Grad Session - Two Lights

Well I had written something very profound but then my browser crashed and it is gone....

That's why you should save your work, DOH! Anyways, Mitch and I stopped at a few locations around Crossfield and set up a two light studio portrait rig to get the shot of him in his Soccer gear. Lovin this lighting setup.

The Projects

As I posted previously I am now working with a major production company in L.A. to distribute my adventure lifestyle photography. What this means is that I will be working on a lot of my own projects and shooting almost full-time while I am in the mountains. I meet a lot of interesting people and am always on the look out for individuals who live their lives to the fullest and play hard when they get out there. If you are one of these people or know someone who is into some fringe sport or likes to just live passionately in the Rockies, go ahead and send me a message.

See you out there!

OCF Workshops A Total Success

Earlier this year I was talking to a few other photographers about putting on an "off Camera Flash" workshop. I love this kind of work and to actually show others how to get great results from off-axis flash just seemed like a fun time.

The OCF workshop takes place for one day on a weekend in an exotic or cool location, we bring in models and and six photographers from various markets and spend the day learning the "baseline" for their exposures. During the day the photographers are let loose to use this new tool to be creative as well as discussing the relationships with clients, business of photography, posing, and a series of considerations when photographing people outdoors with studio-like lighting.

We started the year with both busy-amateurs and established professionals, everyone was getting amazing results early into the workshop. This weekend we finished the season by shooting the Calgary rock band "Telly Rock" out near Drumheller, Alberta and had our guest instructor Michael Warf join us in Okotoks at the Big Rock Erratics.

When I started this I was excited to see everyone getting such professional results but now I am just blown away by how amazing our students images were when they overcame the fear of off-camera lighting. Everyone who joined us did a fantastic job, including our models, and instructors. Thanks again to everyone who came out and made this project a success. We have huge plans for next years workshops, it's going to be great! Below are group photos from our workshops.

Just Great Work

I seem to be doing a lot of great photography jobs lately and that means working with awesome clients. It has taken some time but more and more people from around this area are hearing about how stress-free and fun our portrait sessions can be.

I will be back shooting some interiors this fall and spending more time with families while the colors are amazing and it is still warm enough to be outside without a jacket. This family suggested we try the session at their property and I am glad they did, what an amazing place and they were easy and fun to work with.

Season Is Almost Over

I photographed one of my last weddings of the season and a fantastic couple I have come to know over the last year. This couple did a great job looking warm while it was actually only a few degrees in the positive. Funny thing is, every time we have been together for a session, it has been extremely cold. Great images though, congratulations guys!

I would also like to thank Darlene at Priddis Greens - Golf & Country Club for being extremely professional and accommodating to myself and our wedding party. This is an amazing location even when the weather is not the best.

Happy And Stress Free

That's right! I have done a bunch of these sessions this week and parents are actually telling me their kids are happy afterwards. No parents frustrated, no kids whining, just a pile of fun images.

If you don't already know, sessions are free and only last 10 minutes tops. You can see the proofs in minutes and all print orders are reduced to $20.00 per sheet. It's a great alternative to the basic school photos.

Is There Really A Market For My Work

As you can tell I have been extremely busy and so much that the blog has not been updated for a week. Lots of cool stuff has been happening lately. First one being that I have written my first real piece for a magazine. It is a small (473 words)one but it is to accompany my Kiteskiing images in the winter edition of Airdrie-LIFE magazine.

The second cool update is that I will be licencing my extreme sports photography with a sports subsidiary of GETTY IMAGES which is the largest image source in the world. Very cool to get a call from Los Angeles from someone who is interested in the type of work that I love to do.

Now it is time to put together all of the projects I have been dreaming of for the last few years. Maybe there is a market for the type of work I am passionate about.

Below is a recent shot from one of my student/grad sessions.

Let 'em Loose

I just had to post these! In my line of work I am generally required to have an assignment or session planned out and pre-visualized so that I can get the shot that an editor, art director, or client is looking for. Once in a while I will do my own work which still requires that a fair amount of planning and pre-production. So when I get a couple of wild kids in the studio for an all out - "do whatever you want" type of session, it is a breath of fresh-air.

It is so much fun letting these guys do what they want, it keeps them focused and releases the tension and boredom that is usually associated with family photos. An added bonus is that with fast studio lighting, I can shoot between the fun ones and still get classic relaxed keepers that parents are going to want to look at forever.

Kids are so much better when you can let them be themselves.

Wrong Criteria

So a few posts back I mentioned in a news article that I had been asked to send in a few samples of my sports work to be possibly selected for the Mayors "where Sports Meets Art" Breakfast on the 30th of September. Well last week I recieved an email stating that my images where of "extreme sports" and did not fit the criteria for their exhibition (not generic enough). I told them that was fine but I would still leave them in for the judges to see. And what do you know? Last night I got another email informing me that one had actually been selected for the Mayor's display and if I could bring in a framed version for the public showing. The image selected is below.