Tonight we’re observing Earth Hour, which means we turn off our lights for an hour in consideration of the environment. Of course, it’s a symbolic gesture. After we turn the lights back on, most of us resume our normal lives. But, in terms of raising the consciousness of environmental issues, I don’t see how it can do anything but good. I decided to do a couple of conceptual photos to celebrate the occasion. In the process, I sacrificed some cooking wine, soy sauce, corn starch and a light bulb I bought a few months ago, incorrectly thinking it would fit in my fridge.
After taking a few photos with the bulb intact, I put it in a plastic bag and smashed it. Then I dumped the pieces onto a glass plate and drenched it in “blood.” I shot a few frames, but discovered that the corn starch was drying in a very un-bloody way on the big shard of glass closest to the bulb’s base. I carefully extracted that piece with needle-nosed pliers, washed it, then put it back into the composition.I believe in getting photos as good as they can be in camera so they don’t have to be Photoshopped to death, so to speak.
I shot these photos with a Sigma EX 105mm f2.8 macro lens. I staged it inside a light tent I borrowed from a friend. It was lit from below and from both sides by Alien Bees B800 strobes.
I picked up Pepper yesterday. That’s what I’ve decided to name my new car. She’s not pickled and she’s more than a peck, but Pepper packs a punch. She’s a 2010 MINI Cooper S Mayfair Edition in, of course, pepper white. Sure, she’s cute, but she’s spicy too. Push the “Sport Mode” button by the shifter and she growls with anticipation for the next curve. Pepper’s also rockin the upgraded harmon/kardon sound system. Best. Upgrade. Ever. I have always enjoyed a good car stereo, and this one sounds fantastic. I spend so much time in the car, and cranking the tunes on this system makes time fly by.
My life has changed so much since I first picked up Emeril four years ago. I’ll miss Emeril’s all-weather AWD capability. In fact, Pepper’s the first non-Subaru I’ve had in about 12 years. I’m not saying I’ll never go back to driving a Subaru, because they’ve served me so well and gotten me through so many foul-weather scrapes, but now that I’m a full-time photographer, I just don’t need that kind of utility. If the weather is truly awful, there’s no need for me to leave the studio. I thought it was time to drive a car that went a bit further on a tank of gas, and suited my personal style a bit better.
Driving Pepper takes a little getting used to. The six-speed manual transmission is the first six-speed I’ve driven regularly, so having that extra gear is unusual for me. The spacing between gears is also different than what I’ve grown accustomed to, so I’m still figuring out what gear feels right for different situations. Pepper’s feisty engine is harnessed to the front wheels, and especially in “sport mode” gives a pretty hefty torque-steer twist under heavy acceleration. It’s part of the MINI Cooper S’s character to do this, but it will take a while for me to not to be surprised after having driven those highly symmetrical Subarus for years. The suspension is also quite stiff. Emeril’s suspension rode a pretty fine balance between handling and comfort, so Pepper’s more sporty suspension, combined with low profile tires can be slightly jarring on not-so-perfect Southern Ontario roads. That being said, I’m not complaining. My 39-month leased journey with Pepper is sure to be filled with driving fun.
I have to tip my hat to MINI Oakville, who took great care of me, even though there were bumps in the sales process. I have to admire a company who takes immediately and unreservedly takes responsibility for its mistakes and moves swiftly to correct them. I’m a happy customer, and I’m thrilled to dealing with any of the Budd’s car dealerships in the future.
After picking Pepper up from MINI Oakville, we went for a little spontaneous photo shoot. After all, Pepper’s a photographer’s car!
I had a very messy photo shoot with local model Agatka the other day. She came to me with a dress that said “Ice Cream” on the front of it and asked if I’d like to develop a concept for it. I’ve been toying with the idea of interpreting song titles in photos, so I thought maybe I could shoe-horn this dress into that concept. The first song that came to mind was “I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Ice Cream.” I know it’s not much of a song, but you have to work with what you have! I wanted her to be punked up and aggressive, holding on to the ice cream as it melted. I decided against putting the ice cream in a cone because I didn’t think this type of character would care to use one.
Anyway, the shoot was fun. I got the wind machine out to blow that wild purple wig around. Ice cream was melting all over, and drops of it were blowing everywhere in the wind. Even a couple of days later, I’m still finding drops of melted ice cream plastered in various places around the studio. I kept the lighting very simple. It’s just a single Alien Bees B800 strobe with a silver umbrella for high contrast light that really makes the colors sparkle. I pumped the flash up to high power, and stopped the lens down to around f/11 to get lots of depth of field so you could see what was in Agatka’s outstretched hand, while also keeping her eyes in sharp focus.
I presented the final images in a triptych because I didn’t want to lose the sense of motion in the shoot.
Here's the CD cover for Brad James's debut album, featuring a photo I shot for him last summer.
One late summer evening last year, I shot the CD art for up-and-coming country music artist Brad James. We chose a field in rural Stoney Creek, Ontario. The field was perfect because of the lonely tree on the horizon, with the sun setting behind it. After some lengthy negotiations with suspicious local farmers, we gained access to the field, and tromped through waist-deep grass to get to the best spot just in time to capture the best light. It was a perfect golden hour for shooting, and I think we managed to capture exactly that warm summer field feeling we were after.
When I’m shooting promotional photos for bands and musicians, it’s really important to me that I understand what their brand is about. That way, we can choose locations, pose, time of day, and put together all the critical elements that communicate the right message.
Anyway, Brad is busy touring and pursuing his dream of country music stardom. Check him out on his Myspace page, where you see where he’ll be playing next. You can also hear some of his tunes and buy his CD.
In the last couple of years, I’ve been on a quest to be more conscious of the food I eat. To me, this meant adopting the paleo lifestyle, and eating local, organic food as much as budget and availability allows. I have also tried as best I can to sort fact from fiction when it comes to nutrition. It hasn’t always been easy, but in the process, I’ve lost a lot of weight, gained lots of energy, and leveled out my moods. I also feel healthier and look much younger than I did before I started this.
My latest adjustment was to investigate grass-fed beef. From what I can gather from the Internet, grass-fed beef is healthier and more humanely-raised than the traditional grain-fed stuff.
My hunt for locally-raised grass-fed beef led me to Ivan McIlroy and his Wallace Springs Cattle Company. A while ago, I arranged with Ivan to buy a quarter cow of his grass-fed beef. Today, the day finally came when I could pick up my order. I hopped in the car and headed to the farm in North Perth, Ontario to meet the meat, so to speak.
Ivan was great. He gave me a tour of the farm, introducing me to his animals and showing me how they live and what they eat. It clearly takes a lot of work and costs lot of money to raise cattle this way. The price I paid for my quarter cow was extremely reasonable. In fact, as Ivan explained to me, it’s not a sustainable price when compared to what it costs to raise the animals. I believe that many people would pay more, especially if they’re given the opportunity to see the farm and learn about how their food is grown.
After spending about an hour with Ivan and his cows, I headed to the meat packer’s to pick up my order. There was an astounding amount of beef. The order included about 70 lbs. of ground beef, four short rib roasts, two shoulder roasts, nine blade steaks, fifteen rib steaks, and a brisket. There was also a big box of beef bones to be used in soup. I’ll be sharing this order with my dad, but still, it’s a lot!
I really enjoyed my trip out to the country today. I’m naturally a city boy, so it always seems a bit exotic to visit a farm. Have a look at my gallery of snapshots with captions below.
These goats are Ivan’s wife Karen’s project. The babies were adorable, as you can see. Their instinctive love of jumping and climbing was fun to watch.
This two month-old calf was bright-eyed and attentive.
The mother cow was very curious. She was inhaling deep breaths of air, catching our scent. I put my hand out to her nose and she promptly licked it.
Ivan is renting barn space and taking care of these cows for another rancher. They are raised on a feed lot in a traditional grain diet.
Here’s one of the conventionally raised steers staring me down from the doorway of the barn.
One of the major downsides of grain-fed cattle is that they have to be fed antibiotics to fend off infection from the sores caused by the food they eat. Ivan is nursing these two immuno-compromised steers back to health.
Here are some of Ivan’s own cattle. They are raised on grass with a little bit of grain in the winter. To me, they seem happier and healthier than the grain-fed steers in the feed lot.
Here’s Ivan showing me one of the blends of hay that he feeds his cattle in the winter.
When you’re passionate about something, you post it on signs.
Here’s the trunk of my car, overflowing with grass-fed beef. This will probably last a while.
