Did I mention the food is phenomenal? Clean, modern, great service – and serves more than pizza…
[mappress]

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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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Shooting at the Zoo is a challenge, but one I was completely ready for. Knowing available light would be at a premium, I decided to go back to “roots photography” and leave my flashes, zooms, and other gear behind. Armed with only my 50mm 1.8 prime lens, I was ready to take on the Zoo with full force.

Represented by Flemish Eye records in Canada, and Sub Pop in the USA – Chad Vangaalen is a true artist with work crossing multiple mediums (he’s an accomplished illustrator and animator, as seen in his self-produced video work). Promoting his third full length album, Soft Airplane – Chad armed himself with a Gibson, a banjo, percussionist and Cellist who also played a modified Casio SK-1 for a truly unique sound.

Sample shots from the show:

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Stephenie is a graphic designer for the University of Lethbridge, and recently agreed to her long-time boyfriend Brad’s proposal to move things along nicely. Having an art background, Steph was great to work with and had an appreciation for my approach. This couple was so open to new suggestions – it makes my job a breeze!

I look forward to shooting their wedding in August at Brad’s family farm in the Coalhurst area (near Lethbridge, Alberta).

I leave you with this sneak peek from their session.

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I’ve created this “shaped bokeh” video tutorial that explains some of the ins and outs of doing this “in-camera”. Take a look and try it out for yourself!

[video:http://vimeo.com/2672375]

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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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The January edition of Beatroute expands on the career of a member of many local music projects, Jeff King.

As a good friend of Mr. King, I snuck into an undisclosed photo studio with a few bags of gear and got to work. A proper article deserves a proper portrait. I hope you like this sneak peek.

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