I took this image on the subway on a trip downtown this afternoon. I was struck by the fact that they were sharing music via one headphone jack, but apart from that they were both in their own worlds: no words, glances etc. were exchanged until it was time to get off the train. Mysterious and intriguing!
Today’s image is an iPhone 4S/Hipstamatic shot of a walkway at Kipling subway station, early in the morning dark. To me it always looks so cold and industrial.
Five days a week I am on the TTC, early. The image today was taken this morning on the Kipling bus, at about 6:50 a.m. You haven’t seen fatigue until you see transit riders at this time of day, and today was no exception.
Another image of Iryna, this time shot on film, I asked Iryna to show some sadness, and I described a story for her to place herself into. It was amazing how fast she became the character in the sad story; she was feeling the emotion. There is no faking for this kind of expression.
(Mamiya 645 Pro TL, 80mm f2.8 lens, Tri-x @ E.I. 800 developed in Diafine 3+3, negative scanned and post processed using NIK software)
Yesterday I had an amazing shoot with a young model named Iryna in High Park. It was a glorious day, very welcome after a spate of weather-related cancellations! Most of the shoot was film (until I ran out! I thought I had more with me than I did), so I had to shoot a few digital, so my first post on this shoot will be a digital image, as the first batch of negatives go through their final rinse in my darkroom. I was amazed at Iryna’s ability to create amazing expressions: beautiful, subtle, and entirely believable, over and over again. She instinctively understands that successful modeling is as much about acting and story as it is about posture and pose.
Today’s image is a couple of years old, taken at low tide on the bank of the Thames in London, England. I’m posting it in anticipation of my next trip to England in July of 2013. I’m already debating how many (and which) cameras to take 🙂 I know the answer to “how many” won’t be one!
Every now and then it’s fun to throw an iPhone photo into the mix. I took this image on the way to a meeting in downtown Toronto yesterday, timing it to get the pedestrian framed in the reflection in the building.
One more image from this past weekend’s shoot with Jennifer. As I think I’ve mentioned before, my strong preference for portraits is close-up: I am captivated by the human landscape of the face. I have to force myself to at least some of the time take a few steps back and attempt a portrait that is as much about the background as it is the subject. Guildwood Park in Toronto has a lot of great backgrounds to use, and as soon as I saw this sculpture, I knew that it would be perfect for a non-close-up image.
(Mamiya 645 Pro TL, 80mm f2.8 lens, Tri-X @ E.I. 800, developed in Diafine 3+3. negative scanned, and post-processed using Nik Silver Efex Pro 2)
Today’s image stars model Jennifer, who has graced the pages of this blog before. Jennifer reminded me when we did this shoot this past weekend that it had been roughly a year since we started collaborating, and together I think we’ve created some good work. Jennifer brings so much to a shoot in terms of energy and personality that collaboration is the correct way of describing a shoot. Her  spirit shows in every image, and she deserves the credit for that. Today’s image is a good example: a lot of the Steampunk photography I see comes across as rather serious, but with her playful expressions Jennifer was able to turn it upside down, and bring some fun into the photographs!!
(Mamiya 645 Pro TL, 80mm f2.8 lens, Tri-X @ E.I. 800, developed in Diafine 3+3, negative scan, post processed using Nik Efex.)
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: Â 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.
(Mamiya 645 Pro TL, 80mm f2.8 lens, Tri-X @ E.I. 800, developed in Diafine 3+3)
My Third Eye 