Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Recent Projects

This fine old building on Edmonton's Whyte Avenue is another of the city's Heritage Buildings.  If I had more time I'd go back after all the leaves were gone from the surrounding trees; it was challenge to get a photograph where you could actually see the building.

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Recent Projects

Here's the next in the Heritage Building Series.  This barn is currently serving as the garage to a private residence.  You can see the Heritage plaque beside the small window facing the lane.

Monday, October 29, 2012

Recent Projects

A few weeks ago I got a call from an individual who works in the Heritage Planning group at the City of Edmonton.  They were publishing a book on Edmonton's heritage buildings and they were short some photos.  He asked if I could help fill in the blanks and after I said yes he delivered the punch line - they needed these photos in under a week.
 
Not all of the buildings are necessarily old; this for instance most folks will recognize as Edmonton's City Hall.

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Recent Projects

If you've been following along with the blog postings of late you may remember a black and white night time shot of what you might think is this building, but you'd be wrong.  This is the companion restaurant in the popular chain.  Taken for the contractor who executed the modernization, I wanted these two assignments to yield different results although the two buildings are very close to one another in appearance.  So one got photographed at dusk and this one in the middle of the afternoon.

Saturday, October 27, 2012

Recent Portraits

Say hello to Michelle.  She is a pharmacist who owns a pharmacy and the people who do her marketing wanted an update portrait of the for some of the printed material they distribute.  So we took the usual pharmacist-in-a-white-coat sort of shots to meet that objective.  Then we set out to make some real portraits.  This is one of my favourites.

Thanks to Michelle for realizing that portrait taking in an interactive endeavour.  Thanks also to my wife Terri for the assist in style direction.

Friday, October 26, 2012

Recent Projects

This photo and several others were provided to the interior design team who designed the interiors in this downtown high rise office building.

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Recent Projects

This office building in west Edmonton was completed in the last few months.  I was asked to take exterior and interior photos by the contractor and the design firm that did the interiors.

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Recent Projects

This may well by my favourite photo of the last several months.  These 4 lads work for a contractor that provides serviced in the energy sector.  They weren't all that keen to have their photo taken; not sure why, but when I told them I wanted them to look slightly cheesed off they warmed up a bit to the idea.   I think these fellows represent the face of the modern day Alberta workman - in the best way you can think of.


Black and white conversion made with Oleneo Photo Engine.

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Recent Projects



I get asked to photograph all sorts of buildings by all kinds of people.  This Pharmacy was newly renovated and the contractor who performed the upgrades wanted some photos.  I opted for a dusk photo for a couple of reasons; (a) there are fewer people around, (b) the new facade stands out better against the dark building around it and (c) in this case I was able to take the photos after a light rain shower making the parking lot shimmer.













Monday, October 22, 2012

Recent Projects

At first glance this photo may seem unremarkable but it was a challenge to get.  The problem is that the sun only shines on both east and south facades at the same time for a very short period of time each day due to the fact that there is a tall building camera-right that casts it shadow on this structure until mid-day.  Adding to the complexity is that fact that it's very difficult to get far enough back from the building to get it all in.  I have an iPad app that I use to calculate the suns position at any point in time which was useful. I used my Canon 17mm TSE lens to make two images - top and bottom - that I later merged in Photoshop to create this image.

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Recent Projects

Meet Cathy.  It was time to update the portrait she uses on her website and a few other places so we had her around to the home studio for a sitting.  This is the photo she chose for her website.  Cathy has many very cerebral endeavours on the go so we thought the eyeglasses as a prop were an appropriate touch.

Canon 5DII with Canon 85mm f1.2 lens.  Elinchrom BX500 strobe camera right with reflector camera left.  Canon 580EXII separation light behind Cathy; remote ligthing triggered by pocket wizard transmitters.

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Recent Projects

This new office building in St. Albert has a major printing operation in the rear.

Friday, October 19, 2012

Recent Projects

Both the architect and the contractor commissioned a series of photos of this office building on an industrial site in Sherwood Park.  Gotta love those magnificent Alberta skies.

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Recent Projects


 I have been a busy lad this past while as I try to work through all my autumn assignments.  This restaurant in south Edmonton was photographed for the general contractor who carried out some recent upgrades.


Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Europe 2012

This will be the last of the Europe 2012 series -an extractive detail photo taken in Brussels.  All the photos posted over the last while were taken with the Canon G11 or the iPhone.  I was not that keen to travel this light camera-wise when this trip was planned but my wife, Terri, convinced me to leave the heavy gear at home.  She reminded me that I keep saying 'photography is not about cameras' and she pointed out that I have loads of great shots made with the G11.  I must say that it is very liberating to travel like a normal tourist without having 20 pounds of camera gear to haul around.  So maybe for the next trip I'll have to look around for a newer even lighter and more versatile camera...we'll see!
 

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Lyon


Last of the iPhone Hipstamatic photos taken in Lyon.  I plan to print this photo - and maybe one or two others - on metal as I that process will add a nice shimmer to the photo.  When viewed full size this photo has great depth and lots of contrast.

Monday, October 15, 2012

Lyon

This photo was made with the iPhone Hipstamatic app.  The colour and contrast were adjusted in Photoshop CS5.

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Lyon

We'll end off the Europe 2012 series with a few iPhone images...this urban abstract photo was taken in Lyon where graffiti artists had tagged the side of a bus stop shelter.

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Lyon

This is a detail shot of a very large metal sculpture in a park along the Rhone.  It looks like a posey of flowers and stands about 15 feet tall.  Constructed entirely of steel it's very striking and visible from a long way off.  An excellent public art installation I think - who wouldn't be cheered as they passed by this each day? 

Friday, October 12, 2012

Lyon

I quite like the symmetry of this photo; almost perfect I think after a little cropping and straightening in Photoshop.

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Lyon

When one travels with one's wife who is an international pharmacy educator one is asked to take a lot of photos of - you guessed it - pharmacies; this one on the main floor of this fine old building near Old Lyon.

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Lyon


I quite like having time to hang out and look around for photographic opportunities such as this; the street was in heavy shade and the colours were very soft and muted with no harsh shadows.  I was looking to make a photo that looked like a geometric modern art painting; I had several good ones but this is the best.  This photo needed only slight contrast adjustment and a crop adjustment in Lightroom to yield this result. My favourite photos it seems are always the ones made by me and my camera, not me and my computer.

Canon G11, F8 at 0.3 seconds; camera hand held but braced against a wall due to very slow shutter speed.

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Lyon

Elaborate fountains are a hallmark of Europe and Lyon has theirs just like everyone else.  I wanted a different take on the standard tourist snapshot so as I lurked about I had this sort of finished result in mind.  Canon G11 capture edited in Nik Silver Efex pro.

Monday, October 8, 2012

Lyon



Over the top HDR (high dynamic range) photography must be used carefully in my view as sometimes the results are just too weird.  For an image of a skateboard park it seems appropriate enough though.

HDR conversion made using Oloneo Photo Engine.

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Lyon

If one were to trim the vines away from this doorway would anyone even stop to look?  How much better this is given a little over growth.

Saturday, October 6, 2012

Lyon

The French love their carousels; we passed by this one regularly during our stay.

Friday, October 5, 2012

Lyon

Vieux Lyon, or Old Lyon to we anglophones, is loaded with cobbled streets off of which there are numerous alcoves and courtyards; this photo was taken in one of them.

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Lyon

Lyon was founded by the Romans; lots of their infrastructure remains to this day.

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Lyon

As an architectural photographer I am always looking at the sky and paying close attention to the times of day that sunlight will be optimal for photographing buildings.  It's amazing how different a building can look at different times of the day - sometimes it changes right before your eyes.  This photo was taken from an apartment window.  A thunderstorm had moved through and was clearing right at dusk giving all things a beautiful coral glow.  Handheld Canon G11 image made by bracing the camera against the balcony railing; f8 at 1/15 sec; ISO 100

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Lyon

This statue of Louis XIV stands in the centre of Place Bellcour in the Presqu'île region of Lyon.

Monday, October 1, 2012

Lyon

This detail shot wast made from our apartment window; I like the geometric structure of this photo.