Sisters

A week ago I had the pleasure of putting on a flash workshop.  During the workshop we talked about, and practiced, many techniques.  During this session of two sisters, I was able to use many of the techniques we discussed so I thought I would post some of the images to show how effective these techniques can be.

This first image was taken about 2 hours before sunset.  The light was harsh so we went under a bridge and found some open shade.  The light was coming in fairly evenly on both sides sides so we placed a translucent scrim on camera right to reduce the intensity of light on the shadow side.  The light direction was still high so a hand held strobe was place in a 32" umbrella and brought in from camera left to give the final lighting.

This next image was taken in a very narrow alley.  The light was totally top down creating a very unflattering light.  By using a strobe, again in a 32" umbrella, on camera right, we were able to come up with this interesting shot.

By the time we did this final image, the sun had almost gone down but we still had that warm glow of the penumbra or twilight.  this light was augmented with a strobe to camera right to create this image.

Flash workshop - big success

Last Sunday's flash workshop was great.  We kept  the class size down so that everyone was able to get lots of hands on time to practice the new techniques.

The next workshop will be on creating table top product photography for small retailers and E-tailers.  If you want to make your product shots stand out, this workshop is not to be missed.

Workshop Update

Update to the on camera flash seminar.

The date has been moved to July 18 from 2pm to 6 pm.  It will be held at the Anne McDonald Studio at 333 Chesterfield St, North Vancouver, BC.  The class size will be limited to give participants a lot of hands on time to master the techniques.  Cost is $69 per person.

Hand Held Strobe Seminar

I will be holding a 4 hour seminar on making the most out of your hand held strobe.  Learn techniques that will maximize on camera strobes and how to use strobes off camera to create studio lighting effects.

The seminar will be held on June 27th, 2010.  Cost is $69.  The location is to be decided but will be in North Vancouver.

Class size will be limited so sign up soon.

Get permision

Living in a rain forest makes for some interesting challenges. Last Sunday I was scheduled to do an engagement session.  The weather forcast for that day was not promising so I had to come up with an alternate plan, just in case. Well, the rain held off all day Sunday but an hour before we were going to head out, the skies opened up and it poured.  Fortunately, I had taken the time to come up with a plan.

Indoor shots it had to be but studio shots were out of the question.  Fortunately, I have built up a good relationship with the Pan Pacific Hotel (http://www.panpacific.com/ ) so I gave them a call and got permision to use the hotel for my engagement session.

Many photographers assume that they can go into a venue such as a hotel or conference centre and shoot away.  This is just not so.  These places are private property and the main concern of the people who run them is the comfort and safety of their guests.  They have every right to ask you to leave.  Always get permision to use a venue.  Sometimes they will say no.  There may just be no room to have you there.  Other times they will say yes and give you access through security. Often times you will be directed to places that are just incredible, opening up the opportunity for incredible images. And remember, if you can, give something back - they are doing you a huge favour when they let you in.

Here are a couple of shots that we got while inside the hotel.

When we arrived at the hotel we found a maginicent reception area to use.  It was equiped with a fireplace, couches, super high ceilings, a grand piano, and amazing light supplied by huge windows.

The image on the left was taken with the available light only. A vignette was put on it in Lightroom and it was ready to go. The image on the right was taken with available light balanced with a Canon 580exII in a 32" umbrella off to camera left.  The rest of the images from this session were equally as amazing as these.

This couple was so impressed with the Pan Pacific Hotel that they are determined to use them for their wedding.  How did this happen? Because I asked.

Continuing education

What a month. With over 20 years in the photography business, I still find that there is so much to learn.  Especially now with digital innovations changing the industry on what sometimes feels like a daily basis.

This last month I took my annual trip to the WPPI conference in Las Vegas. Check out their site at  http://www.wppionline.com/ . A pretty intimate conference, just me and 14,000 of my closests friends.  When I first started attending these events, there were around 800 attendees.  It is great to see so many photographers from around the world that recognize the importance of continuing education to improve their photographic and business skills. The advantage to having so many attendees is that the organizers are able to support having many excellent instructors talking on a wide range of topics and a photographic specific trade show that is huge. I don't think there is any product in the market that is not represented at the trade show.

Since I've been back, I have taken much of what I learned at WPPI and added to my own course, Portraiture Framework. The course is an intermediate level program that is design to help students learn to create portraits of a consistent level and quality.  It then covers the development of a personal style based on techniques learned in the course.  The course is ten weeks longs and starts on April 13, 2010. It will be held at Focal Point in Vancouver. Log on to http://www.focalpoint.bc.ca/ to get more details and to register.  The course size is limited so don't wait too long.

Warm Winter

What an unsual winter we have had his year.  Last year this time we had tons of snow, this year, spring like temperatures in the middle of February.  Not great for the Olympics but I'm sure enjoying the sunshine.

Last week we made a trip to the cabin to enjoy some snow games and skating.  Guess what, no snow there either. But the lake was still frozen and we had sunshine most of the time. Not bad.  The ice on the lake was still 2 feet thick so walking on it was no problem. One night it rained and in the morning we woke up to some very interesting photographic opportunities. The rain left puddles of water on the lake creating a random patchwork of highly reflective areas surrounded by white.

The first image is my favourite. I wanted to create the effect that the cyclist looking like another puddle. To acheive the effect I backlite him against the sun to create a sillouette.

 The image is called Ice Cycle.

This next image is also  a favourite from the weekend.

Enjoy