Stepping Outside - Photo Shoot with Flo

I did a photo shoot recently that stretched the comfort zone again for me and allowed me to challenge myself. The shoot was done outdoors and it was a chance to try some key shifting or at least to balance the ambient light with the single flash that I was using. One catch though, the infrared wireless trigger that I was used to using in the studio was not really working as well in wide open spaces and it was really critical that there was line of sight to the flash from the camera. Luckily I had an off camera flash cord so instead I shot with the camera connected to the flash that was mounted on a tripod with a softbox. I would later on place my wireless trigger on the end of the off shoe cord and have it aimed at the flash and this worked really well except that I always needed an extra pair of hands. For this session I got to work with Flo again whom I have shot before and this time she brought along makeup artist and stylist Sharley. We had about four different outfit changes and started late in the day when the sun was already going down but this session below is the one we finished with after the sun had completely gone down. I'll have some of the other shots as well in future posts. The location for this series was completely improvised. I think the backdrop and the colors from her dress work really well along with the hair and makeup. My favorite set from the entire shoot.

Night Shots on a cold Vancouver Evening

Lately the weather in Vancouver can be summed up in two words, wet and cold. Tonight was no exception but I wanted to get out and snap a few photos. I shot all of these handheld because I didn't have a tripod with me so I cranked up the ISO to 1600 and shot as wide open as I could for most shots. Here are a few shots and I would have stayed out a bit longer but my fingers were frozen.

This shot below is of the Lion outside of the Vancouver Art Gallery.

































This shot is of the Countdown Clock for the 2010 Winter Olympics Games to be held in Whistler, BC.

There is a group of graffiti art that is on the North off ramp of the Granville Street Bridge that goes onto Seymour Street that has been there for some time now. I am surprised that the city has not done anything about it but personally I think it is a tasteful display of an urban artform and perhaps since there are no depictions of violence and obscene language in them they are ignoring it. I did use flash on the individual shots of each piece of artwork to bring out the colors.