WHO IS THAT SLEEPING IN MY BED?

Last week had to do a shoot for a good buddy of mine, Tony Martins. He runs Guerilla Magazine in Ottawa. I've done some of my best work in Guerilla and been able to get my name out in the city cause of it. Shooting for Tony is usually good. This time I had to photograph Marcus McCann who just finished writing a poetry book - Soft Where. He's also the editor of Capital Xtra

We had bounced a bunch of ideas back and forth about having a bunch of naked dudes in the background hiding their particulars with the book, or having a rugby team with manly man bodies - Marcus book has a lot to do with gay sex. Things fell through and I had another concept, but Marcus looked at me and said that it didn't really say much...he was right. Chatted for a bit and then we came up with the idea of taking my bed outside for a shoot, the book has a lot to do with public sex. After lugging the props outside, I was able to swing a couple photos before the sun died.

First shot with busy backyard...don't step in the dog poop!

Second option.

My favourite of the four, like the cross lighting.

Five minute bonus feature idea.

TREASURES

Sometimes photography is like a treasure hunt. If spent days, weeks looking for the right spot for a shot. Mike and I were looking for the right place for a new photo for our series and after months of talking about different water sites, we got to this one. We'd seen about a dozen areas, none really tickled our funny till this one. Mike's little secret.

GEE THANKS LADY LUCK!

I've been waiting a while to post this picture. I don't like saying this or that is my best photo, but sometimes you feel a little something extra. This photo of Bo is amongst my favourites. It was part of a crime fictions series in the latest issue of Ottawa Magazine. Part of the business is to (or try to) develop good sustainable relationships with clients. In the past year or more, I've been given more flexibility into doing something a little different with the local magazine and this time it definitely paid off.

About the luck part. Started doing test shots, looking at images on the laptop, but there was still something missing. We had seven lights to highlight individual elements in the room rather than over power everything. I really wanted to shoot this dark because of the story matter - kid grabbing his dad's gun cause he thought his father (police officer) was in trouble.

Here's the test shot.


Then we got a misfire and the fill light didn't go off - just the main with a grid. And BAM!


In case your curious, here's how the lights were set-up. Green dots show where SB800's were directed. Red dots for main profoto heads (soft box on ceiling in back, grid in front). I don't have that many lights so I have to composite about four shots, using a tripod makes it quite easy.

CREATIVE JEANS.

My dad has always had a knack for creating. He's often been around artist or people that are good ideas maker. Pa (what I call him) is one of those people. He's good a coming up with an idea that no one has thought of and bringing a new spin to old ideas. I'd like to think I got some of that too. Although there was some convincing to be done 3 years ago, I'm glad to have pops support through career changes, good times and bad.

Here one of my favourite photos. Mainly because it was my first successful print in the darkroom, thanks to Mike Ross. Nothing like a day in the darkroom listening to the Junior Boys.

Bonne fête des pères !

MORE FROM THE LADIES.

I've shown photos of Alyxia and Jennilee before for the digi cam and 4x5 Polaroids. Here are the black and whites straight off the scanner.

Z's by the C.

This weekend I worked with Eric and Mia from Calgary. After a decision to prohibit public sleeping, they started the project Z's by the C. SAW gallery wanted me to document the performance, and I also decided to do a couple of portraits of some participants.

COACH.

This is Tony Martins. He is a great guy. Did some photos for his website.

MAKE IT FAKE.

A couple of weeks I joined La Petite Mort Gallery in Ottawa. I happened to do a couple of commissioned photos for the gallery and thought it would be a good time to join. I'll be in the process of developing more compelling photos as to what I would like to have up in the gallery through out the summer.

First photo commissioned for Guen Douglas, upcoming show in July.
Instructions: Make it dark.


Photo for Guy Bérubé, gallery owner of La Petite Mort.
Instructions: FAKE! FAKE! FAKE! evenutally got LOVE IT!


Then got: make it blue!