The mentored sketchbook.

A Night Out

In the middle of May this year, there was supposedly one of the biggest full moons ever! All the photographer's I know (which is not many, but I'm sure there were plenty more) were out photographing it. 

I happened to be at some friends' wedding at prime time to photograph. My girlfriend and I quickly exited, she graciously took me home to grab my camera, and we rocketed to Queen Elizabeth park. There were plenty of moongazers, and most of them had one thing that I didn't: a tripod. Until resently I have not had one of my own, and I have to say I have made some great images without one. Not because I have steady hands, but because I learned to play with this limitation instead of fight it. I have never let it stop me from at least getting out there and trying stuff. Here's an image that I took that night:

Photographer's notes: 5.0 sec     f/3.5   ISO 250

You may notice the moon istn't even in it, but the street light makes a good replacement. This is C, she's a ninja. She was in a great all-black gettup, so I took my eyes off the moon for a second-or more like 5 seconds- and put my lens on her. I'm happy with the mood in this image, and it wouldn't have happened if I had just said "I don't have a tripod! oh well, let's stay for more cake". 

I love a challenge, and often my limitations are actually great opportunities for creativity. Another opportunity struck me when I stopped at a yard sale on my way home for work, and there was a nice light weight tripod for a great bargain. From now on, I will only have to take images of the moon that look like this-

Hilo, Hawaii Oct. 2011

Vancouver, Canada May 2012

 

-for nostalgic purposes. 

It was fun to get out into the night with my fellow photographer's, and it wouldn't have happened without my date, ride, and body guard.

Thanks C   :)

Cheers,

T

One little girl doing her first show

My job at my favourite little Italian coffee shop in the world, with my very petite Italian boss, has been a huge help in making my home in the city. As well as a great boss, great coffee, a great clientelle, and at least one free meal a day, that job introduced me to my first art show. 

One of the regulars at the caffe was doing a little project with us: having her company's in-house photographer taking photos of the caffe menu items for promotion. So, we got to talking, and my zealous boss enthusiasticly proclaimed me a photographer as well. Miss Claudine Santos (great lady, unfortunately we are losing her to the city of Ottawa) said, "would you ever be interested in showcasing that?"

I looked at Mario-my boss-shyly, he said "Vai, go for it! " the best reassurance I could have got. 

So I said "absolutely! how do you mean?"

She explained to me this show series tittled "Spring Artists Series" with the theme synesthesia: condition whereby “a sensation produced in one modality is applied to another modality” (Dictionary.com) meaning that hearing something can cause someone to see a colour and so forth. The series (one on every thursday in April) would be held in a cozy room in the back of a local resturant, with the photographers work hanging on the wall and a dj playing music fitting to the work.

I pitched my series of abstract flowers from hawaii and my home in the Cariboo for the show and Claudine agreed! 

Photographer's notes: 1/6th of a sec f/22 ISO 320

This was the most popular at the show, turns out many of us have certain feelings about a still center with moving seroundings, or maybe it was just the familiarity of a dandelion/ salsify blowing in the wind. To me this image just says home, the home I know with warm afternoon light, a wide sky and well, weeds....

Here are a few things I learned from my first show:

1.) You can go from amateur to professional (or, as I like to think of myself, semi-professional)overnight.

I had nothing, and I mean nothing to start with when I agreed to do this show. I still don't have a facebook page or a website. If you have any feedback on what is useful and what isn't with an online presence I would love to hear it! Is it worth it to have a page? Is there a good free website that I can manage myself? Any tips would be useful!

I decided that I could only do what I could manage, and no more. I couldn't get 10 000 business cards, I couldn't make a huge inventory, I couldn't buy a suit and be a publicly traded company, I was just one little girl doing her first show. I sugared it down to the minimum, which was a little card with my bio and a descripton of the series on nice paper, 7 smallish prints on the most inexpensive paper and mounting, a foolproof wall covering, a simple nice dress and a smile. I was scared, but I decided that that would have to be enough. Thank god it was! I was surprised when I sold 2 prints off the wall, another was ordered later, and I booked a job. I actually made a profit!

2.) I need a lot of help and I have to ask for it, I really could not have done it otherwise. I had everything from printing my bios off my girlfriends printer, to Chris sizing my files and sending them to the colour lab, to my mom driving 6 hours to help me set up and tell me I looked great. Not to mention teary phone calls and stress releif that I could not have gone through without support. Without those things I would have been totally screwed, so thank you thank you thank you!

 3.) If you don't get adaquate answers to your questions, you have to find out yourself. It doesn't matter how many phone calls you make or emails you send, if you don't get the basic infor mation you need, you're screwed. There's only so much winging it you can do. A lot can be said for showing up. If you need to know something, nothing beats going down there and talking to someone face to face, and doing it early so you know what to expect. 

4.) Tell everyone, absolutely everyone you know or have talked to for at least five minutes, and someone you don't expect might show up. The reason I call my first show a success is because people came! I was wonderful to have my friends and family around me.

Feel free to comment!

Cheers,

T

2.) The engagement photo shoot <3

When I say I want to photograph someone, what it really means is that I'd like to know them. Anyone I know I photograph.

-Annie Leibovitz

 

This is one of my favourtie quotes by Annie Leibovitz, a very prominent American photographer most well known for her work at "Rolling Stone" and "Vanity Fair" magazines, and one of my personal idols.

This quote  speaks to my love of photographing the people I love, and it makes me think about the fragility of exposing those people in photographs. When I read this quote I think of what it means to know someone, for them to let you in, for their spirit to be revealed, and this can happen in a very unique way when someone is photographed. This happens not only between the photographer and the subject, but also the viewer. The distance between the viewer and the subject puts them on different plains, giving the viewer a different perspective. 

Photographer's notes: 1/1250 of a sec f/5.6 ISO 200

As an engagment present to them, I did an engagement photoshoot for my sis and her fiance. 4 hours and 2 locations, we were pretty tired, but we got some great shots! 

By the way, this is February and this amazing model is in bare feet!!

How do you see them when you look at this photo? 

It was pretty important, we were documenting history. These photos will be seen on the web, in wedding invitations and save-the-date cards, countless facebook profile pictures, not to mention their 50th wedding anniversary!  The above image I am so proud of I feel like it could be sold as stock! This next one is more personal, I just found them like this: 

Photographer's notes: 1\250th of a sec f/5.6 ISO 200

I'm so happy for them! Best couple I have ever known! :)

Near the end of the shoot we got even more candid: 

Photographer's notes: 1/40th of a sec    f/4.5    ISO640

How much has your perspective changed since the first photo? How well do you know them? no right or wrong answer, just putting the question out there. 

 

Thanks for reading.

Cheers,

Teresa

Space for Expression

I have reached a great level of comfort, routine even, after 5 months living on my own in the rainy city of Vancouver! Even with two moves, a full time job, and quite a number of drunken dancing parties under my belt, my photography has taken a few small leaps forward. 

Amazingly, I am still getting pageviews on this blog, so I will tell you catch you up on recent experiences with several posts, ending with the most recent development.

 

My sister approached me to take a series of portraits of her to use in a couple of multimedia assignments themed in "touchablility/untouchability" for two classes in her masters program in women's and gender studies at UBC. the results of which were: both assignments were very well recieved, got exceptional marks,were presented in two conferences, and published in "Margins" a zine, to be released at the end of this month!

 

These portraits are of a sensitive, personal nature to my dear sis, so it's a huge previledge to be allowed to blog about them, even in a professional manner. I've chosen a less sensitive sample to discuss. 

Photographer's notes: 1/80th of a sec, f/5.0 ISO 800

 

To give it some context, the paper that the images (including the above image)accompany is a narrative on the expression of stone butch sexuality, the basis of which is that a stone butch does not recieve sexual touch from their partner. 

 

The space we were working in for the shoot was the apartment of my sister's soon-to-be-fiance (more on that later) that had a white wall we could use as a background with lighting above it, a movable full spectrum light, and my stand by Canon EOS 40D and my one and only lens: 28-135mm.

I wasn't really sure how to approach the project, but what I did know was that for some reason a visual aid was needed, so there was something that needed to be shown that couldn't really be explained. Basically I was the vehicle for her expression, so I could only do my best to allow space for that while providing a little direction and technical experties.

To get the ball rolling I just suggested a few poses, and after seeing the results and asking what was good, not good,  what was almost there, things began to flow and ideas and movements came faster. Always helps to not be too serious when things don't work out as you plan. We were laughing and joking the whole time!

On the editing and processing side of things, it was amazing how warm the full spectrum light made the photos! I had to cool them all down, but I was glad for it because bare skin is much more pleasing to look at in warm light than cold. It's much easier to cool them down than it is to warm it up without it being distractinly coloured. 

Feed back, stories, critisism, correction, praise, and cheekiness are all welcome in the coments! Thanks for reading!

Cheers,

T