Hair Model Photography

---

---

---

---

Mother Portrait

---

 ---

Photography Spring 2011 Preview

Here's a preview of what I'm sure will be common subjects for my Spring 2011 Photography Collection.

Flower Power, Peter Onyschuk - 2010

Untitled (Petals), Peter Onyschuk - 2010

Untitled (Self Portrait at Third Beach w/ Sun), Peter Onyschuk - 2010

Regards,
Peter O

Capa Was Wrong...ish

Loyalist Militiaman at the Moment of Death, Cerro Muriano (AKA Robert Capa) - September 5 1936

Probably the MOST famous war photographer Robert Capa once said
"If your photos aren't good enough, you aren't close enough."
I don't disagree with this statement entirely, however when I go to see a band play and there are three photographers in the front all taking tightly cropped photos of the lead singer posturing it makes me wonder if there isn't perhaps a better way. A way that doesn't draw others away from the moment, a way that gets across more of the surroundings and more of the experience instead of just pure cropped singing emotion. Yes there is another way. If your band photos are the same as everyone elses, you're too close!

...scanner

I finally got a scanner after many years of occasionally needing one. Thank you Glenn Leavit. Sorry that I don't know how to spell your name. I owe you $20. For the scanner, not for spelling your name wrong.
This photo is over three years old!

Untitled, 2008

Debbie In Light

Debbie In Light, February 2011

Honouring Our Women, February 2011

Leaps (Two)

Rouzat, De De, Lartigue's cousin, diving with water wing
Jaques Henri Lartigue
1911, Gelatin Silver Print

Le Saut dans le Vide (Leap into the Void)
Photomontage by Harry Shunk of a performance by Yves Klein at Rue Gentil-Bernard, Fontenay-aux-Roses, October 1960.

Fine Art Photography Historicals: Pictorialism vs. Modernism

This post is inspired by a slide that Maria Harper uses in her class Photographic Art History at Langara College. These images, both taken by Alfred Stieglitz, clearly show Stieglitz's transition from Pictorialism into Modernism.
Compare the atmospheric qualities of From the Back Window from 1915 with and the bold geometric shapes of Looking Northwest from the Shelton from 1932.

From the Back Window, 291, 1915

The way the eye is drawn into this image through the use of depth and a foreground path-like element contrasts nicely with the second image's unyielding two-dimensionality.

Looking Northwest from the Shelton, 1932



Looking Northwest from the Shelton seems to trap the eye within the frame using the oppressive lines of 30's era skyscrapers. The lack of a foreground path into the image minimizes what little depth is in the photograph and references the medium by drawing attention to it's inability to show true depth.
It's important to note that Pictorialism as a style became outmoded around 1915 and so From the back Window, 291 does have some very modernist aspects.

Dog Port

Cats

Dark

Food Landscapes

Donut Mountain in the Mist

I'm really happy with the results from this donut photoshoot I did today (all in camera btw). I'm even happier with the fact that I seem to be in a phase where every picture I take amazes me. Lucky me! I did a hair style shoot last sunday with katie j. doing hair and four different models. Overall the shoot went really swell (like i said, shit hot phase), but I'm just starting to dig into the post processing so no images yet. For now enjoy this tasty treat from my "studio".

Robert Adams at the VAG

I went to see a Robert Adams retrospective yesterday at the Vancouver Art Gallery (wiki page here). Although Robert Adams is a bit of a heavyweight amongst the new landscape photographers of the 70's, I was unfamiliar with his work before last night. After viewing the first two series of photographs I realized that this was the work of a master of the medium. I've never seen such an experimental yet successful use of exposure, and it blew me away how at times he had no middle grey in his prints, his skies all dazzling highlights and the shadows inky dark, but both still rich in texture and detail. Each series contained from 5 - 15 photographs and in each I found photographs that brought me to a climax of artistic wonder and inspiration. The photographs were so good that by the time I was 1/3 of the way through the extensive (200+ photographs) I couldn't go on anymore. The best way to describe it (however also decidedly low-brow)was that I blew my load early and after was too overwhelmed to enjoy the rest of the work, and so me and my gallery partner walked upstairs to see an installation by Song Dong, which acted as a perfect pallet cleanse for the night. Both shows so good that I will be back next week to pick up where I left off.


Robert Adams (Unsure of title, most likely something like "Looking East From Ridge, Bewton Colorado, 1973)


Song Dong - Waste Not Want Not

Sandy Claws!

Recently the jolly ol' elf himself visited my place of employment. I happened to have lighting gear and my trusty 14-24 f2.8 and so decided to do some improptu (is that a word?) photo-portraitgram-ographies. Oh also, I recently saw Nightmare Before Christmas for the first time since I was 8 and it blew my mind! Ever-thing, but especially the lighting is perfect in that movie. Congratulations Mr. Burton, you've done it again.


(I should have used a second umbrella for that rear bank of smiling faces)

Cache Creek Wedding Pt. 1

Had a really great time at the wedding. Such a positive experience. It really topped off the whole weekend very well. Stayed up late and got up early four nights in a row. Slept most of Sunday and almost all day today. Back to bed now!



Landscape


River near Peters Road w/ Ryan


Matt & The Creek



Ryan, Duffy, Lindsay, Liz, & the Bridge



Creek People


Friends Chilling (Sorry Sean)


Ceremony Path




Waitin'

Moon Bear

Black cat is black!

Planet Algol Races In Colour: Azgukh Man

Here's Paul Giamatti as an Azgukh Man.

Shutter Dragon

One assignment we had this semester for the class Advanced Studio Lighting with Greg Blue was shutter drag. It took me the longest out of any to complete. I guess the concept didn't click (dark subject white background, duration light and strobe, long exposure, move the camera) even though it's relatively simple. Well I shot it this weekend. Here's my setup and two of the final images.





Nikon d90 w/85mm f1.4
P.S. more potato heads to come.

Scans: Visio Dei II

The scans from The Lab turned out much better than the ones from Lens & Shutter. Check out this delicious grain!

I've really been digging Art Deco colour schemes lately. Will try to do some illustrations tonight using vibrant teals, warm/cool grays and saturated pinks. Yay colour!

Weddings & Booze Rumination

I shot my first wedding earlier this month and I'm lucky that I had the opportunity to shoot a wedding of my own family that wouldn't have had a photographer present. I took comfort knowing that ANY photos I got would be considered icing. That being said it was fun taking the job seriously, dressing fancy and flying to Kelowna with all my photo gear. I tried some different techniques, and got some really beautiful moments. However as the night progressed I thought it appropriate to indulge in libations, after all I wasn't doing this job for money, and I'm part of the family. This didn't help my success ratio. I'm definitely glad I learned this lesson early: drinking and taking photographs turn me into an amateur. My ratio of good photos suffers dramatically, and half of the keepers are more like snapshots than Photographs (with a capital p). From now on, I'll be approaching each assignment like a yoga class. No booze, meditation, warrior, present in each moment, breath.