Editorial Interiors

Here is an interior feature shot for Paige over at avenue. This was shot this past spring, and I just finally got a copy of it. So I decided to post it. I have a lot of tear sheets I should be posting, and I hope to do more of it in the upcoming week or so.



This particular shoot was very challenging because we had alot of vibrant colors to deal with as well as the home was very eclectic.




I also shot a 5 interiors for the Alberta Ballet Home and Garden tour. They wanted to go in a new direction so they ended up going with me after sticking with a local pro for the past 5 years. I decided to shoot it with a more balance between ambient and strobe.


I hope to post some of these tear sheets in the next little bit. What was cool with this, Is that I needed to shoot an interior cover option, so it was a pretty unique project for me.

Rome

If you give a photographer a choice - "Would you like to travel somewhere new? Or return to some place you have already been" most will choose to visit some place new.

Not me. Im a creature of habit and because while shooting travel I am never really happy with the results of the first shoot. It does not matter how well my images are received by the client, I always feel like I am leaving something on the table.

So naturally one of my favorite things to do while shooting a travel assignment is to shoot at the same place twice.

Here is a recent photograph I shot of the Coliseum in Rome. like many other posts in my blog I always challenge myself how do you photograph something so iconic in a different way?

Many photographers choose to rely on extreme light (sunsets or sunrises) to add uniqueness to a travel image, but I choose a different approach when the opportunity presents itself.

Rather than making iconic landmarks the focal point of an images, I try to have the landmark as a mere backdrop to the daily grind of life.

In this series I had already shot the typical postcard coliseum photos that my editor would have been happy with... but this shoot was smelling alot like my shoot in 2007... so I wanted something more

In 2007 I shot a series in Rome that was very well received, but I felt it lacked the vibrant energy that makes up Roma.

I sat down on a stone ledge to contemplate what I was going to do. When a few school kids kicked a football past me. Then out of nowhere an intense game of grade 4 football ensued.

The camera came out, and here is the photograph.

This is why I like to return to the same places over and over again when shooting Travel assignments. The landmarks never change, but the river of life continually flows around them, constantly giving photographers new opportunities to create exciting photographs in a place they have already been.

In this image is one of the most honest travel photographs I have ever taken.

Enjoy!

C

gold medal really heavy and 15 mins with Michelle B

Hey gang,

Been a while since I last sent out and email. The thought I would share these images with everyone.

You will see two series. One image of 2010 Women's Hockey Olympic Gold Medalist Meaghan Mikkelson and another of a great model Michelle Brailey.
I'll start off with Meaghan Mikkelson. I photographed this image of Meaghan for a TV commercial spot for Integra Tire produced by Original Productions. She's a super cool girl who was great in front of camera. We shot these stills after a long day of commercials. I shot 21 frames that was it. I didn't want extend the already long day, and I knew after this last frame I had what I wanted, no point in overkill.
Sometimes you need 200 frames, sometimes just 21.

In the final image, she is laughing at something her husband said just off camera. I have to say the gold medal is really cool. Its super heavy too.


The next series is of Michelle Brailey. Michelle us a fantastic up and coming model whom I photographed for a great CWB campaign from RED the agency. The images you see here are obviously not for the CWB campaign, (I believe this summer you will see the CWB campaign in all the banks)





This series I photographed great big hat. The position and body posture was influenced by a splash page of Mary Jane from a famous Spider Man comic penciled by Todd McFarlane.



I think Michelle pulled this off to perfection. The shoot took about 15 minutes due to the fact Michelle knew exactly what I wanted and was able to relax in such a way that the shooting was essentially seamless.

Keep checking back, I finally have alot of my work which was shot the past few months being released, so I can officially post the images online.

Enjoy!

C

Seamless Shooting

A few weeks ago Kevan Morin from moreinmind (the guy who designed this website and Trevor Schneider my brother who is a fine art action figure photographer) dragged their butts out of bed on a Saturday and helped me photograph an random idea.

Typical me. I get an idea. Sketch it out and eventually have to shoot it.



The concept is of two guys making life more difficult than it needs to be. About a year ago I sketched out the image. I usually post my sketches either at the studio or have them hanging around my house to see if the ideas stand the test of time. This one did.

It's not really a photograph though, but a digital composition of several different images merged into one final image.
Although I am happy with the result I cannot call this a photograph, it's a digital rendering.

Originally I wanted to rent a section of a fence and shoot it on location, but I could not find a field with the winding path way, so I had to create it with two photographs.




Once that happened I figured what the hell, I might as well go all the way.

So I found a house a few blocks from my place that had this chain link fence. Next I grabbed Kev and Trev and brought them out to the location to shoot.

We (they) set up two chrome-a-key blue seamless paper backdrops. A word of caution to photographers using seamless outdoors is a bad idea, the slightest hint of wind sent them toppling over.

Eventually we decided to anchor the seamless backdrops to the ground with alot of bricks, and cut "wind slits" in the seamless so the wind could pass though.




Once the now crappy not-so-seamless was set up, I had the guys act out a series of movements over the fence. I made sure the time of day and angle of the sun was consistent with background images so the rendering would seem somewhat realistic.
Then I merged the images together in Photoshop.
Enjoy.
C

Potash Mine in Saskatoon

Just got back from shooting in an underground Potash mine in Saskatchewan. I thought I would do a little post on my Prep before I delve too deep into the experience of working 1.5kms underground in a salty potash mine with sensitive camera gear.
For an industrial shoot my prep routine is somewhat different than a cozy commercial gig. I tend to travel light, and with all my own gear because I hate to wear things they give you on a jobsite.
So here is my industrial prep. I lay everything out and repack it so I know im not forgetting anything. Here is what you will see in these pics.



1. Warm clothing (It ended up being +30 in the mine, so the fleece jacket, pants and toque were not needed)


2. Steel toe boots. You can shoot anything industrial unless you have these.



3. Safety glasses. I use a set of Oakley's that the US snipers in Iraq use. I met a guy in the US army who sent me a pair. I use them because one they don't distort your vision at all, and two because they don't look like silly "blue blocker" clear safety glasses you get for free when you arrive on any jobsite.


4. My hard hat. Yep, and Im really proud of it. Its old school NACG colors, and its covered in stickers from companies who have hired me in the past. I get instant "street cred" with workers on a site now. The stickers say I have "been around"...



5. Cameras x2... Canon 1dsMK3's.. You should always have a back up, but especially when shooting industrial projects. The money that's involved with you holding up a production to take photos is mindboggling at the best of times. Having to reschedule because of faulty gear would be unthinkable.

6. Lighting of some sort. I brought with me the ultra compact Elinchrom Quadra heads. They are super light and insanely powerful for their size. I have never shot underground before so I needed something with a punch of power just in case but wanted to keep my weight real light. The Quadra did it.


With everything packed the most important thing. Reading material. For this trip I bought "The Authority" graphic novel. When I got to the airport I realized my graphic novel sucked so bad that I had to by another book.
So it came down to the "80/20Rule" or "Shit My Dad Says"... hmmmm oh the dilemma.



What book did I end up buying? Well here a little quote from the book I choose - "A parent's only as good as their dumbest kid. If one wins a Nobel Prize but the other gets robbed by a hooker, you failed."