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Chantal and I have worked together once before, on a Global TV commercial, and although it’s been a long time coming, we finally got back together for this speedy Calgary photo session. We chose a location on the south side of Calgary and when we arrived I saw they were doing some construction work. As soon as I saw the trucks there I thought, “Photo props!” The workers were knocking off for the day and they let Chantal clamber over the equipment in the name of photography, which was pretty cool of them. I suppose she’d have to try really, really hard to break one. I like the juxtaposition between the trucks, which are all dirty, imposing, and grungy-looking and Chantal, who . . . isn’t.

After doing some photos around the machinery for about forty minutes, I had one specific photo in mind that I really wanted to try out. It involved quite a bit of prep work, since we’d never actually done this before, so Chantal and I got to sit in the car with the heat pumping out while my assistant put it all together for us—thanks, Doug! I wanted to create a wall of fire effect behind Chantal and so I’d brought a pre-assembled wooden wall that Doug rebuilt and fixed in place. Then I set up my lights, called Chantal over from the warm car, and had two minutes to get the shot. And, yay, we got the shot!

I look forward to our next shoot, whenever that may be.

Recently I had the pleasure of doing some band photography for local Alberta band Eyes Of Isis. I love working with other creative people! Even if we aren’t in exactly the same field there is often a kind of understanding between us. Plus, creative people are always willing to go the extra mile to get the best results. These guys were certainly up for anything I threw at them and they endured the cold so that I could get my ideas. You’ll see what I mean when you scroll down. That beach scene? Yeah, they’re lying on snow in sub-zero temperatures with their shirts open. And, yes, we did that particular image fast.

Actually, while we were out there getting that shot another local photographer, Ian from the Lethbridge Herald, happened to pass by and wondered what the heck we were doing. I’ve met him before and he came up to say hello and then tagged along for a bit, getting some photos of the session. If only I’d had one of my assistants with me, then I could have got photos of Ian taking photos of me taking photos of the band!

Speaking of the band, let me introduce them:

Jordan – Lead vocals and guitar
Chase – Lead guitar
Aaron – Drums
Joey – Bass

They were a really fun bunch to get photos of and I think they’ll go far. You can tell that they’re committed to their music and, listening to their songs, they’re very mature for a debut album from such a young band. There are a range of influences you can hear, with nods to the 70s as well as more modern bands, such as Nickleback, but they definitely have their own sound and vision. You can check out their music and see when they are performing by going to their MySpace page. They have CDs for sale there, too, and I recommend them to anyone who is looking for some new rock.

I just found out that the annual Wedcomp photography results are in and we got three of our images placing in the top 20! That’s awesome, since the competition included incredible photographers from all over the world. I’m not usually big on contests and so forth, because I think they can be very subjective, and who is to say that one person’s tastes should dictate whether your image is better than another image? But when I saw who the judges were I decided that this was a contest worth entering, since I respect all of them for their talents and the fact that they are all people who have worked hard to create their own style of photography. The judges are:

Rachel LaCour Niesen

Cliff Mautner

Jen Bebb

Zack Arias

Of course, they didn’t actually award us the top place, so they still have some things to learn.

Here are our placing entries:

You can see the rest of the entries HERE.