Elizabeth & Tyler

Recently we were treated to an informative session with some very talented photographer's Elizabeth and Tyler.  Elizabeth infuses her passion for fashion into her photography and it really enhances all her images.  She is a great wedding photographer and has been published in famous wedding photography magazines, you should check her out at her website:  http://www.elizabethinlove.com/

What I really admired about Elizabeth was her passion for what she does.  I have to admit, as a guy, some things are just a little more challenging for me to 'fall in love' with - like, women's shoes or jewellery.  Adorned and flaunted they are beautiful to photograph, but send me out to scout for them - I think I'd rather watch grass grow.  Elizabeth loves fashion, she is very trendy and hip as well.  All of these personality traits come shining through in each and every image she captures.  Her style is very dreamy, light, romantic.  She spoke much about her dream to be a fashion photographer which eventually led her to wedding photography.  It was very interesting listening to her and although our styles are different, I really appreciated hearing from her and learning from her what seemed to be so foreign and alien to me.

Tyler is also a very gifted wedding photograper, his images are extraordinary.  He comes from a technical background but takes great wedding pictures.  Please check out his website at:  http://tylerjamesphoto.com/

Tyler shared some really good insight with us on the business side of wedding photography.  His comments were very helpful and interesting.  I really appreciated the way he talked about building a relationship with your clients, and being personable and friendly.  It was also inspiring to hear him talk about how photographer's should not cave in to lowballers, and to stick with their price if that's how much they feel their worth.  I also feel like he spoke to me directly when he cautioned about spending too much money on gear - I am a big time gear head and have spent waaaaay too much on gear !

Basic 4 Point Lighting

Michael is a financial advisor with a very bright future ahead of him and he wanted some portraits to use for business purposes.  Portraiture is one of my favourite areas of photography (actually, probably my absolute favourite), so naturally I was more than happy to help him.  The first thing I did was ask him what it was he wanted.  Michael told me he wanted something very traditional.  So I decided to start with one of the most basic portraitures you can do, the 4 point lighting system.  Here is the setup:  (1)  My main light was placed at a 45 degree angle to the camera pointing down.  (2)  My fill light was placed behind the camera at 2 stops below the main.  (3)  My hair light was placed at the same side as my main light behind Michael pointing down and metered to match the fill light.  (4)  My background light was placed behind Michael at about the same f-stop as the fill and hair light.  I think I got some nice directional light on Michael with a classic loop lighting pattern on his face.  Easy and quick to do with minimal equipment.

Wide Eyed

For the last few years I have been playing around with mid-range zoom lenses.  I first had a crop-sensor Nikon 17-55 f/2.8 lens that I changed to a 24-70 f/2.8 lens when I upgraded to a full-frame camera.  Now these are great lenses and produce outstanding images, and all was good and well ... until one day ... I decided to pull out my 50mm f/1.4 lens when I needed a faster lens and some additional bokeh.  Now my 'nifty fifty' usually stayed quietly on the sidelines during a shoot while the mid-range zooms carried on doing their thing, but then I noticed something ... something about these prime images were different and I can't really put my finger on it.  Like my beloved 85mm f/1.4 and my 105mm f/2.8 macro lens, I just love the look that only a prime can give.  It is something intangible that you just have to see to know what I'm talking about.  So I started using my 50 more and more, to the point now where the majority of the images I shoot are with my 50mm.  Now this brings me to the main topic of this post, I decided that I loved the primes so much that I sold my 24-70 and decided I could replace the range with an additional wide angle prime to compliment my 50, 85, and 105 prime lenses.  Enter one of Nikon's newest lenses, the 24mm f/1.4.  There are a lot of reviews online about this lens and how unbelievably amazing it is - but I am not normally a landscape shooter or a wide angle lens user, so I can not say much about it except that wide open you can get some very interesting images.  That's it, that's all I can say for now.  I know, it's not much, but I have high hopes for this lens and hopefully it will open up my eyes to the beauty of wide angle shooting.

Pearls of Wisdom

What could go better than a set of pearls in the shape of a heart draped over a computer science text book ?  What do the two have in common you ask ?  Well both are just simply beautiful and can be considered art forms - yes, computer science can be considered an artform or, at a minimum, a creative activity.  You see, like the pearls, computer science possesses truth and both have a cold, austere beauty to them.  Why is this pearl beautiful, or why is computer science beautiful ?  If you still can't see why, no one can tell you why, for if they aren't beautiful, nothing is ... ok, so much for the philosophy lesson, bottom line is I like the way this looks :) - Original image from Pinterest below:

Liz and Alex's Elegant Wedding Colours

Super sweet and newly engaged couple Liz and Alex are all excited about their upcoming wedding.  They are planning on having a winter wedding in the very charming brick-lined streets and vibrantly restored Distillery District.  They wanted to come up with a colour scheme that suited their earthy, wholesome, friendly, and well, just simply elegant theme for their wedding.  I came across these drapes and the earthy tones and simplicity of the design struck me as something that Liz and Alex would appreciate.  I think it would make a great backdrop for some engagement shots or their formal wedding pictures.  The colours will match perfectly with their vision of a charming and elegant wedding.

Mom's 60th Birthday

Recently I was given the task of photographing my mom's 60th birthday as well as being a guest.  Initially my mom didn't want me to shoot her party, she just wanted me to relax and enjoy the evening.  I told her that for me, taking pictures in a stress free environment where I can just shoot whatever I want and there are no real expectations, would be a fantastic opportunity.  My family also has very few pictures from events and gatherings over the years.  So this seemed like a great opportunity to start scrap booking.  In the end I really had a great time, being with my family, some of whom I haven't seen in years, and taking pictures for everyone to enjoy for years to come.