E.I. Grad Photos

After a week of doing graduation photos, in dealing with different types of highschool students, the more it dawns on me how much I love taking pictures!  Last Tuesday, my last appointment commented that I must be really sick and tired of work at the end of the day.  I paused and thought about it, and without a lie I said, “I’m actually not ’sick and tired’ of it.  I love doing what I do!”  She added, “Ya, but it’s the exact same pose every single time.”  True enough, it is the exact same pose that I direct them but it’s not about the pose, it’s about them, every single one of them.  It’s about the satisfaction that I can provide them these images that they will cherish and look back to years ahead.  Just being there to put on their gown and hearing how excited they are to finally graduate just boosts me and they simply transfer all that energy unto me.  My favourite moment of all time is when I put on the last prop, the cap and the diploma.  By then, it really hit these kids that they’re done, they have survived and accomplished a great task!

During those days, I’ve missed most of my breaks because students would come late, or I need to squeeze them in, and one specific lady couldn’t make up her mind.  I missed my lunch because she wanted to do different poses.  I will admit it was a bit frustrating in the beginning.  First she wasn’t sure if she wanted to take it, 15 mins later she finally decided and another 15 mins later she came back because she had to do her make-up.  The entire session with her with 10 poses took more than 30 mins (aside from waiting beforehand)!  It took my whole lunch time but I must say it’s one of my favourite moments, because she was just bursting with ideas in terms of her own pose.  I ended the day with just a bottle of water in my system….and still very much satisfied knowing these students are happy.  It’s  nice to know that these students enjoy their time and feel comfortable with me and they see me as more than just a person who took their grad pictures.  Some of them keeps dropping by during their break/spare/class switch, simply to say hi.  Just the fact that they stop by re-assures me that to them, it’s not just a photoshoot, it’s an experience, and I’m proud and happy to be a part of that moment.

Ms. Bikini Canada 2009

Last week, I got a message from Kyle asking me to take coverage of the Ms. Bikini Canada, Toronto Contestants 2009.  He came across me from the Cheval Photoshoot and that’s when he asked me to do a shoot for him as well.   It was a last minute call and I had to re-arrange my schedule and pull some strings, to manage to work for that event.

The night started off with having the girls do their profile shots, and then taking them around the room of Mink NightClub and do creative shots with them.  The girls knew what they were doing, and definitely made the night flow a lot smoother.  The other promoter was also around, giving directions on exactly how he wanted the shots, and the look that he’s gunning for.  It’s good to work with clients that know what they want.  The night continued on as the girls walked down on the red carpet, and partying it up on the floor.

It was a fun night, as always.  The room was decked, the music was pumping, the people were raging with excitement and the place was just full of energy.  At the end, I even met up and get to catch up with one of the Mr. International contestants that I took shots of last year.  Hopefully, I can work with them again.

 

C.C. Live Photoshoot at Cheval

Another live photoshoot took place this past weekend.  The chosen venue  was at Cheval Nightclub, Downtown Toronto.  It’s the same concept, except a bit more polished in terms of what’s going on. This time, we were had an actual background, meaning no more distractions from random people passing by, trying to be in the shoot, and no random drunk guys passing by and knocking down lights and what nots.  The key released was Bird of Peace and we had the dark angel and the good angel concept.

It was a successful night and the team was just awesome!  Everyone knew what they were doing.  The only challenge I had for the night is figuring out how in the world to make the flash slave work.  For some reason, it was cancelling my own flash, or even when it’s connected, it would be trigged a couple of seconds too late.  After pressing random buttons, we managed to figure it out, and I realized one of my camera button also stopped working.  Which reminds me, that needs to be dropped off for repair…..hmmmmmz.

 

 

C.C. Live Photoshoot at Maro

The long awaited event finally came.  After months of planning and organizing, Cristofer Carrado had his product launch at Maro Night Club in downtown Toronto.  It’s a sleek, high-end club with high profile crowd.  We started our shoots in the washrooms…that’s right….in the washrooms!  Their facility looks so lush, it wouldn’t even matter where we did our shots, it would have worked great!

The night was a memorable experience for me.  The idea is a live photoshoot in the club, so people crowded, watching me do my thing.  The music was jumping, and there was so much adrenaline from the entire shoot out.  At some points, I even forgot that we had a crowd watching us.

The challenge I had to deal with was predominantly the lighting.  When we did the washroom shot, the room was so red, any light I bounce just reflected more red on their face.  I had to decide would I want flash on their face (which would take away the dark/devil theme) and have the red flood the image, or stick with the dark theme and no flash.  I took a chance and bumped my ISO to 1600 and shutter speed 80.  I was able to get away with the lighting I was gunning for, but the image was a bit dirty.

The other issues that came up are from the random people who kept passing through our photoshoot zone, disrupting the flow.  But aside from that, it was absolutely a fun time!  I’m looking forward to doing it again for sure!

Vonna’s Sweet Sixteen

The client for the weekend is Miss Vonna.  We had a previous cover shot of her, with her very own Profile cover and PVF.  A couple of months passed, it was time for her event!  Oh how time flies.  Anyways, I started off taking “getting ready” pictures at her house, and having a few posed shots in her living room.  When I headed to the reception, I anticipated for an upbeat crowd, and sure enough, everyone was just as excited to be there, just as Vonna celebrated her big day.  It was so much fun taking pictures of her and her family and friends!

On the side note, it never even crossed my mind that one of the kids I’ll be taking picture of at work (with Edge Imaging) will also be someone I’ll be taking pictures of outside the company.  Just when school started, Vonna was one of the students I took a picture ID for.  Small world!  I get to tease her that I’ve become her personal photographer….I’m literally just everywhere taking her picture!

C.C. Sword of Truth Product Shot

After my day’s work with Edge Imaging for school photography, I went to meet up with Cristofer Carrado.  He wants product shots of his “Sword of Truth” shirt, along with the new packaging he’s sending out to stores.  He has them in gold boxes, and ready to ship to prospective clients.  The packages look prestige and I hope he gets it in more stores for promotion.

I was also provided with a promotional code, so for those interested in buying his shirt online, let me know, and I will hook you up.  When the site is ready, with my promotion, you will be able to receive upto 20% off!  Now who doesn’t want discounts?!

E.I. – Compliment 2

Actually, I’m not sure if I would completely note this as a compliment.  I mean, it was a compliment, but its one of those, a bit of a “back-hand compliment” as one of the other photographer mentioned.

Three of us photographers were set-up to take pictures of an elementary school, from kindergarden to grade 8.  We had one group photographer, and it was me and another girl doing the individual shots.  This was only my second week of using the posing tables on kids and I’m still finding my way into what works best, and what doesn’t.  There were a lot more students than I was used to compared to the previous jobs I’ve done so I would say I improved my efficiency, since we didn’t fall behind.  Actually, we left earlier compared to other smaller schools I’ve had.  At the end of the day, as we were packing up, an older staff came up to us and said in the lines of:

‘I am a veteran in teaching.  I’ve gone through many different school photographers and I would say you’re the best ones.  You are the fastest photographers I’ve seen.  To begin with, I was surprised that you’re all females.  Back in the days, the photographers are always males.  Also, at your age, I didn’t expect you can handle the crowd, but the flow was very good.  You knew what you were doing and got the kids in and out quickly.  You guys did an excellent job!  I’m proud of you, and I will tell other people about you!’

She asked us how long we’ve been with the company, and I’m the baby.  I’m the only newbie who just started this year, and it’s good to know that I contribute to success in working with the pros.

In regards to the compliment, I don’t know how to take that.  Yes, there are a lot of male photographers, and I am proud to be one of the few female photographers.  I aspire to be known, so I can show to those who are not used to seeing a female photographer that we do exist, and we are damn good at what we do!  Also, just because I’m in my twenties, it does not make me incompetent to run the show.  There are teachers in my age group, why wouldn’t I be able to handle the kids my self?  I take pride in what I do, and how I do it, so I put effort into it.  I guess overall, it’s nice to know that we are noticed in doing a good job, and I’ll just take it that it was meant to be said in good light.  Thanks!

E.I. Kindergardens

We had 14 kindgergarden classes today, and I’m beat!  I miss my h.s. students.  They were much easier to handle.  You tell them exactly what to do, and they get it done.  Well, not all of them, but for the most part, they know how to move their bodies.  Little kids on the other hand, they consume so much more time and energy.  I find myself very drained after a few classes.

Part of the challenge is that each kindergarden has a different maturity level.  I always start off talking to them lightly, asking for their name.  The way they reply with their name is an indicator to me on how I should talk and instruct them.  I figured, if they are capable of understanding me, I should exercise them in dealing with another person.  If I see the kid to be at the level of better understanding, I simply show them what I want done and some verbal instructions.  For the most part, they get it dead-on.  Sometimes, kids will meekly say their name, or they can’t look at me while answering, and those are usually the kinds that you have to move their hands around.  To be honest, it does get frustrating at times when these kids can’t pay attention, stand still, or even simply look at me…but I remind myself, “they’re just kids”.

I’m learning that dealing with little kids can be so tiring, and requires a lot of patience.  I’ve had a kid cry in front of me, pee on my hot spot right where I take my shots.  I’ve had some go over and play with the bags I have set aside.  You really have to watch out for them!

God really knows what he’s doing, because the only thing that really keeps me going sometimes is to see their adorable faces.  Who can get frustrated seeing that!    They come in with their suits, or pretty dresses.  Their parents have them decked-out with gel and colourful trinkets on their head and are ready for that one shot!  At the end of the day, I’m still glad I was there to take their pictures.  I’m glad I am able to provide that shot, the one that gets framed and be proudly shown by the parents.

E.I. – Compliment 1

While working with a hundred of kids, I noticed I was being filmed randomly.  I wasn’t sure if they were specific to me, or the “event” of photo day, so I just ignored it.  After the rush, the students who were filming me came up to ask if they can interview me.  They made a short clip of the photo day to present to the students in assembly and they chose to interview me, out of the 4 other photographers, a helper, and our supervisor to approach.

The two students waited for our job to finish, and as I was interviewed quickly afterwards.  The one interviewing me asked if I was also doing the grad pictures.  I don’t exactly know Edge’s planning for me, so I said I wasn’t sure.  She gave a sigh and said, “I wish you were doing it.  You’re a lot nicer, compared to the last one we had.”  I’m not sure if they were referring to another photographer, or another company….so, I will keep the school unnamed, for the sake of protecting the name of the company, may it be ours (and the photographer who took those shots), or the previous ones who had that school’s contract.

It’s nice to know that despite the crazy rush and pressure in finishing up with these kids, I was able to handle them properly and still be “nice”.  I take such comments to heart because I know I can do my job efficiently as expected by the company, and at the same time keep my composure, be myself, and be completely customer oriented.

The Clothing Show Fall 2009

It was my first time to go to The Clothing Show, and it was all hooked-up by Cristofer Carrado.  He invited me over and got me the wkend pass as a photographer.  It’s nice to see other aspiring designers of all sorts.  There were brilliant designers, with unique ideas, concept, and texture that they bring into the fashino stream.

The fashion show itself was a bit interesting.  I was able to watch and take pictures for the Friday run.  The clothing line for the show was awesome, but the models weren’t all that inspiring.  For some of them, it felt like they were just picked-up from the street and dragged unto the show, as if they were forced to do a cat walk.  Their shoulders were caved in, they had an insecure face, and they walked like they were about to trip and fall any minute.  Mind you, some models were good, and knew what they were doing.  They confidently carried the clothes, and that helped alot in presenting the outfit to the crowd.  Over all, it was a great first-time experience.  I even get to meet up with Stephanie Abi-Najem, another aspiring designer, whom I plan on working with in the near future.

Here are some shots!  Hope you like it!  A couple more on the flickr account {www.flickr.com/janierobles}