Archive for the Category ◊ portraiture ◊

22 Aug 2010 Nonno
Author: Gail |  Category: Image Legacy, Working Life, portraiture  | 2 Comments

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The House of Fielding is in usual post-wedding recovery mode today. Yesterday’s nuptials was a 16-hour shooting day from the time I arrived at the bride’s house in the morning to the time I left the reception venue. Come to think of it, the last wedding I shot was also 16 hours from beginning to end. Most photographers leave after the bouquet toss, but I stay until the music stops and in the case of last night, that turned out to be 3am. I was thinking today of writing an FAQ section to my portrait photography site (overdue for a makeover) because I get more than enough to warrant putting one together, and why I shoot for that long is one of the questions I get asked most frequently.

One thing I loved about yesterday’s wedding is how close-knit the families are, on both sides. The reception was mostly relatives: cousins, second cousins, aunties, uncles, grandparents, nieces, nephews, and in-laws in addition to parents and siblings. Seeing babies and old folk makes me smile. When I saw the Nonno of the bride, I couldn’t wait to take his picture!

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02 Jun 2010 The Typewriter
Author: Gail |  Category: USA, portraiture  | 5 Comments

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Click on the pic below for the story from Helma:

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08 May 2010 Newest Munchkins
Author: Gail |  Category: portraiture  | One Comment

This trip marks the longest I’ve gone without a flight to Vancouver (14 months) since I left five and a half years ago. In that time I’ve missed out on some very cute debuts, but I took the opportunity to make proper introductions this time around. A few preview pics before I crash for the evening:

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24 Apr 2010 April 23 Preview Photos
Author: Gail |  Category: Out + About, events, film photography, portraiture  | Leave a Comment

Shots scads ‘o photos yesterday, between Nicole and Jeremy’s engagement shoot in High Park and Jan’s birthday at Sutra Tiki Bar in Little Italy last night. Also, I was excited to see what developed out of my Chinon CE-4 film roll, which was started in 2008 (!) and only finished recently. I picked up the index print and CD yesterday. It’s only my second roll out of that camera, and I am even happier with the results this second time around. I really should use it more often, but between the film and developing it can be rather expensive.

I only have time to upload a few photos before heading back to High Park to shoot another engagement session with Sandra and Jon. Hope it doesn’t rain, it keeps threatening to…

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Reading the menu by the light of an LED duck — it quacks, even! I love this photo. View larger.

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Nicole and Jeremy in High Park.

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Chinon CE-4 film camera (scanned negative). The vignetting is in the camera, I didn’t process it aside from removing a big piece of dust in the corner.

Eric during our trip last August to Montreal, writing a postcard to his grandmother. This is my favourite from the roll.

09 Dec 2009 Smiles At The Nail Salon
Author: Gail |  Category: Humour, portraiture  | 3 Comments

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I’m posting on the fly again, because I’m working to another deadline tonight and I want to get more than three hours of sleep (which is what I had last night, but at least I finished that job). I wanted to post this photo of the Vietnamese lady working at the salon because she sure looks happy for someone who works on people’s feet. Feet are pretty nasty, if you ask me. That’s the only time I’ve ever had a pedicure and it could be that my photo timing was good, but I can’t take that sort of credit — not this time. I’m told by the regulars that the ladies who work there smile and joke on a regular basis, and I hope they get tipped accordingly because laughter is the best kind of contagious there is.

The video for today isn’t music this time, it’s classic Bill Cosby… if you haven’t laughed yet today, this should get you started!

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07 Dec 2009 Uplighting
Author: Gail |  Category: Music, Videoclips, portraiture  | Leave a Comment

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Have I mentioned uplighting before? I don’t think so, but I will now because it’s quite underrated and it makes spaces (especially at weddings) look quite beautiful. Case in point, Brookfield Place. This was from Justin’s photoshoot last January — wow, can it be that long ago?? We ducked in here while it was quieter on a weekend. For the interested, it was shot at 1/200 sec at f/2.0 ISO 500, 50mm with the 50mm f/1.8 prime (aka “Thrifty Fifty”). Processing in Nikon Capture NX2, PS10 (CS3), and Lightroom 2. No flash, just ambient light. I don’t usually list the specs for each shot; the very thought of that makes me want to weep, but if you want to know, write a comment and I’ll post it by request.

Music for today: one of my favourite bands of all time (long since disbanded), Massive Attack performing “Unfinished Sympathy” live at the Phoenix Festival in England in 1996

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05 Dec 2009 The Best Light
Author: Gail |  Category: Music, Videoclips, portraiture  | One Comment

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The family portrait shoot today went pretty well, but at the time I was shooting outside (can you believe it’s warm enough to be outside in December?) the sun was far too strong. It sounds counter intuitive, but strong sunshine is actually NOT good for shooting portraits, especially when people are fair-skinned and light-sensitive. The best light to shoot in is actually window light — it’s filtered and makes great catchlights (those points of light in the eyes) without your subjects squinting.

This is one of my favourite portraits of today, where the light strength was perfect through the window beside the front door. I found it on my way out, when I was putting on my shoes. Sometimes it takes a random moment like that to make the discovery.

Today’s video: Pink Martini of Portland, Oregon, performing “Una Notte a Napoli” on Italian TV (I love China Forbe’s voice)

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12 Nov 2009 Little People, Big Hugs
Author: Gail |  Category: portraiture  | Leave a Comment

Aw, what could be better?

One of the photos from the family shoot on October 18.

20 Oct 2009 The Unbearable Cuteness Of Being
Author: Gail |  Category: portraiture  | 3 Comments

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Two incredibly cute munchkin cousins from my family photoshoot last Sunday at Wilket Creek Park. I have so many adorable shots of the toddlers with their parents, but I’ll wait a bit longer first before posting while everyone gets a chance to make their selections from the contact sheet.

26 Sep 2009 Previews To The Previews
Author: Gail |  Category: Food + Drink, Working Life, events, portraiture  | 3 Comments

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I’m between functions at the moment, which means I should be napping but I’m uploading a couple of photos first. This week’s been unbelievably crazy-busy, which means I haven’t been able to do anything with last Saturday’s photos of Beth and Shawn and their kids in High Park except do backups and make a contact sheet. Here’s one photo of Beth and Shawn I will be enlarging and displaying at their upcoming wedding. Call me biased, but I love this picture!

And here’s one photo from the wedding I shot today at Brassai on King West. It was a FAB-ulous affair, with the funniest officiant ever, plus a robot, cat, owl, sailor, and… well, I shouldn’t say anymore — this is a pre-preview, after all.

So many details about this wedding won me over, but a wedding brunch? GENIUS! I dug right into the croissants, bacon, eggs, and easily the best granola I’ve ever eaten (with macadamia nuts and coconut–yum!). This pancake tower is a work of art:

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Wait’ll you see the rest of the pictures! Let’s see if I can get any sleep before the post-wedding party…

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