Category: Portraiture

Connection

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Today’s image is another one from the High Park shoot with Dani, as she does a dancer’s stretch in High Park. Dancing (speaking as someone who is all too aware of his woeful ability or lack thereof in this area) is a discipline which requires tremendous focus and self-awareness. Also, I see a lot of dance photography where the dancer seems unaware of the camera, and I think the two are related:  the dancer is not directly connecting with the camera or viewer, as she is consumed by the demands of her art. I really like this image because Dani is making a direct connection with the viewer, while practicing her art.

Dani the Dancer
(Mamiya 645 Pro TL, 80mm f2.8 lens, Tri-X @ E.I. 800, developed in Diafine 3+3)

A different view

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I don’t think I’ve posted a portrait shot completely from the back before, but this one works for me; the subject Tiffany is a very creative person, and as such was able to integrate herself easily into the formal style of this section of High Park in Toronto.

Tiffany 3

A Crystal Smile

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Crystal is someone who seemingly can always find a reason to smile, and smile big! She is always radiating positive vibes. In this portrait, I asked for a slight, subtle smile, but even in her slight smile, I sense the big smile still beaming through:-)

Crystal010
(Mamiya 645 Pro TL, 80mm f2.8 lens, Tri-X film @ E.I. 800, developed in Diafine 3+3)

Not What You’re Thinking

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Today’s image is a hand-tinted print of Ren from the steampunk shoot; I’ll be giving this print to her later today. You might be thinking that the bicycle was tinted orange to make it surrealistic, but actually the bike is this colour in real life; it is chained more or less permanently as a piece of art in a back alley on the U of T campus in downtown Toronto

Ren Hand Tint

Dangerous and Domestic Part 2

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Today’s image is another one from the “Dangerous and Domestic” shoot with the very talented Mallory, using the original prop that she suggested to skewer the cliche in the subject matter. 🙂 One of my favourite kind of concepts is taking a standard idea (in this case, sexy woman on motorbike) and twisting it, taking a poke at the underlying assumptions and stereotypes.

House and Home

(Mamiya 645 Pro TL, 80mm f2.8 lens, Tri-x at box speed, HC-110 Dilution B for 7.5 minutes.
Negative scanned, and some post processing done with Nik Efex.)

Selective Focus

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One final shot from the shoot in High Park with Tara. I had a parasol left over from a cancelled shoot, so I thought that spray painting it with metallic spray paint might give it a steam punk look when teamed up with the goggles. I was happy with how the parasol is sharp, where Tara is mainly slightly out of focus.

Tara last roll006
(Mamiya 645 Pro LT, 150mm f3.5 Mamiya lens, Tri-x at E.I. 800 developed in Diafine 3+3)

Waiting my Turn

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I’ve been shooting a lot in High Park recently, as I love the lighting and settings available. Last week, while waiting for a model to arrive I noticed a dead tree, set amongst living plans that I though would be a great place to shoot, but before the model arrived, another photographer and a model arrived (I think it was his girlfriend)  and set up camp at the spot. They spent more time engaged in a bitter argument than shooting; I don’t think they will be happy with the results. Luckily, when I came back the next day for a shoot with model Chantal (featured in the image below) the spot was available, so we started our shoot there 🙂

Chantel

Dangerous and Domestic

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Last Sunday I had a great time on a shoot with Mallory: the concept was combining the dangerous/sexy look of the motorcycle with symbols of domesticity: in this image Mallory is holding an old-fashioned egg-beater, one of my favourites from my prop collection.

Mallory is a great actress, and was easily able to create a character that made the concept come alive!

Dangerous Domestic

Magic

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Today’s image is turning into one of my favourite portraits of the year. It is another image of Tara in High Park. The direct low sun made for a magical light, and the variety of reflections in the glass sphere seemed endless.

Tara On Film

In Motion

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Today’s image is the first of a couple I’ll be posting from a shoot with model Tara on Friday evening. The shoot featured steampunk elements such as the goggles, and in the image below a parasol that I tried to give a brass effect to. In this image, I asked Tara to spin the parasol, while I used a very slow shutter speed. I think it worked 🙂

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