Several Days in the Life of Me aka Quotidie Interfatio

To everything there is a season .....

2011-12-24T13:12:00.000-05:00

I haven't added a blog entry for a while because I've busy with other things like a new website for my refocused photography business. I say refocused because I think now that I am far enough advanced in my skills to embark on a path towards a photography business. I've been circling the idea for too long. A few months back I decided it was time to either fish or cut bait .... so I'm fishing albeit still off the company pier so to speak. I'm not full-time yet but to everything there is a season.

I engaged Gloria Roheim and Ricardo McRae to help me plan my social media strategy and develop a new website .... www.jimdawsonphotography.com TA DA :) Ricardo amongst his many inestimable talents (he arranged the website development/hosting) also designed the graphics and my first email mailer, which some of you may have received.

The first graphic is for the website while the second one if designed for my news letters which by the way you my avid readers can sign up for here newsletter subscription link.

Gloria has been perfect for me with her mix of ardent task master and gentle and requent encouragement. I'm like a piece of rope ... you get further by pulling me than pushing me.

I have a lot of work ahead of me as I build awareness in the community about my business and what I can do photographically speaking. Gloria has set out a strategy for me and a list of tasks that I need to execute every week ... such as increase my social media presence on Facebook Jim Dawson Photography and Twitter @jimdawsonphoto http://twitter.com/#!/JimDawsonPhoto where I need to sustain a concentrated effort to gain more followers. As they say "there is an app for that" and it is called Hootsuite. Think of it as a social media dashboard where I can monitor everything to do with me my followers and I :)

Now all I need is more customers ... HINT :)

BUT before I go I'll leave you all with a warning -- This blog will soon be defunct as I move to my new blog. If you go there now you'll see all of the previous blog entries.

I'll also leave you with an image that I did of my friend Alan who graciously lent himself to being photographed, because one cannot live by images of beautiful women alone.... :)

LG Fashion Week ... Beautiful Women and Haute Couture

2011-10-16T19:42:00.000-04:00

Yes I'm back shooting LG Fashion Week from the riser with all the rest of the media types ... Media Types yes that includes me with my shiny media badge. I'll be shooting on behalf of a fashion magazine devoted to all things fashion especially the creations of Canadian Fashion Designers. It'll be a tiring week. Going to work early so I can get away early so I can be on the riser for the 6pm show. This will be a push since I work at least and hour and a half commute away from David Pecaut Square where the event is being held this year. It is much better for me than last year when it was on the Exhibition Grounds.... YIKES. I only shot one show last year.

This year I also have an invitation from Desia Brill of Brill Communications to shoot the Korhani Show. Sweet.

This years line up includes Adrian Wu, Amanda Lew Kee, Anu Raina, Arthur Mendonca, Jay Manuel, Baby Steinberg, Bustle, Caitlin Power, Caroline Neron, Chloe Comme Parris (Sisters Chloé and Parris Gordon), Cydelic by Choryin (Choryin Choi), David Dixon, Denis Gagnon, Golnaz Ashtiani, Joe Fresh (Joseph Mimran), Joeffer Caoc, Judith & Charles, Juma (Jamil and Alia Juma), Krane (Ken Chow), Korhani Home, Label (Shawna Robinson and Natalie Sydoruk), Lala Berlin, Lauren Bagliore, Lovas (Wesley Badanjak), Marie Saint Pierre, Melissa Nepton, Micalla (Camilla Jørgensen), Michi, Pink Tartan (Kimberley Newport-Mimran), Sid Neigum, Tosca Delfino, and Vawk (Sunny Fong).

I'm hoping and am looking forward to seeing some great designs brought down the runway this season. Umph who would have thought that the skinny kid from Churchill High School in Winnipeg would be so excited to have the opportunity to photograph beautiful women in gorgeous designs. I wonder what the washed up jocks thinking of their glory days are doing now ;)

Here are a few images from past Fashion Weeks. Stay tuned for more from this years Spring Summer Collections.

A few more images from Ireland

2011-10-02T19:39:00.000-04:00

kind of a low energy day today. It has been cold and rainy here and to top it off I'm fighting off a cold. I think it may have been all that canned air on the trip back to Toronto. There were a number of people coughing in the general area of my seat. Oh well. It'll be gone in another day. Today I should have been working on images from a shoot I did before I went away. Tomorrow I'll put the push on to finish them up.

In the meantime in the last post I mentioned that I would post a few more images from the trip. Here you go. I hope you enjoy them. The first image is of the Harbour Lighthouse in Howt, a fishing town on the east side of Ireland. The second image is of part of the ornate fence that surrounds Trinty College In Dublin. I snapped this while waiting for a street light to change

Back from Ireland ... again

2011-09-29T10:20:00.000-04:00

The time spent in Ireland either the North or the Republic is always too short. This time was unlike other times since we spent most of our time walking around Dublin or joining in on a Hop On Hop Off bus tours of the city. We also went on a small day trip along the 'south coast' of Ireland and then the 'north coast'. These are misnomers considering on the south coast tour we never traveled farther south than County Wicklow. The point of the tour to Wicklow was to visit Powercourt. Powercourt is one of Ireland's and indeed one of Europe's great treasures. It is Ireland's most famous House and Gardens. I'll post some of the photos from the grounds and gardens in another post. We also visited Marino Casino located oddly enough in Marino, Dublin. The casino (the diminutive form of the 18C Italian word 'Casa', meaning 'House', thus 'Little House' and not a gambling den),was designed by Scottish architect Sir William Chambers for James Caulfeild, the 1st Earl of Charlemont, starting in the late 1750s and finishing around 1775. It is a marvelous piece of architecture and perfect example of Neo-Classical architecture. More to come here too, although the photos aren't more than average so perhaps they won't be posted... we'll see.

On Saturday we traveled up to Belfast by train to visit with a whole gaggle of cousins... had wonderful 'craic' and food at the Fitz William Hotel. Nice place. I'd recommend it. We stayed overnight in Belfast and traveled back by train again. I'd highly recommend the train if you have time. I'd also recommend using the train as a great way to get around both the North of Ireland and the Republic. Both also have a wonderful bus system that caters to people who want to do day or overnight trips to various places. Hmmm perhaps I could pitch this as a travel assignment ... hmmm.

While I am pondering that you can ponder the photographs below. The first is the Ha'Penny Bridge, officially the Liffey Bridge. It is a pedestrian bridge built in 1816 over the River Liffey in Dublin. The other image is on an interesting portion of the new Samuel Beckett Bridge designed by the architect Santiago Calatrava. The shape of the spar and its cables is said to evoke an image of a harp lying on its edge. The bridge was officially opened to pedestrians on 10 December 2009 by Dublin Lord Mayor, Emer Costello and to road traffic on 11 December, 2009.

Hope you like the photos. I don't have many from the trip but I'll post a few more.

Off to Ireland ....Once again

2011-09-18T16:23:00.000-04:00

Once again we are off to Ireland. First Dublin and then Belfast. Whilst in Dublin we'll hit the National Gallery and a number of walking tours through Dublin. I'll be able to indulge in my passion for street photography. Hope they don't mind :)

We'll also go to the bus depot in Dublin where there are any number of return day trip tours that can be taken... all at a reasonable price. We'll select a tour and go. It is a great way to see the countryside and some of the local tourist traps if you don't have a car or want to drive yourself around.

Whilst in Belfast we'll meet up with some of the cousins, have dinner and generally get caught up. The internet and skype are great things but just can't match having a pint in front of you and a face to face with the usual suspects.

I am hoping to grab some new images while I am there. In the meantime here are a few others. The first one was taken in Galway and the second one in south County Londonderry near where my father grew up.

can you spell Paparazzi

2011-09-11T21:24:00.000-04:00

I couldn't so I had to look it up. This weekend was a bit of an anonmoly for me. In Toronto the Toronto International Film Festival is happening. It began on Thursday and runs through until Sunday of next week. A buddy of mine convinced me to come out on Friday to a premiere of Brad Pitts' Moneyball and stay for the premiere George Clooney's Ides of March with Canadian Ryan Gosling. We didn't actually go to the premiere of either movie rather we stood on step ladders with our cameras and waited for the stars to arrive. The step ladders were needed even though we were less than 5 feet away from the fence separating the fans from the stars. The step ladders gave us a chance to shoot over the top of the heads of the screaming and fawning fans who had been camped out there since about 8AM. The first movie started about 6:30PM so that tells you how dedicated these fans were. They brought with them clipboards filled with photos of their favourite stars and handfuls of Sharpy Markers. It dawned on me afterwards why they had so many pens. One girl who managed to get an autograph by George Clooney immediately stuffed the been into her bra. Guess that pen will never be used again.

All in all it was an interesting experience and I was able to snap some photos that I'll share with you below. We I return later in the week to see if I can snag an image or two. Don't know. I'll have to see how bored I am :)

I have a bunch more images ... a little less than 1000. I go through them when I have some time.

2011-08-28T18:11:00.000-04:00

Thursday evening represented a bit of a first for me ... shush, don't tell any one, but I did my first beauty shoot. The shoot was with Melissa who I have known for a few years now. Melissa is a fitness instructor and a graduate of Ryerson School of Fashion with a major in marketing, hmmm perhaps I should leverage that :) I've been wanting to do this sort of shot since I saw it demonstrated by Scott Kelby at a seminar he held back in June. The lighting set up is quite simple and gives a rather distinctive look to the images. The technique is called Clam-Shell or sometimes referred to as Pumpkin-Seed because of the orientation of the lights. The light that is placed above the model and tilted downward at a 45 degree angle towards the face is a beauty dish. The light that about mid-drift high relative to the model is generally a small soft box, again angled to a 45 to the model's face. Generally the beauty dish is attached to a boom arm to as not to interfere with the camera's line of sight. In this case I didn't put the beauty dish on a boom arm and one can see how the light drops off on Melissa's camera right face -- lesson learnt. Just the same I think for a first attempt it came out 'okay'. Below are a couple of images from the 250+ that I took on Thursday.

Sometimes progress is like frost ....

2011-08-19T19:34:00.000-04:00

My progression towards becoming a full-time photographer seems to have become a game of inches and painfully slow. But like the sea pounding the shore or the frost settling in between the cracks the craggy cliffs are slowly being eroded away. Last week or so I met up with a couple of people to discuss what it would take to create a unified approach to establishing my web presence. This would mean new website, new blog site (which would be an adjunct to the website), and a revamped FaceBook landing page. When I mention unified I that no matter by which channel you arrive at TorontoStreet Photograph you will know where you are because each channel will look and feel like every other channel. Included in this discussion was the topic of Social Media. Social Media is rather fascinating once one gets into how it can be used for marketing and extending ones reach and 'foot print' on the web. Aside from brushing off the marketing strategy I am working on a Social Media Strategy. More on that later. That is it for now. In September I am off to Ireland and Northern Ireland to do some touring and to visit with the usual suspects.

Below is a photo taken during a Steam Punk Shoot that Michael Zahra organised a year ago last November or was it last November. Hmmmm

This and that ....

2011-07-23T14:06:00.000-04:00

Lately I've been doing some head shots for a local actress who has agreed to be a muse for me. We all need practise and for a photographer it often helps to have a regular 'go to' person who fill that need. Below is a photo of Jen. I met Jen while she was looking after the bar at my gallery exhibition last May. Since then we have gotten together a couple of times to shoot. The image below is from our latest outing. For those who are into techniques and such this is a dead simple shot. Jen is actually in broad daylight (abt 7pm). The make up artist who was with us was pressed into holding a diffuser that I have. The diffuser was used to soften the light as it came down onto Jen. What you don't see is that it only covered a spot immediately around her. Ahh the magic of the unseen :)

The image here was taken a few weeks before the one above. We met up on the grounds of Victoria College at the U of T Campus. I didn't have anyone to assist during this shoot and had to kind of fiddle with a reflector to bounce some light back into her face.

All in all I think that they came out reasonably well.

Future planning ..... working the plan now

2011-06-18T09:47:00.009-04:00

Backwards, yes and no. Every plan for a future plan begins with actively working a plan now. In August of '09 and in an entry earlier this month I wrote about getting into the engagement/wedding photography business. More recently it is with a friend and fellow photographer. We've kicked around the idea considered how we may approach the work... in stylistic terms. Most of the wedding photographers whose work you will see adopted a photojournalism style. It is a good technique and I won't say anything against it except that everyone does it. What I want to do is to bring a fashion editorial feel to the images. For the engagement photos that means employing a make up artist and a stylist for the couple. It will also mean selecting venues that speak to a particular theme and working with them to create poses that also fit that fashion forward style.

Last evening I met up with Ben and Tori. For those who follow the blog you may recall Ben from the January shoot that I did with him for his website http://bendietschi.com/ and publicity materials. The website designer decided to place an orange colour cast over all the photos. At first I didn't like it and thought I'd say no to the change, but it kind of grew on me. Which brings me back to last evening. Since Tori recommended me (I knew Tori from a shoot I did during my first year as a wishful photographer) I told them during the shoot that we'd squeeze in a few images of them. I didn't like what I did so I said we'd get back together once the weather was suitable.

Last evening it was suitable and my engagement/wedding portfolio has begun. This is an image of Ben and Tori from last evening. The green cast you see over part of the last image was intentional as I was shooting through foliage. I was trying for a 'dreamy' look and feel.

Last week .....

2011-06-10T20:08:00.000-04:00

on Sunday I did a shoot with a local actress, Jennifer Polansky. It was just a little bit of fun and nothing too dramatic. Jennifer like most working and aspiring young actors works a few different jobs to make ends meet until Fame comes to touch them with her magic wand. I met Jennifer while she was bartending at my gallery exhibit back in early May. We got to chatting while the crowd had yet to arrive. She mentioned that she needed to have some images done of her but because she was a struggling artist... she wasn't able to pay. So we kind of sort of worked out a deal whereby if she would be my muse for a few shoots I'd do a shoot and give her some of the images from it. So last Sunday we met up and went into grounds of the U of T campus and Victoria College in particular. That part of the campus has an artificial waterfall and an ivy covered wall that I've always wanted to incorporated into a shoot. What you see below are some of the images that came out of that shoot.

Last Wednesday evening I went to see a screening of the latest movie release in which she acted. If you'd like to see the trailer you can see it here www.moviestrailer.org/neverlost-movie-trailer.html. I'm no movie critic. I thought that the movie was OK, but Jen's character could have and likely should have been developed more so the audience could see more of what motivated her to behave in the way that she did. Most of the movie was focused on the central character and his behaviour to the exclusion of developing the supporting actors.

I've been told by a number of other photographers that I shouldn't give my work and time away for nothing. Generally I would agree with them, especially if the people I am creating images for can afford me, but in order to get better one needs to be constantly practising. Now how am I supposed to get better at photographing people if I always need them to pay me?

The project is moving along ....

2011-06-05T18:47:00.000-04:00

Perhaps not as quickly as I had hoped by I am making progress. Friday evening saw Peter Bregg pictured below come by the studio with his wife so that he could have me take his photo as part of the series I am doing and calling 'Portraits of Canadian Photojournalists'. Peter has been a supporter from the very beginning and a person who has been able to push open a few doors for me and make me known to other photojournalists. I am grateful for that.

So far I have photographed Andrew Stewicki www.photosensitive.com/drupal/photographers/andrew-stawicki and Peter Power who works for the Globe and Mail. Later this month I hope to be able to photograph one of the best women photojournalists this country has produced, and that woman is Patti Gower. Patti is currently teaching photojournalism at Loyalist College in Belleville Ontario. I am also hoping to be able to photograph Fred Chartrand when he comes down in July to Toronto from his post as an Ottawa photojournalist. He has a busy time coming up covering the visit of His Royal Highness Prince William and his Catherine the Duchess of Cambridge and of course Parliament and the goings on there.

Also in July I'm looking forward to photographing photographing Andy Clark. Andy began his career with The Canadian Press as a copyboy in 1970. In 1974 he was promoted to photographer and transferred to the Ottawa bureau. Since the Andy has worked for the Hamilton Spectator, United Press Canada, Reuters Newspictures and as Prime Minister Brian Mulroney's official photographer. In 1987 Andy re-joined Reuters, based in Brussels, London, Toronto and now Vancouver where he now lives.

I am looking for industry sponsorship. At the moment I have a feeler out to a few photography related companies. Taking the photos is the cheap part of the project. The expensive part will be getting the images printed and then exhibited. Oh well to everything a time.

The image below is of Peter Bregg. Those familiar with my blog will have read Peter's story, but if you are new to the blog, just search on his name and you'll get the back story.

Update .... it has been a while since my last blog

2011-06-02T15:28:00.000-04:00

The gallery exhibit went well enough... and my images have been held over for another exhibit for the later part of this month so that is good. The more eyes who look at my work the better. I took on a bat mitzvahs for a photographer friend of mine who had 'outsourced' the work only to have that photographer dump the job at the next to last moment.

That job was rather interesting and gave me a lot of insights into how if I decide to shoot weddings what I would need to do. I hope that part of what I do never changes.

On the wedding photography front I've been kicking around some ideas with another photographer whose studio she has graciously allowed me to use. We are thinking of entering into that market as well as possible the 'senior' market. Not senior as in senior citizens, but seniors as in young men and women in the graduating year of high school. It is a huge market in the US but not so much in Canada. We are hoping the reason for that is that no one has properly marketed to that demographic. We do know that for both the wedding and the senior market we need to find a way to differentiate ourselves from the hordes that already ply this market space. But I think we have an angle.

Tomorrow evening I am photographing Peter Bregg who has graciously agreed to participate in my Portraits of Canadian Photojournalists project. A couple of weeks ago I photographed another Peter. This one was Peter Power of the Globe and Mail. One thing that can be said about these people is that they are story tellers. They all have a wealth of stories to tell.

This coming Sunday I have a shoot planned with an up and coming actress who has a movie in which she acted premiere this coming Wednesday at a downtown theatre. I'm looking forward to both of those events.

And lastly the photograph below. This is an image of Shannon who I worked with a few weeks back now. We were just kicking around ideas and not looking to create anything specific. I wanted to try out my speedlight flash unit to create an outdoor portrait. To take this photo I mounted my speedlight on a Pocket Wizard Flex TT5 that was mounted onto a tripod and tripped using a Mini TT1 on my camera. I am generally pleased with the result.

Exhibitions and other types of flagrant self promotion

2011-04-29T19:17:00.000-04:00

This past Wednesday was the first day of thirty-one days of of vane exhibitionism.... say what?

Yes last Wednesday was the first day of a thirty-one day exhibition of the works of seven artists, myself included. The exhibition is part of this year's CONTACT 2011 Photography Festival. The largest such festival in the World. Kind of the World Series of Photography -- where the entire World is open to submit images unlike other World Series that are restricted to a very small and perhaps increasingly insignificant part of the World. But I digress....

This year the theme celebrates Canada's world renowned media theorist, Marshall McLuhan and his concept of figure/ground, "borrowed from the Gestalt approach, to examine the influences that permeate and change social structures". But this doesn't mean that the photographs from more than one thousand artists shown in one hundred and sixty-two venues around the city conform to the theme. As the Artistic Director of the festival wrote "Artists from around the world expand the concept of the theme as a metaphor, allegory, theoretical platform, and compositional device. "

If you plan to make the rounds of the venues, and I highly recommend that you do, can be seen hanging at the IX Gallery at 11 Davies Avenue. The Saturday hours (closed Sunday) are from 1pm to 3pm. Monday through Friday the gallery is open between 1pm and 6pm.

Last weekend we drove to Manitoulin. The image below is a one of the many small rivers that intersect the island. I'm calling it Northern River because it reminds me somewhat of the painting I have by Tom Thomson of the same name. Except I wasn't standing behind a bunch of Tamarack or Black Spruce.

Some of what I did on my winter vacation .....

2011-03-09T20:21:00.000-05:00

Right now I don't have much to say but I thought I'd share with you some of the images that I made while I was on vacation.

Hope you like them

Preparing for reality .....

2011-03-05T13:28:00.000-05:00

Which is now only two days away. Tomorrow afternoon at about now this time I'll be looking out the airplane window rather than doing as I am, looking out onto the Caribbean with it's multiple shades of blue. Monday morning I'll awaken and wonder like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz if the past two weeks were nothing more than a dream. Photographically speaking I was very very lazy opting instead to stay close to home and just take photos of the sea in its various moods. This side of the Caribbean is rather like photographing someone on Prosaic ... a lot of Prosaic. Somedays it skips its medication and one will see a little of its underlying character, but otherwise it has the serene calm of some sedated denizen of CAMH.

I wrote earlier that myself and two others were considering throwing in together and finding a retail store front we could use as a commercial studio. We three are now two and back to the original studio space .. for now. In a way it isn't too bad since it provides me with the opportunity to slide into the full-time aspect of photography that I want to have as my future.

I'm still waiting for a couple of my 'anchor' photojournalists to respond to my emails with an affirmative to my 'Portraits of Canadian Photojournalist' project. Right now two are nibbling on the line. If photojournalists were like TV anchor types then all I'd have to do is chum the water and stand back. Instead photojournalists are kind of like the dock bass I'd fish for in my parent's boathouse. I would lay on the floor boards and gaze through the gaps at them as they'd cautiously nibble around the edges of the bait. It was almost as if they knew that the hook was there and what it was there for. I didn't catch many since it was more fun just watching them.

Sometimes life can be like Mrs Bell's junk drawer or Forrest Gump's box of chocolate. You never really know what you'll find when you open it up and peer inside. Although in Forrest Gump's case all HE had to do was look at the drawing on the inside of the lid to know what he was getting. But then if he did the story would have lost some of its charm. Perhaps like Life his box of chocolates didn't come with one of those neat little drawings. Mine certainly hasn't.

I suppose I shouldn't say that I was lazy in the photographic sense. As I mentioned above I took a lot of photos of the sea.... most of them out of focus and hand held at a very slow shutter speed just before or after sunset. As a result I have a lot of 'abstract' pieces that may or may not be saleable. A person I am occasionally mentoring is an abstract artist. I'll let her decide.

In the meantime here is a photo that I took just after sunset, a little out of focus using a shutter speed a little slower than I can hold steady.

Three days to go and then ....

2011-03-02T22:01:00.000-05:00

it is back to the daily compression and decompression of the subway ride into work..... oh well it pays for the passion doesn't it.

Not much to report except to say that I am making progress with the latest project and have signed up a few more influential photojournalists... yippee.

I've decided to take a bit of a departure from the normal landscape and people type images that I normally take down here and play with the abstract ... I'll blame it on the rum. Here is one of the latest attempts at being artsy ....not sure it it is any good but hey it helps kill the time after the sun goes down :)

A week in ...

2011-02-26T18:31:00.000-05:00

and another week to go. I've been in Barbados for a week now and have done a lot of nothing. I've been busy sending off emails to the Canadian photojournalists that I want to include in my portraiture exhibition project. So far I have three confirmed out of the twenty some odd names that I have on my list. Larry Towell has turned me down, but I'll come at him again later in the year. Chances are, and I am hoping, that he is simply too busy. I am told too that he is a rather shy person. Surprise surprise a shy photographer … part of the reason I'm trying to get them out in front of my camera. It is so easy to stay behind the camera rather than become the subject of it.

This time down I decided not to arrange a shoot while I am down here. I thought I'd give poor Michelle a break.

Can't say that I've done a lot either since I've been down here… mostly just kick back, relax. I've begun a habit of mid-afternoon naps. Now that is going to be hard to adjust to when I get back into the real world. I haven't even dragged my camera out of its bag much this time down … except yesterday when I decided to get my ass moving. I had begun to read an e-book titled The Evocative Image by Andrew S Gibson. I am always inspired by these sorts of books …. typical me I look through the images and then go back and read the accompanying text. Kind of like how I read the newspaper in the morning …. I flip to the comics page first and then go back to the front page…. and yes I always lick off the icing on an Oreo cookie before I eat the rest of it. I also soak my ginger snaps in my tea until they have the consistency of baby barf before I let then dissolve in my mouth .. TMI for sure !

I've been thinking of wandering down to the Weston Fish Market one morning and see if they'd mind me hanging around taking photos … or perhaps two depending on how things go. You might see images of dead fish and smiling people next …. in the mean time here is a photo of yet another sunset … I have to admit that I intensely dislike images of sunsets … OMG can they be boring, but people keep putting them up saying isn't this wonderful this was the sunset at my cottage last summer ….. aaaah gag me with a spoon ! Okay now that I've said how much I hate seeing yet another sunset photograph … here is mine. I apologise for being a sunset snob.

Three days to BRI

2011-02-16T07:41:00.000-05:00

In just over three days time I'll board a plane to warmer climes and for the first time In four years I've not organised a shoot while I am down there. I'll give the ladies of the island a break. Instead I'm thinking I may hang around the fish market and photograph the people there ... if I can. Bajans are notoriously camera shy.

I have a couple of new projects in the works.... one is still tentative but I have faith that I can pull it off. The other is long-term and involves two other photographers.

The first project involves photographers, primarily in Toronto. Last week I bounced an idea off of a friend of mine, Peter Bregg (former photo editor of Maclean's and Hello), and he thought that it might have some legs. The premise of the idea is to create portraits of Canadian photographers whose work has included images of social or political significance. These portraits will be larger than life waist up images. I'm not going to reveal the style that I'm going to go with in making the portraits, partially because I'm not settled on it and partially I don't want to reveal it :-). At least not yet.

The second project is a venture with two other established family and lifestyle photographers, both women, in the city. I can only guess that they like my work. One of them Bev, I met through Ruthie Lamb. Thank you Ruthie. I've made use of Bev's studio in the past and have done a lot of post processing work for her as well. The three of us have started to sketch out a business plan. More on that once I get back since that to is in the very early stages.

It is nice too see to that both of them make a decent living without shooting weddings ... I have no desire to shoot weddings even though they can be very profitable.

Well it is time to toddle off to the job that pays for the passion. In the meantime this once again is Michelle standing at the cliff side at Harri Smith House in Barbados.

And now for something completely different ....

2011-02-01T20:08:00.000-05:00

A few weeks back I was contacted by a model who I had worked with a few years ago. Since that time she fell in love moved to the bright lights of a major US Mid-Atlantic city and moved back into the Big Smoke. She said that she'd like to shoot with me again and do something creative. Something that she really hadn't done before. Would I be willing to shoot with her. Of course I said sure. She is very pretty even if she is a little on the petite side for a full-time model but hey she asked so shyly how could I say no.

Being a collaborative type I asked for her to send me some ideas (photographs lifted from the net) so I could get a sense of what she wanted to do. When I do a shoot I always but together a 'look book'. I find that if I share this with the model during the lead up to the shoot the end product is so much better. So I was quite surprised and afterwards intrigued when I received an email with the images. They were definitely a departure from what I had seen before. During the course of the week or so leading up to the shoot we traded images back and forth.

Below is an example of one of the images that came from the shoot. She was extremely happy with the images that I gave her afterwards so much so that she wants to do another shoot. How can I say no :-)

This by the way was my first nude.

It was a cold and snowy evening ....

2011-01-08T11:47:00.001-05:00

Last night I met up with Ben Deitchi and his girl friend Tory. Tory contacted me a few weeks back to ask if I'd take on a project to photograph Ben for his new website and his publicity kit. Tory and I go back a ways. Tory was a model that I shot in the early days of my photography 'career'. Back then Tory was just seventeen, although at that time I thought she was at least twenty... I'm such a bad judge of age. Ben is an up and coming jazz saxophonist.

After having a look at Ben's existing website and some of his images I decided that with his 'look' and his style of music (Ben is also a composer as well as a player of Jazz) that something moody and thoughtful would be the right way to go.

Normally when I plan a shoot I research the person, that is if I can, and if they are a musician I download and listen to their music. Then I go off to various music photography sites and some stock photography sites and start trolling for photographs that will spark the creative juices. Now don't get me wrong. I am not there to rip off the concepts put out there by other photographers. I use their work as inspiration and direction for mine. Kind of like what I do when I spend a lunch hour cruising the galleries of the Art Gallery of Ontario.

All the ideas get scribbled down onto a notepad and the images into a Word document with more scribbles. Combined, these inform the shot concept. They place a creative framework around the vision I create for the shoot.

Last night was the culmination of that creative scrap booking. I have to make a mention in dispatches about my erstwhile assistant for the evening. Owen McLeod stepped up into the roll admirably holding the shoot though umbrella rig that I put together. Last week I purchased a set of Pocketwizard radio transmitter/receivers that allow me to take the speedlite off the camera and use it like I would a studio strobe setup. I still have a lot to learn about using the combination effectively but regardless they worked and mostly did what I wanted them to do.

So I suppose it is time for the reveal. This is an image of Ben taken along the fence that runs along the Queen West side of Osgoode Hall. The original image was rather noisy because I shot it at around ISO3200 so I ran some noise reduction software over it.

Drop and give me thirty-eight

2010-12-20T18:55:00.000-05:00

Okay so flop and give me thirty-eight. Why thirty-eight? Because I like even numbers. That and I've come up with thirty-eight names of photographers whose work I'll be studying this coming year in an attempt to educate myself. On Saturday someone asked me what photographer's work did I most admire. After mumbling a few names I came up short, because I couldn't remember whose work I really liked. Why? Not because I'm getting old and loosing my memory, but because my own personal education in photography has primarily been drawn from magazine tearsheets, bustop ads, billboards, and cruising on-line photo galleries. Not exactly a MFA curriculum.

To rectify this significant gap in my photographic education I've assembled by list of thirty-eight masters whose work I will pour over during the next year. Hopefully, people might begin to notice their influence in my work. Be warned you all may be subjected to the occasional bursts of insight that an acolyte such as me will find the need to blog about. I'll try to keep them somewhat contained because there is nothing worse than a born again anything who feels compelled to share the 'good news' with every-one within ear-shot.

Now this list is not exhaustive or perhaps even well picked so feel free to throw names my way. I've decided to put the list in alphabetical order so don't attach any importance to the ordering of names.

Ansel Adams
Robert Adams
Diane Arbus
Eugene Atget
Richard Avedon
Lewis Baltz
Bernd & Hilla Becher
John Ernest Joseph Bellocq
Karl Blossfeldt
Bravo, Manuel, Alvarez
Henri Cartier-Bresson
Harry Callahan
Imogen Cunningham
Bruce Davidson
Robert Doisneau
William Egglestone
Walker Evans
Lee Friedlander
David Goldblatt
Emmet Gowin
Lewis Wickes Hine
Yousuf Karsh
André Kertész
Jacques Henri Lartigue
Robert Mapplethorpe
Irving Penn
Eliot Porter
Sebastiao Salgado
August Sander
Frederick Sommer
Alfred Stieglitz
Paul Strand
Christer Stroemholm
Josef Sudek
Hiroshi Sugimoto
Brett Weston
Edward Weston
Max Yavno

For anyone who cares to take the time to look at the work of these Masters will notice that the list covers a wide spectrum, from Landscapes to Portraiture, from Nudes to Still Life. It all interests me, which may not be a good thing because it breaks one's focus. Enough of the photographic metaphors.... I'm off to start my study plan.

In the meantime ... here is another image of Whitney by window light.

Afterwards ...

2010-12-18T19:39:00.000-05:00

After the gig at PORTS1961 I passed some of the images to a few of the people who attended the event and to the Globe and Mail. For those curious enough to have a look at the images you'll find them here www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/ports-1961-holiday-party/article1841143/. I don't know how long they will be up but as of this post they are still there.

One of the people to whom I passed some images was Julia Moulden (www.juliamoulden.com). Julia, born a month before me (same year too) is a former speech writer for CEOs, celebrities, and Cabinet Minsters. Julia is also a columnist for the Huffington Post (www.huffingtonpost.com/julia-moulden) and a book author. Julia's latest work is titled “We are the New Radicals: A Manifesto for Reinventing Yourself and Saving the World”, published internationally by McGraw-Hill, New York. New Radicals (http://wearethenewradicals.com/book) explores the lives of people who while having enjoyed success in their careers are feeling the need to do something more with their lives – to give something back to a world that is in desperate need of help -- while at the same time earning a living. Julia explores this concept further in a upcoming book RIPE: Rich, Rewarding Work After 50. RIPE will be published in January, 2011.

A ago week Friday I didn't have much of a chance to speak with Julia, in fact, I had no idea who she was or what she has done, except Deirdre pointed her out to me and asked me to photograph her as she mingled. If I had known she was going to be there I would have done some homework, so I could if the chance occasioned itself, be able to ask some halfway intelligent questions. I'm not much of a conversationalist, in fact I become rather shy in a crowd, but if I have one or two intelligent questions to ask of someone they will normally do all the conversational heavy lifting. People love to talk about themselves... while most do at any rate. One just needs to get them started.

Julia mentioned that she was looking for people whose story she could add to her upcoming book or her column -- people who have past the 50 year mark and who were finding ways to use their accumulated skills and knowledge to give back. Someone who immediately came to mind was Peter Bregg (www.peterbreggphotography.com) who if you follow the blog will remember. Peter is someone who is using his skills, knowledge and connections to do good works. Peter is currently associated with Photosenstive (www.photosensitive.com) and Water Can (www.watercan.com). In fact some of Peter's images from the WaterCan projects in Africa are being displayed in Metro Hall here in Toronto. Go and have a look if you can.

This afternoon I 'e-introduced' them, Julia and Peter. I suppose I'll see if it bears any fruit.

On the 28th (I think) I'll be working with an up and coming Jazz musician. The date is still a little iffy. We'll be putting together some photographs that he can use for publicity and for his brand new web-site. So stay tuned to the same Bat Channel at the same Bat Time ... ok forget about the time bit, cause who knows when I'll post next.

This is an image of Alyana who I photographed a few weeks back. Nothing special here, just normal everyday window light and an attractive young woman.

An evening with Deirdre Kelly and guests ....

2010-12-10T23:30:00.001-05:00

This evening I photographed an event for a good friend of mine. The event was a reading by Deirdre Kelly from her most recent book "Paris Times Eight". The book is a memoir that begins when Deirdre is nineteen and arrives in Paris "as a starry-eyed ingénue". Each number in the 'Eight' documents her visits to Paris.

Deirdre was the award-winning dance critic for the Globe and Mail before becoming a fashion columnist in 2000, reporting from Paris and Milan. Now a features writer, she has written for Marie Claire, Vogue, and Elle.

All in all it was a good evening, where aside from meeting Deirdre I met Julia Moulden a an author, speaker, and columnist for the Huffington Post. I was also fortunate to met Margaret Swaine, who is a nationally published wine, spirits, food and travel writer. Margaret writes a weekly column for the National Post, the spirit columnist for Zoomer magazine and the spa columnist for Best Health. She's also a contributor to ScoreGolf, Foodservice Hospitality, Travelweek Bulletin, Expressions, Arrival, Nuvo, Wine Access, Elle Canada, Hello! Canada, Fairways, ClubLink NewsLink and national newspaper groups such as CanWest. As an interesting aside, Margaret stayed in the same cottage on the Bowmore Distillery compound as I did last September. Small world.

This is neither a photo of Deirdre, Julia, or Margaret. This is a photo of Whitney that I took a couple of Sunday's ago. The photo was taken using only light from a window.

Not much happening ....

2010-12-04T19:38:00.001-05:00

I'm tired of editing last Sunday's images of pretty young women ... it is a true story. I know, hard to believe. I got to thinking about landscapes and the Group of Seven and how much I enjoy their work. That lead me to think more about what I have mouldering away on my hard drives. That and the walk back from the home of another photographer from whom I picked up a print she made for me of one of my Wards Island Landscapes. She had commented on how she liked it so I gave her a high resolution version of it. She got it printed on a paper that had a metallic finish on it ... and I must say it turned out to be pretty good .... so back to me thinking about the Wards Island photographs ... here they are. The first drafts. I used photoshop and some filters to give the photographs the illusion of paintings.

Surprising what you can do when you are bored ..... and have time to ponder the works of the Group of Seven.

Workshop Weekend .....

2010-11-28T19:33:00.000-05:00

Very rarely do I ever, ever, participate in a workshop. I'm just not the workshop type of person. Basically I don't like waiting around for others to finish or to be rushed knowing that there are people behind me who want to shoot. It gets on my nerves.

This weekend I broke with tradition and took a fashion photography workshop given by photographer Steve Carty. I have to say that going in I wasn't sure what I could learn ... it appears that I can still learn, despite the wee grey cells being reluctant to pack anything more in. One of the lighting techniques that Steve taught me was what you see below. This is an example of what is referred to as dirty white light. The majority of the light is directed from behind the model and towards the photographer. I suppose it is the studio version of shooting into the sun. In this case the sun was f16 and the face was f6.3. The light on Sophie's face here comes from light being reflected off the white wall, roughly 9 feet behind me and a 4'x4' foam core board that was hung just over my right shoulder.

I'd say that it worked pretty well. Now on to the heavy lifting. I have to sort through the 1200+ images from today, create a web gallery, upload it and send notes off to the three models that I worked with today telling them to choice the best five images. I'll retouch the images and send them back to them .... yea Gurls! You were all terrific and fun to work with.

Monday is Hanging Day ......

2010-11-14T00:37:00.000-05:00

Today I went to the Elevator Professional Photographic Lab to pick up my prints. The prints I'll be exhibiting from my Scotland trips. Eleven bubble wrapped, framed, and matted prints. I hope they are worth the expense. I'm finding that even modest exhibitions are costly.

A tour company sent me a note a while back asking if they could make use of some of my images in their tour brochures ... they would offer me credit somewhere in the brochure for having taken the photographs that they will use to sell their tours. So rather than say yes and basically give them my images so they could use them to make money and leave me with nothing. I instead suggested that they could underwrite my exhibition and I would give them credit for sponsoring the exhibition. The credit along with their logo would be placed on the cards I'll have printed up and put alongside the images. I think that is fair.

The prints are going to be hung Monday evening. I am waiting to hear back from them as to whether or not they will accept my counter offer.

On a slightly different note, last Monday I photographed and fundraising event for Equity Showcase Theatre. The theatre company was having its Golden 50th Anniversary Celebration & Fundraiser. Colin Mochrie, Gordon Pinsent, Eric Peterson, and other noteable Canadian actors where in attendance so all in all it was a very interesting evening.

A fortunate outcome of the evening was that I became acquainted with someone who in turn has become acquainted with some of my work. This coming Monday evening I'll be attending an event where I'll be introduced by this acquaintance to a somewhat influential person in the Toronto 'scene'. We'll see where it takes us :-)

The image below is not one of the images in the exhibition, rather it is an image I made while on Manitoulin Island about a year ago. I had taken my nephew's young son for a ride to Carter Bay. While he ran around on the beach I staggered around while buffeted by the wind coming off the lake. Between staggers I snapped a few images. This was one of them.

Closer .....

2010-11-02T21:29:00.000-04:00

Today I received news from the printer that the prints for my exhibition are ready. The next task is to have them framed. The printer is also a very good framer so I'll likely have them do the job.

Mounting an exhibition of 11 images is not a cheap exercise. Even if I get a deal on the framing the exhibition will cost me about a grand. I'm hoping to be able to sell some of the images but I'll not be holding my breath. The place where they are going to be exhibited isn't exactly a place where the monied classes are frequently seen. But you never can tell.

Yesterday I received an interesting email from the tour company that ran the tour of Islay that we took this summer. They are interested in using some of my images for their brochure ... they are offering me a mention in their brochure. Sigh. I wonder what it is that makes people think that the work of a photographer can come so cheaply. Anyway, I responded to their note suggesting that instead they underwrite the cost of my exhibition in exchange for the images that they want to use. In my response I offered to mention their kind underwriting of the exhibit on the cards that will be placed adjacent to each framed prints. That sounds more fair to me :-)

I suppose it will be another week before I can approach the venue owner and ask about a date to hang the images. It all takes time.

The image above is one that I made while tramping around Wards Island situated in Toronto Harbour. It was February and quite cold but as you can see without any snow on the ground. The image has been manipulated using photoshop.

a Moody Orkney afternoon ....

2010-10-10T14:55:00.000-04:00

I don't have a bunch to blog about except that I have been spending some time putting together some images for a small exhibition that I'm going to be having. It is an odd venue but it is in Toronto's Fashion District so you never know, it may attract a few eyeballs. The venue is actually a place called Kraft Burger on King Street West. I happened to walk in one day during lunch and noticed about a dozen images, mostly fashion, placed on the walls of the restaurant. A few days later I wrote a note to the owner inquiring about hanging some of my fashion imagery. He wrote back and said he'd rather I hang either my travel images or my photojournalist imagery ... so for now I'll hang my travel images. I'm trying to think it is not a critique on my fashion images, but rather that he would like to have something different.

I'll call the exhibition something like Tour Bus Stop ... or something like that since all the images shown will be those taken while the tour bus had stop to let people wander around a historic or scenic site.

This will be one of the images. It was taken while everyone's attention was on some standing stones. Me ... I like to seek out what everyone else isn't.

It was a rainy day .....

2010-10-07T22:32:00.000-04:00

November is going to be an interesting month for me... at least the first week or so. On the 6th I'm going to be doing a 'fashion' shoot with a Steampunk theme .... Steampunk is a subgenera of science-fiction or alternate history. More to the point, Steampunk incorporates an era or world where steam power is still widely used. The clothes include elements from Victorian era Britain accessorized prominently with elements of either science fiction or fantasy. I'll be shooting in a converted warehouse/factory that still has much of the machinery still in it .. not Victorian but still loads of mechanical stuff. So keep an eye out for that come mid-November.

The Monday following that shoot I'll be shooting the Golden (50th) Anniversary Celebration and Fundraising Party of the Equity Showcase Theatre here in Toronto. The celebration will be hosted by Colin Mochrie (Second City in Toronto, British comedy improv show Whose Line Is It Anyway? and the US version by the same name and a recurring role on The Drew Carey Show), there will be a Silent Auction (featuring original artwork by actor/artist Jennifer Wigmore) and a Live Musical Performance by singer/songwriter Kathryn Rose. Gordon Pinsent will be the Honorary Chair of the event that will also include a number of special guests .... hmm now who will they be. I suppose only time will tell.

I am hoping to set up a small area where I can take portraits of the people participating in the fundraising event. So that evening aside from dragging someone into my portrait lair I'll be swanning around doing the HELLO magazine shtick. Hmmm maybe it is time I bought myself something appropriate to the occasion ..... black jeans and a black t-shirt with a Barbados logo likely won't go over too well.

So back to the rainy day ..... The last few days here in to have been very Scottish like so I decided to treat you all to a photo I took of a sea lough while the tide was out ... everyone else was off having drinks in the hotel bar except me who was stumbling along the lough in the rain hoping to snag a decent image.... I'll let you decide if it was worth the soaking I got.

By the way Colin Mochrie born in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire,Scotland so the image here is kind of sort of appropriate.

Images of The Passionate Statesman and The Photographer ...

2010-10-01T09:59:00.004-04:00

Last evening I attended the opening of Peter Bregg's exhibition at XI Gallery at 11 Davies Street in Toronto http://www.colourgenics.com/ixgallery/. Displayed were images he made of Pierre Trudeau (Canad'as 15th Prime Minister) whilst a photographer working on Parliament Hill. Arrayed amongst Peter's work were images of a few other photographers including the famous image of the PM doing one of his signature pirouettes as caught by Andy Clark. Later in the evening after most of the crowd had left I asked Peter to re-enacted the pirouette ... check out the photos below.

I met Peter through a mutual friend almost two years ago while he was still the Photo editor for the Canadian edition of HELLO magazine. Before that I have to be honest and say I had never heard of Peter or his work, but since then I have become captivated by his 40 plus years of stories and photography.

Before becoming the Photo editor for HELLO Magazine Canada, Peter was the Chief photographer at Maclean's Magazine for 17 years. Before that Peter had covered the White House for Associated Press and later worked as a photographer and editor with the Canadian Press and the Associated Press in London, New York, and Washington, DC. Peter also worked between 1984 - 1985 as Prime Minister Brian Mulroney's official photographer.

Including the recent G8/20 summit in Toronto Peter has covered eight Olympic Games, several Stanley Cups, and World Series, as well as Presidential trips and a stint in Vietnam in 1973. In 1979-80 Peter covered the Iran hostage crisis. While in Iran during the one-year anniversary of the hostage-taking Peter and a colleague were abducted at gunpoint. They were blindfolded and after an hour, loaded into a vehicle and driven to another location, where they were held for another four or five hours and interrogated.

The next year Peter was in Poland when the imposition of martial law on the Solidarity movement was put into effect by the then communist government. Nine years later Peter was in New York to cover the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre.

Photo by Andy Clark

Peter Bregg imitating Pierre Trudeau's signature pirouette.

Peter is an active member of PhotoSensitive http://www.photosensitive.com – a photo collective that uses photography to support charitable causes. Peter has traveled to Mozambique and Rwanda, as well as Zambia, where he took photos for CARE Canada on the AIDS crisis. In 2006, Peter accompanied Margaret Trudeau and Sophie Grégoire to Ethiopia on behalf of WaterCan where he documented their visit to several of WaterCan’s clean water and sanitation project sites.

Peter Bregg has won many photography awards including a World Press Photo Award, NPPA Regional Photographer of the Year, Canadian Press Photo of the Year, Eastern Canada News Photographers Association Awards, a Canadian National Newspaper Award, and White House News Photographers Association Awards.

About a year earlier .....

2010-09-24T19:22:00.001-04:00

Today I gave up a gig to do a shoot on a film location in Algonquin Park ... sucks to be me. I had to pass because my day job would prevent me from taking almost a week off to shoot on location ... that and I just got back from a week's vacation from my shiny new job.

The good thing is that the person who was asking will likely (hopefully) offer again when another opportunity arises. I have to say that I was sorely tempted, but the optics would just have not looked good. Now if it had been the prior job I would have said smell you later and been gone for a week.

On a slightly different note. I was invited by Peter Bregg to attend a photographic exhibit last Wednesday of work by a group of photojournalists (Peter Bregg, Fred Chartrand among others), who covered the antics and peculiarities of Pierre Elliot Trudeau, PC, CC, CH, QC, MSRC, during the time when he was Canada's 15th Prime Minister. In attendance was his ex-wife Margaret who gave the keynote address to the packed room. There was also a silent auction in support of the charity Water Can www.watercan.com which both Peter and Margaret have been supporting through their personal efforts.

I had never met Mrs. Trudeau before. Chatting with her casually about the PM and his dreams for the country was quite the treat. The icing on the treat as it were was her personalizing the book that I had purchased earlier that held copies of the images on display. Peter also graciously signed the book. Thank you again Peter! The book will have a special place on my book shelves alongside the biographies of the late PM. Yes I'm a Liberal, but with Tory financial tendencies ....

Next Thursday Peter Bregg is having a solo exhibit at the IX Gallery in Toronto. That exhibit will have all the images displayed last Wednesday plus more ... so I'm looking forward to seeing those.

So what about the 'About a year earlier' title .... well it is the photograph below. I took it last year about this time while everyone else was looking at a lighthouse on Shetland. Me, never one to follow a crowd of people decided to strike out on my own and was fortunate enough to see this image ... filled with water.

Several Days later ....

2010-09-19T21:41:00.000-04:00

and I am posting some more photos from my trip to Islay.

This is an image from the inside of the ruined church at Kildalton which comes from the Scottish Gaelic Cill Daltain that means "Church of the Foster Son"

The image below was taken during a five minute stop at Rest and Be Thankful viewpoint on the A38 from Tarbet. The A38 runs west between Loch Lomond and Loch Long to Arrochar near the head of Loch Long. It then goes round the head of the loch, down the western shore for a short distance, before leading westward, up Glen Croe (Gleann a' Chrò) to the Rest-and-be-Thankful viewpoint.

This image below was taken from the pier at Inveraray. Inveraray (Inbhir Aora in Gaelic) is a town Royal Burgh in Argyll and Bute, located on the western shore of Loch Fyne near its head, and on the A83 road. I chose to render it in black and white since it was a rather black and white day to begin with. I got slightly damp taking this image .. actually it was close to bucketing down.

This image below was taken out in the loading area whilst the tour was being conducted at the Ardbeg Distillery ...

and now I'll continue to sip on my Ardbeg Uigeadail (pronounced ‘Oog-a-dal’). "This fine Scotch Whisky is a special vatting that marries Ardbeg’s traditional deep, smoky notes with luscious, raisiny tones of old ex-Sherry casks" ..... it is a bit of an acquired taste ..... :-)

Islay - Day Three & Four

2010-09-15T12:05:00.002-04:00

Sunday was the last full day on windswept and somewhat soggy Islay, but that is fine by me. I never come to Scotland for the bright tropical sun or the white sandy beaches. That being said as I right this note in a Glasgow Starbucks the skies are bright Scots blue and the wind cool and gentle. But I digress. Sunday was spent exploring the southern side of Islay and the distilleries of some of the smokiest and peatiest of all whiskies – Laphroaig, Lagavulin and Ardbeg. Our first stop was Ardbeg. Under the guidance of the definitely non-dour Scot Jackie we toured through the distillery before finishing with a tasting. I ended up buying a bottle … hic

After a wee bite of lunch we visited the ruins of Kildalton church with its famous 8th Century Celtic cross. I took several images of this cross against the background of the distant hills. I've found that it can be difficult to take images of these places that are unique. Countless photographers have been standing on the same ground as me. After a while I think all of the obvious perspectives have been used … sigh oh well at least the light is slightly different every time.

Monday was the travel day. And did it rain. Surprisingly none of the roads through the hills were badly flooded while we were heading back to Glasgow. The cascading water bounding down the hillsides was something to see though (through the bucketing rain). Yet just the same we made out way through the ancient Kingdom of Dalriada and town of Kilmartin. There are more than 350 prehistoric monuments within a six-mile radius of the village of Kilmartin. During our pass through Dalriada on the way too Islay we stopped at one of the prehistoric standing stone sites (photos to come).

From Kilmartin we did the short drive to Oban – the main ferry port for the islands. We have been to Oban before but because of a date with a Ferry to Iona, Skye, and Mull we didn't have time to explore much of Oban. This time we did and found and entire complex of streets beyond the harbour front. Next time we are here we definitely need to explore more of the town of Oban.

Yesterday was spent tramping through Edinburgh. Catching the 10:30 train in the morning we arrived in Edinburgh at Waverley Station and began to wonder. I went back to Calton Hill to see if I could shoot the Dugald Stewart Monument in the sunshine .. did that. It was much different than last year when I trudged up the hill in the sideways blowing rain. This time the wind did its best to make me do an imitation of a candy wrapper blowing across the hillside, but I resisted. Not to self. More weight, need more weight.

Today is a lovely sunny day in Galsgow. The wife is out shopping along Argyll Street while I am wondering around looking at the architecture and just generally enjoying the warmth of the September Sun.

Tomorrow is a 5AM pickup for the Glasgow Airport ... Lord Help Us ... 5 fricken AM !!

I apologise for the dearth of photographs but just having a touch pad and no mouse rather limits what I can do with the images that I can post at the moment. In the mean time this is an image taken along a bend in a road on Islay. I realised afterwards that I should have used a larger focal length... something like f22. You'll notice that the house in the distance isn't sharp ... sigh. Live and learn.

Islay - day two

2010-09-11T17:31:00.003-04:00

I decided not to be overly adventurous and strike out on my own since the weather yesterday and today was rather schizophrenic one moment rainy and blustery and the other moment sunny and relatively calm ... for at least twenty minutes. But these are the Hebrides and if there is one thing I have learnt about the Hebrides is that the weather is predictably unpredictable. So I threw in with the group.

Yesterday we struck out from Glasgow travelled along Loch Lomond (for the fourth time). Then west through the mountains to the little village of Inveraray on the banks of Loch Fyne before stopping for a wee bit of lunch at the little village of Inveraray on the banks of Loch Fyne before pushing on down the Kintyre peninsula. From there it was a short drive to catch the early evening ferry to Islay, before travelling to Bowmore were we have settled into the Maltman's Cottage in the Bowmore Distillery compound. The cottage is quite a cozy little place with a wonderful little eat in self-catered kitchen.

Today we pent the full day exploring Islay. The itinerary included a mixture of beautiful scenery, white sand beaches, short walks and of course the famous Islay whiskies - renowned for their strong peaty flavours and nurtured by the salty sea air. In the morning we took a short drive to the west of the island via Saligo Bay for a visit to Kilchoman Distillery (the newest and smallest on the island). Afterwards we took a brief coastal walk to Machair Bay. After lunch we traveled to the tiny harbour village of Portnahaven then took the back roads along the west coast to seek out some of the quite with lovely sandy bays. Later in the afternoon we dropped into Bruichladdich Distillery for a tour and tasting before returning to Bowmore.

Of course I took a whack of photographs most of which I am still sorting through. But just the same I thought that I would share a few with you while I sort and tag the others.

The first image is of a group of horse that were huddled together against the wind while in a field near the Kilchoman Distillery. The second image is of the tide receding from Mahir Bay.

Back to the Highlands and Western Hebrides

2010-09-03T19:52:00.000-04:00

This time I will be travelling to Islay (pronounced ILEE) for those who are picky about such things. Unfortunately, I'll only be spending a few days on Islay, but to even it out I'll be spending a few days in both Glasgow and Edinburgh.... visiting some familiar haunts and finding some new ones.

I've also been doing some research into Islay since I've never been there before. It seems like I can jump any number of buses that cross-cross the island which is exactly what I plan to do. Who knows when I'll be back again.

I am hoping that I can get out to Machir Bay and photograph the rock formations there. On the list too is The High Street in Bowmore ... I'm thinking it'll be an early rise so that I can get the street sans shoppers. The Bowmore Distillery of course... and Lagavulin too ah duh. Islay has eight count them eight distilleries. Lord have mercy.

I hope to get to the John Francis Campbell Monument at Bridgend .. did I mention that my wife's family is a sept of the Clan Campbell? Likely not. I'd also love to get a shot of Dunivaig Castle before it falls entirely into the sea.

I think too it would be cool to be able to get a shot of the rugged coast of the Mull of Oa (the a is silent) located on the southern most part of Islay. Following along I'm hoping to get some time to shoot around Dun Bhorariag near the town of Ballygrant. There is a ruined 12th century chapel at Kilnave (Cill Naoimh 'the church or burial ground of the saint') that I'd also like to visit. There is a weather-worn stone cross in the Kilnave church yard standing 2.63m high. Should be rather cool.

Islay is not with its standing stones . In the Rinns there are fine examples of both stone circles and standing stones. From what I have read at Cultoon of a back road from Port Charlotte through Kilchiaran to Portnahaven there can be seen the remains of an uncompleted stone circle. There are three upright stones and twelve stones laying flat.

So as you can see I have a plan.. a loose plan but a plan just the same. I'll try to squeeze in as much as I can and take as many photos as I can. I may even chance renting a car if that is possible.

This standing stone is one of the standing stones in the Ring of Brodar in Orkney ... from last year's trip.

Not much happening here ... best to move along

2010-08-09T21:55:00.002-04:00

Well not in so many actions. The funding agency that I have submitted my business plan to has requested some due diligence documentation. For example they have asked for a credit report (check), proof of business registration (check), proof of matching funds ... umm kind of sort of check in as much as I have a LOC that can be drawn on and be used to match any funds provided, but I don't have the ready as the Brits are fond of saying. So it is more check-ish than check.

I'll send in the package to the agency tomorrow ... I should know in another month or so if I've been given the nod. I certainly hope so ..... with this gear and money for marketing I can turn up the steam and start making some concrete plans.

Saturday is a location scouting day. I am planning a shoot with another dancer ... this time outside with a long length of flowing fabric set against either the city skyline or the horizon of the lake ... perhaps both. After that the next shoot is a reprise in September of an earlier shoot with a fitness model ala OXYGEN magazine covers .....steady boys :-)

Recently I finished up a shoot for a local Jazz singer. This is one of her photos below... it is more of a portrait than anything else. She hasn't seen it yet but I hope she likes it. I just finished burning the DVD with a set of 104 images. She has the arduous task or easy if she doesn't like them of selecting 10 images.

And the winner is ......

2010-07-16T19:01:00.001-04:00

shuffle shuffle, ahem Me :-)

Back in the day ... OK this time about four years ago when I was a newbie and had my first camera clutched in my hands I snagged this image of Carolyn Thompson singing her lungs out on a street corner during the 2006 Beaches International Jazz Festival

Earlier this week the curator of the festival competition wrote me a note asking that I enter the competition. After some hemming and hawing I did. Generally I don't enter photography competitions, can't really say why, but I just don't. But this time I relented after the second note from the curator. On Wednesday I sent a digital version of this image to a local photo-lab that I sometimes use and asked if they could print the image and frame it for me.

Today I dropped the image off at the tent where it will be displayed along with all the other wonderful photos that other photographers had entered. I was asked to stick around for a while because they would be announcing the winners. I imagine the judges had made up there minds from the digital submissions made earlier in the week.

Well to make a long story short I came away a winner. Surprise. Surprise. I certainly was.

On a slightly dissimilar note I have submitted a business plan to a funding/granting agency wherein I am asking for money to help set up my own commercial photography business. Last week they sent me a note back asking for all sorts of stuff including a signed copy of a credit report. Sooooooo I guess they are considering my submission. Kind of scary actually.

Now I have to get back to clearing up stretch marks and such in photos I'm retouching for a fellow photographer .... more news at 11.

Coming together ....

2010-06-05T18:55:00.000-04:00

I have a few models signed up for the summer shoots and now a few clothing designers, now all I need is the MUA who I've worked with to come on board and things my start popping. I'm looking forward to getting some good image put together for a book that I can present to agencies come the fall. It is rather exciting really.

I've also be looking over a book I have of the work of the famous French fashion photographer Patrick DeMarchelier. I have to say that when I look through his work I am simultaneously filled with exhilaration, despair, and inspiration ....

This is an image of Michelle that I took while in Barbados last March.

The jobs they are a changing ....

2010-06-01T21:38:00.001-04:00

well at least the employer. Yesterday before I left the office I sent in my notice. After thirteen years it was time for a change. The last year had been growing increasingly uninteresting and the work was becoming rather tedious. I had come to realize that I had stopped growing and that is never good. As 'they' say a change is as good as a vacation. I leave my current employer on the tenth of July. I had hoped that it may be the 30th of this month but I was informed that the vacation time that I had anticipated coming to me won't be and I don't have the dosh to take a two week unpaid vacation. C'est le vie.

I have more or less firmed up a couple of gigs this month so that is good. One will be a TFCD shoot with a rather lovely model. Sundress and bikinis on the beach so that should be fun. The paid gig shooting for a press kit for a jazz vocalist .. I'm kind of thinking something classy like what I have seen for Sophie Millman or Nora Jones.

I am finding that presently I don't have a lot to blog about.... so I'll leave you with a photo I took the last time I was in Northern Ireland. This is a the underside of a stone bridge that crosses a forest brook in the Mourne Mountains. Ordinarily this would be a quite a lovely and restful place if it weren't for cousins throwing clumps of damp earth at me ......

I'm older now and still runnin' against the wind .....

2010-05-24T21:07:00.006-04:00

As Bob Seger's tune goes ..

"Against the wind

I'm still runnin' against the wind

I'm older now but still runnin' against the wind

Well I'm older now and still runnin'

Against the wind

Against the wind"

Tomorrow I turn another year older and marginally closer towards achieving my goals .. I am closer, of that there is no doubt, but not close enough and not soon enough.

This is a photo of Kate that I took this weekend. Kate is 24 and undecided about what path she wants her life to take except for now she knows she wants to dance as long as possible. Good for her.

Update to Making the Leap

2010-05-19T20:42:00.003-04:00

A former Prime Minister of Britain Benjamin Disraeli's is quoted as saying "The most dangerous strategy is to jump a chasm in two leaps", yet here I find myself stepping slightly back from the edge, pondering my best strategy for crossing the Chasm. I am considering attempting the crossing in three leaps. One leap each year for three years. With the third year resulting in the realization of the dream. Or at least that is the plan. Which brings us to "Da Plan Boss Da Plan !!" or at least some of the strategy behind it.

Geoffrey Moore in his seminal technology marketing book called oddly enough "Crossing the Chasm', emphasizes that to cross the chasm a company needs to first focus on a single market, a beachhead, to win domination over a small specific market and use it as a springboard to adjacent extended markets. Essentially that is the strategy that I am going to adopt with my business and marketing strategy. I cannot be all things to all markets so I'll move in stages, each stage being a foundation for the next stage. This strategy will take time to execute, and as with all strategic plans its success will hinge on four things;

Defining a clear and simple long-term goal which is capable of motivating effort.
Concentrating resources: Focusing all resources, efforts and enthusiasm in the agreed direction.
Maintaining consistency: Progressing in the same direction, with the same focus over long periods of time, deviating only when necessary.
Retaining flexibility: A successful strategy runs the risk of becoming increasingly resistant to change. It is therefore vital to maintain a continuous assessment of the essential elements and variables on which the strategy depends. One needs to continually review the necessity for revising the strategy.

When one is a small business... and in my case perhaps a micro business is more succinct, it is vitally important to remain focused and true to the course one has laid out for themselves. For me the goal is clear. Become a successful (i.e., makes a comfortable living) commercial photographer who specializes in fashion, editorial, and commercial / advertising photography. Portraiture will be the beachhead, the initial step, but certainly not the end goal.

As I mentioned above I cannot be all things to all markets... there is simply not enough of me to go around. Hence the need to concentrate all of my limited resources where they will have the most immediate benefit. Portraiture... once again. However, as I gain prominence as a portraitist, I can use that as a lever to push on into commercial / advertising photography and eventually into editorial and fashion photography. These areas are extremely difficult to break into without a very strong 'book'. I'll build that as I develop my portraiture business.

Time always seems to be a factor and irritant for me and one that I must guard against. Maintain consistency without wanting to jump ahead before I am ready will be a challenge. Time creates a dilemma for me. On one hand I need time to unfold my strategy whilst on the other hand I am not getting any younger and don't have the twenty years or so that other emerging photographers have to establish themselves and become widely known and sought after.

Retaining flexibility in the strategy on the other hand will not likely be a problem. It is not in my nature to become recalcitrant especially with photography. If anything I'll need to guard against drifting into areas where my limited resources will be wasted, albeit in an interesting way.

My business plan and marketing plan are being built out as we speak. I've decided to contract that out since they are not within my core competencies and while it will cost me financially I'll be better for it. The plans will be submitted within about one months time to a granting agency that funds entrepreneurial start ups. I am hoping that if they fund the first year that they'll fund the other two years. Fingers crossed.

In the meantime here is a photo I took last week of my neighbour Julie using her camera. Julie and I were chatting about what else, photography, when I noted how nicely the light was coming in through here louvered windows. Julie suggested that she take a photo of me with the wall as a backdrop and I reciprocated. I think I came out ahead with this photo.

Dance Shoot ...

2010-04-18T19:37:00.001-04:00

This was the second shoot with the inestimable Katie. Truth be told she is a flash of bright light. She is full of wide eyed enthusiasm. Today we spent about three hours together and I came away with about three hundred images that I'll narrow down to a half dozen. I can't help but think that perhaps I'll need a bigger (wider) studio to complete this series. I am shooting against a 16 foot wide wall that barely gives the dancers enough space to leap and really stretch out. Similarly I can't really seem to back away far enough to get, in this case, Katie full in the frame.

Oh well I'll figure something out. In the meantime here is a headshot that I did of Katie at the end of the shoot.

For those that want to know the key light was a 60" octobox at F8 the hair light was set for F11 and the shutter speed was 125.

It could happen ....

2010-04-17T17:17:00.000-04:00

Just fooling around ... but it could happen ...as my niece used to tell me when she was 12.

Seamus Dhásain is my name in Gaelic.

Shoot your brains out or walk softly and carry an idea book ...

2010-04-13T22:03:00.000-04:00

I've recently read an article by a commercial photographer who doesn't subscribe to the time worn thesis that to become a better photographer one needs to shoot and shoot and shoot.

Instead he suggests that an aspiring photographer should "conceive, plan, and the shoot". It fits with what I've been thinking lately about conserving one's resources and only spending them when it makes sense and you can get something of real value from the expenditure. In his case all his shooting is towards images for his portfolio. Which is as it should be rather than spending every waking moment editing down the hundreds to just a few.

His contention is that we'd be better served by carrying an idea book with us and sketching concepts rather than walking around camera in-hand and hoping something presents itself.

I found this interesting because I carry a couple of idea books stuffed into various jackets. They are ringed notebooks that I write down interesting locations and what sort of scenario I think would work there. I make notes about the time and where the light is falling. If there is some structure that I want to use I sketch it out relative to the model again noting where the light will fall and how hard the light is at the time, whether or not I'd need a reflector or fill flash and such.

Of course this works well when you are trying to build up a portfolio through studio work or even editorial work outside the studio. But what do you do when traveling do you carry a notebook? I carry a notebook with me when I'm traveling. I make notes about where I was when I took the image or series of images, what the lighting conditions were and what sort of weather was generally happening.

I find that when I'm travelling I can't plan what I shoot. I don't even bother. I find that shooting while traveling is a lot like street photography. One has to set aside preconceptions and just be in the moment.

This is a photo I took while in the Shetlands late last summer. The sky was windswept overcast with a light drizzle. This wee little guy took a real interest in my camera and insisted on trying to taste it.

Twitter-ing

2010-04-10T20:10:00.001-04:00

Not much happening this weekend. I find myself sitting here in front of my monitor soaking up the glow with nothing to do. No shoots this weekend. Next couple of weekends I have dance shoots. After that a possible shoot with a singer/musician if my quote doesn't scare her off.

Last Monday I went to Carolyn's celebration of her Jam Night first anniversary at the Harlem Restaurant here in Toronto ... good time. I was the major sponsor of the evening with a portrait session with me being raffled off a midnight. A musician/real estate person won the sitting so I'll expect to hear from him in due course. But you know it never fails. Someone asked me what I would charge for a headshot session with two changes of clothes. So I told them. "But my friend can do it for $100". "Fine" I said. "But if you don't like what he does you have my card". Tsk.

As you all may or may not know I am also an occasional visitor to Twitter. I find myself there when I get really bored. Generally I trawl the Canadian News websites for interesting headlines which I repost with my own particular twist. Yesterday my copy of Photoshop User magazine arrived in the post. One of the articles was about creating a graphic for Twitter. This is my attempt ....

Listening to Jim Croce's Photographs and Memories -- somehow seems appropriate.

Spring time is a time for rebirth .....

2010-04-04T20:42:00.002-04:00

Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers to-day;
And give us not to think so far away
As the uncertain harvest; keep us here
All simply in the springing of the year.

Robert Frost

Strengthen your strengths and starve your weaknesses

2010-04-03T01:20:00.001-04:00

In my previous blog entry, I wrote about focusing on your strengths and letting your weaknesses languish. In almost any endeavour where you have limit resources, it is just plain dumb to spend those resources on building up a weakness, especially when it comes to talent.

Unless you are DaVinci, Michelangelo or Mozart you are more talented in one genre of photography then another, but even if you are talented in Landscape Photography, Fashion Photography and say Documentary Photography you have only so much of you to go around. So, ask yourself two questions. What type of photography do you do best? What do I enjoy the most? If you are better at Landscape Photography but really enjoy Fashion Photography then perhaps you can combine the two. However, if you suck at Fashion Photography even though you really enjoy it, strengthen your skills as a Landscape Photographer instead. This doesn’t mean that you have to give up on Fashion Photography. Just don’t make it a priority.

Narrowing my focus and settling on one genre is a particularly difficult for me since I am a Magpie when it comes to photography. So many genres hold an interest for me it is difficult to pick and stay with just one for any length of time. Yet regardless I know that by strengthening myself say for example in Fashion Photography I will also be strengthening my vision – how I see my life and work unfolding. This in turn will help me to set objectives and aid me in determining a strategy that will help me achieve my objectives.

On the road to realising your vision it is vital to literally shoot every chance you are. Carry your camera with you everywhere. With every image you make you will learn something about yourself, your skills, and your progress towards achieving your objectives and ultimately your vision. Practise. Practise. Practise.

I’m not one to normally use sports analogies to get my point across but this one is a rather special story that points to what I want to stress. In the 1960’s Ted Williams was considered to be one of baseball’s greatest home run hitters. Williams had a god-like status amongst baseball fans and players. It was reputed that Williams had eagle like vision and was able to see the spin of the ball as it left the pitchers hand and because of that he knew exactly were the ball would pass as it crossed the plate.

When asked about it Williams was reputed to have replied that it was all bull. His achievements he insisted were simply the result of what he put into his game. “Nothing except practise, practise, practise will bring out that ability,” he explained. The reason he was able to see the ball so well wasn’t extraordinary eyesight but rather extraordinary discipline and practise. No one knew that growing up he would relentlessly hit balls for hours and hours everyday. All they saw were the baseballs that were hit out of the park with regularity.

As you work more and more in your stronger talent areas the more confident you’ll become. That confidence will begin to show not only in your attitude and your photographs but also in your ability to take and survive risks in defining your style and vision.

Hard work triumphs over talent. Remember, no one cares how hard you work except you. It is simply the price of admission. You don't get to be a pro photographer without it whatever your genre.

This is me practising while walking on a beach on the Isle of Iona in Scotland's Inner Hebrides.

On Making The Leap Into Free Agent Photography

2010-03-28T17:04:00.022-04:00

I know that a lot of people today are looking at doing what they love to do rather than stay in an unfulfilling career. For some their career has simply stopped being enjoyable and the choice to step away is their own. For some the choice to embrace their passion is made for them. Regardless of whose choice it is the result is still the same, you are out there at the edge of the ledge wondering if you’ll fly or fall like a rock. Be assured that you are not alone. There are several million people who have embraced free agency and have become the CEO of ME Inc.

So how do you do it? For that matter, how do I do it? I am writing this blog entry for a couple of reasons. One is to sort out my own thinking on the idea of chucking it in and taking up my camera full time and the other reason is to perhaps help someone else by pointing out what I’ve learnt in my search for the answer.

We’ll assume for sake of argument that this is the Monday after the final Friday and now you find yourself as the CEO of Me Inc., what do you do? The usual advice seems to be to take stock of what your strengths and weaknesses are. The not so typical advice is to starve your weaknesses. “A person can perform only from strength,” Peter Drucker (management guru) wrote in a piece first published in the Harvard Review. Drucker also argued “It takes far more energy and work to improve from incompetence to mediocrity than it takes to improve from first-rate performance to excellence.” From a photographic point of view ask yourself, “What am I best at and what must be done to strengthen that area?” That will form the basis of your personal development strategy.

No CEO ever flies alone. Every major corporation has a board of directors to offer advice and keep it in focused on its objectives. So there is no reason why PhotographMe Inc., shouldn’t as well. We all need people in our lives that unquestioningly support everything we do. They see in us what we do not in ourselves. It is these people who give us the confidence to put it all out there in the first place.

It is important to not only find people who are willing to go down the path with you, but people who are not afraid to tell you when you are following the wrong path or following the right path but travelling it the wrong way. These people need to be people who have had real lasting success in what you are asking them to provide advice on. We all need people who can be counted on to call us on the carpet now and then but if they cannot be counted on to do this then you shouldn’t be taking business advice from them no matter how qualified they are.

Surround yourself with a community of other free agents. Build a support community around you by joining professional associations and social media groups devoted to small business. Not only will these groups provide you with a valuable source of ideas and support it may also provide you with an avenue from which you can market your services. Marketing is about meeting as many people as possible in the areas in which you want to work in and giving them a positive reason to remember you.

This is not the end of the conversation. There is much more to write about. I’m going to follow up this blog entry with others as I find continue my thinking and researching. In the meantime, I’d like to pass along something that I have learnt. If you wait until you have every last detail worked out you may very well die before you’ve had a chance to experience your dream. Don’t wait until everything is just right. Nothing is ever completely ready. Do your due diligence and prepare as best you can and remember the quote by American naturalist John Burroughs. “Leap and the net will appear.”

This is a photo that I took on a very blustery day on the Shetland Islands last September.

The dance shoot today was canceled.....

2010-03-21T18:39:00.002-04:00

because my dancer has been ill the last couple of days so we decided to postpone the shoot a week to give her time to recover. This was a good thing since I woke this morning with a migraine and didn't think I could fake energetic and lively through a shoot. Instead, I veged in front of the computer and began to wander through my images. I do this a lot when I'm bored or when I'm trying to distract myself with some mindless activity.

I called the time I spend in front of the computer digging around my collection of images, dumpster diving; rummaging through the thousands of images until one catches my interest such as this one. This is an image of Justin who I did a CD/publicity shoot for a while ago.

I converted the image to black and white. It is a one light portrait where I used a large (likely too large) Octobox soft-box on camera left and a small (too small or not close enough) reflector on camera right.

Still not feeling overly energetic but at least the pounding has changed to a dull thrusting icepick ....

Head shots ... and no we aren't talking about hockey !

2010-03-20T00:54:00.003-04:00

I may have mentioned in previous posts that I am considering branching out into portraiture. Head shots come to mind as well although this niche is pretty well covered in the city. There are a number of very good photographers who do very good head shots and who make some good coin doing it. So what is the difference between a portrait and a head shot. Well they are both images of people ... and from what I can tell it ends just about there.

I've been doing some research into portraiture and head shots as part of my business plan due diligence and I thought what I share with you about what I have discovered about head shots.

Head shots are the primary visual marketing tool for actors, musicians, dancers, just about anyone who will at some point in their career pass in front of a casting agent or casting director. The job of the head shot is to illicit a response, a positive response, from the casting agent. The image should speak to who you are and why the casting agent should select you. A head shot gets about a nano second to make an impression on a casting director so they have to be better than good enough. If the image doesn't do that it is wasted.

There are two basic types of head shots. The commercial head shot with you relaxed and smile or emoting a friendly expression that exudes warmth, confidence, and enthusiasm. This pose should look like you normally do, not overly showy or contrived. This type of headshot is often used by business professionals. The second type of head shot is often referred to as the 'Legit' head shot and has become very popular with actors. The 'Legit' head shot is used for film, theatre or television. In these types of head shots you can appear more dramatic, more sexy, more intense -- generally more attitude. Legit head shots often incorporate a fashion/editorial style. The image becomes less about making you look nice but rather creating images that illustrate something about you or that allow you to reveal something about yourself that is not typically seen in a normal head shot. Remember this, the image must convey that you are connected that you are emitting something from your eyes, that there is life there, that you feel comfortable. That gives people a really good sense of who you are.

All head shots should be in colour. Colour is not only just more alive than traditional black and white head shots it is more candid, more natural, more personal and more about personality.

Because the head shot is your most important marketing tool it is very important that you splash out on the best make up artist and hair stylist you can afford. Even if you feel that you a good at applying your own make up don't. Make-up for camera work is entirely different than the make-up you'd use for an evening out or a day in the office. It makes no sense at all to spend hundreds of dollars to have a high quality head shot done for you and not have the make up done as well as it can. Especially for women hair and make-up are extremely important. With guys it doesn't matter. Usually with guys the images are so sharp and clear that any make-up would be noticeable so it would be better to have the image retouched later.

Speaking of retouching -- every photo will have to have some retouching. This is best done by a professional retoucher. A professional retoucher will not materially alter your appearance but simply make you look like the real you but as if you are having the best day of your life. Casting directors want to see the real you. The head shot should represent you in the best possible way.

Now what to wear for the head shot session? It isn't very different than what you'd be asked to wear to a portrait sitting. If you are sitting for a commercial head shot remember to keep it simple. Clothes can often be distracting. It is important too that the clothing that is chosen bring out the colour in the eyes.
You want the viewer to be captivated by you, not your clothes. Often a fitted jacket is good. A jacket is professional, its corporate, it is law, its cop it is all these things. It portrays a sense of professionalism to the viewer.

Finally, it is really important the the session be collaborative and that the photographer shares the images with you right away so that you can see the image that you are conveying. You may find that you need to make adjustments in how you are holding your mouth or setting your eyes. You'll be able to make these adjustments with the next shot. That way you are not left wondering at the end of the shoot, if you got a great shot, if you have emoting the type of feeling that you want others to see.

This is an image of Tanya who I did a dance shoot with. The image here was taken at the end of the shoot. I always try to get a portrait or head shot at the end of each shoot. There are some things wrong with this shot if it were to be used as a head shot perhaps someone can pick them out.

How do we learn when there is no one around to teach us ....

2010-03-09T21:54:00.002-05:00

For almost as long as I could remember I have wanted a mentor, someone to teach me what I need to do to become really really really good, at what, it didn't matter. It has been that way with photography from the very beginning as well. It would have been so great to have someone who was an inspiring photographer/artist to see what I do and can possible grow towards doing and have them metaphorically take me under their wing and teach me what they know. Well grasshopper it ain't happening !

So what to do what to do when you don't have a mentor? There is always the workshop route ... to be honest I have taken three weekend workshops and have found them terribly lacking in so many ways that I don't think I'll ever take another. There is the college course route. I took one of those too but found it similarly lacking. While the equipment was fun to use there was little in the way of .... real learnings that I could immediately apply to what I wanted to do.

Now that you've found yourself alone and without that wise and narly mentor to teach you how to grab a pebble from his/her rock steady hand where do you look for learning? Huh well were do ya? Look a little closer into your monitor .... focus beyond the words on the monitor. Look at the reflection looking back at you... there is your mentor and your worst critic.

Where am I going with this ramble you ask? It is not too far. Perhaps as the length of you arm. Pick up any magazine that contains photographs .... it contains everything that you need to become a better photographer. What am I talking about? I am talking about de-constructing the work of others so that you can learn from what they have done to produce that image.

I have been de-constructing images almost from the first day I picked up a camera and I still do it. Sometimes I do it while waiting for the bus. I will find myself looking at an image used in an advertisement, breaking it down. Usually I will start with composition, rule of thirds, golden mean, diagonal lines rule, the golden section ..... rules I've learnt from by surfing the web and various books on photography. I respond to this compositional elements on an emotional rather than intellectual level. The use of these compositional techniques will either draw me into the image or away from it depending on how effectively they are used. I find that this is a great way to train my eye when I'm not actually taking a photo.

Something else that I do is look at how the image is lit. Usually if a person is prominent in the photo I will be drawn to the eyes. We all are. In my case I am looking for the highlights in the eyes that can tell me what sort of lighting arrangement was used. Whether or not an umbrella was used, or if a softbox, or even just a bear strobe. From the eyes you can also tell if any light modifiers or reflectors where used nearby. How the light is reflected back by the skin to can tell you a lot about lighting arrangement. You can tell for example if a hair light was used and approximately where it was placed. You will be able to tell if strobes were used to highlight the edges of the body to give it a harder look.

Anyways... I think that you get the idea. Always educate your eye by breaking down every image that you feel is interesting, then try to figure out how you could replicate it. By doing so consistently you can help but become your own mentor.

Below are two examples of the compositional elements that I wrote of. The first is called the Golden Spiral and the second is an example of the Rule of Thirds. Hopefully you'll be able to see the overlays.

Da Shoot ... It was a sunny Wednesday afternoon ... so far away.....just time away

2010-03-06T10:09:00.005-05:00

One of these days I’m going to have to get me an assistant, at least someone to hold a reflector. As usual this shoot, like so many others, was without the benefit of an assistant. In a way it is a good thing because while it limits the shoots I can take it does push me to choose shots that I can get away with without the benefit of fill from a reflector.

Wednesday, Michelle and I met at Harri Smith House. Have I mentioned how much I like that place. With a bag full of dosh I could do some awesome stuff with it’s old bones. Sigh, oh well, I’ll just have to keep buying those lottery tickets.

Back to the shoot. Like everything I do with Michelle it is all improv from the moment we arrive and dig through her bag of clothes. This time we went with a long white gown. Not quite what I had in mind, but when in Rome ... What I had in mind was a dress with wide flowing skirts that can catch the wind and flow with gusts. But what Michelle brought with her was good so we went with that. One of the items that I asked Michelle to bring was a straw hat with a black band. Bless her heart she found a friend who had one. I thought it was rather perfect.

Beach Walk ....

2010-03-06T09:44:00.001-05:00

Tuesday morning awoke to the birds chattering away in the trees and of course the ever present surf crashing against the coral that borders the back yard. It will take a while to that being absent. One grows used to that, kind of like the sound of traffic in the city. Perhaps I should try to record that and cut a CD and play that from time to time. Or would that be self inflicted torture of a different kind?

Fortunately for me the tide was out. That meant I could walk a few kilometers down the beaches that stretch out towards Holetown. So that is what I did. I put on the spiffy webbed Speedo beach shoes that my wife kindly bought for me and set out down the beach hopeful that some images would present themselves to me ... I put in a few good kilometers before deciding to turn around. One can walk the beaches to Holetown when there is a particularly low tide... perhaps next year.

Walking the beach at 7 in the AM is good for a number of reasons the least not being that the air temp is nice and cool relative to the afternoon normal of 31 degrees (Celcius). A nice 31 mind you because there is always a breeze in Barbados. Another good reason is that the sunlight is very nice... golden hour and all that even if is only rising on the non-Caribbean side.

Normally I’d love to hit Basheba and the entire east coast at sun rise. The coast is really quite splendid at about that time of the morning with the sun rising out of the Atlantic, but try to get someone to pick me up so that I can get there by that hour .... never happens. “Yeah sure I can come by and pick you up at 5:30”....come 8 AM and I’m still tapping my toes and glancing at my watch. I know I could simply just rent a car and do it all myself, but driving here is like driving in Rome ...but polite.

Tomorrow is my shoot.... big smiles. I wish that I could make a living doing this sort of thing.

In the meantime, here are a couple of images that I took Tuesday morning.

These are The Good Old Days ........

2010-03-02T09:21:00.002-05:00

Been here a week but it really only seems like a few days. Much to my chagrin I haven’t been doing much shooting. Tuesday morning I’ll change that by going for a walkabout on the beach starting from Lower Carlton Beach and walking south. I’ve been very lazy and have instead been reading (should be finished all Jane Austen’s novels before I leave here. I’m been putting of Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the D’Ubervilles ... I totally dislike Angel Clare and I know I’ll just get pissed off and angry with it all), sleeping a lot ..love my mid-afternoon naps. Hmmm I wonder if there is room under my desk at work for a bedroll. I think there is but somehow I don’t think that an afternoon nap would go down well with the boss. This thought reminds me of Mrs. Ripley (God rest her soul), my kindergarden teacher, who used to force us all to have a mid-morning nap. Me I wasn’t much for mid-morning naps then. I had a but of a FU ‘tude when faced with authority figures .... now well that is another story.

Beach walking was out for most of last week since we’ve had unusually rough with the wind coming from the South-South West and moving off to the West. The surf often cut off access to some of the other beaches to the south, that is unless one wanted to swim around the sea walls and close in coral. It was great for the kids waveboarding, but not so good for walking the beaches, but Tuesday is another day replete with opportunity and the possibility of adventure.

On Sunday past I went to a cricket match with visions of Sports Illustrated images flitting in and out of my mind. When I got there I saw that the cricket pitch was out in the middle of a very large field. I couldn’t get anywhere near the game itself. The reality was more like shooting a baseball game from the nosebleed seats. I really needed a 600mm lens or one of those 3X teleconverters. Reality sucks sometimes. Sports illustrated will have to wait.

I’m not sure but I’d guess that the pitch was in an area the size of a soccer field except that this field was more oval than anything. As it was I sat in the bleachers under a overcast sky, which is good considering my fair skin. When I was young my mother would take my sister, brother and I to Grand Beach on Lake Winnipeg during the summer. We would burn something awful. The sands on Grand Beach are composed of bone white limestone. For a fair skinned red-headed kid this was incendiary place to be. Might as well poured gasoline on us and light us up with a match. When my brother and I would get home we would end up sitting in a bathtub of cool bath water laced with baking soda and a smattering of teabags. A few days later my brother and I would take turns seeing how much skin we could peel off each other. The winner came away with the longest strip. Gives a whole new meaning to having a strip torn of you :-)

But I digress. Sunday was my first cricket tournament. The guy who I went with (Jef or JEFFERSON! to his friends) was unfortunately playing the hitherto unbeaten Banks team. After a valiant attempt at unseating the unbeatable Banks (BANKS ! UNBEATABLE.. remember I coined that one here) team the match end with everyone retiring to the club house for a hearty dinner and a smattering of you guessed it or you could have guessed it, Banks Beer, what I am drinking now :-)

I have come to the opinion that Bajan men are a lot like Italian men in as much once there passions are up their voices rise accordingly. Anywhere else and you might have thought a riot was in progress. The club house was a bit of animated with the post game analysis, a cricket match playing out on the telly (FOX Sports Channel), and a rehash of Manchester United’s 2-1 win over Astin Villa earlier in the afternoon.

I am looking forward to shooting with the ever lovely Michelle on Wednesday, my favourite Bajan muse. I had been thinking of having her dressed in a full length sun dress that might double as a Victorian era dress topped off with a wide brimmed hat with the HarriSmith House as a backdrop, but alas that particular stylist dream may not happen. I spoke with Michelle late last week and she was having trouble sourcing such a dress amongst her friends. I wish I was rich or better off because I’d just say buy a couple of dresses you like and I’ll pay you for them ... and by the way keep them because I doubt if they’d look good on me. But I’m not that flush with the dosh.

The image above is one of the images I took from the bleachers last Sunday. Poor guy was struck out before getting his fifty runs goal.

Now onto Northanger Abbey ....while I listen to the surf beat against the coral rock at the end of the yard and try not to think of work.

Barbados -- Three more sleeps .....

2010-02-17T21:56:00.000-05:00

In the wee hours of Saturday morning we are off to spend two weeks being kissed by the Bajan sun. What can I say other than I am really looking forward to walking out onto the rear veranda with a Banks in my hand, a good book and nothing much on my mind ... other than taking some photos of course.

I am hoping to meet up with the lovely Michelle again. I have an idea or two that won't require her to get into the surf this time. The idea involves a ruined plantation house made from local coral, a long flowing sun dress and a broad rimmed straw hat..... and a black velvet band if we can find one. So we'll see what comes of that.

When I get back I have some more dancers lined up so more dance shoots and hopefully more images for my book. I'm playing the percentages right now because not having shot dancers like this before I am playing it somewhat by ear... trying to find my own ground as it were. Trying to get a large percentage of keepers as opposed to rejects. It is an experiment.

I'm finding that I don't have much to say at this moment except that I am really looking forward to kicking back, sleeping a lot, and just doing what comes naturally.

The image is one I took from the backyard. The catamaran cruises seem to like to drop anchor on the beach that backs onto the place we stay at. Better that then the Jolly Roger.

Dancing and contemplating the future ....

2010-02-13T20:33:00.003-05:00

This afternoon I helped another photographer by photographing her and her husband and their two children. It was my first ever studio shoot of a family. It was kind of fun and I left feeling much better than when I set out. I've had a some shite weighing on my mind lately that has only aggravated the February blahs so coming away from a shoot buoyed by it is always good.

This photographer is one who specializes in new borns and children and works primarily from her studio/store front. She has quite a nice tidy place that has all the trappings of success. Her equipment is modest in comparison to some equipment that I have been privileged to work with, but judging by the photos she has displayed on her wall it proves once again the expensive equipment isn't necessary to create effective photographs.

I've only just meet her today but from what I can see she has it all thought out. I like and admire that. Oh yeah you are right I only meet her today but was introduced via the internet by a mutual friend.

As I rode home on the subway I couldn't help but think that this is something that I could do now. I think that I have learnt enough to be able to set up a business and start making portraits. Not kids and new bornes but adults .... I eventually want to become like Tony Hauser and do portraits of Canada's celebrated musicians, actors, authors ... and perhaps the odd politician so long as they seem to have a modicum of integrity. But with politicians I'll want the money up front.

For those who want to know the lighting plan I used for this shot I'm posting it below. It was dead simple. I like dead simple ... much less to go wrong. oops looks like I forgot to include the focal length in the diagram. It is 24mm.

This is an image of Katie that I took a couple of weeks ago ....

Ideal Distances from Light Source to Subject

2010-02-06T22:35:00.006-05:00

A topic that I have found lacking in almost every discussion of lighting that I have come across is what the proper distance is for a light relative to the sitter. Articles will tell you where to position the light for a Rembrandt style, or a Butterfly style, or a Split light style and so on, but few if any tell you how close the light needs to be. So I've decided to blog a little about it here. I've also thrown in an explanation and a cheat sheet for us mathematically challenged types.

Each artificial light source has ‘ideal’ distances that allow you to maximize its design. In the case of soft boxes, one can use the Pythagorean theorem to determine the distance that will optimize the contrast of the box while maximising the quality of light. Yeah I know some of you might be saying Pythagro who .. no worries, there is no need to know who this ancient Greek guy was other than he sat around all day in the hot Greek sun and thought about maths.

But first a little theory to explain how we get from here to perfection so to speak. In your minds eye think of a soft box and then draw an imaginary diagonal line from one corner of the soft box to the other, creating two right angle triangles as seen in the diagram below. The theoretical ideal distance would be the hypotenuse of the right angle. The hypotenuse (C) is solvable via the following equation A2 + B2 = C2. Now check out my snazzy diagram below ... and think of it as the soft box. Lock it firmly in your mind's eye.

Now think about how large that soft box is and find the size on the table below. I've listed the most popular sizes of soft boxes on the market. I've also included strip light soft boxes as well, just for good measure.

You might want to take look at the ideal distance calculation then find some string and cut it to match your soft box. There is no shame in taping the string to a corner the soft box so you can extend it to where your subject will be thereby ensuring you always set up the soft box the 'ideal' distance from your subject.

As with everything there is of course a much simpler and less scientific method for determining the ‘ideal’ distance. Slowly move the light source either closer or further away from the subject. There will be a spot where the light will just 'look' right – that is your ‘ideal’ distance for the light and the subject.

This image was taken using 48" x 48" Octobox at a distance of roughly 60". The camera settings were;

Shutter speed: 1/200

Aperture: f/4.0

ISO: 100

Focal length: 80mm

p.s. I know that I need more of the camera left 'eye' showing in the portrait but this is just an example. :-)

Lighting Plans and things that go bump in the dark

2010-02-03T21:55:00.009-05:00

I suppose I am a bit of a planner. I am kind of a loose planner. I don't think many creative types can be planners to the degree that say an engineer has to be a planner. Not that I am saying that engineers are not creative; they have to be to be problem solvers and constructors of such wondrous things as graceful bridges. It is just that (and in my case I use that term with great trepidation) all a creative artist can do is to create a framework to work within. After that chance and the muses take over. Like the shoot I had planned last Sunday and the one I had planned this Sunday that isn't happening. One can plan but life intervenes. But I did and do have a plan albeit a loose plan... in the form of a lighting plan that I thought I would share with those few who happen to read my digital scratchings.

Below is the lighting plan that I had hoped to use last Sunday. I hope to use it on the 21st when I shoot again. A lighting plan is important if one wants to replicate a look across a number of shoots or to use as a learning tool. In my case I want the images that I am going to include in the book to be similar in as much as the lighting goes. To have wide swings in lighting would be, in my humble opinion, jarring for the viewer and therefore interrupt the flow from image to image. In short I don't want the viewer to be distracted from what is really the focal point, the dancer.

Here is the diagram.

As the note on the table shows the lighting ratio that I am going for is about 4:1 that will give me a very dramatic light. Which is what I want. You'll notice from the lighting diagram that my main light will be set to give me a meter reading of F8 while the fill light on the right will be set for a reading of F4 while the hair light set high above the dancer will be set for a reading of F5.6 . Those with sharper eyes will notice that the lighting ratio on the digram is incorrect. Shit happens.

Rather than having to do the math in my head I've created a cheat sheet that I am going to share. Perhaps someone can check my math on the table below.

The image below was taken using window light and a slow shutter speed which created the blur that you see in the image.

The camera settings at the time were

Exposure: 1/60

Aperture: f/5.6

Focal Length: 24 mm

ISO Speed: 640

Come, knit hands, and beat the ground In a light fantastic round. -- John Milton

2010-02-01T07:24:00.002-05:00

Yesterday afternoon all was good and right with my little corner of the World. Katie appeared all bright and full of enthusiasm at the studio, a suitcase of cloths in tow, ready to dance for my camera. I am so happy that she did. Katie was wonderful. We spent the next three hours shooting and collaborating. My education in the art of dance has begun.

For those you haven't read my previous blog entries I am working on a book of dance images accompanied by the stories of the dancers; their personal challenges as dancers, their motivations, and their hopes for their future in the art form.

The day didn't start off entirely as planned. Drew, who I rent the studio space from, had misinterpreted my email and thought that the shoot started at two o'clock rather than one o'clock. Consequently, he wasn't at the studio when I arrived at noon to set up and test the lighting plan that I had, moreover, the lights I wanted to use were at a studio a short distance away where they were being used on another shoot.

Fortunately Anne showed up. Anne and Drew are a mother-son photography duo who use the same space to shoot. Anne did read the email correctly so showed up early to let me in and help me set up with the equipment that was in place. Ahhh the challenges that photography often presents. What do they say "When presented with lemons make lemonade"? The first thing to get chucked was my lighting plan since the soft boxes I wanted to use were away on the other shoot. So we improvised.

Without getting into the gory details Anne and I struggled along until the lighting gear was retrievable from the other shoot. When it was we jumped in Anne's vehicle and recovered what gear we could and came back and set it up ..... all before Katie showed up. Drew arrived a short time later with the remainder of the gear.

All in all the shoot worked out and I took my first ever in studio dance photographs. As I mentioned earlier.... this is Katie.

Thursday evening and I haven't heard from my dancer ....

2010-01-28T21:21:00.002-05:00

I am supposed to be working with a dancer on Sunday but as of yet I haven't heard from her so I'm getting rather concerned. Note to self, ALWAYS get a phone number. Live and learn I suppose. I'll send another email and hope that I don't sound desperate or edgy.

This week I had a coffee with a couple of photographers. One Shahrokh Saeedi (check out his link on the links section) and Peter Bregg www.peterbregg.com. Peter has a career in photography that spans over 40 years. Shahrokh and I .. well considerably less time on job.

Peter was shooting for Canadian Press during the time leading up to, during, and after the Iranian Revolution and as a consequence has an enormous store of interesting stories and images. Images that Peter wants to exhibit somewhere. Preferably Washington DC or NYC. Peter had an exhibit already in Toronto where former Canadian Ambassador Ken Taylor who has recently been in the news gave the opening speech describing Peter's work.

With the approaching anniversary of the Iranian anniversary (February 10th) and with all the turmoil currently happening in Iran Peter feels that this is a great time to exhibit his work into a large population. Hence the meeting over coffee. I've been trying to find Peter connections into the expat Iranian community and to find individuals or groups who would underwrite an exhibition of Peter's work. We have made some inroads since Tuesday evening.

To see Peter's work click here Peter's Iran Photos. This represents a small sample of what Peter has to exhibit plus a brief narrative written by CBC.

I am working through some images from the shoot with Justin last weekend that have caught my eye. This evening he is going through a CD of images I gave to him. Next week I'll be busy post processing images for him.

This is one of the images from the shoot last weekend.

Back in the Saddle Again .....

2010-01-23T20:24:00.007-05:00

Today I was back in the studio with a friend of mine who is making the transition to becoming a performance musician. Special thanks to Anne De Haas (www.annedehaas.com) and her son Drew for letting me use their space and equipment.

The next few weekends are going to be busy times for me. The next two weekends will be taken up photographing dancers Katie and Tanya for my book of dance images ... yes there is finally movement... yes pun intended.

Last week I also spoke to a couple of interesting people. One is a female fitness workshop instructor as well as being a fitness competitor. We initially met to discuss my idea for a book of images of very fit women who are over the age of 40. It went well and she is interested in the book and helping to find candidates. She also suggested another project. This would be a calendar project with the proceeds coming from the sale of the calendar going to a charitable group for women. This sounded rather interesting. Having to got to know her slightly I came away with the sense that if she put her mind to it, the project would happen.

The second person was a rocker from the 80's. During the 80's he was very popular in the city and is still doing gigs and drawing crowds. This shoot may happen on the weekend of the 14th of March.. still away off. During my meeting with him we discussed what sorts of images I had in mind. I generally create what I call a shoot book that serves as my creative inspiration for a shoot. I showed him the one that I had with him in mind and he liked it and began collaborating right away. So that one should be fun as well. This last one is part of my strategy to develop a portfolio of unique portraits that I can then use as a marketing tool as I build out my portraiture business.

Wish me luck

This is Justin ....

A thousand dedicated fans .....

2009-12-28T11:19:00.007-05:00

According to an article I read by John Andrews (http://www.johnon.com/394/creative-class.html) describing how artists (photographers are artists too right...) need to become publishers. "You “artists” out there generating content will have to learn to publish if you want to participate in the Internet economy. Maybe that’s why Google spends so much trying to help the Internet advance… because it helps Google disintermediate the middlemen. ... When all the middlemen are gone, what’s left? You are. For every producer there are hundreds of consumers hungry for more. ..."

Following this reasoning without the middlemen the artist is confronted with millions of potential consumers of images, millions of people that the artist must somehow connect with and sell their art (and possibly services to ... thinking portraiture) to if they wish to make any kind of living. Kind of scary.. all those anonymous faceless individuals.

So how does one make those individuals, less anonymous, less faceless, into ardent fans of one's art and better yet willing to pay for that art (or service). Well it would seem that the art is not enough. I mean how does one distinguish oneself amongst the millions of other photographers and million of images that are created and posted each and everyday.

Cory Doctorow noted in Amazon's author-blogs and the Age of the Conversational Artist http://www.boingboing.net/2006/01/01/amazons_authorblogs_.html . "Your virtuosity is matched by someone else's, somewhere, and if you're to compete successfully with her, you need something more than charisma and virtuosity.

You need conversation. In practically every field of artistic endeavor, we see success stories grounded in artists who engage in some form of conversation with their audience. … Conversation with an audience isn't easy, and there are lots of people who produce great art and lousy conversation. …Conversation with an audience recruits fans to choose, through evangelism and advocacy, which art will succeed and which art will fail. " ..

So now this coming near will be about building a community and maintaining a dialogue that sustains the community and that creates evangelists and advocates of my work. This is more than social networking it is about creating a revenue stream that I can live on... . It is about leveraging the power of communities to drive traffic, to establish brands and to drive sales. Hmm ... seems like I have another steep learning curve ... oh well I love to learn new things.

Speaking of learning new things, I was trying out a new bit of software on a portrait that I did a couple of years back .. I think I may purchase the software.

My first magazine cover .... ever

2009-12-23T18:00:00.005-05:00

yep you are reading it here first. Ploughshares Magazine, a literary magazine is published by Emerson College in Boston has used one of my photos for the cover of their Winter 2009 publication.

It is more of a feather in my cap then a dollar in my pocket. Still bragging rights are legitimate ... aren't they? Here is an image they sent to me after all was said and done.

I'll take this as a hopeful sign that more of my work will be published in the New Year.... and that I'll start making a return on all that equipment that I've bought over the last four years.

Since this may be my last post until the New Year... I'd like to take this opportunity to wish everyone who either reads my wanderings or has happened upon them a very Merry Christmas surrounded by the ones who love you and whom you love in kind. That and all the best for a peaceful and fulfilling New Year.

I've been doing some reading while I've been off...

2009-12-19T17:33:00.011-05:00

I recently came across a Vancouver based photographer by the name of David Duchemin (www.pixelatedimage.com). David describes himself as a world & humanitarian photographer. His website describes him as an idealist who wants to use his talents to the benefit of the World whilst being a resource to others in the hope that they would do the same. I describe him as a very level headed, business oriented, straight speaking (at least in his writings) photographer. Not to forget talented and focused as well.

I've read through four of David's books and half way through his paper back titled "Vision Mongers - Making a Life and a Living in Photography. It is all pithy stuff and also a little disconcerting. Disconcerting from the standpoint that everything he says makes sense and leaves me somewhat uncomfortable because... well ... I intuitively know I should be following his advice. I mean he speaks to issues that I have thought about and considered but haven't acted upon... yet. It is a huge jump from being a semi-professional to full bore make a living, pay the mortgage and the rest of the bills photographer.

I suppose that most entrepreneurs face that... and get past it. Others just stay in the margins. I once heard them referred to as the "Wannabes" and the "Neverwasers". I understand those types driven away from the edge by the fear of crossing the chasm and those who look over the edge only to retreat while the feeling of vertigo makes them weak in the knees. Sometimes those fears are rooted in the practical aspects of responsibility and obligation. Sometimes the decision to take the leap is made for them. Remember that person who sees you looking into the swimming pool before you have really learnt to be comfortable in the water. The person who pushes you into water over your head. Time to start swimming or at least time to start dog paddling like mad.

David Duchemin doesn't pull his punches when he writes about how hard it is to become a professional photographer and how it is so easy to become discouraged when your best images never seem to be close to the images of those photographers whom you admire.

Believe me when I say I have been there and back thousands of time. The only real consolation that I have is knowing that for every one image that takes my breath away there are literally thousands that never see the light of day because they are quite simply crap. In a way I've proven that to myself... I literally have thousands of images, actually, tens of thousands of images on my external hard drives that should be blown away. But I can't do that... well at least not yet.

"If you want to do this as a vocation, it's exponentially harder (ed.than a hobbyist) because the challenges I just listed are still yours in spades -- but with the addition of financial concerns and the need to care for current clients, develop new markets ..."

David also speaks to finding one's focus... focus on that one thing about which you can be passionate and how "it will place you head and shoulders above the mediocrity that is so prevalent". In the movie "City Slickers", the character played by Jack Palance asks the character played by Billy Crystal. "Do you know the secret of life"... Billy says no. Jack goes on to say "One thing. Just one thing. You stick to that and everything else don't mean shit." Billy Crystal replies "That is great but what is that one thing" to which Jack Palance replies, " That is what you have to figure out".

So I am left with figuring out what that "one thing" will be ..... and there in lies the rub.

This is an image of Simran that I took in May of 2008.

murrrph. errg, gaa....

2009-12-10T17:31:00.007-05:00

Or so I sound with my jaw wired shut. I haven't been up to much lately and am of work on STD to recover from some jaw surgery that I had done on the 26th of last month. It is the culmination (well almost) of about two years of braces and frustration. But I am glad to say the light is shining brighter towards the end of the proverbial tunnel. Earlier this week I was able to slip the surly bonds of dental bondage and enjoy the brief reprieve. I'll still require the nightly application of the elastics which hold my jaw tight in alignment. Ick yeah I'm sure you wanted all the gory details.

Now for some interesting news. I've gone Mac. Yep bought myself a shiny new MacBook Pro and a 24inch Cinema Display. I've been growing increasingly frustrated with my PC that has become increasingly slow until the point it takes minutes to open a photograph. So I bite the bullet so to speak and put down my hard earned cash for a piece of mind. Now I have no excuse but to increase my workflow... and work in order to pay this sucker of.

Of course it comes with an entirely new suite of software since what I had doesn't install on to the MAC OS. Oh well in for a penny in for a pound.

Thank God I'm a Country Boy ......

2009-11-16T18:59:00.008-05:00

or so John Denver's song goes. Back in the day when I thought Wildlife and Fisheries Biology and chasing wee timerest beasties through backwoods of Canada was going to be the one true calling I sort of fell into country music. Partly I think is was a rebellion against my classical training as a Violaist -- yes I was destined for greatest with three pounds of wood, cat gut and horsehair, and partly because I fell in love with the images of Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt starring alluring out at me from those LP jackets. It was only later that I realised that I actually liked their singing. I also had Willie Nelson albums and of course Gordon Lightfoot albums too, but they never came close to the air time that the women of country music had.

I still like some country, mostly what is now called urban country, but then I also like a wide array of other music. I have to confess that I don't really get hip hop as music, but then perhaps I just need to be educated.

So where is this preamble going? It is going to here. On Sunday I had a photo shoot with an up and coming country recording artist by the name of Dave MacLean. Like most recording artists that I know he supplements his passion with a full time career that is not in the music industry. Hmmm there seems to be a thread here ... people paying for their passion by doing day jobs that they given their druthers night chuck into the the nearest tip if they could successfully live out their passion.

The shoot was a little impromptu since Dave dropped me a note on Wednesday and said can we do a shoot on Saturday which later changed to Sunday. Normally, more time to get the creative juices flowing would be nice ... digging around the Internet to see what others have done, searching my locations file for interesting places to shoot that I can get to without the need of a car (very limiting)... fortunately I already had one or two places in mind, plus my ever present pile of tearsheets. Tearsheets are wonderful things to use as idea springboards. This shot below is an example of an idea that came from a tearsheet with an image that Michael Grecco did of Dwight Yoakum. I never worry about standing on the shoulders of giants .... the air and the view are often better up there :-)

This image is slightly played with using a Lightroom Preset.....

Done until next season

2009-10-24T23:25:00.010-04:00

Friday night was the last evening for the LG Fashion Week here in Toronto. I must say that I had a good time shooting the runway even though for the most part it was like riding the subway during rush hour. I must say a special thanks to George Pimentel who gave me his front row seat on the risers. I have been asked to shoot the collection by a Romanian born designer Lucian Mathis as part of a story for a Romanian magazine. As a result I came away with about

700 decent images of the collection. Fortunately I won't have to do much editing, that will be someone else's job.

Later in the evening I photographed the PORTS 1961 after party at The Spoke... kind of cool.

Now I have the same dilemma that I have each time I shoot the Fashion Week runway. What do do with the almost eight thousand images ...hmmm Oh well I'll figure it out. In the mean time here area a few images of a couple Romona Kevesa bridal gowns presented as part of her collection on Thursday evening.

A shot from last evening .....

2009-10-21T20:37:00.006-04:00

So last night was my first night at the show ... a lot of the same photogs were there from previous years. The Fashion Week seems to attract the same people year after year. There were some new faces as well. I think I may have mentioned how the photographers have a pecking order.... the print guys get the best spots on the risers, that often come with chairs...next come the videographers who are shooting for various TV Fashion programmes, and then come everyone else, those who shot of webzines and then those who just buy a media pass and shoot because it is what they like to do. So yeah you don't need to be a press person to get a media pass, just $75.

Think of a school of fish or a herd of caribou ... without the predators circling.... the young, weak, and infirm are relegated to the peripheries of the school or herd while the alpha types command the centre. Now place 50 plus people all with cameras, monopods, or tripods and various sizes of video cameras on to an area about 15 by 15 feet square and you can visualise the cheek by jowl compactness of the group. Those who don't have seats use anything the can to gain some elevation over the person in front of them. That may take the form of little step stools to upended cases with the only thing for balance being the monopod supporting the 200+mm lens and camera.

Despite all that everyone it is remarkably collegial and accommodating ... proving that adversity brings people together, albeit in the case perhaps a little too close.

This is a photo from last evening ..... I noticed it while I was downloading the other 2600 images I took in roughly two or three hours. Back to the herd Thursday and Friday.

Looks like I'll be shooting LG Fashion Week Beauty by L'Oréal Paris this week

2009-10-18T19:31:00.006-04:00

I've resisted shooting the last two shows because while it is fun and great to meet all the other photogs I really didn't have an outlet for the images. This year it may be different. A fellow photographer and friend who is also an art director has spoken to one of her connections in Europe (an Editor-In-Chief of a magazine that often publishes fashion photography) so it looks like I may have an outlet after all.

There has been a fair amount of discussion in some blogs as to whether or not one can consider this serious photography. The contention being that there is little if any creativity associated with this sort of 'photography'. In a way I kind of sort of agree. It is rather like shooting fish in a barrel ... yeah but some fish :-). So it looks like a week of late nights ....but I'm not complaining ....

This is an image I took during the L'Oréal Paris Fashion Week in 2007.

Back from the Big Island ......

2009-10-14T19:27:00.006-04:00

Things have been a bit slow recently .... I must be going through a phase because all I want to do is come home and veg.... perhaps it is the pre-winter blahs. Oh well I trying to shake off that coil and get my groove back. In the continuing saga to acquire indemnity insurance I have found out that it is going to cost about as much as I make in a year from photography. So I have a choice/decision to make. Do I purchase the business insurance and pay the gag me till I choke premium or not and continue on my way. Part of me says yes because it will add to the impetus I need to get serious (more serious) about actually finding paying gigs and to stop giving it away for free. I need the insurance if I really want to photograph the musicians in the subway. Tapping my toes ..hmmm.

The book is moving along. The women are keen and eager so that is a good thing. A friend of mine has suggested I use her studio so that takes care of some of the $500/day studio rental costs and the $150/weekend lighting gear costs... since she has all the lighting gear that I need.

One of the dancers kindly asked a friend of hers who owns a dance studio if I could shoot there. The problem with that is that I'd still need to rent lighting gear and transport it each time to the dance studio. From the dancers perspective it would be good because the studio's flooring is specifically designed for dancers. But I think my fiscal conservative side will go with the photography studio. I'm meeting with the dancers next week for a get to know me and ask your questions session. After that it is a matter of organising calendars ... it is moving. I'm kind of excited about this project. It is entirely new for me.

In the mean time this is a photo I took while on Manitoulin Island this past Thanksgiving (Canada) weekend. It was blustery and cool all weekend but at times the light was incredible.....

A couple of things ........

2009-09-27T20:56:00.007-04:00

Dear Gentle Readers you may recall in a previous blog that I mentioned doing a project involving photographing musicians in the TTC Subway Stations. Well that project is inching along. The main stumbling block was my lack of liability insurance. The TTC wanted me to demonstrate that I had at least two million dollars worth of insurance so that they could be covered in case someone trips over me while I was doing my thing. I've been asking around and I was kind of dismayed by how much every insurance company wants by way of a fee. YIKES !! On Thursday I made another round of phone calls and maybe will find some joy later this coming week. Three individual companies will send me their quotes. If I don't need to offer my left foot by way of remittance I may just swallow the cost and move on. I'm not cheap I just don't have a lot of extra dosh floating around.

On another front I will be meeting soon with five dancers as part of another photography project that I will be undertaking .... did I mention that I have Adult ADD ... not really but sometimes I'm surprised if I can finish a sentence before I'm distracted by some bright and shiny object. From this project I intend to come away with the beginning of a book I can take to a publisher or an agent and acquire the funding to complete it and then get it into the market. As a side benefit I want to create and exhibition with a selection of the images that make their way into the book.

It is another Sunday evening ... tomorrow is Monday ... Sometimes you look into the abyss and the abyss looks back into you ......................nothing more needs to be said ....

Commerical shooting .....

2009-09-09T21:41:00.007-04:00

Today I had the great opportunity to assist Peter Bregg on a commercial shoot for a soon to be announced mobile phone company. Photoshoots especially of this ilk are a bit like wars of old in the sense that there is a lot of waiting around and then a frenzy of activity. Today's shoot was done with 'ordinary' people selected off the street the week before and asked to appear at the studio at a certain time with the promise of being paid.

By and large I think that they got the sort of average Joe and Josephine that the art director wanted. The images were dead simple to take. Everyone was photographed using the same light set-up so every image had a consistent look and feel.

Technically I didn't learn much but it was interesting to watch how Peter interacted with the people being photographed as well as the art director. That is really what I was there for. The fact that I got paid to assist was a bonus.

What it did teach me or rather reinforced for me is that at least for this sort of commercial shoot I could do it without breaking a sweat ... well perhaps a little perspiration on the upper lip but that would be covered by the moustache. Always appear confident even when you are shaking like a leaf on the inside. Never let the client see you sweat .....

This is a photo that I took while in Scotland, specifically Edinburgh, last month. It is Dugald Stewart's Monument atop of Calton Hill. Below is the Edinburgh skyline. This is the best of about six images that I made. It was pouring rain .. well it was actually raining sideways, but I don't know what you call it when it does that.

It's 11:30 do you know where your children are ......

2009-09-07T23:24:00.007-04:00

I don't, largely because I don't have any. But it remains that it is 11:30 on the last day of a long weekend and tomorrow it is another day working for the man. It is the same on the last evening of almost every weekend ... bleh. So I stay awake late into the night flipping through photographs that I have taken or flipping through websites of images that I wish I had taken all the time avoiding going to bed because it only brings the morning that much sooner. Childish I know, but then I've never claimed to be overly mature. I've so got to win the lottery.

Until then I suppose I'll just suck it up and work for the man since he funds the passion. Speaking of passion, here are a couple of images from my latest trip to Scotland. The first is of the standing stones in Orkney while the second is of a fence line in Shetland that caught my interest while everyone else was ducking for cover from the rain. Personally I like the rain. When it rains I find that the subtler colours come out to play.

Its been rather slow .....

2009-09-05T16:52:00.008-04:00

Photographically speaking things have been rather slow. Last Saturday I meet with a young dancer/model and we chatted about her participating in the work I'm doing for the book on women who are involved in Fitness Competitions. The concept is that it will be more of a fine art book... nothing chessey. She thinks that she may have a lead on a studio space, a dance studio space, that I may be able to use to photograph the women. It is close to where I live which makes it even more to my liking. She was to get back to me on whether or not the studio owner would rent me the space for the shoots. Note to self ... send note. Now that I am back from vacation I have to kick that one into a higher gear.

I'm finding getting liability insurance for the TTC Musician shoot is becoming somewhat problematic. I'm finding that it isn't cheap ... on Tuesday I think I call one of those brokers rather than specific insurers. Let them do the walking for me so to speak.

On Tuesday a friend of mine phoned to say she was doing a shoot with Lamborghini's and Ferrari's and three models from the FORD modeling agencies. Would I be interested in being a shooter. Duh Yeah! So when is the shoot... Thursday morning. Um Thursday... shesh she said Thursday morning. But I have a day job that I need to go to... you know that one that pays for the passion... Guess you can't make it. Sorry no, but thanks for thinking of me I really do appreciate you thinking of me. ... Yesterday she sent me some samples of the images she came away with. ARRRGHHH I should have so totally called in sick.

One day ..... Oh well in a couple of weeks I have a commercial shoot where I'm assisting another photographer who has been at it for forty some years. I had asked him if he'd be a mentor of mine. He declined saying that there wasn't anything he could teach me that I didn't already know. Instead I'm helping him out with some shoots. I still figure I can learn from him regardless.

This is a photo I took of Ruth about a year ago. She is such a treat to work with.

Back from the land up under ......

2009-08-24T22:04:00.009-04:00

Friday night I arrived back in Toronto to a sunny warm August evening. It was in stark contrast to the coolish and often wet and overcast whether I left behind in Scotland. My wife and I had concluded a 15 day tour of the Highlands, the Isles of Mull and Skye, Iona and the Orkney's and Shetland Islands. We also hit John O Grouts, Ullapool and Thurso. I never tire of the wilder or more remote places in Scotland.

If I could I'd buy/lease myself a Land Rover Defender, I'd put a platform on top and shoot landscapes from it for a year.... it would be a wonderful year.... not sure if the wife would be all that keen on being dragged around the back roads of the Highlands ... but you never know.

I'm still feeling a little jet lagged so for now I'll just post this image I took of Skaill House at Skara Brae in the Orkney's.

You can see more images here .....

A departure from the norm ........

2009-08-02T22:25:00.005-04:00

Usually I don't photograph couples, especially this sort of photography, but I did it as a favour for a buddy of mine who couldn't do it because of prior commitments. I've avoided doing weddings as well, but I'm thinking that perhaps during the fall and winter I should explore this side of commercial photography. I've seen a lot of work by other photographers who have ventured into this field. Some actually make serious money. With the job market being what it is perhaps I need to reconsider the available options.

so I'm thinking .....

You take the Low Road and I'll take the High Road

2009-07-30T21:32:00.005-04:00

and I'll be in Scotland on the 8th of August and back in the Big Smoke on the 21st. This will be third trip to the Highlands of Scotland and the first time with something that is more than a point and shoot camera. This image below was taken on the first trip to Scotland when I went with my wife and her parents. The camera if I remember was on of those point and shot film cameras that fit into your pocket. Looking back on it I'm surprised at how well the image came out.

This year we are doing something different than last time. This trip will include a side trip to the Shetland Islands leaving from Stromness in the Orkney Islands. The Orkney's are enchanting islands where if I won the lottery I'd want to stay for a season or two and just photograph the main island and the smaller islands around it. The light during the summer is incredible.

We've never been to the Shetland Islands, but from what I understand the islands offer everything from rocky crags and heather hills to fertile farmland, from sand dunes and pebble beaches to stupendous cliffs. I just hope that I have time to break away from the group and grab the opportunity to photograph some of the island's beauty, because who knows when I'll be back that way again.....

For anyone who is wondering this was taken in St. Andrews. I skipped out on the golf course tour for a stroll around the university grounds (do it if you can) and a wander through the town/city itself. If I recall one had to pay to get into these ruins..... the Irish in me said noway and I leaned over the fence to snap this image.

Projectus Interruptus ......

2009-06-30T14:18:00.004-04:00

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

2009-06-28T16:26:00.008-04:00

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 ....