Elle Design

A few busy weeks of shooting business portraits, and other assignments. One of my jobs was to shoot for interior design company Elle Design at a house in SW Calgary. Luxury doesn't do the house justice. My mouth stood open for a few seconds when I entered the beautifully put-together home.

The formal dining room was first on our list to shoot. The sky was cloudy and rainy, giving me the perfect light. With the camera on a tripod, I chose to expose the room by about a +0.7 of a stop, and then feathered in the lights to fill in any shadow areas. This room was hard to shoot as the perfection I saw in real life didn't come through easily into the camera.

The kitchen was huge and I had a strobe set up on the far left of the scene to add light to the background that wasn't being lit by the window light coming in from the right. The color of the scene also needed a little bit of warming, so I gelled the flash with orange and that gave a warmer tone to the photos.

We headed into the living room and again, Elle Design had made a beautiful room. The colors, the fabrics, all came together in a wonderful living space. Here I set the camera up and over exposed the windows but didn't blow them totally out. I then set up lights to fill in the room and erase any shadows or dark areas.

The homeowner left the house to take the kids out to dinner and so the designer and photographer were left to pretend we lived in a place like this. Nice dream.

Soccer Stars

Tonight I spent a few hours and went out to shoot my friend's child at a local soccer game. It's early June in Calgary, so that means cloudy skies, jackets, blankets, and a toque. Most of the kids are around five years old, oblivious to the rules of soccer. They are just out there to have fun, and despite the coaches yelling at them to "pass to the middle!!" they just kick the ball and laugh about it.

I had a blast shooting the kids during the game, and used this game as an opportunity to hone my skills with a 300mm 2.8. I started at the sidelines, but as the kids play on a field the same size as a swimming pool, I had to move way back to fit them into the shot.

What was really cool was seeing the emotions that the players go through. One little girl was just running her heart out, but then fell near the ball and was kicked by accident. She was comforted by the opposing coach, and then carried off in the arms of her dad for the rest of the game.

I am really happy with the results of an hour of my time. Hopefully these photos will lead to other opportunities in the future.