Business Duo

Since my camera was returned to me from Nikon's repair centre in Ontario, I have noticed it struggling to focus. I initially tried to convince myself that there was nothing wrong with my newly repaired camera, if only to save me from having to deal with Nikon again and go through the expensive and time-consuming process of shipping my camera back to them. Alas, this evening's business shoot confirmed that there is a very real issue with my camera's focusing (there were no focusing issues before my camera was sent to have its mirror box repaired!). I was having to take dozens of pictures of the exact same shot, refocusing each time, hoping that one of them would be sharp. What a horrible experience to be in the middle of the shoot needing to do this.

Thankfully, these two were incredibly patient with me while we persevering through camera troubles, and we did end up getting some great shots for this very charming, clever, bright, and motivated entrepreneur.

Back to dealing with Nikon for me (oh joy). Stay tuned.

West Coast Trio

What a great evening this was! We started by spreading out articles of clothing from three peoples’ wardrobes for three different scenes until clothing options covered every surface available on the main floor. Having that many options to choose from was fantastic, even if it took a little longer to pack up at the end of the shoot. Once styling was coordinated, we were ready to go. We hit the road, only to find ourselves in the middle of an unbelievable downpour while driving to our location.

Mother Nature must have been on our side, because as we arrived and starting shooting the clouds cleared right up, the sun came out, and we were treated to a pretty neat (though earlier than anticipated) sunset over the mountains making for some great running shots. To cap it off, when it got too dark to keep shooting, we headed down to the beach and had a post-shoot picnic dinner. (I did set up my tripod for that, but with such low light, I will have to see what comes out of the mess of motion blur.) A great evening with great people. Looking forward to going through the rest of the photos.

Morning Routine

A few days after our shoot in the gardens with almost magical light, this shoot was a very different story. We had a small window of time when the light was falling into the bathroom just right. And shooting in such a small space meant we were fairly limited with angles. With some creative light modifiers and strength-testing stances by my model, we managed to fit in most of the shots we were after in a short time, with a special appearance by Lucy the lab who has been a great addition to many of my shoots over time. I'll have to feature Lucy in her own post another time.

In the Garden

I finally got my camera back from Nikon, and to be honest, was a little nervous to dive back into shooting. It had been a while, and I realised there's an element of "use it or lose it" in photography. When the mirror box in my camera broke and I had to send my camera across the country for repairs, it was rendered unusable for two months and I got out of the shooting habit. When I got it back, my sister was in town and we took my newly repaired camera for a test run in the nearby community gardens. It took more effort and time for me to find the right words to direct, and to really see light well. Thankfully, my sister was patient with me.

Looking at the photos after any shoot is how I force myself to see ways to improve. From the photos of this shoot, I can see that I could have been more creative with my angles, and brought in some more layers (foreground/background) to play a bit more with visual interest. Those are certainly things I'll have in the back of my mind during upcoming shoots. Luckily the model here is beyond charming, and provides a ton of visual interest without needing my help. It was a gorgeous evening for a shoot, with some great atmosphere created by the soft light in the gardens. I'm really happy with the shots we got, and it feels great to have my camera in hand and be shooting again!