Summer in October

It's autumn in Winnipeg and everybody's happy because it feels more like summer. I think I speak for all of us f/actionites when I say that we've been super busy with life, shoots and everything else that keeps artists busy during warm, seasonal stretches of autumn. I had some fun with fellow photographer and preggo friend Sarah Hodges-Kolisnyk (of hodge podge creative) the other day, as we went out to Birds Hill Park to take some maternity pictures. You wouldn't think so, but October mosquitoes are BAD! Despite the itch, I lugged out my flashes and cameras and we took a few shots by some yellow trees and inside a forest. Outdoor portraiture with the right lens, angle and lighting can make anyone happy (especially me). Hope you enjoy.

 

Posted by f/action member, Gabrielle Touchette.

Made in China - Collaged

Ailsa's collaged images from our 4th show since f/action formed almost 2.5 years ago. We are all very proud and happy for one another for producing such a diverse body of work for this show with such ease.

Posted by Ailsa Dyson

Her Rose Folds

Images I took of Melissa McClelland at the West End Cultural Centre in Winnipeg. My favorite shots from the show are these lovely details of her gorgeous vintage dress. This typical live performance shoot was unexpectedly transformed into a fashion shoot of sorts thanks to her wonderful rose  folds.

Posted by Ailsa Dyson

f/action group update

Hello everyone! As you may have noticed, the blog has been a little quiet in the past few summer months... us f/actionites have been quite busy with shoots, traveling, and a bit of vacationing (for those lucky ones among us). Now that summer's about to end, things are starting to pick up a bit more, with preparations for our upcoming group exhibit at the Cre8ery in April 2011. Brainstorming, planning, shooting and printing is underway as we gear up for a new year of new photographic art. We're looking forward to another exhibit and sharing it with all of you!

In the mean time, stay tuned for posts on our current projects and photo experiments....

posted by f/action member, Gabrielle Touchette.

Layers of Greens

There's something magical that happens when you venture out with a macro lens. I've photographed the plants and flowers and trees in the yard at my uncles' cabin countless times, and still, I get so excited about going out again. Things are always new, there are always fresh ways of looking at how branches layer or how flower petals arrange at the end of a stem. Oh, how I love f2.8! (the largest aperture opening on my macro lens). Although this technical number may mean the chance at getting more light onto my digital sensor in most cases, this wonderful number also means extremely shallow depth of field, especially when focusing very closely on small objects. And shallow depth of field means a world of painterly strokes, ephemeral shapes and boundless wonder. You'd think I was talking about a long-lost paradise land, but I guess in a way, that's what I discover every time I go out and do some macro shooting! So here's to yet another stroll in the yard at the cabin. Greens upon greens, splashes of colour and some creepy crawly legs.

Posted by f/action member, Gabrielle Touchette.

I think it's safe to say that all the hard work we put into preparing for and putting on the Made in China art show at the cre8ery earlier this month paid off. The opening night and exhibit week was a success and our hearts were warmed by all those who stopped by to visit the gallery. Also, a big thanks to Jordan Miller for such a great venue and all her hard work.

Now that the show is down, I've had time to think about what I will do with the remainder of my prints. (one sold - but the rest are sitting in a heap in my office). I have big plans for framing and hanging them in my house, but until then, I thought I'd "hang" them in a blog post.

Hope to see you all at our next exhibit at the Cre8ery - slated for April 2011!

Posted by f/action member, Gabrielle Touchette.

'MADE IN CHINA' exhibition on now!

A great big THANK YOU to those of you who came out to Opening Night of f/action's exhibition "MADE IN CHINA" last night! We had a great turn-out and tons of positive feedback.  But fear not, you can still check it all out! It's at the Cre8ery Gallery, 2nd flr, 125 Adelaide st, Winnipeg.

Duncan is showing an uber-cool multi-layer installation piece, Ailsa has created beautiful pieces in graphic series, Gabrielle is showing a rainbow of colour with a personal installation piece, and I (Dallas) have 55 images from China on display and would love it if you came to check them out!

If you would still like to see the show, it is open:

Friday (today) - 12 noon to 5 pm

Saturday, June 5 - 12 noon to 5 pm

Sunday, June 6 - 12 noon to 5 pm

Monday, June 7 - 6 pm to 10 pm

Tuesday, June 8 - 12 noon to 5 pm

Hope to see you soon!

Posted by f/action member, Dallas Ludwick. Photos by Gabrielle Touchette, Duncan McNairnay and Chad Kroeker.

photos in your feed

Looking at photographs is one of the most important things you can do to advance your talent in photography. So since I waste a lot of time maintaining my social presence on the internet with certain networking sites starting with a lower case f, I thought it best to try to incorporate this as much as I can into my hours of useless perusement. Online galleries tapped into this valuable resource long ago and use the 'news feed' to send out updates on works they are exhibiting or featuring. What I see is in between my friends sometimes-interesting-but-mostly-benign status updates a barrage of images show up. Some so-so, some not my bag, some fantastic. Depends on the sites. For my interest I have found the following:

these are great;

Flak Photo

American Suburb X

these are ok;

seen.by photography

the photography post

urbanautica

I'm always on the lookout so if anyone knows any good ones, please comment.

posted by f/action member Duncan McNairnay

Bokeh of Stars!

I saw this once on another blog and wanted to try it out.

Using this...

To create this....

Simple, but took a few tries:

-I needed to use a 100mm lens to avoid vignetting

-also I had to shoot on shutter priority, and my meter only sort of worked.

-then I had to focus in manual and hold the cap up in front of my lens, not very practical in most situations, still with a little patience....

posted by f/action member Duncan McNairnay

World Pinhole Day

On April 24 f/action members embarked on Winnipeg's Exchange District for some much overdue gallery hopping, which included Nathalie Daoust's controversial 'Frozen In Time, Switzerland' at Ace Art gallery, Susy Oliveira's inspiring 'Your face, like a lone nocturnal garden in Worlds where Suns spin round!' at Platform gallery, and a very special camera obscura installation created by Andrew Milne and Sarah Anne Johnson housed temporarily in the lobby of 286 McDermot ave. The life sized camera obscura was created for World Pinhole Day which took place on April 25, 2010. It was pitch black when we first walked through the doors but once our eyes adjusted we were introduced to the magic. Reflecting on all the walls and floor space were the surrounding buildings outside. "A camera obscura (Latin for "dark room") projects an image from the outside onto a flat surface inside, through a pinhole. The external scene is reproduced, upside-down, with color and perspective preserved." We spent a good 30 minutes in there reveling at the wonder of it all. Shown below are some long exposures of our visit along with some shots from Susy Oliveira's exhibit at Platform Gallery.






Posted by Ailsa Dyson