My First Professional Studio And Shoot

So I never got around to doing this but thought it was a rather new field of work.  While spending plenty of time doing photos of concerts, nature, and animals I never had the chance to dab into more portrait work.  So being that I have awesome friends (Thanks Melyssa!), I was recommended for a last minute photo shoot for a musician.  Not only was it nervousness for my first portrait, it also happened to be for a debut album of a label record.  Chela was was extremely easy to work with and made me feel right comfortable snapping 300+ photos to make sure got the right one.  It was also my first time using a studio for shooting, so working with lighting and angles made it rather fun!

And since we got to do everything we needed in 24 hours, here was the final product (with help from both Chela's photo shop skills, and Jill Colbert from Manfish Inc.)

So if you are a heavy metal fan, then be sure to check out her band White Empress as they near their release date.

Edwards Gardens in July

So no real story here other than going for a nice long bike ride on a Saturday morning through Edward Gardens (an extension of Sunnybrook Park).  As I was walking through the gardens, there was a whole bunch of wildlife that came out of the woodwork!  So as I was taking a picture of one creature, another took it's place!

This one was taken later in the day with my Samsung Galaxy S4.  A little yellow invader was trying to steal my beer!

Animal Family Fun In Mt. Pleasant

My bike ride home from work generally consists of going through parks, trails and wooded areas.  My rule of thumb is to avoid traffic IF you can.  So with that, I drove through Mt. Pleasant Cemetary to catch my breath (HUMIDITY!) and to get away from the congestion of Yonge Street.  While riding towards my exit of the cemetary, I noticed some activity on one of the trees.  A mother raccoon (not seen) had her litter of six cubs out looking for food.

Since Mt. Pleasant is generally quiet, these guys and gals are always out and about trying to grab berries off the trees and whatever food they can salage from garbages.  Despite them being considered 'dirty' animals by society, the cuteness was just too good to pass up.

One of the fun things about this shoot was the curiosity of the raccoons themselves.  Knowing their mother was around, I didn't want to get too close to them and avoid the potential freak out.  On the other side of that though, the raccoon cubs were curious about me and my camera and started to reach their hands out to touch me.  I must have scared them though when trying to step back and take a picture.  But their innocence and curiosity made the experience that much more enjoyable!

 

And for the final shot, one cub saw (as you can tell by facial expression) a few berries next to me and started get hungry! hehe



Summer Time BBQ Session

Do we have any food critics out there?  Fans?  How about that term "foodies"?  I see a lot of people taking photos of their food when they are out at restaurants or when they just completed a long session in the kitchen.  Definitely gives me ideas and thoughts when thinking about my own food choices and what I feel I want to make for dinner. 

Food is an art just like everything else that requires concentration and creativity.  So for my luck it's great that I have friends and neighbours who not only know how to cook very well, but also let me snap photos in the process!

These photos were taken in the backyard of my apartment building.  Even though we have our fair share of woes and issues when it comes to our building management, the community around the building has been kept in tact quite well.  My neighbour Peter is well known in the neighbourhood for his cooking skills and doesn't shy away from a BBQ session.  So when I told him I had my camera available, we jumped on the opportunity to capture some of the summer's finest...chicken breasts (with a plethora of spices!), roasted corn, and whole peppers!