from the tear sheets but they will inform the creation of my ideas. The photo of Michelle that you will see below is the product of one of those dives into my draw of ideas.

My ideas are not limited though to tear sheets. I read/look at/study the photographs of the great photographers of the world. Richard Avedon, Rico Puhlman, Gilles Bensimon, Jeanloup Sieff and others fill my bookshelves. My browser bookmark list is littered with hundreds of links to more current photographers.

I am sure that some will consider this sort of idea creation and gathering as appropriating the work of others. I do not. I see it as an essential part of the act of creativity.

Trinity Street

Not much happening here ... move a long.

Bleh.... this weekend I caught a cold. The three day variety which is good because I suck at being home alone. A photographer with ADD stuck at home is not a good thing. I started photographing my book case, my couch, my walls, my toes ....

I began dumpster diving again and came up with this image .... it occupied my fevered mind for a little while before I went and slept on the couch for the rest of the afternoon.

Exhibit Report - Week One

Tomorrow is actually the end of the first week. So far we've had 50+ people drop by, which considering that the studio space is hard to find and on the second floor of a warehouse-like building I think we've done pretty good. far beyond my expectations. On a whim and at the prompting of a friend of mine I entered "The Lady in Red" image in a photo contest (my second). Seems to be a theme happening here. My first exhibition and my second contest ... Apparently that image is hanging in The Art Square Gallery across from the Art Gallery of Ontario. I'll have to drop by sometime.

Tomorrow evening I'm off to shoot some of the best female Jazz, Blues, and R&B vocalists in the city. Carolyn Thompson http://www.carolyntband.com/ is organising the event. Diva Night 2009. I'm one of the corporate sponsors... some lucky soul will get a free head shot as the result of a draw later in the evening. The money collected will support The Weekend to End Breast Cancer. Another theme.

This week the VP of PR for Cancer Care Ontario responded to my emails asking to be allowed the opportunity to photograph care givers at one of the two hospitals downtown that have cancer care wards. He will have someone in his department contact me. So fingers crossed that it is not the kiss off. In the meantime for you viewing pleasure this is an image of the redoubtable and beautiful Tracy Francis aka Urban Siren. She will be returning to slay us with her wonderful voice ...

Pimped my McNally's

Earlier this week my book order arrived. I had pre-ordered "The Hot Shoe Diaries: Big Light from Small Flashes" by Joe McNally an internationally acclaimed American photographer and long-time photojournalist and his other book, the "The Moment It Clicks: Photography secrets from one of the world's top shooters". Both books are easy reads with loads of good and useful information and ideas. I especially like McNally's casual and often irreverent writing style. McNally does not take himself too seriously which is refreshing especially after an evening of walking around photo galleries and overhearing the pretentious crap being flung around. Sheesh don't get me started!!

Last night was the opening night of CONTACT. For those who are unfamiliar with CONTACT it is an annual month long festival of photography with over 1000 local (I'd be one of the 1000), national and international artists at more than 220 venues across the Greater Toronto Area in May. CONTACT is in its 13th year. Since its inception it has grown into the largest photography event in the world and a premiere cultural event in Toronto. It is tremendously interesting to wander around to the different venues and look at the work of other photographers.

Last evening I went to a number of openings plus the big ‘official’ opening of the festival at the Museum of Canadian Contemporary Art. I really really really don’t like pretentious people. And there were there like flies on road kill …. call me a yokel, but some of the stuff I’d never in a million years think of putting on a wall… especially where someone might see them. Oh well I guess Art, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.

I went to another opening this afternoon. One of the exhibitors is a freelance photographer and photography instructor at Toronto School of Art and Humber College. Tobi's work is very photojournalistic… I get and appreciate her work.

Oh and here is a hasty photo of my pimped McNallys. I have to thank Kat aka Pixel Pusher http://photosbykat.blogspot.com for the idea. It was a great idea to have the spines cut off and then bound with a ring binding. I found a print shop close to where I work and requested that they pimp my McNally's. I also requested that a clear acetate cover be placed in before the front and after the back cover to protect the covers from being torn off.

Everything is printed and ready for hanging.....

So the images (six) were printed on Sunday thanks to the help of Alan who I am co-exhibiting with ... Thank you very much Alan. Now with this out of the way I find myself without much to do so I did a little more dumpster diving and found this image of Ruthie from last October. I played a little with it in Lightroom ... gotta luv some of those presets.


This evening I finally sent off my letter/email to Cancer Care Ontario .. to the VP of Public Affairs. He must be a hard working type because I noticed I got a read receipt this evening. The ball is rolling. The project is not a sure thing yet. Just because I can borrow on Photosensitive's good name and their ongoing The Cancer Connections project does not mean I'll get the nod. It still depends on me getting into a hospital to photograph doctors and nurses will they care for patients and go through their daily routines. Since I work days I figure that most of my work will happen between six and eleven o'clock in the evening. Anyways... fingers crossed.

It is almost here -- CONTACT2009

YIKES !!!

Starting to print ...

The dining room hutch is littered with keepers and rejects... I'm getting closer. A photographer friend of mine (one who is actually making a decent living at it) suggested that I download some software from NIK. So I did. I download all the free trial copies I could get my grubby little hands on. I found two really useful. The first one is the noise reduction software and the B&W Conversion software .... I used them both on this image. Okay so truth be told I extracted Billy from a busy background that was really distracting. I then placed him on a black background and the applied the NIK software. After all was said and done I used CS3's Light Effect on him .... whew! This is about the most heavily Photoshopped image I've done ... come to think of it -- it is the most heavily photoshopped image I have. I'm pooped ... time to veg infront of a different tube .... Oh and this here is Billy Harper.

Still diggin .....

I came across this image this evening while sifting through the digital dumpster. I think that this is one of the reasons why I am rather anal retentive about keeping hold of many of the images I make. During my usual lunchtime walkabout I stopped into my local Indigo book store. Normally I don't pay too much attention to the Photoshop magazines, but today I picked up one and saw the technique that I used on this image. I like the technique and am glad I bought the magazine.


Oh well back into the digital dumpster. I still have to surface a few more images for the exhibition that starts in a few weeks time.

Horn Player .....

I'm slowly working through the thousands of images and reducing them to a couple of handfuls. This weekend I'll need to finish the selection and post processing in order to have them printed and ready to hang come the end of the month. This may end up being one of the photos in the exhibition.

I can then focus on the shoots for the book and another project. I've been asked to contribute to a long running project by the Photosensitive group of photographers. www.photosensitive.com

The genesis of Photosensitive came out of an idea by then TorontoStar photographer Andrew Stawicki and graphics editor Peter Robinson. Their idea was to combine the photographic talents of a number of professional Toronto-based photographers and bring these considerable talents to bear on topics of social importance and perhaps spur people in action. Since then Photosentistive has taken on a wide array of causes. The project that I'll be working with is concerned with Cancer. My photo(s) will appear in a national exhibition of 500 photos that will visit five cities this year and three more next year, ending with a finale exhibition in Ottawa.

Nothing much to say today ....

work has been all consuming and leaving me pretty whacked come the evening so I'm not getting as much done as I should ... I'm still sorting through images for the show in May... the anxiety level is starting to peak. Today and tomorrow will be all about selecting the final 10 images with this week being the printing week. I do fall to the occasional wilful avoidance such as digging through older images like this image from a shoot last October with Ruth. I was deliberately shooting into the sun just to see what the effect would be ... To hear Ruth sing have a look at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tH9Zkp0qPfk


Now I need to go back to sorting through images ......

Entering the DROBO Sphere......with some Hot Shoes

This week a couple of things arrived. One thing was the much anticipated copy of Joe McNally's 'The Hot Shoe Diaries -- Big Light From Small Flashes'. Some reading for this evening ... I'm into avoidance right now because I should be selecting the final images for May's CONTACT exhibit but instead I'm sorting through some older images. My DROBO from Data Robotics came on Friday. I bought it because of some recommendations from some photogs who I respect, not so much for their understanding of technology, but because of their lack of it. They have been able to make it work for them and have had few if any problems with their DROBOs. For those who don't know about the product the DROBO is a mass storage device that can store up to 16 terabytes of data on a single volume. When I bought it I also purchased a 1.5 Terabyte drive. I purchased two more drives on the weekend so I could do a total redundant back up of all my images and still have room to expand. In total I now have 3.5 terabytes of backup storage with 40% to spare for growth. It sounds like a lot but in a year or so I could fill the extra hard drive space. Unless I do some more serious culling which I have started to do. Culling rather than selecting and working on images for May... tsk me bad.

This is one of the images that didn't make the cull. It is of my friend Julie a fellow photog and published author . I've played with it a bit in Lightroom. It was just a impromptu shot taken on an overcast day last fall while she was standing against a patio wall.

I'm back ... from beautiful Barbados

You know if there is one thing about flying Air Canada is that is certainly isn't what it used to be. There was a day not so long ago, well okay, it was a long time ago, when you got a selection of hot meals, complementary beverages, and gasp, coffee in real ceramic or china coffee cups.... sadly that day like so many others has gone. Actually I am quite surprised that the plane actually managed to arrive safely.... or perhaps ACE has decided to spend its money on essentials like engine maintenance. Lord knows it wasn't on the armrest that came off in my hand, or the overhead light that didn't work, or the washroom with no soap or paper towels, or sigh ... the c-list movies that weren't played because someone forgot to see if the DVD machine actually was functional before take off. Way to go ACE !! Got to love Canada's premier airline ....

Anyway enough of the whining. The photo shoot almost didn't happen and then when it did happen it was a much abbreviated shoot. Three days into the trip I came down with a cold and sore throat (still have that annoying cough). By the time Saturday came around I was stuffed up more than a turkey at Thanksgiving. For added pleasure my voice was reduced to a croak... ick!. On Friday I left Michelle a text message saying that I wasn't up to doing the shoot on Saturday and offered my profound apologises.Bless her heart and cotton socks she came back and offered to do the shoot on Thursday or Friday afternoon the week following. This meant that she'd have to take some time off work which made it offer even more endearing. I jumped at it.

The good thing is that we did have the shoot and I came away with about 500 images. The not so good thing was that I tried to cram as much as I could in roughly and hour or so. I think I came out of it with a few good images .... I just finished downloading them and a few have caught my eye. These are two of them ... they are raw and pretty much right out of the camera. I still have some work yet to do on them.

Three more sleeps ......

Three more sleeps before I board the big silver bird that will fly me to the sunny island nation of Barbados. I don't wish to hurry my life along but I'm ready to go now and don't want to wait. You see my job's a hassle and the kids are all freaks.

But I have a dream... more like a waking vision. Yesterday I bought eight meters of this gossamery white fabric that I am going to wrap around Michelle (my Bajan model) .... the majority will be worked by the wind and or the water. Initially I'm going to wrap her up and place her atop the cliffs near River Bay on the north east side of Barbados. The wind that comes off the Atlantic comes straight from Africa .... it is strong and never fails. I will photograph her laterally with the cloth trailing and flapping behind her and the a sight line of the cliffs and surf forming a line towards the horizon.

After that it will be down to the Bathesheba coast with its pools and stunning coral 'flower pot' formations. There I photograph Michelle moving amongst those with the cloth trailing in the ocean and later floating on her back in the water with the cloth splayed out around her ...... or so the vision goes.

This is an image or a guy who came up to me a few years ago while I was walking the beach. He asked that I photograph him doing reverse somersaults ..... I was concerned I'd be photographing an accident where he'd break his neck ..... thankfully that didn't happen.



My apologies to John Prine and Harry Chapin for stealing and bending some of their lyrics....

Peek a boo .....

I should be doing a bunch of things but instead I am doing some digital dumpster diving and listening to Carlos Santana on the headphones ... too loud. My wife will soon be telling me that I am going to go deaf ... "Huh, what's that? Speak up, quit mumbling"....

I have a bunch of images from a couple of shoots that I should also be working through ... I will. But not just yet. I must be bored. I think that the Muses have already left for the Caribbean. Fourteen more sleeps until Barbados. I've arranged for a couple of shoots with Michelle .... should be fun.

In the meantime here are the lovely eyes of Julie who I photographed back in the fall.

Not getting around much ....

Work has been taking a lot of my time ... but I have plans ... yes always plans. I hope to begin shooting for the book come late May. Melissa will be picking candidates and coordinating interviews (for the copy in the book) and I'll be scouting locations with her. There will be some studio work of course but it appears now that most of the images will be taken outside in places like stone quarries, overgrown automobile graveyards, woodlands with fallen trees, the obligatory beach shot.

A son of a friend and a fellow photographer has taken a lease on a live work studio and is looking for people willing to throw in on the studio space. So that seems like a go come March when he moves in. I haven't seen the studio space but his mother tells me that there is ouddles of light from floor to ceiling windows. Not much to say at this point except February will soon be upon me and the Barbados shoots need some fine tuning. Locations, materials and such still need to be solidified. In the mean time Julie shown here has got back to me about some photos we did back in October. So I'm working on some for her.


Christina Martin has also got back to me with her selection for her media kit ... so that will keep me a little busy too.. :-)

Hey it isn't glamourous but it pays .......

I spent this Friday night shooting protein supplements and flavour additive containers for a client who is getting into the supplement business. For several months we've been chatting back and forth. A number of false starts later I get a call on Tuesday. Can you shoot the product in the next day or two? I'm launching my website in the next couple of days and I need some photos of my product. Um well I need to get the product, arrange for a place to shoot it....and I work 9 to 5 so I'll have to do it in the evening.

Thankfully Anne deHaas came to my rescue and let me use her home studio. Bless her heart and cotton socks. We fiddled with the lights and the getting the backdrop just so.... you can't tell it is there which is the charm of it. We chatted as I took the photos. Anne graciously let me use her brand new Canon 5D MarkII. She has two. So I banged away all night with it... lovely piece of camera. I may just have to breakdown and get one for myself......

This is my first ever product shoot ... these are four separate images blended together

and this is five separate shots again blended together.

Protests, Rallies, and other acts of political involvement

This past Saturday I went to a protest rally. I like going to these sorts of events not because of any particular political leaning although I've often see myself as a fiscal conservative with liberal tendencies and socialist leanings, but because it is democracy in action. Democracy in the raw so to speak. People voicing their objection to something that is happening in civil society that they view as wrong.


Whether or not it is 'wrong' obviously depends on your point of view. Whether you feel you are the oppressed standing up for your right to live your live according to your beliefs or you feel that you are protecting your rights against those who wish to unilaterally impose their beliefs upon you

I also like going to these sorts of events because it helps me train my photographic eye not to mention sharpening my spidy sense that alerts me to changing nuances in the crowd. There is also an energy which seems to be transferred amongst everyone there that makes one forget that it was -22 with the wind chill that day.

Perhaps that is why these folks decided to light this rag on fire........

Publish or Perish ......

That used to be the mantra of my university professors. You have to publish to be taken seriously and to get your name known in the community... or to keep your tenure. Well I don't have any concerns about tenure, but one way to become known is definitely to publish. So that is what I've decided to do. That and learn a whole shite load about what it takes to get a book published in my beloved country. Fortunately I know someone who has had a few books published.... and in different languages, so she knows the ropes. I'm also collaborating with a fitness trainer who is very well connected in the fitness community. Curious yet?

We are going to publish a coffee table book with photos of course, but not just photos.. nooo. We will interview about a dozen female fitness athletes. One chapter per athlete. The photographs and the results of the interviews will fill the chapters. The interviews will reveal the personal story behind how each athlete reached their point of personal perfection, what their motivations were, what sacrifices they made along their journey towards achieving their personal best. We are hoping that it will prove inspirational for women considering seeking to change their personal fitness level.

The photographs will show the results of years of determination, hard work, sacrifice, and discipline, not in the cheesy, female beefcake type of photography that is often associated with photographs of fitness athletes. These photos will, I hope, come as close to fine art photography as I can possibly make them.

Well it is out there now. It is an ambitious New Years project ... yikes! At this moment it is in the first draft going to second draft of a book proposal that will be sent to book publishers. With the help of my friend, the published author we are hoping that the proposal will actual get some serious consideration. This scares the bejeepers out of me but as my wee dearly departed Da used to tell me... "Son a faint heart never won a fair lady". Somehow I don't think he was referring to that largish unkempt woman in the subway ticket booth.



Oh before everyone gets confused this obviously is not a female fitness athlete... it is Paris Black a Billy Idol tribute singer. I overheard a conversation between two guys at the gig were Paris was performing. One of them pointed to Paris and said "Jeez man... his abs look like my ass" ... hmm not sure if that was good or not... I somehow think not, for the guy referring to his ass. I took his word for it.

Riddle me this ...

What is the easiest thing to make?
The hardest thing to keep?
And the easiest thing to break?

We'll see where it goes :-)

I wanna be a Rock Star ......

Last week or so I wrote a note to someone who I've never met before although I have created a link to him through a social networking site called LinkedIn. I know of him through someone else that I know.... that whole six degrees of separation thing. He has over 40 years in the business and has been the Chief Photographer for one of the country's premier weekly magazines and lately for a monthly magazine. I wrote a note to him saying that I'd be going to the Kenny MacLean Tribute Concert and that if he was interested in the images I'd make them available.

He wrote me a very polite note back and offered to review the images with me and offer some critique on them but that they won't have any use for the photos. I wasn't disappointed about the photos being turned down since I never really thought that they would be picked up, but I thought that the offer of the critque was great! I wrote a note back saying that I'd take him up on the critique offer. I included the links to this site and the other ones that I have.

I received a note back last week ...

"I went to your blog site and was blown away with the depth - quality and content. I thought you were just a beginner but your work is great. I would be happy to meet for coffee sometime and chat about whatever you like."

The funny thing is I am a beginner .... well if after three years I can still consider myself a beginner. I still think of myself that way.

I'll be having a coffee in the New Year with him. We'll see where it goes from there .....

Rock on Kenny MacLean !!

This evening I went to The Mod Club to shoot a tribute to Kenny MacLean who passed away last month at the tender age of 52. It would seem that life caught up with Kenny. He was found dead in his bathroom. He apparently died of a heart attack. Kenny was a member of the Canadian super group Platinum Blonde.


The place was packed with the luminaries from the Canadian Rock and Roll industry. Performing tonight amongst others were the members of Platinum Blonde, Paris Black (pictured here) and Glass Tiger as well as several other people who donated their time to support Kenny's family and to raise money for a music scholarship in Kenny's name.


Pam (a truely lovely woman), Kenny's sister asked if I'd come and take some photos. This is one of them. The rest will have to wait because I need to hit the sack so I can get up tomorrow morning and do the job that fuels the passion.

What difference a week makes ....

last Sunday it was cold enough to cause a brass monkey to give pause and this Sunday it rained. Fortunately it wasn't as cold as it was back on the ole homestead. Minus 41 with the wind howling off the prairies makes my decision to stay snug in Canada's banana belt seem ever so wise and far sighted.

Yesterday I had the good fortune to be able to photograph two of Canada's up and coming musicians, Dale Murray (http://www.myspace.com/dalemurray) and Christina Martin (http://www.christinamartin.net/). Both are accomplished musicians in their own right. Dale helped produce Christina's sophomore album "Two Hearts". Her first album was titled "Pretty Things". I have to say that I really enjoyed the shoot ....

Pictured below are Dale Murray and Christina Martin .... see if you can guess who is who :-)

It was a cold and windy day ....

and several thousand people showed up to voice their support for the Coalition of the 64%. If you don't follow Canadian politics perhaps here is a good as any place to start.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/12/01/f-coalition.html.

I was in the locale meeting with another photographer who I am collaborating with to produce my first exhibition this coming May during Contact. The Contact website
( http://www.contactphoto.com/ ) describes it as "an annual month long festival of photography with over 500 local, national and international artists at more than 200 venues across the Greater Toronto Area in May."

After the chat and planning we wandered over to Nathan Phillips Square where a rally in support of the Coalition of the opposition parties representing 64% of the votes cast in the last federal election. Jack Layton, Leader of the New Democratic Party, and Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion addressed the shivering masses. This is a picture of Stéphane Dion. It is perhaps a testiment to Canada and Canadians that I could get so close to the leaders of the opposition parties and photograph them. There was no visible security except for a few police wandering the edges of the crowd.

Spin cycle .. another photo from the Laundramat

Sometimes one sees a picture within a picture which I suppose is the essence of abstract art. Well this is an abstract from a larger image that I made while photographing the dancers in the Laundromat a while back.

I was motivated to stop printing photos of landscapes and go back to the dance photos after watching Cylla being interviewed on Bravo this evening. I have to say that I find her work very inspiring... but it creates another conflict for me. I am really feeling the need to explore this ..... sigh! So much to explore ... so little time. I need to win the lottery so I can chuck the job that feeds the passion and just stay with the passion.

Working into Winter...

Finally got my printer unpacked and wired up. I've started to print some of my black and white images .. bleh. I pay all that money and I end up printing black and white landscapes. Oh well, just the same I am learning a lot about printing. I've been used to paying around in Photoshop so that the images look right to me, but I am learning it is a whole other ball of wax when one prints. I am using a Epson Stylus Pro 3800 to print the images and a variety of cotton rag archival paper. I'm wondering if there may be a cheaper way to learn. Kind of in the vein of measure twice and cut once. But never the less I'm learning slowly. Never said I was quick of the mark!

This is one of the images that I worked on this evening. It is a stream that flows through a ravine not to far from where I live.

It isn't anywhere near the quality of Peter's work, but then I'm no Ansel Adams either. Speaking of noteworthy photographers, I've been reading Annie Leibovitz's recent book named 'Annie Leibovitz At Work'. It showed up in the post the other day. I had completely forgotten that I had ordered it. Anyway I found it to be very an interesting and easy read. Anne writes in a very matter of fact manner which I found myself liking.

There is nothing earth shattering or overly profound in it, but there are a few lines that stuck out for me. It is the last paragraph of a short chapter titled The Road West. "When I'm asked about my work, I try to explain that there is no mystery involved. It is work. But things happen all the time that are unexpected, uncontrolled, unexplainable, even magical. The work prepares you for that moment. Suddenly the clouds roll in and the soft light you longed for appears.'

Of all the words that inhabit this book, these words more than any other resonate with me. For I am just now beginning to find that all the hours spent with my camera and the studying of the work of other photographers has prepared me to glimpse at those unexpected, uncontrolled, unexplainable magical moments. I just need to remember to press the shutter.

By the way in case anyone thinks that this is a finished photograph ... it isn't. After printing I saw so many issues with it that I will likely have to begin again.

Second attempt ....

Still dancing ....

Last night I finally got back into the rest of the images from the dance shoot that I did in the laundramat. Lesson learnt ... if the space is small and the room for movement is limit.... you'll get a bus load of images that look like people standing around or images of people who look like they've just dove for the ground after experiencing an 8.5 earthquake. It is going to be a little disappointing to the dancers when they get the majority of the images back and it looks like they are waiting around for the bus.....oh well at least I have a few that have some obvious movement... such as this one.

and I'm back in the World of the Living

I'm pretty much past whatever bug I had, although I still have a dry persistent cough. Cough cough, sputter sputter, but that didn't stop me from going to work today and trying my best to pass along the plague to everyone I could. So this weekend is another weekend of post processing :-(. It seems that is all I do lately. I can't remember the last time I just grabbed my camera and gear and wandered around the city like some sort of Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Doisneau, or Jeanloup Sieff (whose work I absolutely love and whose books I flip through at least once a week). Today it is like January.. -15C. Not terribly cold by the standards of my birth place but for Canada's Banana Belt it is cold enough.... and my thinned out blood. Waiter !! My Goodness more Guinness for my blood!! .... Tomorrow it is all about post processing a bunch of photos for a band I shot earlier in the month ... they need it for a press kit in early December. Not much really when I consider that a friend of mine is trying to post process 400 images at one go for delivery the next day. Madness !!

This evening because I had a fit of boredom accompanied by a commensurate fit of avoidance I found and worked on this image of Victoria rather than four guys in a rock band.



to J.W. ... down boy!

Sick Day ...

Second time in two months that I've had a cold/flu. Not good considering that I am usually ridiculously healthy. I have one cold a year whether or not I need it and almost never take a day off work. Partly because I begin to agitate when I'm inside for two long with nothing to occupy my wee mind. Lots of things I can and should be doing but bleh. I don't have the energy to do anything other than agitate. That and whip this up. One of the guys where I work mentioned that he wanted an image for a presentation he'd be doing at the departmental Christmas party. He mentioned the Who's Quardophrenia album and how much he liked it. This got me thinking a little, just a little because right now my fevered mind can't really hold more than a couple thoughts at once. yeah yeah so what else is new !

But I dug around in the digital dumpster and found this image which I fiddled with for a while....


Do you see the Douglas Adams influence :-)

Dancing during the rinse cycle .....

About a week back Andrea DeKeijer sent me a note and asked if I might photograph a performance that she and nine other women were putting on.... at a coin operated laundromat on College Street. Of course intrigued I said yes. I met Andrea at the dance photography workshop that I attended a few weeks back. We chatted briefly when everyone came back to have a coffee and debrief from the shoot. Andrea is a dancer who is in her last year of university. Andrea is also a budding photographer who in my humble opinion has a future should she wish to pursue it.

So anyways I showed up in the late afternoon to photograph the rehearsal. Much to my chagrin (does anyone still use that word?) the lighting was harsh overhead bare flourescent tubes. Even wide open I had to shoot at 1600 ... oh well one makes the best of what one is given.

The performances weren't all dance. Some where a combination of dance and recital. Here Amelia is confessing her sins in a dryer .....

It seems to be my week ....

So sometimes I do things and then totally forget that I did them. Perhaps it is a sign that I'm getting older or that an affirmation that I've always been a little absent minded. This morning I received an excited phone call from a neighbour. She started to congratulate me on my photograph. I thought it was the one in the Metro Photo Challenge 2008 that I wrote about in my previous posting. A ways into the conversation it dawned on me that we were speaking about two different photos. "... umm thanks but what image are you referring to" I asked.. duh! It turned out that it was it an image I placed with Canadian Geographic Magazine sometime in the summer. It turns out that it was chosen as photo of the week.

"Photo of the Week

This special honour goes to an outstanding image uploaded by any of our members, to any area of the website.

We examine areas such as exposure, composition, use of colour and light, contrast, clarity, mood, framing, unique perspective - all these elements are to be balanced to produce the most brilliant portrayal."

This is the image that made photo of the week.

Special thanks go to Julie for suggesting that I should include a few of my images.

Late Breaking News ... Selected as one of the initial top 100 photos

I just received an email from the "Metro Photo Challenge 2008" photo competition. It is the first competition I ever entered. The photo is at http://www.metrophotochallenge.com/ca/photo/46260


Or here ....


So please follow the link above and vote often :-). I may end up walking around the streets of Paris doing the flaneur thing :-)

Still working on the Girls ....

It has been almost a month and I'm just now getting to the images of all those fitness types I photographed on October 5th. With each shoot that I do I learn so much... such as always look for stray hairs, especially over faces. Also always always clean the sensor before embarking on a mega shoot. The thing is I know better or should know better by now. One image that one of the fitness models liked had so much spotting on the image and so many stray hairs (courtesy of a fan) that it took me almost a two hours to perfect the image. Fortunately this isn't it. This is an image of Cyndi.



She has a nice impish smile and was very comfortable in front of the camera. Always a good thing. Hopefully I'll be done with these before the end of the week. I think that this nails it. No more freebies.

Band Stand .....

Today was the day that I got together with the guys from Metheus. This is an image of Ben that I took at the very end of the shoot. We came to the end of our studio time so I was sort of rushing through.... there are problems with this image that I see now but didn't when I was shooting. Rushing rushing .... for instance I had a white board reflector too close to Ben's camera left so there isn't enough of a drop off of light there.

Oh well live and learn. I need to stand back and look around and think more. I really shouldn't have worked on this image at all. I have dozens and dozens of images to edit not to mention the images from the women from the Fame Camp......

I pretty much have my home office finished, just need the carpenter come back on Thursday and drill some holes for cabling. The chesterfield - bed came on Saturday ... oh I LIKE it. Soft cow hide. It reminds me of the soft leather that you get in a well used ten year old baseball glove, all supple and well aged.....like the guy reclining on the couch in a few moments :-)

Striking up the Band

well a band anyways. Another freebie shoot on Sunday. Starving artists and all that. I am told that I should be charging a minimum of $300/hour for my time plus expenses. Apparently I am doing a disservice to all the other photographers out there who are struggling to make their way in the World. But if I was to charge that much for my time or ask for that from every starving group of wannabe top ten bands or musicians or singers then I won't be able to shoot as often as I want to or grow as a photographer from the experience that I gain from each shoot.

In this shoot I am going to place them in various positions on a L-shaped red sectional couch backstopped with a white rolled paper background. I am thinking that this sort of background will make it easier for a graphic artist to work with than if I used something else. I see it in my wee mind. I'll see on Sunday if I can translate it into a series of useful images.

The group that I am shooting is called Metheus and their website is www.metheusbound.ca . These guys have a rather sophisticated sound. One of the guys in the band also plays guitar for Ruthie Lamb ... hence the connection.

Ruthie has also told me that her manager likes some of the recent work I've done with her and is considering having me do a shoot with one of the other singers he represents. I wonder what he'll think of $300/hour plus expenses......

This is an image of Carolyn Thompson that I took during her performance at Lula Lounge back in August. Sophisticated, but blues and jazz... definitely not Rock and Roll.

Enter stage left ....

Because I am a photographer with ADD who regularly skips my medication, my mind wandered into another realm. Today I participated in a Dance Movement workshop facilitated by Cylla Von Tiedemann www.cylla.ca. Cylla has spent many many years photographing dancers and understanding their motivations and movements. When I saw this workshop advertised in the Pikto catalogue I thought this may be just the tonic I need.... hic :-)

So today it happened and I am glad that I went. One of the most important things I learnt from all of this is from something one of the dancers said about being restricted by the direction she were given and more to a point that Cylla made herself. It is best to provide a dancer with a concept or a framework and to let them interpret it until they or you reach a point where it has run its course. I think that it may be best to stop before it has run its course because the dancers begin to tire from all the emotion that they inject into their movements. Me being selfish when things are going good I need to watch and learn when to shift the concept and give the dancer a rest.

This is a rather exciting area and I'm going to pursue it further. More fuel for my ADD.


This is an image of Kristina Udegbunam who was one of the two dancers that I was fortunate to work with today. This may not be the best image in the lot as I haven't finished reviewing them all. But it stood out for me. I have started to follow my impulses rather than my head .... yikes !!

Actually I don't have ADD.... just a tendency to get bored very quickly. Oh by the way the colour saturation and slightly unreal feel to the image comes from an ND4 filter I had on the lens to bring out the sky.

So I was supposed to shoot a body builder tomorow .....

but he cancelled just a few minutes ago. He is putting together a line of nutritional supplements and apparently that line is ready for prime time yet. The shots where to show him working out in a home gym environment. Apparently in one of these palatial homes with floor to ceiling windows that provide a spectacular view onto Lake Ontario. Oh well perhaps some other time. In the mean time I thought I'd treat you all to another image of someone who I think is becoming something of a photographic muse for me. This is an image I took of Ruth lately. I was experimenting with something that most books and magazine articles advise against; shooting with the sun in front of you. Well nothing ventured nothing gained.


At least I didn't go blind.

Have a listen to Ruthie singing at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tH9Zkp0qPfk ... please leave some comments on her video page ....

Some renovations......

Today is clean out the second bedroom/come home office. The Thanksgiving dinner is over and done with. The remains of the pumpkin pie is languishing in the refrigerator waiting the second onslaught....

But today is about clearing out the second bedroom, sorting through books and such that I no longer need or am interested in keeping. I used to think that business and IT strategy were my future, but not anymore. So the dozens of books I had on that topic are heading to the bin room. I hope someone might find them of value.

On Wednesday the cabinet maker comes with the furniture that I ordered a few months back. I am converting a closet into a built in work area. To complement that I'm getting a set of built in bookshelves (for my books on photography) and a window seat for under the large window. I'm rather excited about it, that and the soft leather sofa bed that will be coming in a few days time.



This is a photo of Annemarie whose photos I took while at the FAME Camp last Sunday. I'm just about finished with them all. The first edit pass that is. I'll have the contact sheets all sent out be end of day today. Now the requests will start and I'll be busier than a long legged man in a butt kicking contest.... hmm perhaps that wasn't PC. ahhh screw it :-)

A little bit country... a little bit rock and roll

Thursday turned out to be a gorgeous fall day. The air was warm and the leaves had started to take on their fall colours. Ruthie and I had scheduled yesterday to do another photo shoot with a country flair to it. It was suggested to Ruthie by some music industry types that she should perhaps consider moving into urban country. Ruthie's musical past does contain some country roots, but to survive in this industry one needs to be able to adapt.

This is one of the images that we did whilst on an abandoned railway track that if you saw the rest of it you'd swear was nowhere close to Canada's most urban centre.


This image was taken in the Distillery District using one of the two old trucks there as props ....

Weekend fitness workshop

Today I got out of bed at 5:30 AM ... I was awake at 5 AM worrying about the shoot that was supposed to start at 8 AM. It did start on time. What had me worried was that the equipment was rented and I had never used that make before so I was worried that something would not work or I'd not be able to figure something out and the shoot would be a bust.

But crap am I tired.... I photographed at least a dozen women, head shots, body shots, three quarter shots... coached and directed and tried to be creative with the poses so that each one had something different in her set of photographs.

This is one of them ... sorry I've forgotten her name. I have it written down on a model release, but I'll have to check with Melissa Tucker the organiser of the Fame Camp to find her name. This week I'll have to create contact sheets for each of them and send them out. The week after that I'll be PS my wee little brains out.

The Nature of Creativity ....

This is a placeholder rather than a post while I'm noodling about The Nature of Creativity. In the meantime... I came across this statement by a blogger by the name of Loren Webster in a post called "In a Dark Time … The Eye Begins to See" . The line is from Stanley Kunitz’s introduction to "Passing Through".

"The imagination lives by its contradictions and disdains any form of oppression, including the oppression of the mind by a single idea."

This line resonates with me.

It is Labour Day and I am sitting in front of my computer ...

I have signed up for a couple of Pikto Workshops. The first one is a dance photography workshop given under the tutelage of Cylla von Tiedemann http://www.cylla.ca/. What can I say except that I love her work. I have been giving a lot of thought to playing in this area for a while now and when I saw this opportunity to shoot with Cylla I thought it was worth the expense. The workshop location is yet to be determined but it'll be outside and somewhere near Toronto during the month of October. There are other dance and motion workshops offered by Cylla, but at the moment this is what I can afford.

A while back I purchased a book by Hal Eastman titled Natural Dance. I love the ethereal nature of the images and how Eastman has combined this with the elements within the images. I find it quite inspiring and would someday like to approach this level of excellence. I'll have to study it carefully before heading out on the dance workshop.

The other workshop I have signed up for is Promotional Music Photography by Sylvain Dumais http://www.sylvaindumais.com/ . The workshop offers to take the participants through every aspect that music photography calls for from brainstorming to editing. I am hoping that it'll help me with the creativity bit that I feel I am lacking in my photography......

Viva Les Diva's

On Friday evening I went to the Lula Lounge on Dundas street at the invitation of Carolyn Thompson. I must say that I was blown away by the four talented women who graced the stage with their presence, voices and their energy. It was an absolute delight. Oh yeah and Carolyn asked me to bring my camera along.....






This is an image of Tracy Francis, one of the almost nine hundred and fifty images I came away with. I've got to cut back....

Parsley Sage Rosemary and Whips

As my once good friend and high school nemesis Bill wrote in his play Hamlet Act 1. Scene V

"And therefore as a stranger give it welcome.
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy."

Yesterday I wandered down to Church Street to take in the Fetish Fair. It was more of a flea market than a fair with the street lined with vendors selling an array of leather items. I meet up with another photographer who brought along a make-shift backdrop we erected in a shaded spot near the beer store parking lot. During the course of about four hours we took about twenty portraits of people ranging from their early twenties to Joy who had just turned ninety. Joy can still work a mean cat of nine tails !!

This is a portrait of a couple who partook in the spirit of the fair. The young woman in the portrait has five similar partners in her stable. I call her a young woman because she could hurt me :-)

Turret Window

Tonight I should have been putting together a CD for Simran and starting in on my business plan. For some reason I find that when I start to think about putting together a business plan and a marketing plan I get fidgety. I have my suspicions. Instead I went digital dumpster diving.

I sifted through a bunch of images from 2006 and found this one. The image needed a lot of work. The sensor was so dirty the image looked like the it was on the wrongside of a screen door after a mud slinging contest. After I cleaned it up I thought I'd see what the image might look like if I printed it on my spanking new printer. It came out okay, but just okay. Now either I do some more digital dumpster diving, or I start sketching out 'Da Plan, Boss. Da Plan'. Or instead I may settle back with a good book like the one I received in the mail a few days ago... "Successful Self-Promotion for Photographers" by the late Elyse Weissberg... riveting stuff :-)

Oh yeah. This photo was taken while I was walking the Walls of Londonderry, or Derry if you prefer.

Went to a Flickr Party to meet some of my old friends ....

Every once in a while Flickr throws a party to which Flickrites flock to like gulls to a freshly ploughed field. This past Friday they threw a little soiree at C'Est What . One of my many favourite pubs in Toronto and home of 35 craft brewed beers. Aside from the free eats Flickr picked up the tab on the beer.... I took the opportunity to resample several. The young ladies from Flickr generously sprang for the pool tables as well.


Nearly everyone who came brought their camera and as you see I was no exception. I mean it would have been like going to a Halloween party without a costume. Throughout the evening so many flashes were going off so often I thought that I might fall into an epileptic fit. Fortunately the several pints of beer that I had had a rather calming effect on me.

I wonder if Mondo got any of the women to pose for him in the washroom ... hmm I'll have to check his stream later.

oh yeah and the swimsuit shoot......

Sorry guys... no swimsuits for you. :-)

Here is one of the outtakes from my shoot with Torkwase a week ago last Saturday.

Feeling a little bit country ...

This weekend I recovered my images from the near disaster and did some additional house cleaning... dumped about six thousand images. Guess I didn't need that terabyte drive.

Yesterday I got a call from Dave McClean ... this is his photo straight from the camera. Dave was needing some images for a press kit to go along with a new single that he is releasing to radio stations through RDR this Wednesday. Dave was a referral from Patrick Dune who I did a cover for a couple of months back. Patrick is producing Dave's music. I've just sent off the contact sheets for Dave to review and get back to me. I know what I'll be doing tomorrow evening.

I have to thank Anne de Haas for opening up her studio for me on such short notice. Anne is a sweetie. Check her link out in the side bar. http://annedehaas.blogspot.com/

There are times when the mind says NO NO and the finger says YES YES

I think everyone had done this sort of thing were the mind is screaming at the body to stop but the body doesn't listen to the mind ... kind of like "Piss off I'm going to do what I want to do".

Last Friday I decided to reorganise my hard rives after having done some clean up. Basically house cleaning. Getting rid of images I didn't want because of some reason or another. Well after the clean up I decided that I would make use of the freed (is that a word) space by moving images from one drive to available space on another. Usually I use copy when I do this sort of thing. You likely can read the foreshadowing of this part of the plot.

So anyways this was a fairly large job that would take some time so I did the 'move' late in the evening and then head off to bed. The next morning I get up and while the kettle is boiling and the toast is toasting I decided to pad off to the study (fancy name for the second bedroom) and see if the move finished. It had so I did a quick eye ball check between the window that I moved from to the window I moved to. Seeing that everything had moved across I deleted what was on the moved from drive (thinking I had did a copy rather than move).

What in effect I did was delete the moved files. ECK ... of course the realisation didn't settle in until the morning coffee had jump started the brain.

This time not padding my way to the study I saw that my nightmare was a waking one. I had deleted an entire year of images. ... because the amount of images were so large they didn't reside in the recycle folder but were in effect gone.... like the wind!!

I immediately went to the web and searched for a piece of software (freeware) that I could use to recover my deleted files. In the comfortable knowledge that so long as I didn't overwrite the space I should be able to over come the files. ....

The downloaded software ... freeware... was so free. After taking two whole days to cycle through the hard drive and recover the deleted files it tells me in order to really recover the files I'd have to buy the software .... CRAP. I looked up the cost and it was too much.

But because they pissed me off with this trick I didn't go and buy their software. Instead I searched elsewhere and purchased recovery software from a different vendor. This ran for another two days before for some reason it failed... couldn't write to the drive. I restarted it and pointed it to write to a different drive.... another two days almost. I say almost because it didn't finish before for some strange reason my computer thought it was time to reboot itself. ACK !!!

This time around I ensured that there was no automatic software upgrade running that might download software and then reboot the computer automatically, then restarted the recovery software. It just finished an hour ago.

A quick scan of the recovered files makes it appear like they were recovered, although there are some duplicated folders (I am hoping from prior attempts to recover the files) where the images are not readable by Photoshop.

It is a good thing this weekend is a long weekend, because I think I'll be looking at several thousand images to make sure that they are indeed readable by Photoshop.

On a good note... I received a phone call (a message actually) from a country music singer who wants to talk to me about doing a shoot for an up coming CD.

... "on the road again" ....

Saturday ... a swimsuit shoot

This is a shoot with Torkwase. Torkwase and I have worked together in the past when I did a shoot with her and her business partner. That shoot was about putting together shots for a website and press kit. Torkwase is a personal trainer.

This shoot on Saturday is along a similar theme with the exception that it will include a swimsuit with Canada written across it. I've never done a swimsuit shoot before, but I am assuming that the lighting has to be a little more harsh than what I have been used to since soft lighting will not show off her muscle tone. As usual I have been pulling ideas from magazines and flyers. We get a lot of flyers stuffed into our mailbox from various fitness clubs in the neighbourhood. I've been gathering these up since the last time I worked with Torkwase. One never knows when these things will become useful.

Aside from the swimsuit we'll be photographing the Caribbana costume that Torkwase will be wearing in a few weeks time when a million people turn out to crowd the parade route to watch the parade and participate in a the festivities.


I am also going to put together a dance/movement/fashion shoot next month. The whole idea is to work with a model who is also a dancer, put her in a dress that flows and moves with her. Another photographer friend of mine is interested in collaborating on this shoot. She is a professional photographer and we'll be using her lighting equipment. The shoot will happen at a purpose built dance studio which is ridiculously cheap to rent. It is actually less expensive by far than even the cheapest photography studio space that I am aware of. If we wanted to hire the union rate lighting technician we could make use of the extensive theatre style lighting that is available, but that is an additional cost that I think we might be able to do without. Still it will be cool. And won't you know it .... the week I was beginning to think of this concept I wandered into a magazine store and started to flip through the Euro fashion mags and came across a layout by Thierry LeGoues in the magazine French revue de Modes ...damn oh well it just confirms the validity of the concept. In my case I may turn it into a photoessay and set it to music. If you want to see what Thierry LeGoues did look here http://www.thierrylegoues.com/picture2.html?view=French12_0238

Also from Canada Day Tuesday ....

After the shoot with Carol I caught a ride to Hamilton with Ruthie, Alex, and their two boys. Ruthie was performing at the annual Canada Day Celebration in Hamilton. It is Ruthie's home town. I hung around and photographed the performance, the band members and took a series of image of Ruthie on stage during a sound check. This is one of the images, one in colour and the other in black and white ... I felt like a change.

Ruthie can be heard at www.ruthielamb.com

What happened last Tuesday was ...

a very impromptu photoshoot with Carol Welsman www.carolwelsman.com . Carol is a personal friend of J who lives in my building who is also becoming a friend of mine. She has taken quite an interesting my work and has expressed a desire to help me move forward. This is rather refreshing turn of events for me since with the exception of a few rare individuals (and you know who you are so many many thanks) this has never ever happened to me.

Carol happened to be in the city visiting when she phoned J while I was there picking up a photography book I had lent to her. J said that Carol just had to do this shoot with me because I was so good. I'm standing there going damn girl don't over sell me. I'm still just a hack. Carol agreed that it would be a good idea. That was Saturday. Later that day I phoned another photographer friend of mine and said "I need a location in the city that I can get to by public transit. Can you tell me of a few". After telling me that she had given away some of her best locations to me I started to feel a little less anxious except for the fact that she'll hurt me real bad if I disclose the locations.

Sunday I jumped onto public transit and between that and Shank's Mare (my legs and feet) I went location scouting and found what I needed. On Tuesday morning we did the shoot or rather mid morning. By the time we arrived the sun had already gotten higher than I had wanted and the shadows were getting rather harsh.

I am not particularly wild about the images... more garbage than good. I am hoping that I come away with five or six good images. This is one of the better images that I have. Carol is standing on a floating dock in Lake Ontario. I have to thank a good friend of mine who worked PhotoShop miracles on this image.


Thank you thank you.

Later that day I was off to Hamilton to photograph a Canada Day Performance by Ruthie Lamb at Gage Park in Hamilton. That is for another time.

It is Pride week in Toronto ...

and what is PRIDE week without a photo or two. Another photographer by the name of Scott Clarke had set up a backdrop in the marshalling area prior to the big parade. Scott didn't mind so I grabbed a few shots over his shoulder.


This is one of them. This is Marilyn.

Impromptu Tuesday shoot ......

This Tuesday I am going to do a very impromptu photoshoot with an internationally acclaimed Juno Award nominated female Jazz singer and pianist. This artist has sold over 60,000 CDs in Canada not to mention what has been sold world-wide.

How has this come about ... through someone who I've come to know in the last month who has taken a special interest in my work. Someone who is very well connected in the fashion industry and who is also an internationally published author.

So you'll have to wait until Tuesday or later in the week to find out the what where and who....but for now I'm madly trying to think of some suitable locations for a shoot with little or now gear. YIKES

I hope I don't blow this .....oh and did I mention that this person suggested to the singer to call up one of the city's most sought after and busy make up artists and to drop her name... and the make up artist agreed.

OMG.....

I've decided to buy a printer

Up until now very few of my images have been printed. By very few I mean only a handful. The printer is part of a 'renovation' of the room I use as a 'study'. It is actually a second bedroom in our place. I am getting a desk/cabinet combination built into the closet. I had the carpenter in the other day to confirm measurements and talk over the general concept. Besides the built-in office I'm getting a window seat put in and a built-in wall unit with shelving for my books and a flat screen TV. This all means of course that I'll have to lose the oak roll top desk, the credenza, and bookcase that I bought at least ten years back. The desk is going to make room for a queen size sofa bed, thinking soft leather, from Ethan Allen (just in case anyone is unfortunate enough to stay over). Fortunately the carpenter is willing to take them on consignment and to put them in his shop.

I better start making some serious money to cover this all since I am looking at about $20K... give or take some.

Oh and the printer is an EPSON 3800 Portrait Edition....

One from the TD Canada Trust Toronto Jazz Festival

it is almost 12:30 in the wee hours and I should be in bed.

So I'm just going to throw this one up and disappear into the Land of Nod. Got ta be up again in 6 hours ... bleh

Da Paid Gig .....

Well this is one of the results from the shoot I did today with Thane St. Andrew a songwriter and singer. Serendipity played a role in this shot. Thane and I were walking towards another location to shoot at when we came across this 1970-ish ragtop Cady.

Initially Thane was reluctant to use it as a prop but I encouraged him to lean up against it while I shot a series of images. Eventually the owner came out of a local cigar shop. His name was Scott and he had recently purchased the car.

After talking with Scott about the car for a while Thane and I moved onto the next location. Personally I am pretty happy that we came across this antique..... antique, pleh... If that is antique at 38 I'm a freakin fossil.

You can listen to Thane's music at http://www.thanestandrew.com/

Remember the 4000 ....

Well the numbers are shrinking. I found a note in the email in-basket today from the photographer who was taking the lead role when I was shooting the Art of Jazz. They want the images .... Yikes !! I have only just last night started sorting through the images. I think that I'm going to flag the keepers and junk the rest.... or save them to a DVD or two or three or four or ... anyways get them off the hard drive.

I'll do a second pass through the remaining 'survivor's move the never had a chancers off to the DVD's and then do a third pass. I'm thinking that only 100 get off this island ... mowahahah.....

This may be one of the survivors....

My morning and late afternoon walk......

This morning I brought my camera along so that I could photograph a place that I am thinking of using for a shoot with a singer/song writer for his CD. This photo is of a roadway that passes through Mount Pleasant Cemetery which borders where I live. It is the first leg of my walk to work and the last leg of my return home. A lot of people are creeped out by cemeteries. Me, I find them restful and interesting places. Hopefully not too restful any time soon....


It all looks idyllic until you realise that Canada's longest street is a mere 20 metres or less away. Oh well that is the beauty and magic of photography. Photography can provide the viewer with an image that can so easily mislead them into thinking it is something other than what it really is.

I sense a theme coming on ...

Or not ... Carolyn recently contacted me and graciously reminded me I still owed her some images from a shoot back in February .... me bad. Of course this was originally a colour image but on a whim I decided to try it as a black and white. I think it didn't turn out half bad. I suppose I can play with it some more. As it is I haven't really done too much to it other than a little balancing and levels stuff.

I have to confess that I like doing studio work. Perhaps it is because it affords a degree of control that shooting out of doors doesn't ... waiting in the cold morning mist for the sun to make an appearance only to find that you misjudged where the first streaks of morning light will appear. It reminds me of the few occasions when I was invited along during Duck Season. Every time I went along the ducks flew too high over head or landed too far away.... while I froze my ass off. Oh well I suppose it is the journey and not the destination.

This evening I am meeting up with another singer. His name is Thane St. Andrew www.thanestandrew.com . Thane is looking for some press photos and something for his upcoming CD. Carolyn referred Thane to me. So many thanks to Carolyn for spreading the word.

Lordy Lordy if I do this gig I'm going to get paid. This sort of raises the bar for me. Now I can't say ... hey you are getting it for free don't complain. But then again I've never said that to anyone, yet :-)

I'm going to pack my lunch in the morning .....

I'm going to pack my lunch in the morning
And go to work each day
And when the evening rolls around
I'll go on home and lay my body down
And when the morning light comes streaming in
I'll get up and do it again
Amen
Say it again
Amen



I want to know what became of the changes
We waited for time to bring
Were they only the fitful dreams
Of some greater awakening
I've been aware of the time going by
They say in the end it's the wink of an eye
And when the morning light comes streaming in
You'll get up and do it again
Amen


... my apologies to Jackson Browne for changing the lyrics to The Pretender.

All that Jazz......

I spent Wednesday, Thursday and Friday evenings and all day Saturday from about 11am to almost midnight shooting the Art of Jazz festival performers for the Art of Jazz. This will be the second year of shooting this event. A few of the images from last year made it into their offical event publication. I wish that more had made it in, but as Alan one of the other two photographers explained it to me, "Each year different performers come to the festival. So the images we took of those who had been there last year aren't useful for the next year".

This kind of begs the question, "What are we shooting our brains out for then, if the images won't be published". Alan did put together several large collages with images from last year. These hang in the Art of Jazz offices in the Distillery District. But if he hadn't done this (for free by the way) I doubt if they would have ever been asked for. Last year we had media tags which meant we could get into he venues but that we were restricted in our movements. This year we were able to get Staff tags which meant we could pretty much come and go as we pleased where we pleased. But these tags didn't come without some reluctance on the part of the organisers. All in all I think that these folks get some pretty damned good photographs out of the three of us. For free. Alan and Andre (Andre had his own photography studio for 18 years) both used to shoot for the Toronto Star before they decided to go their own way so they are very professional, and me, well I'm a hack.

Perhaps next year we ask for some sort of renumberation and or publication. In the meantime I have over 4000 images to sort through ...... I've got to shoot less.

Concert Pianists ... ebony and ivory

This afternoon after work I wandered over to Jeanine's apartment to shot some images of her for a press kit that she is putting together. Jeanine has recently graduated with a Master's Degree in Music from the University of Toronto. She is hoping that the press kit will secure her some work playing venues around the city. Personally I hope to hear her play Roy Thompson or some other suitable place that will best showcase her talent.


I wonder if she might teach me piano in lieu of payment for the images. I obviously don't mean until I'm competent as a pianist.... I mean I don't have that much money or that she would need that many images of herself. But it would be kind of nice to play music again. I used to play the viola ....I started off on a quarter sized violin when I was five years old. I gave it up when I was seventeen or eighteen. I could have been a contender . Oh well.

I remember the day (I don't have many childhood memories) when I went with my mother to Crofts violin shop in Winnipeg. It must have been summer because I remember clutching the violin case to my chest with all my might as we crossed the street.

I wonder what the wife might say if I came home one afternoon clutching an electronic keyboard to my chest....

This is an image of Jeanine sitting in front of her concert grand. It was done entirely with the light coming in from her apartment window.

The Artistic Process ... hmmm

I've been thinking about Fusion's comment about what goes through my mind leading up to a shoot and during a shoot. Mostly fear I think :-) I've given it a fair amount of thought and have written a bunch of stuff... read a bunch of stuff, and then trashed a bunch of stuff.

I think that I have to come clean and confess I don't have much of a clue. I usually start with a pretty simple premise, a kind of framework in which to work and then just work within that framework. What comes comes and where it goes is anyone's guess. I don't imagine that that would inspire a great deal of confidence in anyone who may decide to hire me to shoot their clothing line (yeah like that might happen before I find I can't move my feet any more because they are buried in six feet of top soil). But it is what it is. I can only trust that what ever Muse is with me guides me in a creative direction that doesn't have a harsh ending.

This is an image of Simran... someone told me last weekend that she has been a Miss India (Canada). I hope she likes the image.

CD Shoot ....Can't Let Go

I did a photo shoot today with Patrick Dune and his buddy Dale Russell -- formerly of The Guess Who. Both Dale and I grew up in Winnipeg ... Patrick, well he wasn't so lucky. The shot below was inspired by a cover shot that I saw on a book by Alex Larg and Jane Wood.


We started off shooting under the Gardiner Expressway... Nancy Paiva came along to assist me. Nancy had the brilliant idea ... 'Lets put Patrick in the middle of the six lanes.' So we did. The actual express way is elevated but there is a six lane roadway underneath. Every few hundred meters or so there is a set of traffic lights. When ever there was a break in traffic we dragged Patrick out into the middle of the road so he was framed by the concrete arches that hold up the elevated express way. I was kind of like playing frogger or road hockey on a really big street with cars that go really fast .... CAR !!!

Later we went to a street behind the King Eddy Hotel. I've wandered past this location a lot of times. This evening I got the chance to do something with it.

Ronald Eric Dawson September 2, 1958 - August 25, 2007

It has been almost a year since my brother passed away from a heart attack while bicycling home from a friends place after complaining about not feeling well. He was found laying on the grass boulevard by the side of one of the residential streets leading to family home where he was living after my father passed away. This weekend past we interned his ashes along side those of my father and mother. My mother passed away in December of 1992 after complications arising from heart surgery. My father passed away on his older sisters birthday on February 18, 2000 after contracting pneumonia during a bout with the flu. One of the last comments I remember hearing from him was that he was surprised to have seen the new millennium. He was born in September of 1916, my mother in August 1923.

It was not until we had a wake for my brother last September that I realised just how many lives he had touched. Over two hundred people crowded the Legion Hall where we had the reception after the funeral service. We put up an open microphone and in between the Celtic music that was playing over the speakers various people would come and recall stories about them or others and 'The RD".

I was deeply touched by the stories that were recounted by everyone who came to the mic or expressed afterwards by those who crashed on Ron's couch or occupied a spare bedroom after being kicked out by a wife or a landlord because they could no longer pay the rent.

One woman who wore a red dress to the wake recounted a story of how Ron had asked her several times to put on that red dress and come dancing with him. She put on that red dress for him that evening and twirled around the mic stand.

I am not sure if it was my brother's reluctance to be alone or his open generosity , but the house on Darling Street was never empty. Since my father's passing it had become something of a way point for people that my brother met who needed a place to stay for a while . To my knowledge Ron hardly ever asked for rent money even though some stayed for months, but he did complain from time to time about the long distance charges that would appear on the telephone bill. He had it disconnected because he couldn't manage the costs. He had gone on long-term disability from his job as a electrician with Hydro after developing arthritis in his back. His income was limited.

Ron was large like the British TV actor Robbie Coltrane and was as Robbie would say about his character Kracker, "He smoked too much, he drank too much, he was too much". Ron lived life freely and perhaps carelessly. He was no angel he was deeply flawed and battled his own hidden demons. He was obstinate, opinionated, crude in many ways, quick to anger, and borrowed money like Wimpey asked for hamburgers (I'll gladly pay you Tuesday for a Hamburger today) but he was also a soft hearted generous man and a loyal friend to a great many people.

This weekend my sister and I placed Ron's remains into Saskatchewan's prairie loam amid singing, fiddle and guitar music. He will be missed by more than just his family.

Sunday Photoshoot ...I am soooo bagged

I am bagged. It is surprising how tiring and stressful a photoshoot can be. If everything goes well it is a good tired... kind of like the tired you get from doings something enjoyable. I'll leave it to everyone's imagination to fill in the 'enjoyable thing' that they might do that would leave them tired. If it goes badly ... it can be really hard on the old ego.


I learned/relearned a number of valuable lessons from this shoot. Perhaps the most valuable lesson was that once you've beat a line of thought to death, stop and regroup. If at this point you can send the model off set for a change of clothes then do that. It will buy one time to try to surface additional ideas that might spark a creative stream of thought that will energise the next part of the shoot. It is the spur of the moment creative thought process, genesis of a concept that is novel and can be extended or built upon that is, at least for me, the most stressful aspect of the shoot. It was good to hear Struan say that sometimes he hits a creative wall and has to find ways to regroup and dig into the well that stores the creative juices.

I come to each shoot with a 'vision' either wholly or partially formed that will guide me through the shoot and inform the choices I make with regard to lighting, poses and the story line. The vision becomes a framework that sets the scope of the shoot. I say framework because it has been my experience that what the model brings, or what the stylist or designer brings an almost free radical element to the shoot. Each model or stylist brings variables to the shoot. Sometimes one can contain the variables or guide them, and them sometimes one cannot. Generally the MUA is a known. In my case I work with a very small number of MUAs and I know what to expect from them... one risk element contained. Hence the framework. All of the variables need to be contained within the framework. If the variable takes one out of the framework it may be worthwhile to stop, regroup, and rethink. If the variable can be eliminated then great, if not... how can it be incorporated into the shoot and still have a successful shoot.

Perhaps more to come, but right now ... I've got to focus on other priorities ...

This is a shot of Simran. Simran is a new face from the Elite modeling agency who graciously provided three models for the shoot.

It was a rainy day

about two years ago when I took his image. I found it while diving into my disk drive this evening....

Not much to say except this weekend I am doing the Advanced Fashion Photography Workshop with Struan, I've been offered (well more of a possibility of) a wedding gig in a Cuban all inclusive resort in November, and I've been asked to do an engagement shoot on the 24th. Then there is Ruthie's (www.ruthielamb.com) gig at the Reverb (Queen and Bathurst) on the 14th at 10pm ... in case anyone is interested.

Oh and I've set the plan in motion for a two week holiday in September. I'll be driving out to the with East Coast (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Cape Breton and PEI) with the wife and her parents ..........and back

:-)

Shooting with Struan again.....

Actually it'll be as part of an Advanced Fashion Photography Workshop presented by Pikto and given under the watchful and instructive eye of Struan. I studied with Struan for a while back last fall when he gave a course similar in content at Ryerson. I am sure that it will be more of the same but, and this is why I've decided to throw in on this workshop, it will be an opportunity to work with very good and professional models and to create images that I can use in my portfolio.

For those of you who do not know of Struan, his photographs have been exhibited at various Galleries, the most recent being in Paris at the prestigious PARIS PHOTO exhibition at Le Carrousel du Louvre. Struan has numerous Awards to his credit: Clios for his U.S. advertising work; 'Studio Magazine' awards; 'National Hasselblad' (Gold, Silver, and Bronze) awards; (Gold and Silver) awards in the National CAPIC Awards Show. He is in the Kodak's exclusive 'Vision in View' video series that toured North America and the first and only fashion photographer to be placed in the permanent collection of The National Archives of Canada.

Struan's images have been published in countless Magazines around the world from JCA International (Japan), Jardin des Modes, Photo, and Figaro (Paris,) Cosmopolitan, Redbook, InStyle, American Photo, PDN, Playboy and LA Style (USA), to Color Foto (Germany), Applied Arts, Studio Magazine, Flare, Chatelaine, and Photo Life (Canada) , to Creative Advertising (England), and covers for both Creative Source (Canada), and Art Director's Index to Photographers (Europe) in additon to his roster of eminent Celebrities from John Candy and Wayne Gretsky to Nelson Mandela and Karen Kain.

So now that I've established his bona fides ... his biggest credit, at least in my eyes is that he is a fellow drinker of Guinness. Need I say more !!

Went to the Clothing Show today ....

I can't say that I was over whelmed with the event. I think I've been spoilt by good lighting and knock out models. Once you've experienced L'Oreal Fashion Week one tends to compare everything to that. Still I came away with 750 or so images.... I've really got to stop shooting so much.


I find runway shooting is all about capturing the motion or the 'moment' as the model strides, swishes her hand past her skirt making it flow more, or when she makes that twist at the end of the runway. For me I have to shoot a lot to get the image that I want ... sometimes I don't get the image.

And then you have shows with poor lighting or none at all except the over head fluorescents. With this show the overhead light gave models a rather ghoulish look. I sometimes wonder what the organisers are thinking, or not. They are certainly not thinking of the photographers or that they will get good images from the photographers.... oh well.

I only really went there today to pass around my new business cards and to get some practise in.

Dumpster diving .....

Believe it or not I have over 80,000 images on my hard drives. Most have not nor ever will see the light of day. I know that I have this many because I recently installed a copy of Adobe LightRoom. After you install it it creates a catalogue of images by scanning all the images on your hard drives. I pointed it at the terabyte of disk space I have sitting under my desk. I have to say I was somewhat surprised by the number, especially when I think about the scads of images that I've deleted or simply never loaded from the camera.


This evening I started sifting through some images and came across one of Nikki who I worked with almost a year ago. Although this image may given the impression that she may have been nude I can categorically say that she wasn't. I just started to look at the image and noticed this abstract from the larger image. I decided I liked it. I also decided that it might look good as a black and white image.

The month is almost over and the Summer is in the wings ....

Things are starting to come together a bit. Anne gets her studio in a few days .... 2600 feet of studio come indoor hockey rink.... hmm perhaps I should by a hockey stick and find some used tennis balls. Na, she'd kill me if I started a pick-up game with all those strobes nearby.

I have The Clothing Show this coming weekend. It isn't so much a place to shoot as it is a place to meet with clothing and accessory designers. It is a networking opportunity. To that end I pick up my spiffy new biz cards tomorrow. They have my website/business name on them as well as the URL for my new website. Everything is coordinated ... I'm trying to create a brand.

The Clothing Show is part of my marketing strategy as are the other events in plan for May and June. The other day I submitted an application to the organisers of the Ottawa Fashion Week. They required eight runway images as samples of my work so I sent them four from the Elle Show and four from the L'Oreal Shows that I shot. I'm hoping to hear from them in the next week or two. Unfortunately, it will be impossible to get a week off to do that shoot, so I'll have to grab a train on the Friday night and be back on Sunday evening ...again the plan is not to just shoot but to meet the designers, if I can shove a few biz cards into their pockets, and give them the three minute elevator ride about how wonderful I am and how I can help them achieve their goals. I've never been good at selling myself, so this will but me way out of my comfort zone.


The other prong of the marketing plan connects with music festivals. Particularly the upcoming Art of Jazz Festival in early June and then later the TD Canada Trust Toronto Jazz Festival. This evening I sent in my media accreditation to the the publicist. This year I'm not shooting for any magazine .. part of not giving my work away for free any more .. so I am hoping that that won't disqualify me.

I've also talking with another musician (Rock Guitarist) about doing a shoot with him. The images would be for a CD and liner notes. Then there is Ruthie.

Ruthie has a summer run lined up with a Canadian Rock and Roll Band who has decided to make a return for old times sake. Ruthie will open for them ....

Andrew MacNaughton listen for my footsteps :-)

I am hoping that this will drive work into the studio....

Elle Magazine Fashion Show report

First the bad news.... at midnight last night the TTC (the public transit) went out on strike without so much as a by your leave after their leadership recommended agreeing to the contract that they negotiate with the City of Toronto.  As a consequence I wasn't able to make it to the fashion show today.... I depend on Shank's Mare and the TTC to get around and Shank's Mare baulked at the thought of the seven mile walk to the Direct energy Centre where the show was happening.  I am not going to make it to the show tomorrow either.  So I am lucky to have made it on Friday evening.

The Elle show wasn't as dynamic and populated as the L'Oreal Fashion Week event.  But then again the location isn't as central and the designers not as well known.  Yet it was nice to meet other Fashion Show photogs that I've known from other shows.  There is a bit of a camaraderie among them which is nice.  If nothing else I look forward to that.

The designers on Friday evening were from the Fashion Incubator (www.fashionincubator.com).  "The TFI helps budding fashion entrepreneurs by providing a nurturing environment where fashion start-ups can learn the business of fashion through strategic programs and business consulting, mentoring, educational sector-specific seminars, export development webcasts, sales clinics, shared work space, in-house design studios, exclusive promotional and sales opportunities, valuable sales and marketing resources and leads, and volunteer programs." 

I just wish they'd offer help to budding fashion photographers by setting them up with designers so that the photographers could photograph the designs on models in a studio (or not) setting.

This is one of the designs from Friday evening.

Putting together a portfolio

While sorting through a number of images that I made last summer I came across this one of Nikki. I'm thinking of sending this one to her. It was of course originally in colour, but I used a preset in LightRoom to get this effect. I have to admit that I am liking it. I don't know what a modelling agency person might think of it, but I think I'm going to make an 11x14 print of it and put it into my book.

Speaking of books a good friend of mine has been on me to put one together so that is what I've been doing over the past several evenings. I have about a dozen images so far and I think that is about it. Now I have to take them to a print shop and get them done up. Pikto does a reasonably good job of that, except that they aren't cheap. Counting my pennies... hmm "Hey Buddy! Can you spare a dime?" Oh well. I'll be taking the book around to the modelling agencies later in the month.

I got an email from Ruthie last night. She is starting her summer gigs. The first one is this Thursday at the Magpie Cafe - 831 Dundas St West in Toronto the show starts at 7 pm. Unfortunately I can't make that one but I can make the next one at The Reverb - May 14 at 10pm. I'm looking forward to that :-)

Going to the Elle Show ....and the Art of Jazz Community Voices event at Roy Thompson Hall.

I received news today of my media accreditation for the Elle Fashion Show. The show runs from the 24th of April through to the 27th.


I have a conflict on the evening of the 24th because I've committed to shooting the Jon Hendricks (photo is above) & Friends with Art of Jazz Community Voices event at Roy Thompson Hall. Oh well it is a good cause as the promo says "Jazz vocalist and living legend JON HENDRICKS takes to the stage with ART OF JAZZ COMMUNITY VOICES, a 250 voice choir comprised of children from the Toronto District School Board’s Jane-Finch elementary and middle schools. ... This special concert will also feature Aria Hendricks, tap dancer Edward “Rocky” Mendes and a stellar list of Canadian all-stars including Don Thompson, Jane Bunnett, David Virelles, Larry Cramer and Archie Alleyne, as well as the Juno award winning Toronto Mass Choir."


I will be missing opening night that celebrates the work of the Toronto Fashion Incubator (TFI), a not-for-profit group dedicated to nurturing, supporting and promoting young and emerging Canadian fashion designers. How could I say no to 250 children?

But come the following Saturday and Sunday I'll be at the Elle Fashion Show. I think I may button hole George Pimentel. George and his posse seem to have a lock on the photography for the important fashion shows in the city. I'm not much good at button holing people. Short of "Hey George, my name is Jim how do you like me so far?" I'm not much good at the 3 minute elevator ride speech. But I have a few days to use to polish and memorise the pitch. Hmm "Hi George you have no clue who I am but ....."

Good Karma ....

It seems like there has been an abundance of good Karma floating around lately. A photog friend of mine has taken a lease on a huge studio space, thus fulfilling a portion of a dream. Another photog friend of mine has been busily preparing images for an exhibition coming up on the 8th of May. She has offers to have her work shown at two other locations once the soon to be current exhibition closes. Then too next month she has the opportunity to be mentored by Chris Anderson from Magnum.

One of the first photogs I met after picking up a camera has an exhibition that started on the 3rd of April and runs through to the end of the month. I'll be shooting the Art of Jazz event with him as well as another event coming up at Roy Thompson Hall towards the end of the month.


On Thursday I was speaking to a good friend of mine in Florida who has been asked by FORD to shoot for them. This offer goes a long way to justifying her sacrifices and hardships to live her dream of being a fashion photographer. One other photog buddy of mine has landed a photojournalism job for a newspaper in one of the middle eastern countries ... fulfilling his ambition to become a photojournalist in a contentious area. Keep you head down evil twin :-)

There is a whole lot of good Karma floating around lately .... I am truly happy to seeing those who deserve some getting an opportunity to work their dreams.

This is an image from last year's Art of Jazz event in the Distillery District of Toronto.

Art is were you find it ...

and sometimes it happens in the most unusual ways.

This is a bulletin board in a place that is filled with artists and generally creative types. I am sure that no one has paid particular attention to how the paper on the bulletin board have been placed. But there was something in their placement that caught my eye. I was compelled to photograph it.

TorontoStreet Photography has landed .. well almost...

I still have some things to sort out but the site is pretty much done..


if you want to road test the site the prototype is here http://bludomain24.com/~toro/index2a.php . It'll be launched officially sometime next week.

Back to style and things that go bump in the dark .....

I finally bit the bullet and forked out some cash for one of those pre-built websites. I did a little bit of mind numbing number crunching .... I say mind numbing because even though I work in IT ... math, bleh, it ain't in me and I just don't have the time or energy to start coding a site of my own. Suffice to say it is less costly than if I would have hired someone to built the site. It is better supported (I hope), and a whole lot better looking than I could have got from some graphically challenged code monkey.

I was referred to a group that gives me everything that I wanted in a site... plus the look and feel which I had in my mind's eye. I wanted to go with something that is very simple, almost minimalist with none of those distracting widget thingees. I hate those sites where you see a lot of distracting colours and cutesy 'stuff'.

To me the site should be all about the photographs and not the glitz.

So what did I get for my $$$ well here goes

• splash page
• home page slide show
• multiple images per frame
• 8 galleries (4 in each portal)
• 8 text sections (4 in each portal)
• proofing section
• dual portal
• calendar
• text per image

I think I am especially going to like the proofing section. All I'll need to do there is put up the images or sets of images I want someone to sign off on. It will certainly save me from cutting CD's or creating contact sheets and emailing them. The last set of contact sheets I emailed totaled 57.

So that is the local news at 10pm.

I was reading an interview with David LaChapelle. For those not acquainted with David LaChappelle, LaChapelle is famous for creating surreal, uncompromisingly original visual worlds. His images have appeared in Italian Vogue, Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, i-D, Interview and British GQ. That and he is a damned good fashion photographer to boot :-)

In the interview he was asked "What advice would you give to a budding photographer?" His response was "My biggest advice would be to take the pictures you want to take. Don't think about the marketplace, what sells, or what an editor might say. And don't think about style.It's all bullshit and surface stuff. Style happens. ... The key is to photograph your obsessions. ... Think of a blank canvas, because that's what you've got, and then think about what you want to see. Not anyone else. Make yourself happy, and other people with get it too."

Hallelujah, and pass the CF Cards !!

TorontoStreet Studio may be moving ..

A friend of mine has just rented herself a 2600 sq ft loft space to use as a studio. Aside from this immense space there is a huge rooftop patio deck. I think that this may be my move towards getting paying gigs. But it will also mean buying studio lighting gear as I don't think that Anne will put hers up for use by all and sundry. It would be just too hard on the equipment.... but then again.



Right now, Anne is just trying to catch her breath while my heart is palpitating like a doogie in fresh grass.

On the road to economic freedom ..... well perhaps

After giving it some thought and perusing through the piles of photos I thought that I'd give it a try. Try what you might ask? Well to sell my images through a stock photography company off course. This evening I chose four images from my recent trip to Barbados and uploaded them to Crestock. We'll see over the next fee days whether or not they get accepted.

I read through the FAQs on the site and the only thing I really didn't get was the whole up-sampling thing. It is a little confusing to me. So what I've done is just clean up the images somewhat and not crop them in any way and then uploaded them. I hope that does the trick.

I was talking today or rather chatting over Google Chat with a photographer who does this whole stock photography thing. She had a good week this week and made a cool grand on sales of her photos.

hmmm lets see a grand a week... collecting recyleable beer bottles and cans ... I might just be able to start thinking about being able to by that lens I've been coveting.

I think that the early retirement from the job that feeds the habit will be a ways off yet.

A traveller in the Land of La La

Another night shooting the runway at the 2008 L' Oreal Fashion Week Fall 2008 event. This is a design by Designer David Dixon.

More later on the commentary overheard ....

Later ... it wasn't so much the commentary, because what I saw was on a large screen in the Media Lounge. The sound was turned down, but what struck me was how much the scene looked like three sports announcers (two older guys and a young woman) engaged in a very animated conversation about what could have been a pivotal play during some hockey game.

Sorry I guess you had to be there but it struck me as so much like what I've see countless times before during Hockey Night in Canada .... the only person that was missing was Don Cherry.

Oh well ... so I counted up the images that I made during the fashion show. I have almost 3500 images !! What was I thinking ! Or was I? There is something about the energy in the room, the drum of the music, the walk of the models down the runway, the, yes I have to admit, the designs, that catches in the blood.

It is likely a good thing that I am not turning these into some photo editor somewhere. They'd be blowing a gasket!

2008 L'Oreal Fashion Week Fall 2008 Designs

In the Land of La La

I have to confess I like this stuff... I mean the designs and of course the women.... lots and lots of women, and I don't just mean those on the runway. I sometimes wonder if this isn't the easiest form of photography. I mean other than some of the technical hurtles that must be over come, like lighting crews who feel that they must express their artistic tendencies by causing the lighting ratios to change every ten feet.

Where else other than perhaps a bird feeder can you set up and have the your photographic subjects strut up to you and present themselves. The phrase "shooting fish in a barrel" comes to mind.

It was nice to to bump into some of the same photographers who were at the last L'Oreal Fashion Week events and other runway shows. There is a bit of a community thing going on. Like any other community it has pecking orders, the real pros shooting for big name rags get up front and centre while the those like me get relegated to the upper tiers of the risers or to the edges. It is interesting how most of the photographers look out for each other's gear, shuffle about so everyone gets the best possible angle given their place on the tiers, and share exposure settings that they have found work better.

I have two more evenings shooting the runway and perhaps a few more sorting through the thousand or more images that I'll end up with. I have no clue what I'll be doing with them. I will send a few to some on-line magazines and fashion blogs, but other than that I'm not sure if they will ever see the light of day.

Why do I do this you may well ask since my images don't get published in any publication that pays me for the images. I do it because I like it, because of the few comments that I get on my Flickr site and of course the social aspect of mixing with other photographers who have a common interest.

It would be nice to make this a paying gig ... I'll have to figure out how to do that this year.

Thank you Fusion, Serenity, and Peter

At first I considered responding to each of your comments separately, but instead chose this way.

According to the Actuaries I've reached that point where there is less time ahead of me than there is behind me. Sometimes this gets to me because the first part went by so fast and as we all know the passage of time is NOT a constant. Time accelerates as we age. When I have too much time on my hands I sometimes start wondering if there will be time to become better than I am.

I know part of becoming better comes from time on job and the learnings that come with that, part of it comes from focusing on one type of photography or subject matter and exploring that fully, part of it comes finding a mentor who can guide, stretch and challenge. Time on job for me is a bit problematic. I wish I had discovered photography earlier; like when I was a teenager, or perhaps in my twenties when I was still idealistic enough to think that perhaps I could pursue photography as a livelihood. I am no longer in my twenties and am far less idealistic. But I can plug away at my photography, read what I can, study the work of those who come to my attention, and keeping making images, until I drop. The romantic in me would like to end my photographic ‘career’ like Robert Capa with my camera in my hand. In my case it is much more likely I’ll get hit by a bus while stepping back for a better perspective.


I think that the only way I’d “lose the joy in doing it” as Fusion said is as Serenity aptly put it by “turning a passion into a career can suck the joy right out of it”. Perhaps this is why photographers like Mapplethorpe and LaChappelle do such creative work outside of their mainstream work. It puts the joy and passion back into the reason for doing it. For every withdrawal there has to be at least an equal deposit. Fusion perhaps I’ll pick your brain about going the stock photography route.

For me losing the joy of ‘it’ by turning photography into a career is not likely, unless someone sees my work and gives me a break. I know this happens because a friend of mine, another photographer, recently began shooting for Ford (the modelling agency). I’ve been pushing and encouraging her to follow her dream of being a fashion photographer. She has only been shooting for a few years but has ‘the eye’. So I know that breaks do happen.

Part of getting to my stage in life includes the golden handcuffs of a decent salary that feeds my habit and the reality of obligations that are not so easily cast off. Serenity’s suggestion of becoming a ‘Kept Man’ is appealing, but I have a better chance of winning the Lottery or some distant relative leaving me an annuity. It would be nice though to chuck it all and shoot for the pure joy of it and not have to worry about the mortgage payments, the RRSP, and pension plans, or where the next meal will come from. If I could make enough to pay down the mortgage sooner then that would be a good thing.

Fusion wrote about finding a niche and shoot away. I think that I have AAD (Attention Deficit Disorder) because at least photographically I never seem to stick to just one thing. Everything interests me, making it hard to stick with just one thing. Fashion Photography fascinates me, as does Landscape Photography, as does Street Photography, as does Photojournalism. It reminds me of the lyric that Paul McCartney wrote that includes “we’re so easy drawn away…. “. Perhaps this will become/is a limitation for me. I know that to become an expert and known to be an expert one needs to focus and apply oneself. I seriously don’t think I can do that or indeed that I want to do that. The idea of only doing one thing of building a niche just seems so limiting to me. I want to explore everything that interests me photographically. I want to make images that resonate for me. If they resonate enough with someone easy that they want to purchase it – great.

I am though constantly amazed by what I see being sold (I do lurk in the galleries in town). Like Peter I have seen so much shite (in my humble and uneducated opinion) put up on walls and fawned over. It leaves me both dumbfounded and inspired. Dumbfounded from the point that I cannot see any qualities in the image that should elicit the praise given it and I leave thinking “it must be in the eye of the beholder” because it sure isn’t there for me. It leaves me inspired because I know that I can produce images at least as good. But then too I see some photographer’s work that awed, and like you mentioned Peter, despondent knowing I’ll never be that good.

I am grateful for the comments that you all have made. I do very much want to show my work to a wider, commercial audience. I will take that on as a goal for this year.

Philip looked at his own work....

"How could you tell whether there was anything in it or whether you were wasting your time? It was clear that the will to achieve could not help you and confidence in yourself meant nothing. ... 'If I thought I wasn't going to be really good, I'd rather give up painting,' said Philip. 'I don't see any use in being a second rate painter.'" excerpt from 'Of Human Bondage' by W. Somerset Maugham.

While I was away on vacation I read Of Human Bondage. I was struck by the similarities between the character of Philip and my own life. In some ways it was a little disconcerting to know that someone almost a hundred years ago had expressed, through a fictional character, the same foibles and self doubts that I am confronting. I suppose if nothing else it points out that although there is only one of me, I am not truly unique. I suppose everyone who has pursued an artistic endeavour or who has sought to find a way to express themselves has confronted the same issues and doubts.

In the end Philip approaches a master painter with whom he had been a student of for two years and asks for a frank appraisal of his work and of his potential to become a renowned painter. The master painter looks over his work and tells him that he will never become what he wants to become. Not because Philip isn't dedicated but because he is as good as he will ever be and that just wasn't good enough.

I've expressed in prior posts not only my desire to become much better photographer than I am, but also my doubts about ever becoming better than I am. I think that I have made some pretty good progress over the three years I've been shooting, but wonder if this is it. If I have plateaued so to speak.

Artist/photographer Thomas Demand has been quoted as saying "the chances of making it as an artist are so small. I'd advise anyone to do something they are really passionate about ... That way, if you don't make it, which is quite likely, you at least know you were working on something that meant something to you."

hmmm do I stay or do I go ....

Back from Barbados

more later ... in the meantime this is Michelle who I did a photo shoot with while I was in Barbados.

and then it was later

The Haunting - paux de deux

Another long shoot. "The Haunting - paux de deux" started at about 11:30AM when we all arrived. We finally left The TorontoStreet Studio at about 9 PM. Perhaps I'm getting too old for these marathon shoots. Here it is the day after and I'm still bagged. Don't get me wrong I had a blast. Working with Courtney our Make Up Artist and Kari (a head shoot for Courtney I dis is shown here) was a pleasure. Both women were totally into the shoot. I just think that either I have to start working out or sleeping more.... I need to develop more stamina.


Kari played the 'ghost' opposite her earthly lover Michael. Between Vali and me, I think that we came away with some excellent photos. Now we'll have to sort through the thousand or more images that we took between the two shoots and pick out the best for the pictorial. That will have to wait though until I come back from Barbados.

I tried something new during this shoot. Instead of pointing the strobes at Kari and Micheal as would be my norm I pointed the strobes instead at two large white foam core boards. The effect was interesting. For Peter's benefit I've revised this post to include this image of Michael that I took using the foam-core board technique.


I think that I'll be spending the rest of this afternoon sorting through images from prior shoots.... I am so far behind. "So Jim, when will I see the images that I chose....."

I'm booked in for the L'Oreal Fashion Week Fall Collections 2008

Ten days after I get back from Barbados I'll be front and centre ... well likely shuffled off to one side because I don't shoot for any of the Big Hitters .... yet, at the L'Oreal Fall Collections 2008 Fashion Week. For some reason I really like this sort of event. Perhaps it is the pretty women, perhaps it is all those incredible (and some no so incredible) designs, perhaps it is the buzz and press of the crowd, perhaps it is the driving music. Na... it is all about those lovely women milling around. I cannot tell a lie. They just make the event so special.

Perhaps that shows a bit of shallowness in me, but somehow I just won't anticipate this as much if it were the wrestlers from the WWF or whatever it is called now, prancing up and down the runway. I've got my media pass acknowledgement. All I need to do now is make sure that my 80 gig card reader is charged and working properly, my batteries are charged and I don't have dust specks on my sensor.

This is an image from the last show ... damn you know I have hundreds and hundreds of these images. All I need now is someone, organisation, who wants to purchase them from me. Or commision me to shoot for them in March. HINT !!

Funk, R&B, Jazz Vocalist - Carolyn Thompson

Yesterday I did a shoot with Carolyn Thompson. Carolyn is a local singer (http://www.myspace.com/carolynt). Working with Carolyn was a lot of fun. Usually it is tough to get people to smile in a natural way. With Carolyn the challenge was to capture a moment where she wasn't laughing or smiling broadly.


This is an image that we had some fun with. Carolyn brought a large afro-wig to the shoot. As you can see we made good use of it. It gives Carolyn a 60's/70's look. I remember the 70's.... not so much the 60's ... and that is my story and I'm sticking to it.

So when you have a moment.. go and listen to a video that Carolyn has posted http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3FprZibGy0&eurl=http://www.facebook.com/home.php?

Snow Day .....

Today we had two storms pass through the Big Smoke.... just moments ago it was thundering and ljghtning.... I used to sit on the back stoop at home and watch the thunderstorms roll in and then revel in the thunder and lighting. But that was the summer and it was the prairies.

I didn't know that such a thing would happen during winter until I moved to Toronto. The first time it happened I thought it was wild. The snow was coming down like someone had opened up a million boxes of potato flakes and started dumping them all at once. Then came the lighting and then moments later the thunder. I thought it was an incredible treat to experience it. I still do.

This is an image that I took today between storms. I worked from home today but had to get out and as my mother in-law would say "Get the stink blown off me". So I went for a brief walk with my camera.

The Haunting has begun .....

This shoot lasted 12 hours .... not including the tear down afterwards, but I think it was worth the effort. Vali who I have been working with of late is a very talented and imaginative Art Director. Vali brings a flair to the work that I very much enjoy. I've been concerned that my work of late has become 'pedestrian'.
Working with Vali with help me get off the side walk :-)

I have to say too that both Courtney Naray, our make up artist, and Michael Ward seen in this image were real troopers. Especially towards then end when we were all tired and getting worn out. I am writing this on Sunday afternoon and have to confess that riding the couch right now looks very tempting.

Warming up to Barbados

I've managed to arrange a photo shoot opportunity while I am away in Barbados late February. I am really starting to look forward to it. I have got in touch with a gorgeous model who lives in Barbados and together we have begun our preliminary plans for the shoot. This will be interesting considering I will not have meet her prior to the shoot, nor will I have met with the make up artist, or even the stylist who I don't have yet, but that is just a detail.

I have been to Barbados at least fifteen times and know the island fairly well so my foetid little grey cells are bursting with ideas for locations. However, Keith or Anton if you read this note, I am open to suggestions. Now I'll need to work through my tear sheets and find more. I want to make use of palm trees and the dense vegetation as backdrops. It would be interesting to to use some abandoned buildings and machinery as foils for the clothing that the model will wear.


This is an image I made while on one of my walkabout's. Actually it was on the way back from where I stay with my wife and in-laws. Yes, my in laws. Fortunately, my mother-in-law thinks I'm her best son-in-law. My wife continually reminds that I am her only son-in-law.

Thinking about my next shoot .....

The next shoot will span two or possibly three weekends. I am working with a friend of mine who is an Art Director and budding photographer. As a working title I am calling it The Haunting. It involves two models, one male and one female. It is a rather romantic story of love lost and love transcending death to reacquire a tentative purchase on life, if only for a few brief moments. We will try to incorporate aspects of David La Chapelle and Oliviero Toscani. We'll see how successful we will be.

In the mean time I spent another Sunday afternoon and evening bored to tears. I really must find something else to do when I don't have a camera in my hand. This evening I did some more digital dumpster diving and came up with this. It is photo that I make last May, the day after my birthday.

Saturday's Shoot .....I'm bagged.

We started at about 4pm yesterday to accommodate a few things that hadn't been planned for. The first was that the make up artist wasn't able to make it to the shoot until 3:30 and the second was that Ruth was asked to come to an audition for a record producer. Those were all good things because it meant that I got to work again with a top-notch Make up Artist and Ruth got to meet with a well known record producer who could make her career.



I think the late start was partly why we didn't cover half the ground I wanted to cover. We finally packed up and left at 10 pm.

I wanted to do this high key head shot since Ruth showed me a photograph of Bridgette Bardot So I got that shot ... I think since I have about 30 more like this one, eyes open, eyes closed, mouth open, mouth closed, little smile, .....



I also wanted to get a whack more 'Rocker' shots. Before the shot I put together an Idea Book. I do with with every shoot after I get a sense of what sort of theme we are going to follow. The Idea Book is a compilation of images I've taken from magazines and websites. It helps me focus on a theme and a series of poses and 'looks' that I want to come away with. Of course it is all easier said than done. I see at least a few more attempts before I get everything that I want.

Have a listen of Ruthie singing at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tH9Zkp0qPfk ... please some comments on her page if you'd like I know that she would.

Educating .... Jimmy

A while ago I purchased a copy of the Adobe CS3 Design Premium that includes Dreamweaver. Since then I've been kicking around the idea of learning Adobe's Dreamweaver so that I can create my own photo website. Various people have begun to ask me to do some work for them and lo and behold get paid for it. How bizarre, how bizarre ! Sounds like serious sh_t to me boyo!

I think I'm going to need a professional looking website, and being basically strapped for cash on a more or less regular basis (note to self, stop spending money on photographic gear and books) I thought "Hey you are in IT, how hard could learning a new programming language, designing, and building a website from scratch thing be?" :-)

I discovered that Adobe has a wealth of articles and tutorials that I can draw from. I've started to read them, but am thinking that for something like this I should probably take a course. Probably the expedient thing (but $$) to do. It is one thing to pick up a camera and start banging away, but it is another thing to do that with new programming software.

I've also bought a really cool website design book by a graphic designer (sigh spending more $$ on books), which has got me thinking even more that to get the end product (Begin with the End in Mind) that I want I'll need some education.

So I've began the journey last evening my organising a directory as prescribed by an article to manage my website assets. This is when I came across this image of Katie that I took back in November. I had completely forgotten about it, but have decided to post it for your viewing pleasure. Katie as you can see is an extremely attractive young woman ....