Photo Shoot with Brittney Grabill

Earlier this month I had to opportunity to meet and work with singer, songwriter, guitarist and actress Brittney Grabill. We did a photo shoot for some promo material for her upcoming website launch which should be coming out in March. She also has a single and remix out on iTunes called "I Like You" that is great and you should check it out. On top of that she also has a number of videos on YouTube with one in particular that was a tribute to Whitney Houston right after she passed away. Watch out for this rising star!

Brittney had mentioned to me this billboard that she found and was willing to climb up on it for photos. She managed it in heels! With a little bit of Photoshop I turned it into a promo image for her remix launch on Valentine's Day.

Model Shoot - Maryna

Wow its 2012 and this is my first photo shoot of the year with Maryna. This was by far one of the most efficient and no fuss shoots I have done. From setup to tear down was less than two hours and we accomplished all the looks that Maryna was after in that time. Maryna arrived with her makeup already done and sported a fresh natural look that fit well with her perfect complexion and blond hair. My favourites out of the session were some natural light head shots by the window with just a silver reflector using an 85mm f/1.8

Hats don't always work well with everyone but she was able to rock it with style.

We had some fun and of course got in one or two obligatory "jump' shots.

Final look of the day was nice soft light from camera left and right against a black background.

Help Portrait Vancouver 2011- A Tradition!

Last Saturday on December 3rd was the third annual Help Portrait Vancouver event at the Union Gospel Mission. This year was bigger and better than ever with 150 volunteers in total we were able to deliver portraits to over 700 people. There was lots of local news media coverage of the event and a dedicated group of volunteers Tweeted and live blogged the event all day. One of the local stations even called our event a tradition for the downtown Eastside. By the excitement and smiles on all the faces of the guests that came through you knew that they look forward to this almost as much as all the volunteers do. They say that many hands makes the lifting easy. Well this year many hands lifted the hearts and spirits of all those that experienced Help Portrait Vancouver! I'm already looking forward to next year.

This was the morning crew of photographers that kicked things off for the day.

Here we are at the end of the day for the group shot with photographers, editors and make up artists. There were many more that day but they couldn't stay for the photo unfortunately.

Help Portrait Vancouver 2011

There is one particular event of the year that I as a photographer look forward to the most and that is Help Portrait Vancouver. I volunteered for this event three years ago and have been part of it since then and each year it just keeps getting better and better. This year will be no exception and on Saturday, December 3rd we'll be putting on the event at the Union Gospel Mission in Vancouver's downtown Eastside. Even before this large scale event we put on a smaller event at the BC Children's Hospital on November 2nd. A small group of photographers and makeup artists set up a small studio in the terminally ill ward and invited patients and their families in for portraits sessions. This year we were also very privileged and were welcomed into some of the patients rooms for those that could not make it to the studio. Here are two videos from that day plus a group photo of the team that made it possible.

Help Portrait itself is a world wide event that happens in almost every major city around the world so if you would like to find out more about it or volunteer then check out the site or get online and search for one in your city. There is no greater feeling than to be able to give back doing something that you love.

Pictures for Strathcona Homes website

A little while back I got a chance to provide some pictures for a local realty website called Strathcona Homes which they ended up using a few for their website's masthead. I also did the head shot for one of the realtors. Strathcona is really a very neat historical part of Vancouver and the houses there have amazing character and charm that you just don't find in todays houses anymore. Here are a few examples of the beautiful modern restorations that have been made to some of these houses in that area.

Raw Talent 12x12 2011 Exhibit

After a month and half long wait the day finally came to see all of the 2011 12x12 Vancouver Photo Marathon contestants photos all on exhibit for the first time last night at PhotoHaus Gallery. I was very relieved to see that all my photos actually turned out. It was also very interesting to see all the different interpretations by all the other photographers on the 12 themes that we were given. There were a lot of common elements used but each had its own nuances. Everyone who went to the show were encouraged to be their own judges and to pick their favourite among the 60 exhibits and submit their ballets. I wonder if anyone actually spotted the number 29 in the tile mosaic that I submitted for the first theme that was your entry number plus a different angle. If you missed the show you can still see all the contestants photos now in an online gallery. The winners of each theme received canvas prints and the overall best picture, best theme and best series winners got their prints mounted on aluminum, how cool is that. I'm already thinking about what to do next year. Here's some shots from the exhibit.

Morten making his way through the crowd to start the announcements for the evening.

12x12 Vancouver Photo Marathon 2011

The rules are simple. 12 Hours, 12 Themes and 12 Exposures. ON FILM! Last year I found out about the Vancouver Photo Marathon but unfortunately I was too late at the time to register. This year was different and when the time for online registration was opened I was busy mashing the refresh button on the website and lo and behold I got in. I was going to be one of sixty lucky participants this year and I was thrilled. I dusted off my Canon Rebel film camera and tested it out with a roll of film which ironically I still have yet to develop so I went on faith that all would be good. I knew that on the day of the event that one roll with 12 exposures would be handed out to each participant so you'd have one shot per theme and you need to shoot it in the order that the themes are presented. Must not mess up! As the day unfolded and the themes were announced at the top of every hour I quickly realized that there was not only a huge element of creativity required but also a matter of logistics. How far can you go away from the meeting spot and get back to it and find your subject to photograph? Sometimes I would find something within a few blocks and within the first half hour. Then there were a few challenging themes that really had me creatively struggling. I didn't want to fall behind so I kept pace with one theme per hour and must admit that I compromised on a few shots with ideas that didn't exactly feel great. In the end I was pleased to have finished and each person got a big cheer as they handed in their roll of film. It was a great experience that I will definitely do again next year.

On September 25th all of the photos from all 60 participants will be on display at PhotoHaus Gallery at the Vancouver Photo Workshops: 14 West 7th Ave, Vancouver. It will also be the first time that the participants get to see them so it's going to be exciting.

Here are the 12 Themes and brief description of what I did for them and the P or L in brackets denotes whether I shot it landscape or portrait.

1. My entry number plus different angle - blue tile mosaic "29" (L)

2. The usual suspects - a group of four old guys (L)

3. Human Nature - lemonade stand sour faces (L)

4. Reliable - three firemen in front of fire truck (P)

5. My greatest wish - big yacht (L)

6. Odour - two fish heads (P)

7. Echo - Christine shouting under bridge (P)

8. Trapped - mannequin behind glass (P)

9. Take it to the grave - picture of guy in antique store (P)

10. Second chance - group of VPD prepping (L)

11. Not for sale - old mansion (L)

12. Expectation - girl looking into illuminated box labelled Top Secret