It was sometime between 7:30 and 8:00, walking along the Rideau Canal in Ottawa on a Sunday morning during PAB 2012 weekend. It was clear and bright, with the promise of a warm day ahead, but with early morning stillness upon the water.
Author: johnmeadowsphotography
An amateur photographer in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Keira in Colour
As a follow up to the last post, here is one of the colour images from the shoot with Keira at Kensington Market. Although black and white is my “mother tongue” when it comes to photography, there are times when the language of colour is the only thing that will do, and I believe this is one of those times. I love the pink and blue neon sign with Keira’s auburn hair, both glowing, and capped off with a touching expression.
(Nikon FE, 105mm/f2.5 Nikkor lens, Kodak ISO 200 Colour Negative film, processed using JOBO C-41 kit, post work done with NIK Color Efex Pro 3)
Canadian Manners
Today’s image of model Keira Jade was taken in Kensington Market in Toronto last week. It was very hot and fairly crowded, but we were both struck by the continued politeness we encountered, as passersby made every attempt to stay out of the shot, either by stopping and waiting, or going behind me, all the while saying “Sorry.” Sometimes the stereotypes are true!
(Mamiya 645 Pro TL, 150mm/f4 lens, Tri-X at E.I. 1000, developed in Diafine 3+3)
The Eyes Still Have It
When I take portraits, it’s all about the eyes and expression, and I love the expression worn in this image (taken on the way to PAB 2012) by Adam Gratrix, an extremely bright and creative podcaster from Surrey, BC. His energy really come through here I think!
(Pentax ME Super 35mm SLR, 50mm f1.4 lens, Tri-X @ E.I. 1000, developed in Diafine 3+3)
Old Friends: Susan and Cheryl
Today’s image is the latest in my ongoing “Old Friends” project, shot while I was at PAB 2o12 in Ottawa earlier this month. It features my friend Susan Murphy (who was also attending PAB 2012), and her long time friend Cheryl. It had been a while since they had met up in person, but the bond of friendship between the two was quite clear, and both delightful and touching.
(Pentax ME Super 35mm SLR, 50mm 1.4 lens, Tri-X at E.I. 1000, developed in Diafine 3 + 3)
First Home-Developed Colour!
This image is from some street shooting I did in Ottawa last weekend. (If you look closely you can see me taking the picture; I’m the second bald head ;-)).
This was also the first roll I developed at home using C-41 colour negative chemistry; it was not hard at all — the only challenge was maintaining the higher temperatures required
Colour
Today’s image is from a recent shoot with the very talented Emily Decoteau. Although mainly a black and white shoot, I did shoot one roll of colour: some Fuji slide film, using a Nikon FE 35mm SLR, and a Nikon 105/f2.5 portrait lens (a classic lens that I got a steal of a deal on!). Although this is a colour shot, it is dominated by red. I had mentioned to Emily how well the red hair, dress and nails went together and she said, “you’d almost think I coordinated it this way!” and I realized that my alter ego Captain Obvious had struck again 🙂
Time
To me, it seems that part of what defines the feminine is time: the onset of the monthly cycle of fertility at puberty, the ticking of the biological clock until its end at menopause. In addition, for many women independence and self-actualization involve transcending time, and refusing to be imprisoned or have one’s self-worth shackled to this definition.
Today’s image (NSFW, so just a link), explores this idea, the struggle against being the prisoner of time. The model is a powerful, strong and independent woman who will not surrender to the passing of days.
Ideas
I love it when models come to a shoot with ideas — a good shoot is always a collaboration, and Miranda came not only with some amazing props (such as the broken garnet jewelry) but great ideas for unconventional poses (she was shot from above in this image).
One item of note: this is the second post in a row where I have featured a digital image (taken with a Nikon D90 camera). I wouldn’t call it a trend, but in this case, being able to show Miranda the shots immediately helped spur the creativity and refine ideas, which is never a bad thing.
Look Closely
Today’s image is of Miranda, an actress and musician from Hamilton. This image is from a shoot for my “Broken” project, for which she brought a long a great broken pearl/bead necklace. The vase was a great garage sale find — 25 cents! If you look closely, you’ll see me 🙂
My Third Eye 