Soccer - The Another Obsession

It's that time of year again folks.  Time for the MLS season to get underway.  Preseason is shaping up and my team TorontoFC is looking better and better each day.  I admit, it's an obsession - one I share with my wife. From May to October, weekends are either shooting or attending TFC games.  I know what you are thinking - but it keeps me out of trouble.

Last year TorontoFC had a number of community days where the team would go and practice for a couple of hours on a community park - and then some of the players would go out to the locak SportChek and sign autographs.  Sadly, with our busy shooting schedule, my wife and I were only able to take in one practice last year.  I got a few really good shots though.



Torsten Frings - Captain fo the TFC - lines up a shot



Keeper Stephen Frei mid clearance



Eric Avila vs Richard Eckersley



Joao Plata receiving a pass







Milos Kocic makes himself big while keeper coach and Stephen Frei look on

We took or neice and nephews to the practice - as they are avid soccer fans as well. The players were all great, they stopped and talked to everyone on the way out - even though they weren't technically supposed to. My wife got a picture with Torsten Frings and later got it autographed as well.

It hangs in our house where one of our wedding pictures used to be ... 

We hope to make more practices this year, and hopefully get some more great shots!



Always room for improvement

I recently had the opportunity to attend a seminar given by a couple of really talented photographers.  It's important to keep learning, to keep experiencing other styles and talent - it's a great way to improve your own style and at the same time inspire you.  Some people have a lot to offer, and these two photographers were no exception.

One of the photographers was Elizabeth Kaye, who has a wedding photography company called Weddings By Elizabeth Kaye, and her web page is called Elizabeth In Love. Follow this link to her web page http://www.elizabethinlove.com/ 

Elizabeth (or Beth as she told us to call her) had a lot of very good information on the whole process, not just the photography itself.  She spoke about her scouting practice for locations as well as day of preparation.  She also spoke about her gear and lighting techniques.  She shared some of her work with us as well - and she is a true artist when it comes to photography.  Beth has a technique where she shoots through a bush or something similar, giving the viewer the impression that they are seeing something that was not meant to be seen by anyone else - a moment shared by the bridal couple. 

Although her style differs from mine, it is always good to experience someone else's idea.  You can have 5 photographers lined up taking the same picture of the same couple, and get 5 completely different images - which is what I love most about the art.  It's not the equipment, but the person using the equipment.

The second speaker that day was Tyler James.  Tyler is also a wedding photographer.  Although Tyler and Beth have worked together on occasion, they have somewhat different styles - but a similar approach to the trade.  Tyler's web site can be found here http://www.tylerjamesphoto.com/  

Tyler also brought a lot to the discussion.  He also spoke about his gear and approach to the wedding day itself.  He had a lot of good information on picking the right customer and had a lot of technical information to pass on - such as tools and web sites to help manage and grow the business.

Tyler showed his work as well.  He has a similar style to Beth - shallow depth of field to keep the viewer on the main subject - the newly married couple.  Tyler's work is outstanding, something that comes with time and work at the craft. 

I would like to personally thank both Beth and Tyler for taking the time to talk to us the other night.  It truly is a testament to the profession when someone will help you with your business - someone who is technically a competitor.  It takes a love of photography for someone to get up in front of a group of people and talk about a subject for 3 hours - and still have more to say when their time is up.  Thank you Beth and Tyler.

Inspiration

I get inspired from a number of places. I subscribe to many magazines - wedding magazines, photography magazines and other types. I do read the stories, but mostly I look at the pictures and try to determine how they took the shot. What camera did they use? What lens? What focal length? Recently, I saw a couple of images of pearls. Pearls are hard to shoot because they are almost translucent - so they seldom show up sharp. Shooting pearls is always a challenge - and usually required when doing detail shots for weddings. So it's really a never ending learning experience. And you know that I am all about the details ... So I recently stumbled across these two shots:

This one is pretty cool, it shows a pair of shoes, but really the pearls are the subject. Background is simple and doesn't draw the eye away from the pearls or the shoe.

I love the shallow depth of field in this one - not all the pearls are in focus but they don't have to be. You know what they are. It's great that it shows a lot of colour of the pearls themselves. You can have a lot of fun with this type of shot. So for the first shot, I started with my wife's favourite pair of shoes, although if you ask her they are all her favourite - she wouldn't want any of the other shoes to get jealous ... :-)



I started by trying to recreate the shot exactly and went on from there. Here's where I THOUGHT I ended up:

It's a pretty good shot. I always get my wife to look at my shots before I finalize them - she's my sounding board and has some really different ideas from me creatively. She saw one of my earlier attempts where the pearls slid down the shoe and suggested I use that one, but change it a bit. So, after a little more work I came up with this one.

I like this one better. My wife was right - just don't tell her I said that ...

So on to the shallow depth of field one.

This is where I ended up with that one. Pretty much the same kind of shot, but more pearls than spaces and mine is brighter. Not that it's better, just brighter. I do like it better, but art is very subjective.


Hope everyone enjoyed my "pearls of wisdon"! Ha! See what I did there? Pearls? Hello? Is this thing on? :-)

Brodie - the best dog in the whole world

Happy Friday everyone! I would like to take this opportunity to introduce to you my dog. He's a 12 year old puppy, a golden retriever that my wife and I got when we moved into our first house. I grew up with pets, either a cat or a dog or both, but my wife was never really around animals that much. She did adopt a cat when she was 18, but it was a short lived affair as the cat ran away one day. When we were married, I brought my cat to the household - that cat is the topic for another entry. But my wife wanted a dog. She suggested something small, like a pug or something like that. Then she found a litter of golden retrievers. The rest is history...

Brodie is an awesome dog. He loves people, and is especially great with small kids and older people. He knows to be gentle with pregnant women as well. He's just a great dog to be around. About 8 years ago we found out that he was getting cataracts, and would be blind in a few years. Even though his eyesight has almost totally failed him now, he still makes his way around our house and has been known to chase the odd squirrel - sometimes there's even a squirrel to actually chase! Here are some very early pictures of Brodie from our old house ...

Brodie cuddling with my wife after a bath.

Muddy paws after a walk

With his treat ball

Confused about his dishes and what to do with them (Actually I am pretty sure he was hamming it up here)

Tuckered out after his first day home

Brodie the theif. His favourite pasttime, stealing towels...

Although he's getting on in age, and he is slowing down and mellowing out, he's still full of energy when the time comes to go for a walk. He especially likes the snow and water, you can't keep him out of the water. Here's to you Brodie, the best dog in the whole world...

Backdrop for engagement photo

I am taking some engagement pictures for a couple, and one of their requests was a funky backdrop. They are getting married on a beach this summer, so I think I found the perfect thing. We are doing the engagement pics in three weeks, they like the idea of two separate climates for their pictures. We are doing the shoot in the Niagara region, and I think I have an option for a cool background. Fits in with the wedding theme.

This is outside of the Copacabana restaraunt in Niagara Falls - incidentally it is one of my favourite places - paradise if you will ... :-) It's a beach scene, that is bursting through the mundane grey wall - might have to crop out that green leaf to the right somehow.

I spoke to one of the managers, and except for a safety waiver, there is nothing else standing in our way. Although we technically could just run up, take a couple of shots and then run away again, it's always good to check with the owner or manager of the establishment before doing this kind of thing.

Always be prepared isn't just for Boy Scouts anymore ... :-)

Came across these recently

My sister and brother in law celebrated their 25th anniversary in 2011. We threw them a party, so during the planning process we took a look at a lot of their wedding pictures. Here's an example of what not to do. My apologies to the photographer, but shots like this help us all in the long run ...

No, she's not wearing a white witch's hat. She's wearing a hat, which was all the rage in 1986. But there is a part in the drapes right above her head. Unfortunate. In the digital age, we are able to look on the back of our cameras, see that there is a peak above her head, delete the photo and then shoot again, slightly off centre.

In this case it was film, and the faux pas was not evident until it was developed. But the photographer was also good enough to get a different angle. He likely noticed the part in the drapes and reframed the shot to make sure he didn't get it again.

Three shots. Can you guess which one didn't make it into the album?

Not related to weddings ...

Hi, it's been a while. Sorry, I'll try to be on here more this year ... :-)

I spent a lot of time in Virginia this year due to commitments with another job. On the road to the worksite, there is this covered bridge. I have shot this bridge a number of times, some of which are shown below. I am still not 100 percent satisfied with the shots, but it is getting closer to what I see in my head. I won't stop shooting this bridge, it's now one of my favourite subjects.

Inside the bridge.

Under the bridge

An early attempt at the bridge.

Like I said, still not perfect... I won't stop until I get it the way I want it.