Tough Guy High Tech Equipment Shoot

Once again I had the most fun opportunity to photograph some high tech gear on a "tough guy" model/stuntman for Eomax, manufacturer of a world leading modular imaging system for military and homeland security applications. Armourer Charles Taylor, weapons specialist to the film industry supplied the uniforms and "extras." I can't wait to do the in situ shots!

2013 Mini-Calendar

For the fourth year in a row I was very fortunate to be able to collaborate with the team at Finesilver Design and Communications to produce a self-promotional mini-calendar. Based around the artistic theme of simplicity and the human body, the photography features images of a woman's body which I shot in studio using a hand held light source. One of my favourite lighting techniques, it is obviously more appropriate for some types of photography than others, but when it does work, it allows me to paint what I want to capture, which hopefully results in impressions that are just a little different from what could be achieved with traditional fixed lights.

Woodgreen Annual Report

For their 75th Anniversary Woodgreen Community Services in Toronto wanted to say thank-you to it's 600+ staff members by featuring photos of them in the anniversary edition annual report. Their question to me, can you do a group photograph of 600+ people? The solution after some discussion around logistics, staff availability, etc.: individual portraits. Wendy Gray of Gravity Inc., the design firm responsible for Woodgreen's Annual Report(s) had small portable backdrops made in the official Woodgreen corporate colours and we proceeded to plan and execute multiple mini-shoots at the various Woodgreen locations around Toronto until we had photographed every staff member who actually wanted to be photographed and included in the annual. As we could not be sure as we went along exactly how many people would show up on each photo day we kept a running count of the number of people photographed against each colour, so we could change backgrounds on the fly to ensure approximately even numbers of portraits with each colour.

Applied Arts Magazine ~ Art Works

In October 2012 I was invited by artist and publisher Georges Haroutiun, founder of Applied Arts Magazine, "Canada's premier magazine of visual communications," to join a select group of artists participating in a new venture for his long established periodical...an online marketplace called Art Works, specifically the exclusive gallery for Limited Edition prints ~ http://www.applied-artworks.com/LimitedEdition/.  It's an exciting new venture for the magazine, and for the artists showcased. Thank-you Georges!

Still afraid of horses...

Morning Round Up at Willow Lane Ranch

There are rational fears, and irrational fears. After seeing Jaws in 1975 starring Bruce the mechanical shark, I was overcome with the fear of (swimming in) oceans, not really rational, but in order to be able to see and photograph underwater I got over it, to the extent of becoming a certified Divemaster, and even night diving at Cocos Island, also known as the "Island of the Sharks". 

This has little to do with the subject of this blog entry other than the part about irrational fear, and the timing of the onset of that fear. Because sometime around the time I saw Jaws I also made my almost first and certainly last (until now) attempt at riding a horse. It took off, with me on it, out of control. I was terrified and that fear never went away. 

Cut to 2012.  My friend Diane Hash, recently fully certified as an Equine Massage Therapist invites me to join her husband country music writer Joe Hash on a guest ranch in the foothills of Alberta to do some photography for her website. My reaction: what a great opportunity to get over irrational animal based fear #2 (not really the complete mental narrative, but the only important part)!

Because of the excessive rainfall this year, the grass is greener than Joe and Di remember seeing it in all the years they've stayed here, and the horses have been pigging out. And I am thrilled because the landscape is so vibrant! There are wildflowers, green, green grass and blue, blue sky with ever changing puffy white clouds all around us.

Keith and LeAnne Lane have been running this guest ranch for long enough that they are starting to cut way back on the number of weeks per year they are taking guests. I am so lucky to have got in before it's too late...talk about a memorable week! For me, sort of like Outward Bound, but on a horse. 

In a nutshell, Keith did his level best to teach me to ride, LeAnne made the best home made food I have possibly ever had (I will never forget the cheese popovers, or the chocolate pudding cake), and I did my best to figure out ways to take creative, interesting and pleasing pictures while trying to hold the reins as instructed, loosely and lightly crossed, in one hand and my camera in the other. This resulted in my falling off, extremely ungracefully, on two different occasions (from two different horses) but I got the shots I wanted! 

While, ultimately, I ended up pretty much every bit as afraid of horses as I was before, maybe even more afraid (I hadn't realized how easy it is to fall off!), on some level I actually deeply enjoyed pretending to be a cowgirl. I even managed to do my part (a bit) and contribute to the the cattle moving...I successfully convinced my horse "Donkey" to go where I needed him to go to stop a calf from making a break for it during a round up. (I admit I put my camera away to do that.)

End of the day at Beaver Creek

So yes, oddly enough, I find some strangely affected part of my brain desperately looking forward to riding again. I won't be doing that, though. Unless someone needs me to get a picture of, or from, a horse. 

Boiling Hot at Bazay Blacksmithing

Detail from portrait of Steve Bazay

In June 2012, the day before the longest day of the year, I met Steve Bazay of Bazay Blacksmithing at his shop on Sunrise Avenue in Toronto to make this portrait. While we waited, seemingly forever, for the sun to set (I needed darkness to shoot), Steve fired up his coal forge. It didn't take long for the forge to reach its operating temperature of approximately 3000 degrees F. By some slightly unfortunate coincidence that day turned out to be the hottest day of the month, and one of the hottest of an unusually hot summer. Steve was supposedly used to the heat, but still moved out of position between every frame (adding to my challenge given that the final shot was made of of multiple combined portions of different frames, so he wasn't supposed to move). And I, the one who almost never goes out without a sweater, was as warm as I can remember being on a set, or anywhere else.

Horses and Massage Therapy

 

I recently had the fascinating pleasure of photographing my friend Registered Equine  Massage Therapist Diane Hash as she worked on a horse at a guest ranch in Alberta (more on the trip in my next post). Based in Toronto, Diane has been amassing professional experience in locations from Ontario to Kentucky since she became fully certified last year.

We were so busy riding and eating and hot-tubbing, and riding some more, that we almost ran out of time for this mini-shoot in the barn. Thankfully, the weather cooperated beautifully, after a couple of very windy days, and Diane was able to do a short therapy session on this seemingly very pleased horse, while I took advantage of the indirect sun softly streaming in and reflecting off the golden barn wood. We didn't want to startle the horse with flash, so Diane had to move her patient around repeatedly, at my request, to best take advantage of the natural light. By the end of the shoot we had accidentally achieved the glowy effect of a smoke machine (which I always love), with the sunlight dancing through the particles kicked up from the soft barn floor cover. Thankfully, Diane was pretty much done by the time the 'glow' became too much for us, and my not very well protected gear.

Diane is in the process of redesigning her website, so, soon some of our images from this shoot and others will appear on it. In the meantime, if you or someone you know may be interested in what Diane can bring to your/their horses' health care you can read more about her and what she does at www.feelingyouroats.com.