Art of Fashion 2012

Last night I attended the Art of Fashion design competition; ten of Canada's top emerging designers competing for the titles of Most Promising Designer and Best Exhibit.  I was in awe at some of these designs.    The judges have some very difficult decisions on their hands.  These are really talented designers.

See for yourself....here are just a few of the designs

Amy Yuen - "Six Elements"

Ryan Joelson - "Rough Hewn"

Devlyn Van Loon - "Grist"

Jennie Uhlman - "Undulation"

Tess Elizabeth - "Unrefined Being"

Winner has not been announced yet.  Check out the Art of Fashion website to keep up with the latest.

Screening of The Charon Incident

Yesterday I was lucky enough to be a handful of people to attend the first ever screening of The Charon Incident, a short film written and directed by Allan Wylie. 

It's a great thriller and a lot of fun to watch.  The cast and crew are a super nice bunch.  I wish them the best with this film and hope to work with them all again in the future. 

Stay tuned for when you'll get your chance to see this really cool flick at http://www.charonincident.com.

 Myself, Allan Wylie (Producer, Director, Writer) and Jessie Pavelka (Producer, Actor)

 

The scene as we came into the beautiful and historic Fox Theatre in Toronto

 Mmm, Popcorn!!!

 Jessie Pavelka chilling out just before the film gets started

The Producers

Mary MacDonald Rival, Allan Wylie and Jessie Pavelka say a few words before the screening

The cast - Cleo, Annabelle, Dana Ruprecht, Kerrie Lamb, Mary MacDonald Rival, Allan Wylie, Anna Pelc-Draper, Terry Draper, Jessie Pavelka, Jeff Naworynski, Mark Rival 

(missing Deborah Wyman & Sal Aguila)

Wedding Bells

I have just added a few images to my WEDDINGS section from a wedding I shot a few weeks ago.  This wedding took place at St. Michael's Catholic Cathedral in Toronto.  It is one of the oldest churches in the city and absolutely breathtaking.  The stained glasses windows in this church are a must-see for anyone visiting the city who has an appreciation for incredibly beautiful art.

We couldn't have asked for better weather (ok, maybe a little less sweltering heat).  From beginning to end, everything was perfect.

Congratulations Laura and Mark.

Canon 5D Mark 3 - First Impressions

First of all, I need to stress that this is my no means a technical review of the Canon 5D Mark 3. I will leave that to the experts. I cannot compare this to other brands such as Canon's main competition Nikon because I have never used one. I will however compare this to my 7D. I have also had the opportunity over the last few years to work with the 5D Mark 2.

When I'm not in the studio, I shoot weddings and events which are notorious for ever changing lighting conditions. In need of a camera that works flawlessly in low light conditions, I did my research and settled reluctantly on the Canon 5D Mark 3. Now I say reluctantly for one reason. The cost. It was very difficult to part with all those hard earned dollars, but all that changed as soon as I took it out of the box and held it. This is a substantial piece of machinery boys and girls. It's very similar to my 7D, but as soon as you hold this, you know that this is a special camera. It is slightly larger and heavier and feels solid.

The first thing I noticed when holding it, is that the memory card door is rubberized, so that the entire grip feels uniform all the way through. Nice touch Canon.   While I'm talking about the memory card door, underneath this door is TWO card slots.  One for a Compact Flash card, and another for an SD card.  Now I can try that Eye-Fi card I've always wanted to try.  More on that another day...once I get one.

Due to the fact that the 5D Mark 3 and the 7D both use the same battery, I didn't have to wait for the battery to charge before taking it for a spin.

With my first click of the shutter, I heard myself whisper quietly with a "Niiiice!". I know that the sound of the shutter means nothing regarding image quality, but hey, I'm here to give you my thoughts on this camera, and that's what you're going to get.

The auto focus has been taken from it's big brother, the Canon 1Dx. Not everything from it, but enough to give the 5D Mark 3 an incredible auto focus system. With 61 auto focus points, you should always be able to frame each shot perfectly.  This camera focuses extremely fast on any of these points.  In my limited time to test this so far, even under the worst lighting conditions, it locks focus in no time at all.

As I mentioned, I've used the 5D Mark 2 several times in the past, so I knew what to expect with my first full frame camera.  If you've never shot with one, you'll love how much more 'image' you get with a full frame sensor. Here is what I mean. The following 2 images show the difference between my 7D and my 5D Mark 3 with the same 24mm lens, shot from the same position.  I'm not doing image quality comparisons, just a couple quick shots so you get the idea of the difference between a full frame sensor and a APS-C sensor.

 Canon 7D with 24mm lens

 Canon 5D Mark 3 with 24mm lens

You can imagine the difference this makes when shooting anywhere where space is limited. As a wedding photographer, this is normally when the bride is getting ready with the girls in a tiny room. The extra coverage I get will be a blessing.

The 5D Mark 3 is a huge upgrade from the Mark 2, and a massive upgrade from the 7D.  It is very responsive, and to put it in real life terms, it acts like a camera should.  It does what a camera should.  I have no doubt about it's abilities.  I feel very confident working in any conditions with this.

How is your summer?

Ok, so it's been while since I've been able to write my blog.  I've been a little busy with a few things.  I think it's a good time to give you the "Cole's Notes" version.

A few months back I created Fashion Works Canada (see: www.fashionworkscanada.com).  That took a while to get off the ground, but everything is up and running now and getting a nice following.  We're always looking for talented Canadian writers to get on-board with this.  Please let me know if you're interested.

Let's see, oh yeah, I spent almost a month in Estonia with a side trip to Sweden. This was our very belated honeymoon.  I'll be doing a separate blog entry for this.  Stay tuned.  Here's a teaser, because I know you'll be asking for it....

 

Just before leaving for our big trip, took some incredible pregnancy shots.  Two weeks ago, just days after returning from Europe, I shot a wedding and had the opportunity to work with a good friend of mine at the same time.  We do it all again next month.

A few days ago, I gave my new AlienBees ABR800 ring flash a really good studio test with my beautiful wife.  I'll be doing a full entry on that soon, but here's a sample.

 

I love the effect I get from this flash.  More on that soon.  Until then, enjoy the extended heatwave we're having, stay cool.  

The Many Faces of Sebastian Pigott

Over the weekend I had the pleasure of getting together with actor & musician Sebastian Pigott for a studio shoot.  I believe you'll agree that we got some great images.  To see more from this shoot, go to robseguin.com

Product Shots Test

I recently picked up a light tent for small product photography and wanted to share my initial tests.  The one I purchased was the Dynaphos DPL-005L 24x24 LightCube.  It packs really small and comes with 4 different backdrops (Black, White, Red and Blue).  Please note that you cannot use this once you unpack it.  The backdrops have so many creases in them which makes them impossible to use as-is.  I had to use my steamer to iron out the very stubborn folds.  This is the only way I could use any of the backdrops.

For my test I set up 3 studio strobes around the light tent.  Both sides and the rear.  Below is an image of my setup and 2 images I was able to produce.

 

Wedding Bells

Wedding bells.

Over the years I've shot many weddings and I'd like to share some of my favourite images with you.

Weddings are made up of constantly changing locations and lighting conditions. When you couple that with all the interesting people who make up a wedding party, you've got all the makings of some really great images.

You can see these and more at robseguin.com

 

Showcase

If you've been following my blog, you know that this version of my website (www.robseguin.com) is still very new.  When I originally launched it on December 3rd, I wouldn't say it was what one would call 'bare bones', but I didn't have everything that I wanted in place.

Since that day I've set up a For Sale section for my stock work, and today I am happy to announce that I've added a new page titled SHOWCASE.  I've been wanting to add this for quite some time now and finally have the time to put this together for you.

On this new page I will be showing you different places where my work is being shown or 'showcased'.

At the moment there are a couple Pigott Brothers videos where my images are being used, a video of a big night shoot with Alycia Gallagher, and a one page spread in Salon Magazine. 

I'm always looking to hear from you.  If you've got any ideas for something you'd like to see, or some crazy ideas for my stock images.  I'd love to hear all about it.

Cheers,

Rob

light

: something that makes vision possible 

: the sensation aroused by stimulation of the visual receptors  

Welcome to Tech Tuesdays.  Once a week I'm going to discuss photography on a more technical level than I have in previous blogs...which won't be difficult because techno-babble is pretty much non-existent in any of my earlier blogs.

I'm going to keep things light and fun and just talk about my experiences and show examples when possible. 

I hope to hear from all of you.  I'm officially inviting all of you to fill my mailbag with questions.  You can send your emails to rob@robseguin.com. 

Today I'm going to discuss different things that you can do with one light source.

Exhibit 'A'

Here's an image of Maiu which was shot in the studio.

I am using a studio strobe, shooting through an umbrella.  The strobe is placed at a 45 degree angle and about 4 metres away and about half a metre higher than the Maiu's face.  My model is on a light coloured seamless backdrop.  The effect gives a nice soft shadow on the backdrop and lights her up just right.  

This is a very versatile setup for one light.  You can also shoot this using the umbrella as a reflector.  The light will be a bit more harsh.  Removing the umbrella altogether will enhance any edges and make any shadows more defined, giving you a lot of contrast.

Exhibit 'B'

Here, we have an image of Alycia Gallagher.  This was shot on location in an art studio in Toronto.

Once again, I'm using one studio strobe.  This time I am using an umbrella as a reflector.  I have it placed about 6 metres away and at a 45 degree angle of the model and just a bit higher than Alycia's head.

You'll notice that because of the angle of the light that only one side of Alycia is lit up.  The other side is in the shadows.  We're getting a lot of light everywhere due to the umbrella  reflection.  This really works for this situation.  It's lighting up the entire area around her, and because of all the shadows, we're getting a lot of definition in everything.

Exhibit 'C'

Last image of the day is of Oliver Pigott.  

For these portraits, I wanted some really edgy.  This was shot in the studio on a black seamless backdrop.  I had a studio strobe placed at a 45 degree angle once again, but because I did not want any light spilling on the backdrop, I used a snoot.  

If you're not familiar with a snoot, it is a cone shaped reflector with the small end of the reflector placed where the light is exiting.  This way the light is shaped to a very narrow beam. It gives a very dramatic effect.  I don't use this a lot, but I'm so thankful that I have it. 

So there you have it.  There are many other things that can be done with a single light source.  I hope this small sample gets your creative juices flowing.  

Let me know your thoughts.  I look forward to hearing from all of you with your comments and any ideas for future Tech Tuesdays.  Please send your emails to rob@robseguin.com.

mu·sic

: an art of sound in time that expresses ideas and emotions in significant forms through the elements of rhythm, melody, harmony, and color.

When working on photography projects, I have often worked with very talented people.  This has usually been makeup artists, wardrobe stylists, fashion designers and models of course.  Last summer I had the opportunity to add musicians to this list - enter Oliver & Sebastian Pigott in need of some updated photos.

The Pigott Brothers have been putting the finishing touches on their latest album, and have also just launched a new website (www.pigottbrothers.com) and needed images, images and more images.  Well, we succeeded. 


They're a couple of very talented guys, and a blast to work with.  You'll find our main shoot under PROJECTS and a couple portraits of Oliver under PORTRAITS.  


Also involved in the shoot was makeup artist Trason Fernandes (www.trason.com) and wardrobe stylist Alisha Hanif.  An amazing team with incredible results.


High Five gang!!!

cel·e·brate

a : to honor (as a holiday) especially by solemn ceremonies or by refraining from ordinary business  

b : to mark (as an anniversary) by festivities or other deviation from routine 

 

Happy New Year

This year (technically last year) for New Year's Eve I finally had the opportunity to shoot some fireworks.  It's been a long time coming.  Although the actual fireworks show was quite disappointing, I was very happy with the results of the images I was able to get.  We had what one would call 'a room with a view'.  35 floors above Nathan Phillips Square, across the street from Toronto's city hall.  I highly recommend renting a room at the Sheraton in downtown Toronto for a special New Year's Eve. 

I will have all of these images available in my For Sale area of the website (www.robseguin.com) shortly.