80 years and still going strong

I had the pleasure of photographing William and Edith today, along with the entire extended family, 38 in all. I went on location, as I usually do, packing my lightweight lighting kit. This kit consists of 4 small strobes, 4 Pocket Wizards, a large 3' x 4' softbox, a medium softbox, and some umbrellas and stands. For this group I needed only to use the 2 boxes (one from either side) and occasionally I would put a Lighttools grid on the large softbox as the group size changed. The best part of shooting on location like this is the ease for the client. There were 13 kids aged 5 and under there. Imagine having to go to the studio! Anyways, many thanks to the family, and best wishes for 2008.

Jeff

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Merry Christmas indeed!

I have taken the last week off from posting due to the holidays and being out of town and all, but now it is time to get back in the saddle. So a big thank you goes out to my wife who got me a set of 4 Pocket Wizards for Christmas. To those of you who don't know, PW's are about the best radio trigger devices out there for off camera flashes. As a result, I have had to modify my existing 550EX strobes to take a mini plug trigger for the PW's to work with them. I am happy to say that was a successful operation, although time consuming, considering you only have to make 4 solder connections. If you are considering doing the mods to your own flash, drop me a line, I'll spell it out for you on what to do. Perhaps I will have some examples of the PW's at work to post soon.
Jeff
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Framing order

Whew! I had a rather large print and framing order (my largest to date actually), along with some other print and framing orders that I have been rushing to get finished for Christmas. I am Glad to say that I am finally finished. I have been working on it all week, trying to pull off last minute jobs from all my vendors, who did come through for me in the craziest time of year for them as well. For that I am very thankful. I don't know how many people have the patience to have me calling them twice or even 3 times a day for 3 days without killing me when I finally come to pick up my order, but for that I am also grateful. Now it is time for some Christmas shopping!

Jeff

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Museum Glass

I don't know what they coat this stuff with, but it is amazing. I am working on a large custom framing order for a client that has museum glass instead of the regular glass or the matte finish glass in it. Aside from the fact that it is really expensive to make cutting errors on, (1 botched cut is costing me a small fortune) it blows me away. I will have to post some photos of the museum glass vs regular glass for you to see. If you really want to be able to enjoy what is on the other side of the glass, then this is the product for you. Once mounted, from most angles you can't even tell it is there. I highly recommend it for the discerning customer.

Jeff
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Another busy weekend

Well, as usual, this weekend was busier than I anticipated. I attended 3 Christmas parties, 2 as a guest, and 1 as the photographer. So I had a pretty good time this weekend. I also had plenty of things to try to wrap up. I am re-doing my website and getting new business cards printed, so I did some work on that too. I also managed to shore up the single largest print and framing order I have ever received on Friday, and make some family portraits for a super nice fellow from Russia. Since they all showed up for the portrait session in white, (contrary to what I suggested on the phone when consulting them about wardrobe mind you) I decided to make the image of them on a white background. This keeps their faces as the primary subject, otherwise a white shirt on a darker background will always draw the attention away from the face.

Jeff

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Christmas play

You have to love the school Christmas play. The kids get to perform, and I get an excuse to make some images. I love how the kids look to their parents and wave and smile. I try to capture that moment when they make eye contact with mom or dad and flash that genuine smile filled with pride and excitement. Then there is also these moments where God only knows what the kid is thinking. At least he doesn't have his finger up his nose like the photo of me at my grade 1 play.

Jeff

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Headshots

I was hired to shoot the board of executives from the Edmonton Soccer Association. No, I am not an assassin, I was merely making images of them. Those of you who know David Hobby will see I have used one of the techniques he discussed for using the specular reflection on the background to separate the subject. This was done with 3 portable flashes, a softbox and reflector. The results were quite pleasing.

Jeff

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Santa photos

This afternoon I spent with a bunch of kids and one recognizable old fella. The Summerside community was having thieir annual Christmas party which included Sleigh rides, skating, snacks and of course photos with the big guy. As I tried to tell the kids, face time with Santa goes a long way. Yet still some of the tykes were skeptical of this large strange man who's face they could not see. The photos were great, and so was Santa, even in the face of rejection. The great majority though were thrilled to have Santa come to vist and couldn't wait to get on his lap to tell him all about their list. I look forward to next year.

Jeff

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Family portraits

I was shooting another family today in their home in Sherwood Pk. This was one of those days when things don't always go your way. The couple had plans this evening, so I arrived early, so I would be ready to go when the kids got home from school. Unfortunately, the kids were home as planned, but the parents were not. When they finally did make it home, it was already 4:45. So we only had time for one location, which is a shame since they have such a beautiful home, and we had planned on doing some inside and outside shooting. But with time against me, and all the natural light now gone, I quickly set up the gear, popped a few test frames, and was ready to go. I even had enough time to get some individual shots of the kids. I can't wait to show you guys all the photos.

Jeff

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Family Canvass

When it comes to family portraits, nothing is quite like having a large wall portrait done on a canvass. I had the pleasue of working with Martin, Rene, and family on their family portrait. This image I made really lends itself well to the 20x24 canvass. Rene thanked me the other day for suggesting the larger size to her, since whe was originally going to get an 8x10. She tells me that she absoultely loves this image and enjoys it every day. It is hanging prominently on the wall by the kitchen. That is what being a photographer is all about, sharing your talent so that others may create lasting memories of events past, and relive the joy of those events indefinitely.

Jeff

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Engagement photographer

I had the pleasure of working with Kevin and Shallen on creating an engagement portrait. Kevin just emailed me with their final selections. We wated until the sun was going down to get the really warm low angle light and I also augmented it by a slave flash with a CTO gel. The result was the beautiful warm tones seen here. I am looking forward to the big day, and will definitely post some of those photos when the time comes.

Jeff

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What a weekend

I haven't posted for a few days since I have been utterly swamped. I was making portraits at a Christmas party for Canadian Dewatering on Saturday, shot video all day Sunday for a new national medical clinic, and did a family portrait session today. Oh yeah, in case you thought Friday was free, you are mistaken. I was in meetings with the designers for a new project launch. To top it all off, my wife had her annual cookie exchange party too. So I guess I also shot a bunch of crazy ladies.

Here is a beautiful photograph of Don and his family enjoying the winter snow. You wouldn't know it from the smile on their faces, but it was some kind of cold. I think I got frostbite from my light stand after carrying it for about 10 seconds. Regardless of the cold, the cheerful disposition of the models and the falling snow really made the day. You guys have a beautiful family, and it is nice to work with people who honor their commitments. When most people would have pulled the plug on the shoot due to weather advisories, you just kept right on schedule. Thank you, and I'll get those prints to you soon.

Jeff
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