Justin Poulsen Photography

Shooting the Shit...

2011-10-28T20:40:00.000-07:00

Erin's Silver Dung Beetle (Final Shot)

Punny. Very Punny. Recently I've been working on website/look book material for jeweler, Erin Boukall. Although in her field it's standard to have work shot on white/seamless backgrounds, she has humored me in my excitement to show off her work in an environment related to the jewelry she makes. This type of shoot is a fun digression from some of my other more complicated builds/shoots. Everything starts with a morning trip to Michael's Craft Store for supplies and the set build + shoot happens in my living room. I'm not over complicating lighting (only two lights for this particular shot)...just shooting what light sets the right mood, while still demonstrating the extreme quality of craftsmanship that goes into these pieces. More of these soon but for now please enjoy some behind the scenes photos.

PS. Due to popular demand..my recipe for the artificial dung ball: Microwave one Eat-More chocolate bar for about 20-30 seconds and then smear around a styrofoam sphere (available at any craft store). Mix additional sand+grass for different effects.

Erin assisting while I shoot additional plates.

Getting hungry on set.

No need for craft services when the prop itself is edible.

Yes... I am shooting on an ironing board. Power provided by Broncolor Grafit A4 RFS. Rim light is a Pulso Spot 4. Key light is a Pulso G2 through a gridded snoot. Warmed up the Pulso Spot 4 with a CTO gel and subdued the G2 with some neutral density gel to maintain the necessary shallow depth of field.

Personal Work - Gas Planet

2011-09-16T16:07:00.000-07:00

The ideas for the visual in this shoot came to me after I fell asleep watching Who Killed the Electric Car? I was thinking about the seemingly never ending consumption of fossil fuels and how one could visually display the detrimental effect this consumption has on our planet. While still dreaming I was faced with this imagery. Although I encountered some roadblocks in the process of creating this "island", I feel that this is the most faithful representation of one of my dreams to date.

The base of the island constructed from styrofoam, cardboard, newspaper, and wooden doweling for support.

Paper-mache applied to the entire structure.

Working on road line spray stencil (unused in the final image)

Sizing the road..tight squeeze!

Applying dirt to the side of the road. The asphalt was made in two steps. First the top of the island was spray painted matte black. Elmer's glue was applied and black craft sand was poured on top of the glue. I found that this created the perfect texture but was ultimately too shiny to replicate asphalt. Another coat of matte black spray paint solved this dilemma.

This little ziplock is what I received when I ordered a set of modern gas pumps from an online model store. This is what had originally been advertised.

Some assembly required...

Polyester pillow filling spray-glued to a piece of foamcore to form the backdrop.

Collecting dirt and roots in a plastic shoebox always garners suspicious looks from passers-by

Setting up. The spray painted backdrop is affixed to a wall on wheels to allow for flexible composition.

Broncolor Grafit A4 RFS powering a Pulso G2 (with gelled dome modifier), as well as a Pulso 2 with gelled snoot.

The dome light had two gels taped to it. One to warm the colour temperature on the subject, and the other to lessen the amount of neutral light on the backdrop.

Video is available in HD here.

End Product.

Simply the Wurst.

2011-08-17T23:43:00.000-07:00

Two patrons finish their drinks as the light from street lamps pours in through the windows onto Wurst's emblem.

Bad puns aside the Wurst is one of Calgary's most exciting new restaurants. On my first visit I was blown away by the attention to detail and the quality in ...well...everything. The interior is stunning. The dishes are authentic (Everything is authentic). The staff is friendly. This restaurant/beer hall is clearly a product of passion and I was inspired by that. I had to shoot this place and luckily my friend Calvin, who works at the Wurst, was able to put me in contact with Geoff Gobert. Geoff was nice enough to grant me access to their building to photograph for a night and I am truly grateful. =)

I could go on and on about the Wurst (and likely will in person) but for now I will get to the photos. I shot the majority of the images on the large format Horseman LE, with my Cambo WRS + Phase One P25+ serving as a backup. Only two of the final images ended up being digital (the header, and the close crop of a stein.)

Calvin checking composition on the back of the Phase One P25+. Thanks for the help!

A Beer Stein in its locker. One of many.

Back dining room shot on Kodak 160NC. This painting is stunning... I struggled finding the proper exposure for this image as I was battling film reciprocity failure to find any details in the black oil of the painting. What was supposed to be a 30 second exposure took roughly 6 and a half minutes. Although none of the people in the frame minded having their photograph taken, it was essentially a non-issue as I had planned to obscure them with the dragging shutter anyways. (and I know about the one light bulb glaring..it was a miss match of intensity and color and I didn't have any matching extras on me. live and learn.)

The main dining room shot on Kodak 160VC. This is what you first see when you walk in to the Wurst. This shot dictated the time at which I had to shoot the set. Originally arriving at 8pm I waited for the sun to die down to start shooting and decided to wait for the upper floor to be completely empty before capturing this.

The stein lockers also shot on Kodak 160VC. You can rent lockers annually to store your favorite stein in. Not only is this convenient for the regulars, but it acts almost as a cultural study for common onlookers. If this isn't a conversation piece...I don't know what is.... Plus when you look these lockers combined with the barrels you could totally convince yourself that you are sailing on a viking/pirate ship. Bad-ass.

Personal Work

2011-07-04T23:54:00.000-07:00

For those who don't already know.. some of my personal work that doesn't make it to the commercial blog/portfolio can be viewed on my Flickr.

The Californian "Double Take" Contact Sheet.

2011-06-21T02:11:00.000-07:00

Originally this "contact sheet" was enormous in size. In fact it was too large to post online at 2.74gb. The roll of 35mm film previously seen here has now been rescanned with Klyment Tan's Aztek DPL-driven Howtek Scanmaster 4500 drum scanner and re-sized by myself for web purposes.

Earlier this summer I was handed a roll of Fuji Pro-Z 800. At this point in time Klyment Tan, Corey Thompson and I were shooting in the deserts of California and we had no clue that this roll was any different than any of the other unshot rolls of film sitting in Klyment's bag. This roll was processed roughly a day after the first day of Coachella 2011 (as seen in the bottom right corner of the contact sheet.) Excited to see photographs of the desert sunset I paid the extra five dollars to have digital copies burnt to CD when having the film processed at Walgreen's.

Popping the CD in, I was immediately greeted with a photograph with both Stephen Pilby, owner of Lighttools and Lightrein, and Klyment shooting his JADE GREEN!~*~*!!* Toyo VX125. I couldn't help but laugh at the Lion King/Star Wars-esque image. As I continued to flick through the photographs I saw a visibly younger Corey flipping me the bird meshed with a Markins Q3 tripod ballhead. Handing over the laptop to Klyment he recognized the images from his 2010 trip to Cinec in Munich, Germany. His images were shot with a Leica M7 and Zeiss 35/2 Biogon, while my overlaid exposures were created with a Contax G1 and 45/2 Zeiss Planar...on April 13, 2011 (almost a year later).

Although I was initially worried that I had ruined a roll of important images, I now feel that given the overall response to these photographs this "tainting" of the original roll has added something incredibly important to the way we view photographic collaboration. Since the processing of this roll Klyment and I have ordered 100 more rolls of film to experiment (purposely this time) with the creation of anonymous double exposures.

How To Make A Caveman.

2011-05-16T16:42:00.000-07:00

One might think that a Caveman is produced when a Cave Mother and Cave Father love each other very much... but it is a far more complex procedure than that. For this reason I have documented my creation of a Caveman so that others might follow in my foot steps with ease.

Step 1.
Employ cheap labor to build the prop Cave-wheel.

Prop construction expert: Elliot P. David

Elliot's work space complete with cardboard, duct tape, and hot glue.

more after the break...

Elliot and his masterpiece.

Step 2.
Revise Elliot's masterpiece.
Elliot's work was good....perhaps Elliot's work was too good. One could plainly see that a Caveman could not have created something so pristine and beautiful, so I took to roughening the edges in order to obtain a more "authentic" look.

Step 3.
Call Mother and ~~ask~~ beg her for help.
This is a very important step. One can obtain many things from a resourceful Mother, including a ripped up fur coat that is haphazardly duct-taped together to resemble classic Caveman garb.

Step 4.
Capture a human willing to undergo the necessary transformation.

I found such a being in a band I had once shot promos for. Some might recognize him from my Flickr account. Although not quite a Caveman to start out with, Brett Miller was interested and willing and these were both desirable traits.

Step 5.
Finish the Wheel...Already.

Paper-mache drying

Paper-mache still drying

Simple grey primer applied

Step 6.
Let the transformation begin!

Luke Stalker-Switzer handled creation of a full beard, make-up, and hair styling for the shoot.

He also helped assist during the shoot. What a nice guy!

You should probably check out his website/fan page.

Step 7.
Capture the Caveman in a safe environment.
and I do stress SAFE. A locked studio is the perfect place in which to photograph a Caveman given their wildly unpredictable behavior. One must keep an eye on them at all times.

Step. 8
Recreate the Caveman's natural habitat.
Given the time constraints of this particular projects I was not able to visit and photograph a legitimate cave, so I was forced to construct my own from a digital collage of photographs I had previously taken.

The ground from this photograph taken in Drumheller ended up being the Cave's floor.


This is the cave wall. I had originally tried to photograph in the physical cave to the right, but was unable to continue through the hip deep snow after crossing a river by foot in below zero temperatures. Instead I had to suffice with a long lens shot of the rock wall. Note to Self: "I am no Survivor Man."

Step. 9
Photoshop is your friend.

Step. 10
Marvel at your creation.

Los Angeles, Indio, Coachella, Salton Sea, Las Vegas Road Trip

2011-05-07T02:01:00.000-07:00

The following are drug store scans of the 35mm film I shot during a trip to the USA with Klyment Tan, Corey Thompson, and Bry Acheson. I intend to eventually rescan and perform final edits on these photographs but for now I've decided to share them in their "rawest" state.

Salton Sea:

more after the break...

Coachella:

This small set is from a roll I had borrowed/taken from Klyment. Unbeknownst to both of us, the roll had already been shot by him in and around Munich and Koln roughly a year ago. My photographs (taken over the pre-exposed film) were all taken near Indio, California. Some of the images from this unintentional collaboration are my favorite photographs to be taken on the trip.

Los Angeles

Leaving Your Emotional Baggage Behind

2011-05-06T03:30:00.000-07:00

So...it's that time again. It's time to blog about my process and new work! Recently I completed a personal shoot based around the idea of "emotional baggage" and took this concept literally into the physical realm. The idea started out pretty vague and started forming as I searched for luggage generic looking enough to hold little cultural value. After a month of two of casually perusing Winners and thrift stores I ended up finding this suitcase in Klyment Tan's garage. Apparently he saved it from a near trip to the dumpster and I am truly grateful for this. =)

This is the type of writing/scribbling/scrawling that started and kept the idea going through the pre- visualization process.

After securing the proper luggage I contacted the YYC airport in Calgary to ensure that a shoot could go down safely. Surprised to find a page on their website dedicated to this exact need, I shot them an email, and received a response quite quickly. This was too easy..and way better than getting kicked out half way through the shoot, especially since I would be shooting this on a larger/"slower" camera.

Figuring out how I could get closest to the look of two faces emerging from the suitcase was probably the most time consuming issue. I went back and forth between a direct photo composite and a more sculptural technique. Following my recent body of work based in craft, I ended up finding two different shaped blank masks at a local costume shop. Using these as base facial shapes for the luggage, I was able to use cardboard, tape, and paper-mache to sculpt the final product. These two "morphed" faces were then adhered to the suitcase with duct tape. This was probably not the prettiest way to do this, but the tape was color neutral and had the ability to hold enough weight..so it worked.

Stefanie Villeneuve took these photos of me at work on my phone. WAX ON, WAX OFF~!

Finished sculpture (pre-paint) under a hot light to dry.

Mask sculptures taped to the suitcase.

The final image(s) were shot with a Cambo WRS-1000 using the Schneider Digitar 47mm lens and a Phase One P25+ back. The file is so ridiculously sharp that working on post-processing at 300x-500x was a pleasure rather than a pain. Instead of discussing all of my post-processing work I figured I'd make a fun GIF so you can play eye-spy. It's just more fun that way, but if you have any questions (like "why did you waste this much time?") I'd be more than happy to answer.

I'm currently still figuring out which crop of the image I prefer so I will put up the final two. Perhaps a vote is in order? I think right now each serves a different purpose in print...and I can't see the value in really picking one over the other for strictly web use.

Beer Tongue Process

2011-01-23T20:22:00.000-08:00

This was an experimental mock advertisement I attempted recently. Often my best imagery comes to me in the form of dreams. I take these surreal images as technical challenges and bring them to reality. Although digital technologies have helped with this immensely I still live with the motto “you can’t polish a turd,” in mind. I take each project as far as I can in reality and then use digital alterations for “minor” touch ups.

I had originally envisioned a floating glass pouring beer onto multiple tongues sticking out of a grass field. After consulting peers for critical feedback I decided to use only one tongue instead, and to have a hand (the hand of “god”) pouring the beverage onto the tongue.

One of the original mock-ups

Luke's clay tongue

Comparison of pre-fab gag tongue.

The next problem I faced was finding a tongue to fit the correct scale I had developed in the mock-up. A real tongue was slightly smaller than desired. Real tongues also had defects and telling features that would detract from the “cute/cartoon” look I was going for. In the end I got my good friend and talented sculptor, Luke Stalker-Switzer, to sculpt me a tongue out of clay. We also found a toy tongue at Michaels Craft Supplies, but opted to use his because of the flexibility we had in crafting the shape. The clay was left unfired and unpainted so we were able to make adjustments while shooting occurred. Because of this I was forced to paint/texturize the tongue in post, which was convenient given the clay’s neutral tonality.

Obtaining the right “splash” look is no easy feat as any liquid photographer could tell you. If I were to do this again I would definitely place some sort of sham-wow or other absorbent material underneath the grass. We went through a bit more beer shooting this than I originally thought we would. In order to keep the “in camera” methodology we developed a cuff for the model’s hand with clouds. This was similar to a blue Santa suit constructed from cotton batting (same as the clouds) and a scrap of the background paper.


Lighting Setup

As you can see in the lighting setup photo I used Dyna-lite 2040s to light the background. The tallest light is working to add a subtle wrap around effect on the top of the hand while a Profoto head through an octobox with grid acts as a key light for the hand and glass.

What I believe makes this shot unique from other product shots done before is that it was nearly done in one shot. The subtle nuances such as the reflection of the grass in the beverage/glass would have likely been lost had this shoot been carried out like most current jewelery/product shoots where everything is shot separately and composited.


Final Image

Oil Box - Process

2011-01-03T23:30:00.000-08:00

It has been pointed out that some of the most interesting parts of my practice are in the preproduction of my product/still life work. Because of this, my blog will be moving in the direction of showing the development of work rather than being devoted solely to finished pieces.

The first piece I planned to investigate was the oil filled juice box. This idea originated as a “three dimensional political art piece.” After 5-6 large pages of rough ideas and brainstorming I had come to the final concept that the production of goods, such as drinking containers had a serious impact on the earth and its non-renewable resources. These effects were not as visible as the landfills spreading. By recycling and reusing as much as possible one could help to reduce the detrimental effects of production as well as the disposal. As obvious as all of this is, I was hoping to convey all of this in one simple eye-catching image.

After brainstorming the final imagery I had planned to take an actual juice box and cover it in dirt with grass on top to simulate a chunk of the earth. Finding materials that would translate well in this scale was more difficult than I had predicted. Originally I planned to use grass and dirt from model train suppliers. The grass worked well enough, but the dirt would require more structural support and building. At this point I decided that using real dirt would be a more realistic choice. The scale would become almost irrelevant due to most perceptions of the underground being skewed by television/movies. I proceeded to affix dirt with medium/low moisture content to the juice box using spray glue. About 15 layers of glue and dirt later, the coverage was finally sufficient. I ended up using more layers of glue to act as a sealant coat of sorts. The grass was much easier to adhere, as it wasn’t organic.

As I had mentioned earlier this piece was originally a three-dimensional sculpture, rather than a photograph. To simulate a droplet of oil suspended from the straw I laid out about 50 different droplets of hot glue onto a piece of tin foil which I then painted gloss black. Tin foil allowed for these droplets to be separated from the backing. Once I picked the “perfect” droplet I glued the tip into the tip of the straw. Mounting the entire juice box onto a foam-core backboard with dowelling I was able to make it “float” in front of the gallery wall.

painted hot glue droplet

When moving this work into the photographic medium, I became frustrated with the artificial look of the droplet. Although it was believable from far away, it did not hold up under close inspection. I took another straw and this time I purchased India ink to create the “oil” droplet. I had thought about physically shooting ink through the straw but to do this I would waste too many straws making the perfect splotchy ink straw with the perfect drip. Wastage would go against the ideals of the final image itself.

I figured out that to create a drop coming from the tip of the straw all I had to do was physically dunk the straw’s tip into the jar of ink. Many drips later I had the shot and was able to composite this straw onto the body of the juice box.

High sync'd droplet shots. The straw was wrapped with scotch tape and lodged inside a brass tripod adapter. =)

Final Image:

Cambo WRS-1000 "DIY" Iphone Mount

2010-12-12T00:12:00.000-08:00

Pictured somewhere in this blog post (I've been having a ton of problems with Blogger's formatting) is my new camera for architectural and interior shooting. Understandably this looks less like a camera than it does an abstract sculpture of sorts. The reason I guess I am posting about this is to share an idea with those shooting similar cameras. On top of the Cambo WRS1000 body you can see a C shaped clamp mounted to the hot shoe. I used this to mount my iphone 4 on top of the camera to use as a viewfinder (I'm using the Alpa settings on the Viewfinder Pro app.)
Anyways, Alpa is basically Cambo's main competitor in the realm of medium format digital specific plate cameras, which are usually used for high end landscape, architecture, and some product shooting. This year at Photokina Alpa released an iphone mount for their system for only £425.00 (roughly $567 CAN)!!! This product can be seen here. Not only does this product not exist (yet?) for the Cambo line, but it is so overpriced for something that does not technically interact with the camera itself. I've concocted a financially friendly alternative with a few parts from eBay.
One can find the two parts here:
http://cgi.ebay.ca/Universal-BRACKET-ADAPTER-MOUNT-Tripod-iPhone-4-3G-/170556453314?pt=PDA_Accessories&hash=item27b5f4f1c2

http://cgi.ebay.ca/1-4-20-Tripod-screw-Flash-Hot-Shoe-Mount-Adapter-/330378229087?pt=Camera_Flash_Accessories&hash=item4cec13b55f

The only potential downfalls of this compared to the Alpa mount are that the homemade mount is not completely level due to threading of the tripod mount and that the holder itself is plastic. I would rebut these arguments with the fact that one wouldn't expect the viewfinder to be perfectly level anyways because tethering is the only true way to perfect focusing on these plate style cameras. I also prefer plastic for decreased weight. You can't beat the price of this. Should the links go out of service, I will note that in the end I spent roughly $10 CAN, shipping included, compared to the branded $567 alternative.

New (temporary) Portfolio + Yesteryear's Design work.

2010-10-07T21:43:00.000-07:00

I finally updated the site, putting a flash player/real functioning portfolio for some of my more commercial images. For those who seek out my "artsy" stuff/more photos until I finish uploading everything you can check out my Flickr.

Also exciting: I've made my first foray into digital HD video and plan to produce some work to show on the blog. I've been shooting tape-based video for almost ten years now, but this new explosion of high definition video capable DSLRs has made it possible to make cheap shorts that don't make your eyes go out of focus. The footage is also quite easy to view/grade/disseminate. =)

My photography is heavily inspired by design trends so I thought I would post a couple excerpts from actual design pieces I have done for class/clients. In the future I will definitely be integrating more copy and design elements into my work. One of the items below is a specs sheet for a client, whose car I have photographed on a couple occasions. The other is the cover and foreword I photographed and laid out for a personal magazine project. The inset image of me was photographed by Greg Gerla.

A Couple Wedding shots from this Summer.

2010-09-24T23:16:00.000-07:00

These are some of the shots from Rheann and Kyle Clay's wedding. It was a beautiful day in Okotoks, with a weird 15 minutes of rain right after the ceremony.

Bedouin Suites

2010-08-30T01:42:00.000-07:00

Just some interior photographs I have neglected to post in the past. These are from the Five West building in downtown Calgary.

Promotional Documents

2010-08-22T23:39:00.000-07:00

The summer is quickly coming to a close, and I am trying to fit in as much shooting as possible so blog posts will be sparse until snow falls. I recently recieved some final printed material that my photography was used in; so I thought I would share.

First up is a promotional coil bound booklet which has information on Lafarge and their services. I was selected to work for Lafarge through a "work scholarship" program at ACAD. The experience has given me much insight into the agregate industry. This booklet will be sent to clients of Lafarge Calgary. Photographing a coil-bound book ended up being much more convenient to photograph than other books. No need to find a hand model or adhesives. =)

I did not shoot this cover, but it reminded me of the awesome work Shanghoon (Westside Studios) did for Canadian Tire.

(Left) One of Lafarge's employees wearing proper site safety gear.

(Left) This closeup of black ashphalt against the bright yellow of new construction equipment works well to grab the viewer's attention while showing the product in its simplest form.


(Right) The hands of a worker for ProCon Road Works paving in Banff. I cannot remember if the left shot was mine. I do remember having a similar shot without the obstruction in the foreground.

I also received a package from ACAD with their new Viewbook. The packaging itself was very interesting, having perforated shapes and symbols in the box. I believe these touches were care of Combine Design, which also designed the viewbook/other ACAD promotional documents. Many of the shots taken for this (some which I have already posted) did not make it to print. I may display these photos on my blog in the future, as I believe some of the shots are actually my strongest editorial photos to date. (Please excuse my hand.)

Bedouin Suites

2010-07-19T00:34:00.000-07:00

Some recent interior photography for Bedouin Luxury Suites. Most of this was shot on small format digital with perspective correction. In these photos the client sought to successfully capture the warm ambiance/atmosphere of the luxury suites, while still placing emphasis on the wide selection of amenities and custom detailing incorporated into the suites. These details include dimmers installed on every light, custom AV systems, and gas fireplaces in the living rooms.

Five West

2010-07-01T23:56:00.000-07:00

4x5 Instant Film

2010-06-19T10:07:00.001-07:00

An instant preview from a recent interior shoot on Fuji FP100C 4x5 film. This was shot with a Horseman LE large format camera with a Nikkor 75mm 4.5 SW. This lens allowed for a wider view and much more pleasing perspective than the a 17mm lens on a crop body (d300) allowed (with much less barrel distortion). The hard copy (on 160nc film stock) should be coming back from ABC this upcoming week.

2010-06-04T00:20:00.001-07:00

Irritating Mothers Since 1962

2010-05-29T18:54:00.000-07:00

A fun conceptual mock advertisement for Marshall Amplifiers that I had created in this year's design class. Featured in the ad is my own baby, a 1976 Marshall JMP 2203. This was one of my first attempts at photo illustration (the power cable and glass were fabricated using only digital means).

1972 BMW 2002tii

2010-05-29T00:33:00.000-07:00

ACAD Viewbook 2010 - Natalie Rodrigues

2010-05-17T23:44:00.000-07:00

Natalie Rodrigues is a First Year Studies/Glass teacher at ACAD. I found her in the middle of planning her next pieces through means of print media (intaglio?) This was less visually stimulating than glass/studio work so she allowed me to document her putting finishing touches on some older projects.

ACAD Viewbook 2010 - Lionel Cipriano

2010-05-16T11:36:00.000-07:00

Earlier this year I was given the opportunity to document the lives of two people that work/study at ACAD. The viewbook is ACAD's official international publication of recruitment. While in the process of creating the material for this I was guided by Combine Design to shoot from a raw editorial perspective, with an emphasis on colour and movement. Although not all photos posted in this blog will be included, I believe they are important to showing who these individuals are and what they do. The published material should available to public in late summer.

This is Lionel Cipriano, who just graduated last weekend from the Visual Communications stream. He's quite accomplished and was extremely easy to work with. I look forward to see where he goes and what he creates in the future.

SCANSCANSCAN

2010-04-27T18:39:00.000-07:00

Spent the day scanning 35mm from the past year. Here are a couple from today. These were taken with my Contax G1 (90mm and 45mm respectively) using HP5+ film and scanned with an Epson v750 Pro using Silverfast AI software.

Verge Magazine

2010-04-15T18:13:00.000-07:00

Recently I collaborated with Ian Liu on a set of photoshoots for his and Joey Camacho's new magazine, Verge. The magazine/book was a hit with the people at Blurb, quickly making its way into the staff's picks section.
Here are some of my shots featured in the magazine.

Walking Around in the Dark.

2010-03-25T18:45:00.000-07:00

A Couple Class Shots

2010-02-16T22:45:00.000-08:00

A more detailed classwork post is in the works. Hang tight.
Water Study

Colby Jones at work.

Give Me Shelter

2009-12-03T02:40:00.001-08:00

Make-up and Hair: Shannon Lane
Models: Mackenzie and Sarah

What I've been up to lately...

2009-11-21T18:18:00.000-08:00

It's been awhile. I've been super busy with schooling and planning to shoot my first music video. Regardless here are a few recent photos I've taken.

Carly Francis and Jamie Kidd (and Justin?) in a creative make-up based shoot I collaborated on with Shannon Lane. One of these photos did not make the final edit. Can you guess which? =P

Brodi Scott and Bird Rondeel in Two-Face inspired Halloween costumes. The makeup was done by Luke Stalker-Switzer. Shot with the Nikkor 60mm f2.8

A couple setup shots while shooting interior architecture with my new Horseman LE 4x5 (along with
Barlebach tripod), which I acquired from Klyment Tan. Shooting large format has forced me into a different mindset of shooting. Hopefully I will be posting some images I have shot
with this system soon.

Some summer candids from my Contax G1. Both were shot with the Contax Carl Zeiss Planar 2/45. I forgot the filmstock I had used for these particular images. I personally think Amanda would make a terrific model for Tim Hortons. =P

Brittney and Emma

2009-09-08T18:29:00.000-07:00

Stereos... in Stereo

2009-08-13T23:40:00.001-07:00

Negligent Photography

2009-07-21T16:41:00.001-07:00

Recently I came across a box of photos, which I had taken years ago. I was shooting a combination of the family's automatic film camera and disposable cameras. My mother had sold her manual Canon years before I showed interest. I find it interesting to look back and compare these images with some of my newer photographs. These images help to remind me that a good photograph is only 10% technical. Back then my intent was to capture an emotion or moment. In capturing the escence of a hardcore show, I think the low-fi aesthetics of a disposable film camera are extremely suiting.

Big ClipUp Results

2009-03-30T02:04:00.000-07:00

The BIG ClipUp was held in conjunction with Exposure 2009 The Calgary/Banff Photography Festival on February 20th, 2009. The show was held one night only at the vintage Marquee Room above the Uptown Theatre.

Top place winner, Mike Morrison took home the coveted ClipUp trophy. Second place went to Michele Ramberg. There was a three-way tie for third place going to Justin Poulsen, Curtis Trent and Grant Waddell.

Art Awearness IX at ACAD

2009-03-03T23:37:00.001-08:00

A long time coming..

2009-02-12T02:12:00.000-08:00

After much debate, I have decided on new camera. I'm avoiding the huge FX/Full Frame/EPIC Vignetting Fail hype. Instead of buying the hottest new thing (that somehow usually fails .. COUGH 5dmarkII's black spots? cough) I got something tried and true, and I'm investing the rest in glass to do the body justice.

Now if I could just figure out action script 3... =/

43 Things

2009-02-06T08:54:00.001-08:00

I took the 43 Things Personality Quiz and found out I'm a

Spiritual Money Managing Builder

Some Recent Work: Calgary Landscapes

2008-10-08T23:57:00.000-07:00

Houston,

2008-10-03T21:29:00.000-07:00

We Have Take Off.

Preview of a New Set

2008-09-09T21:10:00.001-07:00

Can't wait to get out shooting, and compile a new and updated website. =)

New Bag

2008-08-05T14:52:00.000-07:00

Picked up the Kata OC-97 from the Camera Store today. Very excited about it. It holds most of my lighting equipment, with room for more. In the picture it is packed quite loosely. This makes transporting gear for shoots a one or two man job, compared to a three or four person job.

New ACAD Viewbook

2008-07-19T22:46:00.000-07:00

http://www.acad.ab.ca/viewbook.html

Windows Vista 64 bit Raw Issues.

2008-07-16T02:07:00.000-07:00

After starting to use Vista 64x, I quickly found there is no raw support..at all. Scouring the internet came up with little, as it seems many companies have chosen to ignore 64bit operating systems when it came time for driver development. Although as of yet there is still no freeware thumbnail preview solution, I have found a "slightly obvious semi-solution" for those who wish to tether using older Canon cameras.

My problem, I ran into, is that my camera (Canon 30d) would not connect through my proprietary software, nor would it connect through any other software featuring tether support.
My solution was to download these files:

zb611upd-en.exe
eu240en.exe

these files should already come standard on any software discs coming with newer Canon cameras (40d and on.)

By using EOS utility I was able to set a file which the images would automatically drop into, which I then accessed through Capture One Pro (A more favorable program for viewing/editing raw images.)

In closing, I would like to thank Canon for taking notice of Vistax64 when updating their Zoombrower and EOS utility programs.