The Decisive Moment

So here I am in my final photography course at Sheridan College... Photojournalism!!! And, our most recent assignment was to capture a "decisive moment". The decisive moment is a concept that was first conceived by Henri Cartier-Bresson, a street photographer and photojournalist. The decisive moment refers to photographing an instant in time where the image represents the real or true essence of the event itself. It's said that a picture is worth a thousand words... but when someone is able to capture that 'decisive moment' then no words are truly needed as the picture will speak for itself. 

My collection of photos below are an attempt at taking multiple images of my children playing games on our living room floor. My goal/assignment was to get about 30 images from different perspectives and shift the focus around to the different objects and subjects in the scene in an attempt to capture that one image that represents their time playing together. 

Wikipedia says that Henri Cartier-Bresson's book was originally titled "Images à la sauvette" and it was originally translated to "The Decisive Moment"... but, the literal translation of the French title actually says "images on the sly" or "hastily taken images".  So, in an attempt to model Mr. Cartier-Bresson I did not plan any of these shots ahead of time or attempt to pose my children in any way. Cleary, I was not always 'sly' and at times I may have been too 'hasty'... but my girls did seem to have some fun!

I feel this particular image is the 'decisive moment' of the event as it really captures their ability to work together, play a game, and concentrate on something with out all the arguing and complaining that usually comes along with siblings spending time together. ;)

First day with the new blades

Summer is upon us once more!!!  What better time is there to start up the old camera and what better time is there to get out on your first set of roller blades!  Here's some shots of my oldest daughter with her brand new (gently used) roller blades!!!  She even bought them with her own money she saved up in her piggy bank!!!  Look how happy she is!!!

So happy with her first pair of roller blades!!!

Getting some help from mommy, just itching to get out on that sidewalk.

But, she doesn't need mommy for everything... she is a big girl after all!

One foot after the other!

A little help, just to make sure we don't trip over our laces.

Some extra special care and attention when putting on her brand new safety gear.

Getting all her joints padded and protected.

And, she's off!

Like all things in life, balance is key.

I think we have a winner!

Gliding down the sidewalk on her new blades.

A close up shot of her new roller blades.

A brief stop and quick refreshment before heading back out for more.

In case anyone was wondering, she ended up staying outside for a good half hour and never once falling!  And now, each day after school, the first thing she asks us is if we can go outside and watch her roller blade?!?!  If this keeps up, I'll have to get my own pair and join her! :)

Dave and Megan

Having grown up in Hamilton, on the East Mountain, I never really got to spend a lot of time in Ancaster. Luckily for me, these two gorgeous people, and avid soccer fans... (or is it football?) have friends and family in the area and have spent a great deal more time in the area.  Dave was able to find Fieldcote Memorial Park , a secluded little spot, just off of Wilson Street.  Apparently, it also has a historical museum too... though, we got there pretty early in the morning and the facility was not open yet for us to explore.  

I hope you guys enjoy these sneak peeks as much as I loved working with you!!!  :)

Portraits of a Gentleman

Apparently, It's been a while since I made a blog post... so I figure its about time I got back in here!  :)

As you may have noticed, in earlier posts, I am currently enrolled in some night school courses at Sheridan College... I am a high school teacher after all and life-long education is something of a thing for me. So what better way to improve my photography skills than to take a few courses here and there, get some new gear, and practice using it?!?!

To that end, I recently acquired a new backdrop stand!  It's always exciting to get new gear... but more fun when you can actually use it to put what you learned into practice.  I was able to get some nice black and white backdrops along with a nice cloth patterned one as well.  The pictures I'm including with this post are of my friend Adam.  He was kind enough to pose for me as I completed an assignment for my latest History of Photography course.

With this assignment, I set out to create portraits of a gentleman. The period of time that influenced me was the early 20th century. For the past 4 years, I have been shooting family and wedding photographer, and during this time I found that most of the pictures that I was looking to for inspiration usually had the man as a prop instead of a central important figure in the picture.  In family pictures, the father was often in the background as the photographer focused on the children. In wedding pictures, the bride in her beautiful dress would be draped over him and staring at the camera while he had his back to the photographer, sometimes he was almost cropped out completely. 

So, my idea was a simple one. Practice photographing a man in interesting, intriguing, and/or striking poses.

As much as I feel I was influenced by the early 20th century, especially having a man in a nice brown suit and the use of the top-hat, I didn’t want to fall back on the old ways of photography...  I used my modern, full frame, DSLR, a nice clean black paper back drop, and a single speed light shot through a white umbrella. My goal was to use a soft light, yet have that light fall off dramatically so as to create a strong contrast between the light and the shadows.

Enjoy!

52 week photo challenge

In light of all the sadness, cruelty, and just plain craziness going on in the world, I've been thinking... Why can't we all just get along?  Yes, I know that sounds cheesy; but, it's still a valid question. Why do so many people spend so much time fighting and arguing over each other's differences? Why can't we just embrace them, celebrate them?  It's our differences that make us unique and interesting. Perhaps we should spend more time raising each other up so we can all enjoy a good quality of life instead of pushing each other down just to make ourselves feel more important.

Perhaps if everyone put all that negative energy into something creative, we could all make the world a nicer place... or at least a more artistic and colourful one!  :)

So, with this in mind, I am starting a 52 week photo challenge.  For this challenge, I'll be taking a picture of something new every week.  It won't be based on anything I do with clients... it's just for me and just for fun. It's a way for me to improve some of my photographic skills I may not use very often. Very rarely will it involve portraits and it may turn out to be a complete flop; but, hopefully I'll learn something new along the way.  Here's my first picture of the challenge... yes, that's my dog Sophie!  She's cute, isn't she?!?!

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And, speaking of new things... To help myself learn some new technology, I'll be putting a new picture every week and posting it on my brand new Instagram account (I hear that's what all the kids are using now-a-days).  So, feel free to follow along by clicking here.

Yes, this blog post is a bit of a rant and I know that words and pictures alone will not change anything... but you never know, right?