water sample

8
Jun
Dream Ahead
Mining / 0 Comment / June 8, 2021

I had a dream last night that I was working and I needed a wide angle lens only to find my 85mm and 50mm in my camera bag and nothing else. I immediately started to problem solve thinking I will do some creative close ups but then I woke up. Even now I am thinking “what would I have done if that actually happened?” A big part of the job is planning ahead and having all the necessary tools to do the job. I often get emails and messages asking me what lens is the best for photography or how many lights do I use when I am on site. I honestly reply that I don’t know, it all depends on what I am photographing and what the client expects. It is usually the same scenarios but different environments. Rule of thumb for me is, always have more equipment than what you need as well as a backup set of everything.

What does the above post have to do with this image? Nothing, I had something else written out, but that dream overrode my thought process this morning lol


24
Jul
Tell A Story With An Image
Photography / The People / 0 Comment / July 24, 2020

I utilize a lot of photography knowledge that I acquired during my time as a member of the Professional Photographers of Canada association where I entered many photographic competitions competing nationally and internationally. Shooting for competition as (some of us called it) ingrained a thought process of quality and execution that we would orchestrate to achieve our final image before the shutter button was pressed.

The main goal is to nail the fundamentals of a good image ie: subject matter, exposure, lighting, composition, cropping and the overall “impact” of the image. IMO impact is that wow factor reaction within the first second someone views the image. The more impact, the more memorable the image is.

When looking at an image your eye should be drawn to the main subject, or the main area you as the photographer want the viewer to look. If your eyes wonder around the image, then the image is too busy and the story of the image is lost. With the image below that I captured while on location at Alamos Gold’s Island Gold site with Penda Productions, I placed myself in a position where the morning light would highlight my subject and separate him from the background and use the surrounding foliage to frame him as the main subject of the image. Camera settings and lens choice also played a big factor in isolating him from the surrounding environment so there was no confusion on what the main subject of the image is.

It’s a very simple image but the impact is there due to a few simple elements put in place before the capture.


5
Jul
You don’t want to hear it but Winter is around the corner | Mining Industrial Photographer
Agriculture / Commercial / Industrial / Mine Photos / Mining / Photography / 0 Comment / July 5, 2018

It’s almost that time of year again when I start getting calls and emails regarding outdoor shoots in October/November that should have actually taken place during the Summer months when the environment was green and warm.  Start thinking ahead now to decide which outdoor environmental images you will require during the Fall and Winter months.  It’s much easier to make it look like Summer when it actually IS Summer and digitally removing backgrounds and installing Summer scenes is very time consuming and costly.