I was approached by local stylist Tanya Yancie early in the planning stages and helped corral a portion of the 15 photographers who donated their time to document the day via the Alberta Strobist group. Brio salon is beautifully modern, family owned and operated. I was pleasantly surprised at how such a visually stimulating place could lay inside an unassuming retail storefront on one of the busiest streets in Lethbridge.

Rather than take portraits for the kids, I took a documentary approach so Brio could have an album to share their contribution with the community. 200 kids were affected by the movement this year, and were sent home with many grooming supplies donated from local businesses. I feel strongly that this will be an annual event, and I can’t wait to help out next Summer to help kids feel great about themselves, and give them a fresh start for the coming school year.

We started the day with a formal session in the Prince of Wales hotel, where we were lucky enough to have the dining room all to ourselves. As you can see by the image with the chair, the weather outside was wind, rain and fog. Not so great for a bridal session.

Luckily, Torin and I had just returned from a lighting class in Missoula Montana, and were fresh with new ideas that helped recreate sunlight for the shoot. If you look carefully in some of these shots, you’ll notice it was raining the entire time – but Vicki and Nathan (our couple for the day) were troopers and pushed through it with grace and style!

My favourite frames from this shoot are the monotone images at Cameron Falls. We intentionally lit the falls much darker than our couple for a dramatic look. I think it looks more like a theatre backdrop than the typical “bride by the waterfall” tourist shot I’ve seen in other albums.

Now that this shot is over I joke with my brides to be that I bring along a “Plug-in Sun” just in case the weather turns.

The idea started innocently enough as a group of fellow photographers began discussing a photo shoot done for a European triathalon team. What would it take to do something similar in Southern Alberta? Has anyone shot under water before? How do you light it? What are the challenges?

Then a few of us turned the idea into reality. Through luck, networking, and a bit of old fashioned elbow grease – we’ve received permission to use the diving windows this Sunday to coordinate what I belive will be Lethbridge’s largest photographer collaboration of the year. One of the photographers shoots fashion, and was able to have a local designer create two unique peices just for this event. My old business partner has his SCUBA certification, so we will be able to work at longer intervals.

The local paper is ready to cover it, I’m itching to post some of the early frames right from the shoot location. Now if only we could convince a recent bride to trash the dress in the pool!

Stay tuned, big things are coming, look for sample frames early next week.

If you’ve not visited Hotel Arts or any of its dining options I urge you to do so next trip in. The amount of fine detail and displayed work is phenomenal, and one must remind themselves that they are not in a gallery – but a commercial hotel. The creative energy in the hotel helped to fuel some of my best frames to date.

A giant thank you to my other shooters Tanya Plonka and Eric Au for such a seamless shoot. Assistants Melissa Belter and Torin Segstro were indispensible, and often running back to the suite for forgotten gear, or light change ups. Makeup Artist Kada Issa did such a phenomenal job on the bodypaint that I had no reservations posing model Cayley Turnbull topless in public (no one even blinked – camoflage at its finest).

Dallen Flexhaug, Guest Services Manager and Fraser Abbott, Director of Sales & Marketing were instrumental in securing the location, as well as ensuring our shoot ran seamlessly, thank you so much!

After our shoot, we ate in Calgary and discussed the next opportunity. I think there was mention of exotic cars in High River…stay tuned.

M.

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18 Athletes, 10 Photographers, 5 Models, 1 Designer and 1 Make up artist met at the University of Lethbridge Pool last Sunday for a full day shoot of everything wet.

It all started innocently enough as a discussion between likeminded photographers on flickr, a website for photosharing and photographer community. We had been discussing a similar European shoot and wanted to try it locally – but alone were without the resources to pull it off.

Slowly, we began discussing the idea with anyone who would listen. My old business partner is now a PADI certified rescue diver, the thought of assisting 5 beautiful models from Red Deer was incentive enough for him to drive the 6 hours and help out for the day. Calgary photographer Eric Au had connections in the fashion scene with wardrobe, makeup and talent – and I connected the dots with University of Lethbridge Sport & Recreation, as well as organized both local and out of town shooters.

We spent the early portion of the shoot creating portraits for the athletes of the University of Lethbridge swim team, then broke into smaller groups to shoot action shots of the athletes – and shoot some surface shots of our models.

[video://http://vimeo.com/3161288]

After a few failed attempts at lighting the pool, we found success in an 800 watt studio light (at full power) on a boom above our models in the water, combined with a 400 watt ringlight on half power – taped to the dive window. The cheers you see on the video are from the sweet spot – the perfect moment where our lighting was dead-on, and the models were comfortable enough to pose through a few cycles.

As a special bonus, we made the front page of the Lethbridge Herald the next day. Special thanks to Eric Au, Chris Caldwell (Northwest SCUBA), the Calgary Strobist Shooters, and the rest of the local team that showed up to make this THE shoot to beat for 2009!

A few initial frames from the shoot and more available on my flickr stream:

[flickr-photo:id=3272268478,size=-][flickr-photo:id=3265783416,size=-] [flickr-photo:id=3265880456,size=-]

The idea started innocently enough as a group of fellow photographers began discussing a photo shoot done for a European triathalon team. What would it take to do something similar in Southern Alberta? Has anyone shot under water before? How do you light it? What are the challenges?

Then a few of us turned the idea into reality. Through luck, networking, and a bit of old fashioned elbow grease – we’ve received permission to use the diving windows this Sunday to coordinate what I belive will be Lethbridge’s largest photographer collaboration of the year. One of the photographers shoots fashion, and was able to have a local designer create two unique peices just for this event. My old business partner has his SCUBA certification, so we will be able to work at longer intervals.

The local paper is ready to cover it, I’m itching to post some of the early frames right from the shoot location. Now if only we could convince a recent bride to trash the dress in the pool!

Stay tuned, big things are coming, look for sample frames early next week.

Boxing day in Lethbridge was a series of snow drifts and howling winds, not an ideal environment for an outdoor portrait session. Not to be discouraged by the weather, I made a few calls to scout alternate locations and ended up connecting with Jason Beacock, new owner of Henotic Restaurant and Lounge. I explained my dilemma to Jason (new owner), and he openly invited us to come in and shoot. The weather had kept most sane people at home – so the old Firehall location was mostly empty when I arrived.

If you’ve not been to the new Henotic Restaurant, go. Food is great, and the ownership is very receptive to both visual artists and musicians. Located in Lethbridge’s original firehall, Henotic seeks to become a new venue for artists to showcase their work, and build local community.

Rod Leland showed up to assist my shoot (thankfully), and we explored a few funky lighting setups while shooting a couple in our newfound environment. I got a little creeped out when Rod told me the 6-floor bell tower was the stage for Lethbridge’s first legal hanging. Yikes!

Here’s a few sample frames from our evening:

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I took a break from the wedding scene last night and did a music portrait session with Martin.

Normally found roaming the aisles of the local HMV, Martin has a distinct rock “look” that was begging to be photographed. I love shooting frames of unique and interesting people, and Martin was no exception.

We toyed with a few different wardrobe and lighting setups, but ended up with some low-key portraits that will look great as prints, facebook or myspace.

Thanks for being so receptive to my ideas Martin, the other shots look great too! If you are a fan of music, visit him at the HMV in Park Place Mall – tell ‘em Michael sent ya.

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Oh, and her mom makes great butter tarts too!

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Lethbridge hosted “Fashion Weekend” this week. The event featured a weekend of fashion shows, designer sales, and events intended to build and support the fashion industry in Lethbridge.

My friends Eric and Robin, who regularly shoot with the Calgary Strobist group – came down to shoot a runway show held at the Zoo at the Unviersity of Lethbridge. I dropped by to say hello, and had a chance to spend the evening with both of them before their shoot at Nicholai – a new retail store in Lethbridge’s downtown core.

Eric is fully equipped with off camera lighting gear (Alien Bees and Pocket Wizards), and provided stellar photo documentation of both events. You can see his 2 hour shoot from Nicholai on flickr