Posted in: Portraits
Famli.Net is in the process of accomplishing some super secret things as part of the TAG lab at the U of T. In order to be press-ready when it's finally time to unveil their product, they had me in to take some corporate headshots in the inspiring setting of the Bahen Centre.
I've been working with MiniGeeks for a while now to provide the handmade children's fashion line with professional photos for use in applications to all kinds of geeky conventions. Katy and her micro models are always a lot of fun to work with, and the dork in me is always curious to see what kind of fandom fashion mashup she's created.
In my time at Toronto consumer internet success story, Wattpad, I became good friends with co-founder Allen Lau and his wife Eva. When Allen and Eva started their own Venture Capital firm on the side, they were using a decent, but not exactly amazing, photo of them that I'd snapped at a random Wattpad party. I suggested that we could do much better with a proper shoot, and they took me up on it.
As Allen and Eva are never very far from their daughters, the shoot evolved into a combination professional / family photoshoot. It was good to have the girls around to lighten the mood since Allen and Eva are such naturally warm people.
R & R sought me out for their engagement photos because of our shared love for streetart. They had a bit of a tall order in that they wanted a mix of woodland/nature-y settings, as well as some more urban/industrial settings that definitely featured some streetart.
Fortunately, the Don Valley provides :)
Once again, I know little about the character in question, but I've been assured that this is Clover from the game 999. Knowledge of the game or not, it was a really fun costume to shoot, particularly in some of the grungy locations we were able to shoot it. Emily said that we needed to do it someplace that could resemble the inside of a boat, and I think we more or less nailed that.
As part of Malvern Collegiate's recent Kizuna Night, the fine folks at the Toronto Kimono Club volunteered to bring in their vast collection of kimono (well, yukata, actually) so that folks could try them on.
I volunteered to be the photographer for the on-site photo booth. the goal of the night was to raise money for a University scholarship program benefiting students in the Tohoku region (which, of course, was hit by the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami).
I've done a lot of photography for the Kizuna exchange group as an outgrowth of my work with the Consulate, and I'm always amazed by how energetic the students are at Malvern.
Okay, so, if you've ever done any Cosplay/Engagement/Wedding photography, The Guild is pretty cliché when it comes to backdrops, but neither I nor Emily had ever done a shoot there before. We figured we needed to get one in, and she assured me that it "worked" for Alice Eliot (I don't know these things).
Sakura/cherry blossoms are a huge deal in Japan. When they make their rolling arrival every year, moving in a line of blossoms from south to north along the island chain, they are greeted by blue tarps, barbecued meat, and ample amounts of booze. The parties are referred to as Hanami, and they are energetic, explosive events that often lead me to confuse the word "Hanami" (cherry blossom party) with "Hanabi" (fireworks).
Unfortunately, the archaic, turn-of-the-(last)century, repressed sensibilities of our public policy here in Canada means that the only booze flowing at Canadian Hanami events is clandestine in nature. However, if you're in it purely for the sakura, there are few better places in Toronto to take them in than High Park.
This is no secret, which means that the park is taken over for a week and a half by people wielding these:
You can't click a shutter in the place without winding up with three photographers and an engagement shoot in the background.
Being someone who loves people but has little patience for photographer pissing matches, the zoo of glass can sometimes leave me feeling that sakura photography has become rather cliché.
This clichéd feeling lead me to resort to video, rather than photos, when the Toronto Japanese community organized a massive picnic in High Park (entitled Sakoolah) a week ago Sunday.
I wasn't initially that titillated when Lindsay expressed interest in taking some sakura pictures in High Park last week. However, I wound up really enjoying the shoot, and part of the credit for that is owed to Lindsay for being such a willing and cooperative model. Here are the results from the shoot.
