Second go at assisting on a fashion shoot.

Published on May 3, 2012 in Photography, Portraiture and Street Photography. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , .

About a month ago fellow photographer Nhi Le of www.noyophoto.com was gracious enough to invite me along to assist him and his team for the day on their fashion shoot. I’ve quickly learned that these fashion gigs are an extremely collaborative process that require not only a model and photographer but also stylists/coordinators, makeup artists and hair stylists. Meeting up with the group at a very unique art installation, I was excited to watch everyone’s work unfold.


Deanna with her makeup and hair team looking on.


Nhi and Deanna brainstorming some photo ideas.


Even though this was one of the few nice days we had seen in Vancouver in awhile, the light and reflection off the pink wall wreaked havoc on my sensibilities. I wouldn’t normally post a photo like the one above but I really liked the composition.


The team. From left to right: Richard Vo (hair), Nhi Le, Deanna Guilfoyle, Lawrence Hon (makeup) and Brittany Whitney (stylist).

Searching for any of the talent above? Look these guys up!

#604Photowalk 8 UBC

Published on April 24, 2012 in Photography, Portraiture and Street Photography. 4 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , .


The long anticipated #604Photowalk number 8 was finally upon us and everyone seemed pretty enthusiastic to get to some fun and friendly photography that day. The weather was cooperating for the most part (at least it didn’t rain!) and I think we all enjoyed being outdoors. So without further adieu, here are some of the sights we saw in and around UBC.


This is what happens when I let a little bit of organizational power go to my head. Dance my minions. DANCE!


Not only is Irv Lau (@irvlau) our administrator in charge of logistics, equipment and general stuff porter and tour guide, he has also become our unofficial model. Very GQ.


One of our goals that day was to catch the cherry blossoms before they disappeared for another year.


I’m glad we did see the the blossoms as they make for some pretty photos. Even though the above photo is anything but in focus, I like the effect the blur gives the shot. It’s almost as if Thomas Tang (@tmasoo) and Irv are casually stepping into another ethereal world.

It was at this point in the day where I decided to become a bit more interactive with the people in my viewfinder. I had heard before that anyone can press the trigger on a camera, but that it takes a certain level of social poking and prodding to uncover a really great “moment” or particularly interesting demeanor from the person you are taking the photo of. Here is Vince Chow (@vincechow)

This photo of Tianna Kwong (@tiannank) is only slightly (and hilariously) marred by the Thomas photobomb. I would have spliced Thomas out, but I think this is a better representation of that memory.


The stylish shoe models of our group.

Yet another photobomb care of Thomas, this time on Cicy Chan (@CicyChan).


Cicy sans the sunglasses.

The usually quite reserved Sukhraj Bhattal (@sukhrajb).

Who can be quite animated given the right circumstances.

Thomas Tang, who was oddly without a camera this time around, should be congratulated for finishing his engineering degree (and for making it back to his car without passing out from food fatigue).


With the camera turned on him this time, the photographic force of nature Nhi Le (@noyophoto) looking svelte and just as comfortable on this side of the lens.

One more photo of Vince sporting his blood donation band-aid.


And in a rare moment of weakness I was thrown in front of the camera myself. Thanks go to Nhi Le for this photo credit.


The ever popular Irv, almost definitely coordinating the world from his phone.


Someone spotted this Banksy-esque stencil of Chomsky in the UBC rose gardens.


A lamp post riddled with stickers from the UBC Museum of Art.


A coyote made an appearance near the tail end of our walk and hardly seemed phased by the presence of so many humans.


Posed and contrived, I couldn’t help but force my will upon the remainder of our group one more time for the above photo. My only hope is that my abuse of power does not end up causing a violent uprising against me. I would like to express my appreciation and thanks to those who made it out to this last #604Photowalk. It was a fun experience and I look forward to seeing you all again soon!

Harvest Community Foods

Published on April 11, 2012 in Casual, Sandwiches, Snacks and Vegetarian. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , .

Harvest Community Foods is part organic grocery, part diner that not only serves the communities of Chinatown and Strathcona, but can thank interested residents for their business model as well. Born from a truly innovative idea, the owners of the commercial unit put the question of what kind of business the space should contain out to the public via their website polls on www.thisspace.ca. Even choices like the name of the business and which design team to use were put in the hands of any who were interested in providing their opinion.

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Portrait of a Stranger: Carla Miranda

Published on April 9, 2012 in Photography, Portraiture and Street Photography. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

With the weather warming up just in time for the holiday weekend I took it upon myself to enjoy as much of the outdoors as I possibly could. Friday morning encompassed a leisurely bike ride around the Seawall and Stanley Park with some good friends. Saturday (starting at 5am) I was put through my paces by another friend who was training for his half ironman triathlon. Suffice it to say I was more than a little fatigued after putting in (as near as makes no difference) 100kms in two days on my bike before meeting Vince (of www.vincechow.ca) for a photo walk and mutual learning session regarding our editing styles. I must once again apologize to Vince as I was probably more dead weight that day than usual.

Irregardless of my tiredness, it really was a nice day to be strolling around the streets of the city and even in my bleary eyed state I saw a great photo opportunity in the sun across a street in Gastown. Seated between two doorways, also enjoying the nice weather, was my best photo of the day.

Hesitating for only a moment before b-lining it across the street, I asked if I could take her photo for my portraits of strangers project and she kindly obliged. Introducing herself as Carla, I later learned that she works in graphic design and fashion, which I thought really showed in her demeanor and style. I also liked that she was sporting a daffodil for cancer awareness month.

My thanks go to Carla for being so open and friendly in addition to being such a great subject for this portrait!

If you would like to learn more about her work feel free to visit her website www.carlamiranda.ca.

An afternoon with Patrick Leung

Published on April 3, 2012 in Photography, Portraiture and Street Photography. 2 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

After our most recent #604PhotoWalk, which can be found HERE, I got a chance to meet up with Patrick Leung (of www.patrickleung.com) again for another photo walk. Here’s what I captured.


One of my favourite shots of the day.


Older cars seemed to be a recurring theme during the day and I managed to capture a few great specimens.


I remember a time when volvos like this were seen on every street. Do you remember the volvo station-wagons that had the rear facing seats in the trunk?


This last photo was my attempt at a Nick Onken inspired shot. If you’ve looked through his website at some of his work then you might know which photo I derived my creative drive from. There is definitely a bit more of an aggressive feel to this edit than what I normally release. I may return to this one day to give it another go.

 

#604PhotoWalk 7

Published on March 22, 2012 in Photography, Portraiture and Street Photography. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Being so enamoured with the Fred Herzog exhibit at the Equinox Project Space it was decided that we would all go one more time to take it all in again. It just so happened that it was St. Patrick’s day as well, which created a lot of fodder for our collective creativity. Gathering a larger than expected group together, we browsed the gallery and after that made our way through Chinatown and Gastown. Here are a few of the shots I caught that day.


It wasn’t until after snapping this photo of a flock of seagulls that I noticed the blue placard stuck to the wall at the entrance to this alley on Keefer Street. It reads as follows:

When she returned
from overseas, people
complained that she stood
too closely, sometimes they could
feel her breath, soured by late afternoon,
a moist jet of speech…
With time she retreated and people
began to feel better again.

The poem doesn’t contain any details or credit the author and it seems like a very odd place to put it as only those who happen to look up would catch it. Even if someone were to happen to look up, it would be difficult to read from street level. If anyone knows the details behind this interesting bit of found poetry, please let me know as I would love to hear the reasoning behind it.


This is Megan. Patrick Leung actually saw her walking down the street with her friend (whose name I believe was “Shab”, but she was too shy to have her photo taken). Even from across the road we spotted the vibrant flash of colour in her hair and scarf and Patrick was kind enough to prod me into chasing them down the street to to ask if I could take their portrait. Hesitating only a moment I bolted through traffic and after a bit of an awkward introduction, snapped the above photo.


That’s a good looking group of photo walkers right there.


A couple of security guards were in the middle of trying to remove this lively busker from his perch on the “Gassy” Jack Deighton statue.


Sandy, who I later found out was a makeup artist, was my second portrait of a stranger that day and she was very malleable in terms of direction. Between this photo and her “look miserable” face, I thought this was the more post worthy of the two.


This last photo intrigued me as I looked up because it seemed like the escape ladder served no purpose.

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all those who participated in this most recent #604PhotoWalk. It was a fun experience and as always a great way to spend the day!

My first behind the scenes experience at a fashion photo shoot.

Published on March 21, 2012 in Photography, Portraiture and Street Photography. 2 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , .

I recently had the privilege of being invited with my colleague Vince Chow (of www.vincechow.com) to a behind the scenes look at a fashion photo shoot with Nhi Le (of www.noyophoto.com). I have to say that snapping a few photos and learning the process from a photographer’s point of view provided me with some pretty good insight and knowledge of the craft on this first go around and I can’t wait to look in on some more in the future!


The styling team consisted of Amber Sheikh (based out of Ottawa) and Erum Sheikh (of Storm Salon) on makeup and hair respectively, and Martine Beausoleil (of www.harricana.qc.ca) as coordinator all of whom worked with the gorgeous Lindsay V. (from Numa Models).


I was told the process started early (7:00am the day of daylight savings) and the first photos didn’t take place until around 10:30 or so.


The day was unforgiving in the cold weather but everyone was professional and as luck would have it, that would be the first sunny day in quite some time.


Consisting of four different clothing changes with matching hair and makeup, Vince and I looked in on two of them while out and about the rest of the day on our own project downtown.

My personal thanks go out to Nhi Le, Amber Sheikh, Erum Sheikh, Martine Beausoleil and Lindsay V. for being so open and inviting on the shoot and allowing myself and Vince access to observe and learn.

 

Legendary Noodle

Published on March 21, 2012 in Casual, Chinese, Dim Sum and Noodles. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

Legendary Noodle is a noodle house that has caught my attention on more than one occasion in passing while making my way up and/or down Denman Street. The large and succinct signage expresses a couple of things that together would make a great meal. Being in the area on a somewhat dreary day, I took the opportunity to test out the epic status of their name for myself.

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Some more portrait work.

Published on March 14, 2012 in Photography, Portraiture and Street Photography. 2 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Needless to say I am really enjoying this somewhat new found passion for (street) portraiture. Most of the people I’ve encountered so far have been open and willing to allow me to snap a photo of them and with any luck this has not only given me the privilege practicing something I love to do, but to also get my name out there and perhaps even make someone’s day. At least I hope the people I come in contact with on this venture take my approach in a flattering way (which they should).

So without further delay, here are a few people I recently captured.


I spotted the above individual on Granville Street as he walked out of one of the stores. The way he stood a few feet beyond the threshold he had just exited while taking in his surroundings made it looked like he was taking a break from his job.


The relaxed air about him was enough for me to walk up and introduce myself and after a few moments I was taking his photo. Being satisfied with the shots I learned his name was Louis and that was where we parted ways.


Walking along Cordova Street with Vince Chow, a ray of sunlight streaming into a store front immediately caught my attention.  I found the shadow created by the iron gated window being cast over the interior brick work to be very interesting and the way the light hit the employee inside screamed for me to capture it in camera. Only thinking as far as looking up to realize it was a tattoo parlor, I clumsily fumbled with the door knob before inquiring with the occupants if I could take their photo. Arlin (or “Uncle Arlo” of www.aplustattoos.com), pictured above, was kind enough to oblige me and I wasted no time at all taking the shot. After exchanging business cards I asked if I could put Vince in the same spot to create him a new portrait as well.


Getting Vince to mimic a serious look is a bit more difficult than one would think as he is such a good humoured individual, but I did manage to catch him in a moment of striking contemplation.

I would like to thank Arlin and Gastown Tattoo & Body Piercing for allowing me to access their cool space and those few moments of rich sunlight painted on the wall.

A quick street portrait post.

Published on March 13, 2012 in Photography, Portraiture and Street Photography. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

After spending a rather fruitless afternoon out and about in rather questionable (and unfortunately typical) Vancouver weather, I had almost lost all hope of achieving another portrait of a stranger this particular day. Having missed countless opportunities on account of my rather reserved and (self acknowledged) shy nature in a nameless and faceless crowd, I had already relegated myself to quiet defeat. Slightly downtrodden (and perhaps a bit soggy from the light, but incessant, rain) I was well on my way to a friend’s house for the evening when out of the corner of my eye I spotted someone relaxed against one of the stone walls of the Bay. Recognizing a fellow people watcher, I was interested by the way the retail light was illuminating her face. Walking past and being stopped by a rather fateful red light, I thought to myself “what the hey” and turned around.

Navigating around the crowd I approached the mark with a smile and asked if I could take her portrait, explaining with all of the genuineness I could muster that I was working on a personal project to do with street photography and portraiture. While she seemed rather hesitant at first, she warmed up to the idea after I presented her my card.

To be perfectly honest I was a bit too flustered to even introduce myself properly as this whole business of asking strangers for their portrait is an immensely overwhelming ordeal as it is. And while I can’t for the life of me remember her name (or even if I asked for it), I do wish to express my gratitude for allowing me to capture her image and turn around an otherwise unproductive afternoon!

#604PhotoWalk 6

Published on March 8, 2012 in Photography, Portraiture and Street Photography. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Despite the fluctuating weather we had one of the largest turn outs to date for #604PhotoWalk 7. The meeting place no doubt played a role in generating interest in our gathering as we were all eagerly anticipating a thorough browsing of the newly opened Equinox Project Space which featured none other than famed street photographer Fred Herzog himself. Gathering outside the gallery, we did our best to be social before jumping straight into the past and a Vancouverite’s history in colour street photography.


I sort of wish I got some photos from within the gallery but I was too preoccupied scrutinizing every last detail I could from the wonderful collection. Inspiration was oozing from every framed photo and after making a pass at each one I know I couldn’t wait to get out and start the walk!


This Alfa Romeo (I think?) was the spitting image of a well maintained and/or restored subtly beautiful vintage car as it rumbled by. I have to say that the more I look at the photo, the more I am enamoured by it’s clean black lines.


Turning up main street our group went in search of interesting sights and people. Oddly enough we didn’t happen across as many patrons, probably due to in part to the weather, as we would have liked. That fact was especially true for the Hipsters we were looking to catch in their natural environment.


Walking past Cafe Gene I couldn’t help but snap a few photos. Lots of fond memories here and it’s still a unique building always full of interesting characters.


Take for example this guy who was overjoyed to snap up a phone photo of another over photographed subject…


This battle hardened fellow, who didn’t even flinch as most of our group nearly ruined themselves taking its photo. The owner of the Pug seemed like a pretty open minded guy and allowed Patrick Leung to take a photo of him on his film camera. I personally can’t wait to see how that photo turned out as, from what I saw,  the man’s pose fit his stature perfectly.


Setting a challenge for myself, I wanted to introduce myself to and photograph three strangers over the course of the day. Unfortunately I only managed to get one, but I have still yet to be turned down, which pleases me to no end. Andre turned out to be a friendly individual and I thank him for letting me snap the above shot.


The headscarf and trench coat combo like in the above photo always make me think classic Hollywood. One can only wonder if this person’s face is hidden behind a huge pair of vintage sunglasses.


An odd house right on Main Street displays parts of manikins in the window and even uses a dummy’s arm as a door knocker. Without a doubt this is one way to get kids in the neighbourhood talking.


The digital prosecution of film.

The above photo was taken while seated at the exterior tables of The Reef (food post to follow).


Last, but certainly not least, one of my favourite shots of the day. A portrait of Patrick Leung before the excursion ended.

I would like to thank the following for coming out: Tomasz Wagner (@mananetwork), Irv Lau (@irvlau), Nhi Le (@noyophoto), Patrick Leung (@thepatrickleung), Vince Chow (@vincechow), Brett Vo (@brettvo), Jun Ying (@kuniophoto), Amy Tran (@amyyyyyt), Tianna Kwong (@tiannank), Cicy Chan (@cicychan), Kevin Wu (@604Foodtography), Thomas Tang (@tmasoo), Thompson Chan (@thompson_chan), Sukhraj Bhattal (@sukhrajb) and of course one person’s name who escapes my senile memory (I’m so sorry!).

 

 

More Street Photography.

Published on March 7, 2012 in Photography, Portraiture and Street Photography. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , .

I can completely understand how street photographers feel compelled to spend so much of their time out and about. I’ve put a lot of mileage on my shoes recently and I can’t seem to satiate the need to be lost amongst the crowds in this city. More often than not these excursions have been social jaunts, but occasionally I’ll take it upon myself to go at it alone, which seems to focus my thoughts and purposes a little more.


Solitude amongst a bus full of strangers.


While scoping out the newly opened CB2 store on Robson, this glass display struck me as being unique and interesting.


And wouldn’t you know it, the CB2 car drove by not long after leaving the store.


A lot of beauty can be found by just tilting your head up every so often.


I looked up again and saw these weird shapes in the sky. Does anyone know what they are about?


This is actually my second portrait of a stranger. I just happened to walk past this chef on his smoke break and I kind of liked the way he was just casually lounging in the alcove of the side entrance to the restaurant. In fact the image struck me in such a way that I initially walked past the scene and had to double back to inquire with him if I could take his portrait. I introduced myself and politely asked if I could take his photo. After processing what I said he didn’t seem to mind my request too much and I told him he could just go about what he was doing while I set up the shot. Before he knew it I was done and introducing myself. He told me his name was Aaron and that he was a chef for the Donnelly Group. I sort of regret not framing the shot a bit wider and/or in landscape, but shooting strangers puts a bit more pressure on street photography than I am used to and I can’t say I had all of my wits about me. Nevertheless I am two for two at this point when it comes to complete strangers allowing me to capture them in a photo!


This ended up being a great occasion to stroll around town as even though the weather was still chilly, the sun was out and it cast a wonderfully rich light over everything.


A  man and his dog.


A photo of the Burrard Street Bridge from the Granville Street Bridge with the restaurant sign “Bridges” in the frame.

I honestly can’t wait to get out again. Especially to work on portraiture. I hope you’ve enjoyed my work thus far as it’s been a wonderfully rich experience for me and I thank you for your patronage!

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