stories2

Puppy Days

I am working on several accreditation submissions for the Professional Photographers of Canada. There is Travel Illustration, Animal Portraits, Groups, Environmental Portrait, Family Portrait, Fantasy Illustration, Fine Art –Photo Décor, Senior Citizen Portrait, Nature and Jewelry.

This image is for the Animal Portrait group. He was such a sleepy puppy! To create this effect I did some hoops in Photoshop. The image was created on location. His owner lives about a 4-hour drive from the studio. We setup the “studio” at the edge of an open ended Quonset. 

Hot Couple Story

This couple personifies a great relationship. There is such a joy and companionship always evident. Just an amazing connection that is so much fun to photograph. In the session they just flowed together. This image shows not just the love but the tenderness. The image is one that inspires too. We used it, as a canvas print, to showcase the Calgary Oscars auction item of a session with a large canvas print collection. We were thrilled when it became the highest auction item of the night! 

A Walk With The Animals

I just delivered a good friend's book of their little girls playing with a baby lion. Their mom, Adel, is from South Africa so this connection with her homeland is very precious to her. They just phoned to say they can not stop looking at the book, each time they go through it, they find something new and insightful or revealing or just plain Thats their girls. It is our first horizontal format and I must admit it is impressive. It has the quarter in stainless steel cover, it opens to 26 long by 9 inches high.

We have them done in Itally so there is this really cool essence that it comes with. Mostly though, it is their girls, very young, one just crawls, playing with a live 2month old baby lion. It is so much fun to to listen to them talk about their kids with this book as a reference.

All about shapes and colour

This is one of our new backgrounds, a ten foot wide rose. To add interest to it we added the

Janine is one of the tallest, slenderest patrons to come in recently. Her limbs and curvy figure was an ideal contrast to our newest background, a 10 foot rose painted muslin. I really like the reflections of her body on the mylar. It is interesting that the angle of mirrored reflections mimic the  folds of the fabric.

Pam at Cheddar Canyon, England

This image is from a series take of Pam in Cheddar Canyon in Enlgand. It was done just at dusk, so to the eye it was much darker than what you see here, ‘tis the magic of high ISO and wide aperture. I was perched on a much smaller rock out cropping. We laughed at all the cars driving down below who never looked up. This image is part of a limited edition book of Pam.

Marilynn Monroe’s Wedding Night Gift

There are few people on the planet who have not seen if not heard of Marilynn Monroe’s famous nude calendar pose. The same image that launched Playboy. At the time, it was known world wide as the “Golden Dreams” calendar, now known as the Velvet Collection

But back in 1949, it was just a photographer, Tom Kelley, creating some wonderful nude images of an unknown model. They worked for 2 hours with an Artie Shaw record playing in the background. Tom’s wife Natalie was helping out as his assistant, laying out the velvet. When finished they went out and dined on chili.

What is not so well known is that as well as the 24 sheet film images taken with Kelley’s big 8x10 Deardorff View Camera, which is the set the famous image came from, Kelley also shot an additional roll of nudes. Never seen by the public.

Kelley presented Marilynn with a complete collection of images from that additional roll. It is reported that Marilynn saved these and, four years later on her wedding night, gave them to Joe DiMaggio as a wedding gift.

Amazing Sci-Fi Writers

Meet the Parkers. That would be Scott and Elaine. It is interesting how people so full of words to consider have led such intriguing lives. Climbing that (Mt. Kilimanjaro), trekking here (Asia and South America), diving with fish (Beluga whales and Hammerhead sharks).

Elaine came in for some daring images back when she was a bush pilot in the north, she has since moved to bigger cockpits. Ah the stories she would regale me with such a twinkle in her eye. Looking at this image you can see their mirth barely contained.

This image was for their internationally selling Sci-Fi book, Accounting for Evil. Which is very fun book.

Now the trick to the smile is the wiggle. Some photographers have it and some don’t. Scott tells me mine is perfect, way better than the overdone “say cheese”. Makes wonder what the wiggle is? Ask me, I’ll tell.

Now I am a Sci-Fi fan from way back. So getting the promotional image for a fiction book was so exciting. When you look at their image, you just know more is brewing!

Harley Davidson Family

It is so cool when light and attitude come together! This is the Halley family. The leathers and V8 engines tells the whole story. The Halley’s are a delightful family who really enjoy the open road. They love “riding into the sunset” plus, being real down to earth kinda people, our only backdrop choice had to be an old building as the sun set. Their whole session captured this feel. This image hangs in the living room.

Now the really cool thing about this image is what it does. It sparks stories about past bike rides. And has even triggered plans for future rides. They told us half the fun of the session was the ride out to the location.

As much as I love photographing in my studio, for a Harley Davidson bike shoot, the great outdoors is the real charm.

Julia Hart Finds Her Roots

We love creating imagery that goes beyond the romance and glamour of sexy bedroom poses. Julia Hart’s latest session was to express her native heritage. (That is a fake fur for those curious) We experimented with a fun range of approaches but this casual pose was the best. I have been photographing her for 15 years now, each session being radically different than the last.

Julia is an amazing lady. Many know of her as Brett “the Hitman” Hart’s former wife but she has grown remarkably beyond that into a truly unique lady. Her devotion to the For The Love Of Children Society charity sees her traveling the world to help them, often to dangerous places. She is one of the warmest, gentlest women I have photographed.

Signed With Love

Rick and Rene’ had a great surprise planned for their family and friends. They were coming home after being gone a fair bit of time. They had organized a social event party so everyone could get together. What only two people knew was they were going to have a simple wedding at the event. In the middle of the social, when the minister walked in, you can imagine the surprise on everyone’s face. As well as the well wishing and excitement

Now Rick and Rene wanted something besides just a sign in book so we came up with the ideal option. We printed a small image of them on a large white piece of archival paper, which we mounted for them. Below the oval image were their names and the wedding date.

Showing it to their family they asked everyone to write a few words and sign it, like a yearbook. Well they got the warmest memory for their wall. Much more that any sign in book could give; this heartfelt print will now go up on their wall as an amazing conversation piece.

In the years to come, as grand parents and other pass on or move away, their words of well wishing will always be with Rick and Rene.