Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Purple on Purple

My partner Jen brought home the most gorgeous purple tulips the other day — instant inspiration! I don't believe I had seen that colour of tulip before, they were just stunningly beautiful.

They had to be photographed!

I really wanted to emphasize the incredible, deep, rich colour so instinctively I stuck them in front of a purple background to really push the colour. However, I did not want to wash out the beauty of the tulips with a big blob of purple so I modified my main light to about a quarter of its size and used a snooted flash to pop a selected circle of background. The final touch was a separation light, directly offsetting the main light, to bring dimension and pop them off the backdrop. Three Canon 580EX II flashes in total.

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Keep shooting.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

A Beautiful Smile

I make a lot of pictures of people. And as I'm making those pictures I am engaging them with mostly witty banter. I say "mostly" because it's not always witty but I do try, especially if a natural smile is what I am trying to coax forward.

Anyhow, that's not the point. The point is that during a photo session I am constantly engaging my subject in conversation. At some point during that conversation I usually ask them if they like having their picture taken. Yeah, it's a loaded question and unsurprisingly most answer that they do not like it. Even though I usually know the answer before I ask the question, i ask it regardless because it is a good icebreaker and it can help to address the elephant in the room, even if it's a small elephant. It also helps them to relax when I share that I don't like to have my picture taken either.

It is my job as the photographer to extract the best look out of my subject, even the most camera shy. Sometimes, getting that look can be the most difficult and energy sapping part of my job. Every once and a while though, I come across someone who requires little to no coaxing to produce the most naturally beautiful smile.

Today I had that "someone" in front of my camera. With the minimal amount of effort on my part I received an amazing smile that reflected the personality and radiance beautifully, perfectly and ever so easily. I love it when that happens.

Keep shooting.

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Bikes, Bikes, Bikes...

Man do I love bikes! When it comes to bikes, the older the better and the more unique the better. Calgary seems to have no shortage of cool, vintage commuter bikes.

Today, I spotted this beauty while waiting to pick up my partner after work. I pulled out the best camera I had with me at the time - my iPhone - and I snapped a bunch of pics of this gorgeous, old bicycle.

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Sweet! I just can't get enough of these magnificent machines.

Keep shooting.