Re-editing Some Older Shoots

  Something I should have done long ago, is sort all my hard drive photos so that I could easily find older shoots.  I didn't before, but I have now (mostly at least). Although I still have newer shoots I'm working on I am going to make an effort to go through some older stuff and re-edit or in some cases edit some photos I didn't before. 

  While sorting out older photos, I came to the conclusion that although there are a lot of photos on my hard drive, there aren't nearly enough. I will gladly eat the cost of multiple terabyte hard drives so I can shoot more, as much as I possibly can really.

  I won't deluge readers with everything I decide to open up and edit, but I will be posting some select images from time to time. I like this one, I can't put my finger on it, but it has a bit of moodiness and mystery to me. Props to the amazing and gorgeous Angela for modelling, styling, makeup, hair and presence. 

  Originally shot with Canon 6d, 70-200 f/2.8L

~Cheers, Rev. D

A Cold Beach in February and a Brave Model

  On a cold day in February on the west coast of Canada, me and my scantily clad model, Tiffani Guy, decided to head out to the beach to catch golden hour and take photos. Despite her having a parka on hand to bundle up in between shots, her bravery for the icy wind and the elements was nothing short of gladiatorial. While out upon the chilled rocks, she even volunteered to remove her shoes for the images! I note this not only as a testament of her fortitude but also as a reminder to readers that being a model is not an easy gig.  Models aren't comfortable in front of the camera.  I don't mean that they aren't at ease or relaxed and professional, I mean that doing the things a photographer wants a model to do can put one's body through hell.  Either standing under blazing hot lights, or trying to look warm on a freezing beach in February, or pretzeling one's body into positions that look good for the camera, but are completely unnatural for the anatomy of a normal human body, models do it all... and often make it look like a breeze without complaint or protest.

  My point in this post is not only to expose my own photos, but to celebrate the model. The model whose job is to make photographer look good, no matter how shitty the weather or the situation.  That being said it is a two way street and a great photographer has the ability to make a model on a less than stellar day look great. This was not was not one of those days.

Shot with: Canon 6d with 70-200mm f/2.8L and 50mm f1.8, natural light.

~Cheers, Rev D.

Tease Photo (I'm behind on my posting!)

  I'm many posts behind in documenting my photoshoots on this blog.  I've been too busy shooting and editing (that's a good thing).  To hold you over though here is a teaser photo of a set I'm working on now. I had the amazing experience to shoot with @Sassysaskberry this week. We had so much fun and even made some nice images to boot!  Short post, back to work!

~Cheers, Rev. D

Photoshop Tutorial Project

  I am making an effort to excel at my meagre photoshop skills, so I decided to enroll with Kelby One (which incidentally I fully recommend) for a dedicated effort. Today's lesson was about blending modes in layers, as such I am sharing my practice project from today.  This picture is using just a few techniques and might not be something I would normally called a finished project, but I kind of like it and I'm excited to learn more tomorrow.

~Cheers, Rev D.

Light Kink and a Camera

  I consider myself lucky (for a lot of reasons), but the opportunity to make some images with a model who is a dream to work with and generally just fun and easy to hang out with makes me appreciate my good fortune.  Lataisha had so many ideas and outfits to work with, along with a makeshift studio that had at least four fantastic sets to shoot in.  My camera couldn't keep up with our creativity.  We shot for hours until late into the evening, and we probably could have shot for hours more to hash out all our ideas. In a whirlwind of garters, ropes, teddy bears and tutus, I struggled to snap off enough photos between poses and clothing changes.  

  Another session with this stunner is destined to be in the future, We have ambitions to do an outdoor shoot together once the weather turns more to Spring from Winter.

  I used a Canon 6D camera for the lion's share of the shooting, mated with a 24-105mm f/4L, a plastic fantastic 50mm f/1.8, and (mostly used) one of my favourite canon lenses the 40mm f/2.8 STM pancake lens.  I also used a Sony @6000 camera with a canon 10-18mm wide lens adapted to it for shots where the room was tight. 

  I had the chance to try out my new Spider Holster Pro kit for this shoot, which was a prize a received from a giveaway from The Slanted Lens (check out their YouTube channel, it's great).  The general gist of this product is a belt that has a holster built in and a plate with a ball hitch that mounts on to the bottom of a camera.  The build quality of this system is really quite amazing, it's definitely over-built (which is what you want when you are dangling a camera and lens worth potentially many thousands of dollars from your waist). On first use, I had some issues with it staying adjusted to be snug on my waist and it would often loosen just the tiniest bit, but enough to slide down to where it wasn't comfortable.  I will chalk that up to user error for now, until I try it out again.  Perhaps I will post a full review if I think that would be useful.

~Cheers, Rev. D