Award Winning Photographer

What a wonderful way to start 2010! I have been chosen as the Business Of The Month by the Greater Oshawa Chamber Of Commerce.

Great Blue Heron Charity Casino

I tend to keep a rather bizarre schedule, it is a nature of being a commercial photographer. I recently had a very full day of shooting for a commercial client, hauling around 100 lbs of equipment for hours. Instead of heading home and relaxing I had to download and backup my images from the day after an initial edit, have a quick meal and then go back to work, very late work. Casinos are open 24/7, and photo shoots are generally scheduled during off hours. In this case my arrival was scheduled at 10:30 pm and would finish hopefully before sunrise. My assignment was to create images of the dinner and breakfast buffet, images of the staff and some plated food. With the help of Molly and her staff (and lots of their fabulous coffee) I managed to stay awake and create some beautiful images. As I drove home the night sky was starting to change from black to that wonderfully saturated blue only seen before sunrise. My day was finally finished and I looked forward to a couple of hours of sleep before my alarm clock signaled the start of another bizarre schedule.

And I wouldn’t change it for the world!

Molly and her staff

Salad Buffet

Desert Buffet

Breakfast Plate

UOIT Faculty of Business and I.T.

The University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) Faculty of Business and IT Department is in the process of updating their image catalog of faculty head shots and students and have asked me to supply some images from around the campus. Here are a few images of the student labs

 

Networking Lab

Health Informatics

Virtual Finance

Oshawa Generals

We are now four home games into the new season, so I thought I would share a few of my favourite images taken so far.

Enjoy!

…and you know this just has to hurt!

Softmoc

Here are a few images from a recent studio shoot for Softmoc. The images are part of their new fall and winter campaign and can be found gracing the walls in each Softmoc location.

A special thanks to Katie, Cory, Alexis and Cameron , all represented by Sherrida Personal Management Inc in Toronto.

Canadian National Exhibition

I spent the opening weekend of this years “EX” photographing for the Region Of Durham Tourism department and brought my camera along for some night shots of the midway. Here is a small sample of the colourful sights.

Canpages Directory Covers

My how time flies! After a very busy summer I find myself a little overwhelmed with office “housekeeping”. There will be a few posts in the coming week as I catch up on some long overdue updates.

Canpages  has asked me to supply images for some of their upcoming directories. First on the list in February I was asked to photograph the General Motors Centre in Oshawa, a building I know very well.

The second request was for the Mississauga directory. Square One Shopping Centre usually comes to mind when thinking of Mississauga, or the wonderful City Hall which has a rather unique character, however, I found the Port Credit Marina is a remarkable place to spend a Sunday afternoon. The weather gods just weren’t smiling for the camera on this day, the only day without rain for an entire week, but I made some nice images.

The Bucket List

The Town of Whitby Public Works Department recently allowed me to hang out over the town, photographing various areas from a different vantage point, in a bucket lift. With a list of locations to shoot I had my own “bucket list”.
Some night shots, some daytime…

A special thank you to Steve for operating the lift and keeping me safe.
The Town of Whitby was not my only bucket assignment this day. Team Canada Black Belt Institute staff and student group photo was next. Every two years we get together and with the help of George, my lift operator, we get a huge group of over 160 people arranged for the class photo. Unfortunately with the location of the school and the required time of the shoot, the group ends up staring right into the sun. I am so grateful that we have not been rained out but an overcast day would be greatly appreciated! It’s times like this in which you have to work very quickly.
This year Team Canada Black Belt Institute celebrated their 10th anniversary. Congratulations to Ed, Daniel and the staff!

Hockey Season Has Begun!

What? Hockey season starts in June? Well for me it does for one weekend then a long rest before camp opens in late August. The Oshawa Generals held their 2009-10 draft recently and one of the perks of working for a team that lets me be creative is getting to shoot their first overall draft pick. This year the honor went to Boone Jenner. For a change I decided to make some images outside of the arena. Nothing fancy for lighting, just a single strobe for main light and a reflector held by a voice-activated light stand named Gerry. Thanks Gerry!

Kicking & Screaming

And they say it could never be done. Well, “they” is me. Dragging myself into the world of blogging after repeatedly being asked what I have been doing with my life. Hi mom!
What you will not find here is a run down of how my day progresses. Why would you care anyway? What you will find is a glimpse inside the brain of a commercial photographer based in Oshawa, Ontario.
There are many people who recognize me from around town, usually found photographing at Oshawa Generals games. Yes, the clown hanging over the edge on the catwalk. That’s me!
Being a photographer is a blessing. I meet an incredible array of people from CEO’s to small business owners, from NHL superstars to TimBit hockey players, kids with a desire to simply keep from falling on their butts. My days are never dull, with each assignment comes new obstacles and new experiences and sometimes I just have to share them with anybody who will listen.
I get many comments from old clients, new clients, friends, family all wondering the same thing…”I saw your portfolio on your web site but what else do you do?” I would love it if each assignment brought a new addition to my portfolio but that is not usually the case. But I am trying!
What you will see here is some of the assignments that may not be the most glamorous, but they are the most important assignments in the world to me. That being the creation of images for my clients.
And for any aspiring photographers out there who may stumble upon this blog you will also find details about some assignments, a behind the scenes look at what goes into making images and maybe some much needed insight on good business practices. Now that is a full fledged rant waiting to be released. Be warned!
Have fun poking around here. It’s not rocket science, it’s not drama, it’s only a blog.