New Studio Space

I have recently come across a wonderful studio space for shooting in.  It is called the Anne MacDonald hall and it is part of the Presentation House theatre in North Vancouver.  Originally a church, it was moved to its current location, yes, the entire building was moved, and set up as a rehearsal space.  The original Church of the building is in tact - large stain glass window, hardwood floors, wood wainscoting.  Very charming inside and out.

Primarily I am a location photographer. I have very few times when I actually "need" a studio.  For the times that I do, this is the place.  I can use it for a few hours and have none of the worries of ownership.  Rental is very reasonable.  For more info go to www.phtheatre.org .

Here is a sample of images that I did the on the weekend.


Inside building using natural light coming in through the large window





Outside using natural light





Outside using natural light





Inside building using natural light



Visiting Mr. Green

The Presentation House in North Vancouver has long been known for giving excellent theatrical entertainment at an outstanding value. There current production, Visiting Mr. Green, is no exception.  I have uploaded some images of the play so you can see can a taste for it but I am not going to be a spoiler.  To find out what the show is about you will have go see the show.  You only have until February 27th so you need to do it soon.  Check out the dinner and play special The Presentation House has arranged with Chez Michel.  Tried it myself on the weekend and it was great.

Like I said, you won't be disappointed.

January.  A time for planning.  A time to look forward and decide where you want to be this time next year.  This year, I want to do more teaching. 

Last year I started teaching at Focal Point.  I designed and taught a course on commercial portraiture.  I also developed as one day workshop on using hand held strobes. I am looking forward to continuing both of these courses.

New programs that I will be developing this year will be on lighting and posing, and another on using window light to create outstanding portraits.  This blog will continue to have posts on composition and lighting, as well as information on how you can attend my seminars.

Last year I also had growth my photography business.  In a flat economy, this is a huge win. I am continuing with my current business plan over the next year.

Looking forward to a big year.

christmas cards

It's always fun to go searching through your old images.  I was looking for an image to put on a Christmas card last night and I came across this one.  I took it 2 years ago on my way to work.  It was one of the colder December that vancouver has ad in a while and lost lagoon was frozen over.  A beautiful mist was rising from the ice that created this surreal affect.

Enjoy.

Canon XSi  10-22mm lens at 22mm,  f8 @ ISO 400

First Snow Fall

After completing a series of Corporate head shots, I left the building and was presented with this beautiful scene.  It was the first snowfall here in Vancouver and I could not resist taking this image.

Camera 7D, Lens 70 - 200mm F2.8 at 95mm  iso 800

where did the time go

I can't believe how long it has been since my last post.  After my last post I had to head out of town to photograph a wedding  I was gone for a week and when I got back the plane did not even get a chance to touch down before I was running around.  Being busy is great, unfortunately my blog suffered. 

Next week I start teaching my courses at Focal Point.  I will be doing one course on commercial portraiture and another on wedding photography.  There is a lot of prep involved but it's going to be a lot of fun.  Hope some of you can attend.

As for my series on composition.  Sorry for the delay on the next posting but it will be coming soon.

What about them Greeks

Last week we talked about the rule of thirds and how it can provide placement of the subject within the frame.  The Golden Rectangle is an even earlier compositional rule that came from the Ancient Greeks. It is  based on a geometrical progression called the Fibonacci series. 

The Fibonacci series starts with 0 and 1.  The series progresses by adding the last two numbers to create the next number.  By extrapolating out, series becomes 0,1,1,2,3,5,8,13, etc. What is interesting about the Fibonacci series is that if you take the ratio of any two sequential numbers in this series (ignoring the first ratio of 1/0 which can't exist), they will always approach 1.618. This ratio is called Phi - not to be confused by the better know Pi which is something else all together.  The Greeks used these ratios to build a rectangle the became know as the Golden rectangle.

To build a golden rectangle, you start with a square which is the first ratio in the Fibonacci series, 1/1.  Now put an identical square next to it and you have a 2/1 ratio (one side of the box is twice as long as the other). You now have a basic Golden rectangle.

To build the box bigger, add a third box along the long side.  This will give you a rectangle with a ratio of 2/3, which exactly follows the Fibonacci series. Continuing to add more boxes in the same fashion, you will build a bigger rectangle, but it will always have the same relationship to Phi, regardless of how big you make it.
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The Greeks found references to this pattern in nature and so adopted it to their architecture.  Soon, artists recognized the beauty of this Golden Rectangle and began making works of art composed using this concept.  By making the frame of the art piece in a 1.618 ratio, artists could define focal points by placing the subject in one of the boxes within the frame. The most impact created in the smallest box - the least impact being in the largest box.  Many great works of art exhibit this theory in their compositional elements and I would recommend spending some time investigating. 

From the Golden Rectangle came the Golden Mean.  The Golden Mean is a way of finding the impact spot in a Phi based rectangle without having to draw out the boxes.  To determine the Golden Mean, and hence the highest impact point, draw a straight line from one corner to its opposite corner. The draw another line at right angles from the line you just drew up to an adjacent corner.  Where the two lines meet is the same place as the smallest box will be.  This is your Golden Mean.