Recently I worked with a great team on a model portfolio shoot with a bridal editorial theme. We wanted to capture some bridal portraits and other wedding-ey photos. It felt like that episode of Friends where everyone was wearing a wedding dress. Good times with some wedding fever!
One of the benefits of networking with talented individuals in the photography community is you can put together spontaneous projects that yield some pretty cool results. In this case I had some spare time in the studio so I turned to a great creative make-up artist that i've collaborated with numerous times.
Makeup/Styling by Aleksandra Stanojevic Model: Kelly Marie
Last week I shot with fitness competitor Rob Monroe again at his home gym in Niagara Falls. He just came off a first place win in his class at the 2014 GNC Ontario Natural Championships and his heading to Winnipeg to compete in CBBF's 2014 IFBB International Events Qualifier this weekend. With Rob looking in peak physical condition he will give his competition a run for their money.
Nikii wanted some shots with her beloved Mazda Miata. To some of us they are more than just cars.
It's not often that I shoot family sessions, but when I do it's always a nice break/new challenge. Normally when it comes to photographing kids, I bring out the big guns which refers to my box of animal hats. The octopus is definitely my favourite. This time I went without and it was still successful.
One thing I realize as I do family sessions, especially portraits of kids is that when the day comes that I have my own, I'm going to lose my mind taking photos. I will be documenting their whole life. I will probably just end up with a stop motion animation of them growing up from the hundreds of thousands of photos I will likely end up taking.
My favourite shots are always those little moments when they are not really paying attention to you. They just give a mischievous little look, one of surprise, or awe. You can't help but smile yourself because it's just them being their silly selves.
Booked a last minute portfolio shoot with Vikie. We took advantage of the beautiful late afternoon sun at Confederation Park in Hamilton. The walking trail along the lake has a lot of nice tall grass areas with a wide open view the of lake. Makes for some pretty pictures methinks.
Here are some behind the scenes photos of the Kharizma Entertainment dancers who performed at Digital Dreams 2014. It was incredible to witness all the work that went into creating these amazing looks. The hair and make-up teams were outstanding in transforming these ladies. The energy in the room was phenomenal and everyone seemed to be having a blast even before getting on stage.
Thanks to Kharizma Entertainment for letting me share in the fun!
I had an absolutely fantastic time shooting for Kharizma Entertainment. All the dancers were so friendly, welcoming, and so fun to hang out with all weekend at Digital Dreams. Stayed tuned for the behind the scenes photos.
Here are some of the festival shots from the Bud Light Digital Dreams music festival in Toronto, ON from June 28th and 29th. Some more to follow in the coming days as well.
It might... if you're a moron.
Recently I shot some images at a Color Me Rad event in Toronto. Once I told people this they freaked and brought to my attention a few blogs that talked about it destroying their brand new gear. Many of these blogs were on lens rental company websites who refused to rent lenses for these events. That's their prerogative of course.
These articles draw your attention the the dust that infiltrated every crevice in the lens which required them to be cleaned from the interior. My first major critique of these articles is they noted that the photographers were not close up in the action. I'm going to have to call objection on that your honour. The photos I saw repeatedly used an 8-16mm lens as an example of gear that got ruined. That is an extremely wide lens so unless someone was going for nothing but sweeping landscape shots they were clearly right in the middle of the action to get good shots from that lens.
The common sense alarms should go off for any photographer when they hear powder being thrown around in the air. As well seeing the images that already exist for previous events you should know what you are getting into. Just prepare appropriately!
So my experience was just fine. I put a cheap rain cover over my camera, used a 70-300mm zoom lens, stood far away and up wind. I was still able to get great shots from far away by using a zoom lens. The other suggestion I would make is not to shoot in the main gathering area/finish line. It can be tempting because you can get a lot of dramatic shots there but that's where you put your gear at risk.
If you plan carefully, take basic precautions and use common sense, you and your gear will be just fine. The best part is you will get some great photos. Everyone is super energetic, they look great, and people gravitate toward photographers with all of their enthusiasm.
Here are some of my shots from the day.
Some selections from Hamilton Fashion Week's Street Fashion Show.
Feel free to use for personal use. Please do not edit, or crop photo and credit Marek Michalek Photography www.photoshootme.ca
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Jason & Charmaine Grace Brown
While most photo shoots require planning and forethought there are some that require a little more. You often don’t get insight into the thought process behind a photo but I can assure more often than not there are specific choices made for specific reasons.
Recently I got to shoot with two fantastic musical artists Jason and Charmaine Brown. They were looking for some promotional photos. Great, sign me up! With this came the challenge of branding musicians visually. How do you visually represent an artist?
My specific challenge with Jason and Charmaine was representing them within their musical genre. In their case they have both a mainstream pop as well as Christian music background. Also in addition to being musical partners, they are partners in life as a married couple. I wanted to balance all of those elements within the photography to tell that story. I wanted to hint at some of those elements without punching the viewer in the face with it.
Things I wanted to avoid were white flowy robes with divine lights haloing from their heads. I also wanted to avoid making the photos too “coupley”. While they are a husband and wife team and some shots suggest a certain intimacy, I wanted to show them more as musical partners. I tried to keep more neutral poses for a majority of the shots.
I had technical considerations as well. I went in with the mindset of how the photos would be used. These being promo photos I knew I had to shoot them in a way that they would be useful for creating marketing materials, be used on websites, and have the flexibility to add graphical elements to them.
In the end I was pleased with the results. I think we created images that showcase the personality of the artists. I think the photos revealed their sense of passion, fun, and love. I know that they are dreamers and I think that comes out in their eyes.
I look forward to see where they go in their music careers and I am excited I could be a footnote in their journey.
Here are some select images from my recent model portfolio photo shoot for Bree Leigh. We wanted to focus on some fashion and portrait looks for the night. It was a quick shoot but we got some great shots.
Even though mother nature likes to remind us mid April is still fair game for snow in Canada, it might be nice to get a glimmer of hope for a real spring. Filled with colours and warmth. In the spirit of that warmth we wanted to put together a creative spring inspired fashion shoot that would be wildly colourful and fun.
The shoot itself was a blast which only resulted in getting terrific images. Here are some behind the scene images as well as some of the finished product.
Hair and Makeup by Aleksandra Stanojevic http://www.aleksandrasartistry.com/
Behind the Scenes
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