Millions of tiny dramas are happening every day in New York City. Turn your lens in any direction, focus on even the smallest fragment, and you’re bound to capture them.

Shot with Canon 5D MkII with Hartblei 65mm f3.5 Super-Rotator. You can view it in HD on Youtube.

Music: Life with Lights by Ballerina Black – from www.musicalley.com

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Here are some of my photos of the Standard Hotel and the High Line.

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Shooting contre jour in that brilliant California sun provided dramatic accent to the already spectacular setting. The ample light also afforded me the luxury of high shutter speeds, even with my camera dialed down to ISO 50. One of the reasons I really like Canon DSLRs is that they have the ability to shoot at ISO 50. Sure, high ISO speeds are desirable in low light conditions, but low ISO speeds are also handy because they allow me to stop down to f2.8 in sunny conditions. Anyway, because of the bright light, I took the opportunity to encourage Shirley to move, jump and dance. Freezing action amps up the fun and energy levels of a photo.

Shirley’s in the process of choosing her final images from the shoot, but I couldn’t resist sharing these few samples of our fun afternoon on the beach.

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You can get some really unusual results when you take long exposures. In reality, the color was most like the first of the three images below. Pulling the white balance way towards the “cool” end while processing the third photo made the tree look a bit more like its real daytime color.

Maybe these aren’t the most exciting photos in the world, or the most elaborate I’ve ever taken, but often I find the joy of photography in the act of pure creation, with no goal other than to see something familiar in a new way.

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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.

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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.

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That’s why my friend Zura’s recent blog post Sexy vs. skanky or How to photograph sexiness caught my attention. I commented on that post about how I approach photographing sexiness. In this post, I’ve expanded on those comments.

So, the first question that arises is, “What is sexy?” The answer is different for every single person. I can only answer it by discussing it with her, observing her, looking at example images that she brings, etc. to get an idea of what is sexy to her. Then, I can coach that out of her through posing, expression, lighting, wardrobe and mood. We look at the photos as we go along and mutually decide what’s working and what needs adjustment. If she feels that she is coming across as sexy, then she’s more likely to be emotionally committed to the process, and I’d never want to be as arrogant as to unilaterally layer on my own visual language.

Zura’s post compared two advertising posters from the Montreal Metro. One of them showed a woman on silk sheets, with a sort of sleepy come-hither look that Zura found offensive because to her, it says, “I’m not terribly aware of what’s going on right now, maybe it’s a good time to take advantage of me.” In my experience, some women find the half-lidded, sleepy look sexy, and that is their personal expression of sexuality. Some might even find that expression to be empowering because they feel it radiates their sexual power and intent. Because it’s authentic to them, it ends up being inherently sexy. Others are more aggressive, or kinky, or explicit, or any number of flavors of sexuality that personally suit them.

Anyway, I think that first image is mediocre. It’s stiffly posed in order to position and highlight various products that the image is designed to sell, rather than trying to convey an overall message of sexiness. The expression is pasted on the model and doesn’t look natural or particularly authentic. I think it fails just because it is poorly conceived and executed, not because it’s sexist. The second photo is of a woman wearing an elaborate lingerie outfit, standing provocatively and addressing the camera directly with her eyes. To Zura, this communicates, “Hey there tiger, I have some hot ideas about what I’d like to do to you and have done to me, how about it?” I agree that it’s a better photo. However, I believe this photo could be construed as sexist too, because of the obvious Photoshop body modification done around the waist to make it crazy skinny. Some may argue that the woman in the first poster represents a more healthy body image than the woman in the second poster. Personally, I’m not adverse to doing this kind of modification on photos when my client requests it. Photography, particularly the boudoir kind, is illusory anyway, and if she feels it adds to her allure, then why not?

In my opinion, “sexy” and “sexist” aren’t one-size-fits-all. No matter how you shoot something, there will always be people who find it sexy, and there will also be people who are offended. The best approach is to find what is authentic and appealing to their intended audience and go with that.

I’ve included a gallery of my own photos below that I think express a range of various expressions of sexiness.

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I was inspired by how Thais in Phuket reaction to the event. Despite the daunting destruction and chaos, they rolled up their sleeves and got to work repairing the damage. Rubble was swept into neat piles and cleared away, flowers were replanted, and construction got underway to rebuild demolished structures. Tourists, whose money is the lifeblood of the region, stayed away from Phuket in droves, and the normally bustling resorts were nearly deserted. So much had been swept into the sea. Almost everyone there had lost friends and relatives to that giant wave. Instead of lapsing into despair, Thai workers did what needed to be done, and then took to the beaches and played joyful games of soccer. The joy and energy was infectious, and that evening as I stood in the soft sand and panned my lens across that scene, I captured one of my most personally meaningful photos.

I’ll always remember the Thai way of adapting, flowing and rolling with the punches. If you can take this to heart, you’ll always land on your feet with a smile, no matter what the universe throws at you. This approach can be very useful to photographers. We’re often at the mercy of weather, equipment failures, financial limits, wardrobe, client demands, and other uncontrollable factors. Often, our intricate pre-made plans get demolished in an instant. Having learned to stay in the present and to observe its many opportunities has made a big difference to me. Although I always hope for ideal conditions for every shoot, I feel confident that I can adapt to create compelling photos in nearly any situation. Try it some time. Whenever you catch yourself bemoaning what you perceive to be a negative turn of events, re-examine the situation to see if it contains any hidden advantages.

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So sparse as to let a horse walk. So dense as not to let breeze in.

This principle can also relate to the composition of a photograph, and describes a balance I’ve always tried to achieve in my own work.

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This is where gratitude comes in. Sometimes things just don’t work out how you might have expected. Perhaps it’s raining, or you forgot to bring the lens you need, or delays force you to shoot at a time of day that’s not ideal. There are a lot of things that can go “wrong.” Sure we could stew about these so-called problems and work ourselves into a negative, distracted fit. But, is that really going to help you get the shot? Believe me, it won’t! Instead, is it possible for you to find ways to use these mishaps to your advantage? Take a look around for things to be grateful about. Maybe the clouds are creating drama in the sky. Maybe the rain has forced people to bring out their colorful umbrellas. Maybe an “unattractive” foreground object can be used to add interest to your composition?

Being grateful is not about being unrealistically optimistic. It is about being powerful enough to decide for yourself what the outcome will be, no matter what external circumstances arise.

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So why do people shoot what they don’t like to shoot? Is it because of money? None of us got into photography to get rich. There are plenty of other ways to do that. For instance, real estate investment and derivatives trading are both profitable jobs. No, we got into photography because we love it, and we have something to express. That isn’t to say you can’t make money doing photography. In fact, there are plenty of photographers who do quite well in this regard. Look at my heroes Liebowitz, Platon, D’Orazio, Karsh. They succeeded because they live and breathe and love what they shoot.

I sometimes hear the argument that people shoot the stuff they don’t like to shoot because it brings in cash so they can sustain themselves long enough to shoot the things they love to shoot. That doesn’t work. Shooting something you don’t enjoy saps your energy, and you’ll have none left over for what matters to you. This fact is borne out by the hordes of frustrated photographers who claim they don’t do creative work any more because the paid work sucks up all their time.

The fact is, there are different strokes for different folks. If you don’t like shooting a particular type of photography, you can be sure that someone else absolutely loves it. That person is going to get the work, and feel quite satisfied doing it. They are the ones who will create creative, thought-provoking and evocative images in that style. Meanwhile, you’re going to be scrambling for scraps, feeling resentful, and producing dull and uninspired photos. A better strategy is to do the kind of photography you love to do. Check in with yourself while you’re shooting. Do you feel elated or annoyed? Do you feel free or frustrated? Do you feel alive or dead? Discover what you love doing. Focus on it. Promote it. Revel in it. If you can do this, your passion will show through your images. You will get the work, and here’s a bonus: you will get paid well to do it.

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For those of you who don’t know, improv is the “art of spontaneous theatre.” We take an offer from the audience, and spin it into a drama with characters, relationships and plot. We don’t use scripts or props or sets. Everything is done on a plain black stage, sometimes with a couple of chairs, and no plan at all. It’s high-risk theatre.

I’m not exaggerating when I say improv changed my life. It did. It gave me a whole new framework for how I want to live my life, and has made a lot of things easier for me. It accelerated my creativity and helped me become a better photographer too. I’m not always sure why this happened, but I know there’s a relationship between what I do on stage and what I do with a camera. Here are some of the key things I’ve learned from improv, and how I apply them to photography.

1. Take risks. Risk your heart. Risk your dignity. Risk your money. Take these risks to the edge of your comfort level, then take a step beyond. Take these risks smartly; don’t take stupid risks. Remember that rewards come from taking risks. When I’m taking photos, I always try to push the image to the furthest limit. After you get the image that you originally intended to get, what’s the harm in trying new things? Maybe you’ll find a new angle, a new composition, or something else innovative that you’ve never done before. Maybe that new thing will become an adjunct to to your style.
2. Live in the moment. You have no control over what happened last week. You can be frozen by anticipating what will happen next week. Focus your energy and attention on what is happening right now. If you do that, you will see so much more, experience things in more detail, and react faster when necessary. When I’m traveling and taking photos, I try to get myself lost in foreign cities. I get on buses, wander down unknown streets, and get myself generally turned around and disoriented. It makes me hyper-aware of my surroundings, and new photographic possibilities open themselves up to me. In studio, it’s possible to do this too. Just be aware of the time in between shots. If you stay present at all times, you can spot spontaneous moments that are worth capturing, even if you hadn’t pre-planned them.
3. Do it now. So many things die from over-planning. There’s no time like the present to do something you’ve always wanted to do, or at least make a commitment to do that something. Obviously this isn’t practical for all things, but you’ll be surprised how many things you can do. Right. Now. There isn’t any other way to write this about photography. Just take the shot. Something better may happen later, but you can take that shot later. Take the shot that you have now.
4. Take care of yourself. You can’t take care of anyone else unless you’re taking care of yourself first. By taking care of yourself, you are stronger and more capable of helping those around you. If you focus all of your attention on others around you, you become scattered and weak. Once you’ve established your own position of strength, reach out your hands and support others.
5. Have a goal. Your goal may be very distant, or even very abstract. Your goal may be something like, “I want to be happy.” Keep working towards that goal. Evaluate if you are moving in the right direction, and adjust course if you are not. You don’t need to make huge steps towards your goal. Small ones will do. You can even take side trips off the path towards your goal to break the monotony. But if you are always generally moving towards your goal, you will get there eventually. I use goals as guides in photography too. Sometimes the goals are concrete, like “I want to replicate Botticelli’s Birth of Venus in a photograph.” Sometimes they’re abstract, like, “I want a photo that creates an ethereal moood.” Goals are helpful though. Just remember to stay in the moment.
6. Be positive. You can go a lot further saying “yes” than you can by saying “no.”
7. Seek patterns. Often things that happen, happen again. And again. Themes develop in all aspects of life, and even in history itself. Use the patterns you spot as guidance as to what can or will happen again. Don’t be afraid to be the one to perpetuate a pattern that works to your advantage.
8. Accept and let go. Sometimes things will not go your way. Sometimes unexpected things happen. Accept them, and let go of how you expected things to turn out. Once the past has passed, it’s gone. Let it go. Focus on living in the moment and you’ll see new opportunities everywhere. In the end, you may even get what you originally wanted.

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The rules say that the horizon should be near the top of the frame to emphasize the ground, or near the bottom of the frame to emphasize the sky. Standard landscape photography rules that work most of the time. But what if the point of the photo is to emphasize the symmetry between sky and ground?

Rule: broken.

Another example of breaking rules is this one:

The often-quoted “Rule of Thirds” says you should divide your frame into thirds and place your subject at the intersection of those lines. It makes the viewer’s eye travel around the frame and visit all parts of it before eventually landing up on your subject. Putting something dead centre in the middle of the frame “sticks” the eye to that spot. But, sometimes it just makes sense to put something in the middle, especially if you are trying to convey the idea of something’s extraordinary gravitational pull. Rule: broken.

What rules do you like to break?

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