Lauramy & Matt – Calgary Portrait Photography

After re-scheduling a couple of times due to weather, Candice and I had an awesome engagement session with Lauramy and Matt last night! We finally got a really nice evening with great light!

These two were very comfortable in front of the camera, which really makes our job a pleasure. We just love getting to know our couples better and it's so amazing to see the love between them. What a great job we have!!

We would like to thank Lauramy and Matt for a great evening – we hope you guys enjoy the first few shots!

Lovin' the Textures...

I've really been enjoying working with textures in nature lately. While some people prefer to use longer shutter speeds when photographing water, the sweet spot for me somewhere around 1/5 of a second. I love to show the texture of the moving water and add motion to my water images with the use of slow-ish shutter speeds. For a little extra interest, I used a blue/gold polarizer on the first image to add a bit of gold to the reflections in the water. 

Texture is everywhere, and it can add a lot of interest to an image. Without the texture of the long grass in the second image I'm guessing it would have been pretty boring! I was amazed by the way the grass looks like a series of waves of webs–and the frost really helps to accentuate the texture in the grass.

For the last image, my goal was to show the transition in texture and colour from the white water in the middle of the river to the calmer water along the banks. Looks like a bar of Irish Spring soap!

Hope you like these ones!

More from my latest creative shoot...

As promised, here are a few more shots from my latest creative shoot with Talyn Stone. It was a lot of fun to shoot images that are not my typical style – to stretch myself creatively. What's also really nice about creative shoots is that you have the chance to try different things without the risk of disappointing a paying client. It's a great chance to try different camera gear, different lighting ideas, and to play with different styles that you may not get to try otherwise. I'm already anxious to do another shoot... don't know what it will be yet, but I'm excited to try more fun things! 

In the first two shots I used a reflector to kick back some light on Talyn's face.. a nice simple technique that gives natural looking results. For the last two shots I set up my elinchrom quadra with a 39" deep octa. I placed the light directly in front of the car as a main light to create a little drama while the light coming in the side window acted as a fill. I wanted to set up a second flash as a rim light from behind however I forgot an essential cord to make that happen... oh well, the show must go on!

So, what did I learn from this creative shoot? I learned that I really miss the simplicity, speed and natural look of reflected natural light, I learned that I need to buy another cord so that I can place one in each bag and not forget it and I learned that I'm hooked on creative shoots! 

Hope you enjoy these shots and be sure to check out Lori's shots on her blog as well as Darwin and Sam's shots posted over at oopoomoo. 

Photo of the Day – Alberta Landscape Photographer

Here is a shot made yesterday on my trip out to Spray Lakes with fellow photographer and friend Ian McGillvrey. It's a good thing that the morning was productive because Ian had a bit of a crappy morning after our initial sunrise shoot.... I'll let him explain on his next blog post! Let's just say there were wet socks, a diving roll, and a bit of gear was harmed in a small miss-hap which I have seen other photographers fall victim to as well!

We were lucky enough to have some nice sunrise light to work with - which was long overdue! Although I find this shot a little cluttered when compared to my usual, I do enjoy the overall feel of it. I'm hoping to go back to this location when that thin layer of ice is gone... it really messed with my reflections and added unnecessary clutter to the middle ground. I would also really like to try a long exposure for this composition. If I could capture the clouds in motion moving slightly left to right and following the contour of the mountain it would make for a very dynamic shot - especially if I can capture a nice reflection of the streaking clouds! Hope you enjoy this one!

Photo of the Day – Alberta Landscape Photographer

Here is a shot I grabbed when I was out shooting in the fog last week. I just loved how the harsh sun was masked by the thick fog, making nice warm soft light! Nothing fancy as far as technique goes... just really nice light!