f/action - winnipeg photography art collective

portraits in an old car

2011-05-07T21:33:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I headed out to Stonewall for a portrait shoot with my friend Bev. I got inspired to take some portraits in a woodsy area with lots of bare tree branches (yes, it's May, and we STILL don't have any green leaves out!). The shoot went well, and got especially more interesting once I came across an old car sitting on her property. An old Hornet! I jumped on the occasion and we branched off into another portrait series, this one with her and this old car. I love the look of old 70's cars, and combined with Bev as my subject, I had so much fun doing this shoot!

Photography by Gabrielle Touchette.

an instance of some kind: winnipeg photo exhibit

2011-05-04T21:26:00.000-05:00

Thank you to everyone who came out to our opening reception night for our latest photo exhibit at the cre8ery gallery. We had a great turn out and even got to sell a few pieces. The show is now closed but stay tuned for future f/action photo exhibits!

Posted by f/action member, Gabrielle Touchette.

Start your long weekend right!

2011-04-11T15:47:00.002-05:00

f/action's upcoming photo exhibit is just around the corner! The 4 of us are hard at work, putting the finishing touches on our photo exhibit and getting ready to set up at the cre8ery gallery next week. The opening reception is on Thursday April 21 at 7pm, which happens to be the eve of Good Friday, the start of the long weekend. Yay! :)

Admission is free, of course, so come and enjoy some wine and cheese and check out some local Winnipeg art!

For more info, check out our facebook page or click on our poster:

A love affair with light & photography

2011-03-20T11:24:00.000-05:00

Photography is really about a love affair with light. Without that, I'm not sure that photos would really have the impact that they were created to have. When it comes down to it, a photograph cannot exist without light. But take it a little further, and a photograph that inspires and moves you cannot exist without a love affair with light.

I'm a big fan of natural light mixed with studio lighting. Being able to manipulate, guide and master your light is the key to transforming your subjects and immortalizing them with the beauty of photography. And the fantastic thing about lighting is that you never cease to learn and grow as you use it. It's like a painting - you're never quite finished with it. There's always more to add, change and create.

I'm fairly new to using studio lighting and understanding natural lighting. I've had 3 or 4 years to practice, and yet I feel like there's still a really long (yet exciting!) road ahead of me. That's what I love most about photography - always learning and growing, never finished, never done. There's always more to discover, more to capture and more to explore.

Posted by f/action member, Gabrielle Touchette.

52-week photo & art project

2011-03-09T11:40:00.001-06:00

I've decided to challenge myself to shoot one photo a week and post it by the end of each week (ending on Sundays) for 52 weeks. Inspired by the ever popular 365-photo project, I opted for 52 weeks rather than 365 days, just so that the goal is attainable! I don't want to commit to 365 if I can't pull it off.

I started on February 28th and my progress will be documented on my personal photography blog. I've also added a twist: I've also challenged myself to paint or draw one thing a week and post it as well. So far, I have 3 posts. Check them out!

To follow the 52-week saga, visit:

gabriellephotos.wordpress.com

Posted by f/action member, Gabrielle Touchette.

upcoming photo exhibit at the cre8ery gallery

2011-02-27T14:56:00.001-06:00

We at f/action are hard at work on our next group photo exhibit at the Cre8ery. We're pretty excited about showing our work this year and we hope you can make it out to the opening night! For more info, click on the photo:

Solo Exhibit at St. Boniface Collège

2011-02-25T17:09:00.001-06:00

Today I spent my morning setting up my Made in China photo series at La Galerie at St. Boniface College. I had a chance to exhibit my series a second time, this time as a solo exhibit. (you might remember my series from f/action's last exhibit at the Cre8ery Gallery)

The photos are now printed a little smaller and beautifully framed, and I'm pretty excited about how they look up at La Galerie. For more information on this exhibit, click here.

The photos will be on display for the month of March and each frame is for sale individually. If you're looking to add some colour to your walls, you might like these ones!

Hope you enjoy. Here are some snapshots from the gallery:

Posted by f/action member, Gabrielle Touchette.

The Uniter - Winnipeg's Weekly Urban Journal

2011-02-15T02:50:00.003-06:00

Last week my image of hardcore band, Under Pressure was chosen to front the cover of The Uniter, Winnipeg's weekly urban journal. The cover story is in support of the new book, Call * Response, Present, Past & Beyond, Vol.1 which celebrates Winnipeg's underground music scene, past and present, with proceeds going towards Kids Help Phone.

Posted by Ailsa Dyson

Call * Response - Present, Past & Beyond, Vol. 1

2011-02-05T01:55:00.003-06:00

A new book celebrating the underground music scene in Winnipeg has just been launched. Call * Response - Present, Past & Beyond, Vol. 1, spans the early days of punk and hardcore music, to the thriving music scene of today. Early images of DOA and Dead Kennedys are showcased amongst new images of bands like Propagandhi and Public Enemy. I (Ailsa Dyson) have 5 images in the book, displayed below. Proceeds from the sale of each copy will go to Kids Help Phone. The goal of the project is to raise at least $10,000 with a minimum of $10.00 from the sale of each book going towards helping Canada's only 24 hour phone and online professional counseling service for youth.

Posted by Ailsa Dyson

Summer in October

2010-10-13T16:32:00.000-05:00

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

2010-09-26T02:28:00.002-05:00

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

2010-09-26T02:14:00.004-05:00

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

2010-09-18T14:26:00.000-05:00

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

2010-06-29T15:48:00.002-05:00

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.

2010-06-20T15:37:00.000-05:00

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!

2010-06-04T13:31:00.005-05:00

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

2010-05-30T19:42:00.005-05:00

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;

these are ok;

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!

2010-05-30T19:18:00.008-05:00

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

2010-04-25T17:19:00.005-05:00

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

How the hell do you spell dyptich anyway?....

2010-04-17T20:48:00.012-05:00

Two separate nights, one involving hookah smoking and the other involving Touch The Universe science museum, happened to be on the same memory card. Instead of posting them online separately I thought I'd pair them up.

Also check out these rad diptychs by Michael Schmelling while you're in the mood.

posted by f/action member Duncan McNairnay

Jason Collett, Bahamas and Zeus, all under one roof. Yes!

2010-04-07T15:46:00.003-05:00

Winnipeg's West End Cultural Centre was alive with music this past Saturday (as they often are) with amazing talent and great music. This weekend's show-goers were treated to some awesome musicianship: a mélange of talented artists blending music, songwriting and singing all in one. Jason Collett headed up the show with his friends and (I believe?) former bandmates: Bahamas and Zeus. An all-around great night at a venue I never get tired of going to.

Exploring large format

2010-04-04T11:46:00.008-05:00

Large format cameras are kind of in a league of their own.

Not a better league than, say medium format or digital photography, just different.

I have noticed that, after a grasp of how a 35mm SLR works, I was able to basically figure out how to operate

most other cameras out there... except for this one.

Sure the basic concepts of photography still apply, but this is a different machine, with a different interface, operating system and, most importantly, different capabilities.

Looking at ground glass is one of the most enchanting moments I have exper

ienced as a photographer.... like a live still photo. Its hard to go back to looking through a viewfinder after experiencing this.

All those dials and shafts and knobs in the photo up top are the reason I bought the camera. Each one controls the lens plain and the film plain independently. This allows for in-camera distorting of the image (like to correct converging lines, or to exaggerate a shape) known as 'tilt-shift'.

The effect that I love is a 3D control of the focal plain axis. I can control the angle at which the depth of field cuts through the frame. Add this to the fact that dof can get a lot shallower on such a large format with such long focal lengths and there is a whole new world of dof.

The trouble is with so many possible creative

effects in-camera, it takes a good 5 minutes for me to set up a picture. This slows down the work pace and leads to a deliberate, methodic way of photographing. Completely opposite to SLR shooting.

In coming posts I will show what I've come up with as I try to get a handle on this type of photography.

post by f/action member Duncan McNairnay

Every once in a while...

2010-04-01T23:32:00.010-05:00

We shoot and we shoot and we shoot and we shoot, and every once in a while the mother of all shots happens for us. I photograph live music more than anything else these days and I captured one of these shots the other night while shooting Toronto duo, USS [Ubiquitous Synergy Seeker]. The image is of Jason Parsons [aka Human Kebab] turntablist extraordinaire. USS played to the West End Cultural Centre in Winnipeg on March 23, and have won the honour of being my favorite new band. Here is the link to their myspace so you can listen for yourself!
http://www.myspace.com/ubiquitoussynergyseeker
Posted by f/action member, Ailsa Dyson

HOT HOT SUN

2010-03-31T14:14:00.003-05:00

Just a few weeks ago I was somewhere I never could have imagined being - very much south from where I spend the majority of my time (cold Winnipeg) in a really warm, humid and sunny country: the Dominican Republic. What a vast contrast to my hometown! I was shooting my friends' wedding in Punta Cana, and while I was there, I did a lot of strolling around with my camera. We experienced 4 days of rain in the week we were there (very unusual for that time of year), so I didn't take as many picturesque photos as I would have hoped. But when it was sunny and hot, boy was it ever sunny and hot! I hope I can share a bit of that with you guys through these photos...

Posted by f/action member, Gabrielle Touchette.

Panda Boots

2010-03-30T00:01:00.006-05:00

My shots of Priya Panda of the Toronto hard rockin' band, Diemonds, made the 'Shoe Star of the Day' on Guttersnipe's blog on Tuesday for these hott shots of her white leather boots. Foot fetish friendlies beware!
Posted by Ailsa Dyson

The joys of a creative work life

2010-03-17T14:42:00.000-05:00

There are a lot of things I never imagined I'd be doing at this point in my life, one of them being self-employed and being my own boss. Not that I like bossing myself around (I do have a weekly to do list that gets drawn up every Monday morning...), but it is nice knowing that everything I do is because I decided to do it and I believed it was a good thing. It's also really nice being creative in the work I do - being a photographer not only takes creative ambition as a shooter, but also in designing my own business plans and practices. Every day is different, every shoot is different, and every person I photograph has something new to offer and share.

Being inspired by the people around me is something I deeply appreciate and hope to never take for granted. For example, my fellow f/action cohorts have been a great source of encouragement and inspiration. It's been an amazing ride getting to know their work and seeing their creativity evolve and grow throughout the short years I've known them.

Another thing that I really enjoy about being a freelance photographer is the freedom I have to schedule my days. A really good friend of mine is a self-employed artist who spends a lot of time drawing and creating stories. Recently, she created these adorable little plush critters and has been selling them online. She needed photos of her work for her online store, so I had the pleasure of spending the morning with her, chatting, sipping on home-made lattés, and photographing her work.

You may have already heard of her, these wonderful little animals are from Natasha Boone's imagination. She's super-talented and is always entertaining on her blog. You should check her out!

Posted by f/action member, Gabrielle Touchette.

To Name or Not to Name

2010-03-06T22:18:00.001-06:00

Do you ever wonder what to name a photo? When you see photography in a gallery or other public place, are you annoyed when you see "Untitled" below the piece? I have to admit, that I kind of am. I definitely appreciate a good name for a photo... however, it can be really hard to come up with one! For example, I recently had to think about naming the above photo and had a minor debate with myself over whether or not to reveal the location in the photo or not. In this case, I don't think that the name of the place has anything to do with the final image... and I don't think it improves the photo in any way to know where the photo was taken. That being said, I didn't want to go with something cheesy like "City at Night" or "Night Lights"... ahhh, naming. Suggestions welcome!

Posted by Dallas Ludwick

Baby with sync cord

2010-03-05T12:06:00.001-06:00

I was in my studio the other day doing a family portrait shoot, and sometimes taking pictures of young kids and babies can be a little challenging. You want to capture some great expressions and genuine laughs - but with the attention span of a, well, 8 month old, it can get a little tricky. This kid, the very cute Judah, was no exception. Although he's probably one of the happiest smiley baby I know, he still has a curiosity bigger than himself and is always looking for the next neatest thing. Well, the next neatest thing happened to be my sync cord. (a sync cord plugs into your camera and studio lights so they can communicate)
Judah was sitting on the ground, in front of the lights and I was trying to snap some shots of him in his little prison-stripes but he kept slowly but determinedly crawling towards me, heading straight for my camera. Not sure what the big attraction was (sometimes kids are scared of my big lens), but his mom kept picking him up and turning him around to make him go back to his spot in front of the lights. He was relentless, and kept going for it - and I finally figured out what the big attraction was. He wanted the sync cord! So there you have it, baby with sync cord.

Posted by f/action member, Gabrielle Touchette.

Island of Dolls

2010-02-28T15:00:00.007-06:00

In the middle of the Aztec created canals of Xochimilco, south of Mexico City, is this ominous sight.

Hung about by a local in order to ward off the spirit of a girl who had drowned in the canal and was haunting him, the dolls were fished from canals and dumps until he died of a heart attack.... in the same spot that the girl had drowned.

You can also get giant Corona bottles and chili cheezies, as we did. Washroom is 5 pesos.

MADE IN CHINA at the cre8ery

2010-02-27T11:49:00.001-06:00

We at f/action have been slowly and quietly working on our next art exhibit over the past year and a half, and we're very excited to finally be soon approaching our gallery showing here in Winnipeg. In about three months, the fabulous Cre8ery art gallery will have our much-anticipated photographic art series on its gallery walls, complete with an opening reception on June 3 and the following 5 days for viewing.

The four of us will be each presenting our own photo series based on the popular "Made in China" phrase. I'm in the editing/prepping for printing phase of my project, and I've included a sneak peak at my series below. We hope to see you all there on June 3rd!
Posted by f/action member, Gabrielle Touchette.

Keeping it in the Family

2010-02-15T22:02:00.003-06:00

One potential problem with being a photographer, is that amongst all the shooting and editing, it can be easy to neglect photos you just took for plain old fun. Before I "officially became a photographer" I took my camera EVERYWHERE and took photos of EVERYTHING. In fact, I think there is fantastic photo-documentation of my life... right up until the point that I started taking photography more seriously! Another problem is that once you acquire all kinds of gear, which can be heavy and awkward, not to mention expensive... you aren't always keen on bringing it with you on your day to day travels!

Clearly it took me more than half a year to edit these beach shots from the summer time! However, I had such a fun time reliving the fun I had with my adorable cousins in the summer. They were so cute and full of life... with nothing more than a plastic cup or a single shovel for hours of entertainment. I've realized I need to get back to capturing more of the great moments of my OWN life and family!

Have a great day... smile! *click*

Posted by Dallas Ludwick

The Golden Hour with The Terribles

2010-02-04T00:01:00.001-06:00

I shot the Terribles promo stills recently for their upcoming release. The band is based out of Winnipeg and will be debuting their first recording some time in the new year. It was the golden hour, creating the perfect light for the perfect location.

Posted by Ailsa Dyson

Light

2010-02-03T14:58:00.001-06:00

There's something about windows that makes me stop and look twice when I'm walking by - especially when I'm walking by with my camera in hand. First of all, natural light is to die for when it comes to portraits... and getting a gorgeous spot with mid-day light emanating through glass - definitely worth a stop and some shooting. What I also love doing is shooting towards my source of light, and exposing for the shadow side of my subject (as in the first shot below).

Shooting towards a source of light is nothing new to me. It was an instinctual (yet clumsy) habit of mine when I first started experimenting with a camera. At the age of 13, I got a plastic point and shoot and for some reason, I loved experimenting with shooting towards the sun. Not easy when your point and shoot decides your exposure settings... but nonetheless, it's a technique I still love experimenting with (and I am no where near done figuring it out!).

Light. Photography wouldn't exist without it (and neither would we!). So maybe it makes sense that its intricacies always escape what we can fathom.

Posted by f/action member Gabrielle Touchette.

Her rose folds

2010-02-01T04:25:00.011-06:00

I am featuring images I took of Melissa McClelland at the West End Cultural Centre in Winnipeg seen on guttersnipeconcerts.com. They will be one of many series' f/action will have on display at The West End Cultural Centre this month, starting Wednesday February 3rd at 7pm for Melodies on Mercredi--a monthly showcase of music and art featuring local creative talent; this month along side the photography of f/action, the music of Brett Nelson and Kipp Kocay will be featured. f/action is very pleased to have been asked to take part in the first ever performance/opening for the event this Wednesday, only $5.
We really hope to see you there!
http://www.wecc.ca/site09/performers/mom_feb3.html
Posted by Ailsa Dyson

Packing Light

2010-01-31T22:05:00.005-06:00

Anyone with even a mild interest in photography eventually has one gruleing question to face....

What gear should I bring on my trip?

Backpacking was what spurred my interest in photography, originally. There is a certain quality of awareness when you are in unfamiliar surroundings. Every little detail is new and different and demands your attention. Creativity is everywhere.

Like every amateur photographer I planned and re-planned what equipment I was going to take. Everything was adjusted around how, where, when and with what will I shoot. Clothes, toothbrush, itinerary, accommodation... trivial details when it comes to my gear.

There is always the temptation to take everything 'just in case', though I know from previous experience that this is a bad idea. I like to pack light. I like to be able to go anywhere, even long distances. Walk around for four hours, tag along with people I meet and keep up with whatever they're doing.

Which isn't to say this is how everyone should be, it's just my personality. The disadvantage is that I can't take every shot that I want. My telephoto lens didn't make the size requirements so there will be none of those shots on this trip. Does that mean my creativity will be inhibited? Can I still fit all the stories that I want to tell within the two focal lengths I am bringing?

I guess that's the challenge. I don't know that I can, but I can't wait to try.

Henri Cartier-Bresson barely used two focal lengths his whole career. Neither did Robert Capa or Lee Friedlander. None of the legendary documentarians ever refused to take the shot because they didn't have the right gear.

So here's a shot of what did make the cut (minus the lithium and NiMh chargers, and the film). I also bought the tiniest day pack I could find (in the background). There's only enough room for one camera and one lens so I've got to make all my storytelling decisions before I leave the hotel for the day, and stick to that. Get to know 24mm inside and out one day, then really learn what is possible with a 50 1.4 the next.

Sure I'll be groaning sooner or later that I don't have this and I don't have that, but if I can pull it off, not only will my shoulders thank me but I'll be able to pack lighter during my professional work, confident that I have only what I need.

And if not.... there's camera stores in Mexico City.

post by Duncan McNairnay

Having some fun in the studio

2010-01-30T14:52:00.003-06:00

I'm super excited: I am now renting a photo studio in Winnipeg's Exchange District! 2010 started on a good note because of this, and recently I had a chance to round up some friends (and brother) and have some fun in the studio. This is a small sample of what we shot over the course of the afternoon - some fun shots on a white background. Makeup was graciously done by my lovely friend Melissa Finch. Thanks Mel!

Posted by f/action member Gabrielle Touchette.

Melodies on Mercredi!

2010-01-27T20:38:00.009-06:00

We just wanted to officially let you know that f/action has another exciting art opening coming up next week! The West End Cultural Centre (http://www.wecc.ca/) in Winnipeg has asked f/action to help them launch a new program of monthly collaborations between local music and art!

As many of you know, we love music and we love collaborating with musicians, so... next Wednesday, we will be teaming up with local musicians Brett Nelson and Kipp Kocay for a great evening of music and art at the West End Cultural Centre! The program, called Melodies on Mercredi, involves bringing new artwork into the WECC on the first Wednesday of every month. The first Wednesdays will be the official art opening for each month, and the artwork will remain on display inside the WECC all month long for concert-goers to enjoy.

We are so pleased to be involved in the debut of this series! For those of you that missed the INTERVALS exhibition in December, some f/action members will be displaying their Intervals series again. And in the spirit of the venue, Ailsa and I will be showing many photographs taken of live acts right at the WECC! My photo of Ida of the Magnificent 7s (posted last week) will be among them.

We hope to see you out at this unique event - set to become a great WECC tradition!
Here are all the details:

Date: Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Doors: 7:00 pm
Shows: 7:30 pm
Location: West End Cultural Centre, Winnipeg
(If you don't know where that is... well, you should!)

www.wecc.ca/site09/performers/mom_feb3.html

Posted by f/action member, Dallas Ludwick

Top 10 Concert Photos of 2009!

2010-01-24T20:06:00.000-06:00

Hi f/action followers, sorry we have been a bit slow on the posts lately... we've been planning two exciting upcoming exibitions! The first one is right around the corner - more info to follow soon!

One of my favourite things to with my camera is live performance shooting. I've been lucky enough to team up with http://www.guttersnipenews.com/ - a vancouver-based online entertainment news and reviews site - to check out and document many great local and visiting bands here in Winnipeg. Our local concert reviewer, Eugene Osudar, is the animated dancing machine many of you have no doubt seen in action out on the music scene. Eugene is known for his free-flowing, lyrical style reviews of live shows - any many muscians are beginning to crave a write-up for thier CDs and other publications. Check out Euguene at www.guttersnipenews.com/author/eugene-osudar !

Eugene teams up with several local Winnipeg photographers (since none of us can keep up with his crazy show-going schedule!), and we colour the review with images of the live act. A couple off weeks ago, guttersnipe announced thier top 10 concert photos for 2009... and I was very excited to see that a Winnipeg image made the cut! My image of Ida, of local Winnipeg band the Magnificent 7s, was listed among the top 10:

To see all Top 10 images, click on:
www.guttersnipenews.com/2010/01/10/best-concert-photos-2009/

An HAPPY (belated) NEW YEAR to everyone!

posted by f/action memeber, Dallas Ludwick

Photography as a Social Activity

2010-01-22T09:00:00.007-06:00

I gotta say I typically avoid classic Manitoba socials, mostly because people avoid making them interesting. So for my sister's wedding social I wanted to add something different.

I have actually seen and heard about a 'photo booth' being at lots of parties, like weddings and fundraisers, but had never seen one at a social, nor operated one myself. This particular social proved to be interesting because the themes of the party were 'cheezy' and 'retro'. With an 80's, Johnston-school-portraits-style laser backdrop, plastic flowers and a few wedding dress/jackets as props, people had no trouble getting into it, which made it a blast for me.

Technically speaking it was easier than I had thought as well. A soft box (camera left) and one speedlight (back right, set to optical slave, with a flag attached to prevent spill on the backdrop, keeping it black) were enough to make it look nice but still uncluttered so that no lights were knocked over by people who were having a little too much fun.

To present the images to the inebriates as I was shooting I tethered my camera to a laptop and used Sofortbild, a freeware program which imported them to a desktop folder that was being watched by Lightroom. After about 15 seconds the shots would come up in Lightroom, but with the 'lights' dimmed, so it just looked like a slideshow. I also had the images go through a post processing preset before they popped up, making them look quite finished. The added benefit was that I could easily batch rename the photos to each sitter's name so that

I could identify and e-mail them out a couple of

days later. See it was also a fundraising tool- two bucks got you a few, low res, cheezy-but-better-than-you-could-take pics of you and your friends goofing off at a party. You know, profile pic stuff...... but better. Not everyone was loose enough to give it a go, but those that did had a better night for it.

I learned that photography applied to anything equals fun times!

posted by Duncan McNairnay

f/action collaborates with the ArtStrong Ensemble at the University of Manitoba

2009-12-06T15:09:00.001-06:00

Music and art filled St. John’s Chapel at the University of Manitoba on December 4th & 5th with my art collective’s latest show: INTERVALS. The ArtStrong Ensemble collaborated with f/action to create a beautiful experience of sight and sound based on the theme of time and space. After months of planning, rehearsing and preparing artwork, the show came together quite delightfully. We were honoured to have our artwork on display amidst a very talented duo of harpist Olivia Ritchey and flutist Sara Hahn. Here are a few photos from the event. Thank you to everyone who came out and enjoyed the music and artwork. We got some great feedback and are excited to have come together to make it happen! Thanks also to Olivia and Sara of ArtStrong – we had an amazing two evenings of beautiful music.

Duncan McNairnay’s photographic series titled Zoom.

Ailsa Dyson’s photographic series titled 2:30 AM.

Gabrielle Touchette's photographic series titled Suspended Expectations.

Dallas Ludwick’s photographic series titled Lacunar Amnesia (Gaps in the Record of Memory).

Dallas, Ailsa and Duncan – f/action members.

View of Olivia’s harp from behind Dallas’ artwork.

View from the balcony during the art viewing.

Audience members reading the program notes.

Sara and Olivia introduces us to the music.

Inspired conversations during the intermission.

Sara and Olivia of the ArtStrong Ensemble – playing a Sonata by Marjan Mozetich.

The performers and artists of INTERVALS: Ailsa Dyson, Dallas Ludwick, Sara Hahn, Olivia Ritchey, Gabrielle Touchette and Duncan McNairnay. Photo credit: Liane Bergen.

Olivia explaining how she plays her harp.

Cherry

2009-11-12T15:05:00.009-06:00

Lighting info:

posted by Duncan Mcnairnay

Editing photos in Lightroom

2009-11-05T14:02:00.005-06:00

The other day I packed two cameras, picked my favourite two lenses, jumped in the car, picked up my friend Natasha (who’s always up for shooting if I lend her a camera), and headed north on Highway 8. We wound up not where we were hoping to be (in Petersfield), but that’s another story… On the way to getting “lost”, we stopped on Highway 8 to get a few shots of some hay bales. I remember the first time I learned about focal length. The Photo 1 teacher was showing us examples of photos shot with wide angle lenses, compared to photos shot with longer lenses. I distinctly remember one shot – it was a hay bale, sitting in a field, with long, yellow textured grass all around it. The grass seemed to stretch out towards the bale, like if it was trying to claw at it. It was that one picture that was burned in my mind, and I’ll never forget that feeling of excitement over the magic of photography and its creative opportunities. Of course, right after that class, I ran out and took a million shots with my wide lens, trying to capture that magic.

As we were approaching this field yesterday, I remembered that hay bale shot and got inspired to get some good old hay bale shootin’ done, like a good Manitoban photographer. Once in the field, I wasn’t feeling it, but I still shot about 10 frames. It wasn’t until I got home and started making some virtual copies in Lightroom that I started having fun. Now, although your hay bale shoot may not avail to much (or you might feel uninspired), just throw Lightroom in the mix and have some fun. This is why I love Lightroom.

Original Shot:

My first Edit:

My alternate edit:

Posted by f/action member, Gabrielle Touchette.

THANK YOU!

2009-10-14T11:16:00.006-05:00

Well, now that the dust (or snow in this case) has cleared, and the f/action launch party is now over... we at f/action would like to thank those of you who made the effort to come out and support our group! It's no fun navigating the first blizzard of the year, but some of you were real troupers... and we even had one guest drive all the way from Kenora for the show!

Thank you to all of you who came out. We can't say it enough. We really appreciate your presence and your support!

For those of you who are wondering - we did achieve our goals with the show! Despite the weather we still more than met our attendance goal and with a slight profit after expenses, we were able to fund our new website (http://www.fslashaction.com/) including set-up and hosting for one year, postage to send art to Calgary for the fundraising benefit for a Canadian journalist & photographer being held hostage in Somalia for a $1 million ransom, and finally the deposit for the rental of our next gallery exhibition in June 2010!

That's all we were hoping for - and so we thank you!

HOPE TO SEE YOU ALL AGAIN SOON!
f/action

PS. You made us feel this great...

f/action launch party photos

2009-10-12T15:06:00.007-05:00

f/action has been an art collective for over a year now, and last Friday was finally our first official art exhibit as a group. Despite Winnipeg getting hit by the first blizzard of the year, we still had a decent turn out! (That’s Winnipeg for you… snow dumping in early October doesn’t stop anyone from going out!)

Along with artwork on the walls, we also had a silent art auction and projection art. Musical performances were also graciously donated by Oak Tree (Chad Kroeker) and That Damn Cash Band. We were absolutely delighted to see everyone who came out (and, at that, in steady streams throughout the night). Thank you to everyone who came out to support local art! We are planning for more art exhibits in the coming year, so stay tuned for details on that. If you missed Friday’s exhibit, our work will be exhibited at Photo Central’s gallery until the end of the month. (499 Notre Dame Ave., 2nd floor)

f/action is Ailsa Dyson, Dallas Ludwick, Duncan McNairnay and Gabrielle Touchette. Our group portfolio can be viewed at: www.fslashaction.com.

Here are a few photos from Friday night:

Posted by f/action member, Gabrielle Touchette.

launch party!

2009-10-09T16:44:00.002-05:00

Tonight is a pretty big deal - we, as f/action, are finally launching our website and putting on a great show and art exhibit to celebrate! Art will be up on display (some for sale) and there will be a silent art auction of work donated by all 4 f/action members. Can't wait to see everyone there, and looking forward to many more art exhibits as a group!

information about the show can be found here

My First Poster!

2009-10-08T11:35:00.000-05:00

I don't know why writing that reminded me of "My Pet Monster", but it did. Maybe because I was a kid in the 80's... or maybe because when you are supposed to design a poster from scratch and you're looking at the big white photoshop canvas... it really does feel like a monster of a job!

Well, having no (and I mean zero) design experience, this was a daunting task. How do you make something eye-catching, interesting and informative... from scratch?! We knew that we wanted to include one image per artist - and that was it. So this is what I came up with:

I would LOVE get get some feedback (good, bad, super bad...!) on this, my first poster. Anyone with any design experience - lay it on me... I can take it! Even if you don't have a hot clue about design, let me know what you think! This won't be the last f/action poster... so we might as well get some pointers now!

Posted by f/action member, Dallas Ludwick

Rock'n Roll Heart

2009-10-07T00:00:00.000-05:00

Photographing live music is what I personally get the most enjoyment out of shooting. Living in Winnipeg has given me the opportunity to experience this genre to its fullest.

posted by Ailsa Dyson

3 Habits for Successful Phtography

2009-10-05T22:54:00.004-05:00

Teaching at PrairieView I see a lot of beginning photographers. Like most enthusiasts they are looking for the secret to getting photos looking like the professionals they admire. After buying this expensive camera or that fancy doo-dad they are still unhappy with their shots and I have to break it to them that the secret is not in the gear. Unfortunately the secret to good photography is the long road of dedicated practice. However, nothing is more discouraging than beginning a long journey that you can't even see the end of so I suggest three habits to get into that are different enough from each other to break the monotony and keep you working towards your goal. Here they are:

1.) Shoot, shoot, shoot! - Yes, I know. You are doing this already, but it is #1 for a reason. This habit involves everything from fiddling with the bells and whistles on your camera to trudging out into the snow to dragging your heavy DSLR with you absolutely everywhere you go. If it means passing more frames through your camera, then do it. Most people think that being a photographer stops here, think again.

2.) Consult - Not only does it give you a break from the gear, asking other people what they think about your photographs gives you tips on your strengths and your weaknesses. Do you find yourself having to explain what the photo is about or do the subjects speak for themselves? Getting to know someone who's work you really admire can be a great resource for suggestions as well as a critical eye. Even getting together with other amateurs every once and a while for an informal critique helps. Photographers have an attachment to their pictures that has been known to cloud their judgment as to whether it is what they really wanted to capture. The more outsiders you bring in, the easier it is to see your photos from another point of view.

3.) Print - I personally think that a framed photo hanging on a wall for many to see is the happiest place for a photographic image to be. I'd go so far as to say that it is the purpose of photography. Good pictures are so beautiful, why store them away in your hard drive... set them free. And yes, you're right, there is the internet, but in terms of quality of presentation, screens can't hold a candle to paper print. Don't just print.... print BIG! Nothing has impact like a 11x14 or 16x20 hanging in a room. Printing big forces you to choose only the very best of the best of your shots, which encourages self critique. Everything is enhanced in a big print, including flaws, so you must limit your prints to those ones where you did everything right. Double the size, double the emotional impact. Any monkey can make a decent looking 4x6 to magnet to their fridge, but it takes an artist to present a piece as it should be, for all to enjoy.

posted by Duncan McNairnay

Solo Exhibition at Platform!

2009-09-17T17:03:00.003-05:00

If you find yourself in the Exchange District over the next three weeks, please step into the lobby of the Artspace building and check out a mini solo exhibition that I have mounted there right now!

The Artspace building is located at 425-100 Arthur Street in Winnipeg. It is the huge character building that directly overlooks Old Market Square... it also has huge hollywood-style letters spelling A R T S P A C E on the roof. Basically, it's hard to miss if you're in the area.

The space where my series is showing is called the "P121" of Platform Centre For Photographic & Digital Arts. It is a wall where members of the gallery can show works that are finished, in progress, or anything that Platform deems is "wall-worthy"! I would like to thank Platform for giving me the opportunity to use the space - it is so great to see your work (finished or not) up in a public place! For more information on Platform, visit: http://www.platformgallery.org/

The work that I am showing is currently under the working title "Plastic Series" and is the initial phase of the project. This is an ongoing project during which I intend to carry through all four seasons and travel to more locations within Manitoba to complete. A few months ago, I blogged a few of the "winter plastic" images I created on a very cold day. With this exhibit, you can pretend it's spring again...

Posted by f/action member, Dallas Ludwick

Sunset Beach, Manitoba

2009-08-13T14:30:00.002-05:00

f/action took a day trip to Grand & Sunset beaches on lake Winnipeg this summer to explore the lanscape and snap some nature shots.

posted by Ailsa Dyson

Perfect light? Almost!

2009-08-05T23:13:00.001-05:00

I took this picture back in June... it's my new secret shooting nook at Kilcona Park. The lighting was perfect, the texture and lines were to die for, and my subjects were totally into it! Definitely one of my favourite shots from June.

Posted by f/action member, Gabrielle Touchette.

Masquerade

2009-08-01T12:08:00.000-05:00

I was invited to document a performance entitled Masquerade by a local dance troupe. Here is a sample.

posted by f/action member Ailsa Dyson

Cute rating: 10 out of 10

2009-07-31T13:30:00.001-05:00

My friend Mandy has one of the cutest nieces EVER. Her name is Em, and she loved to be in front of the camera! It's no surprise why new moms tend to photograph their kids so much. Working at a photography school, I come across a lot of students that got interested in photography after they had kids - mainly because the cuteness of their kids got them shooting so much!
I didn't get into photography because of portraits - at first (believe it or not) I hated taking pictures of people. Which is quite surprising, seeing as the majority of my photography involves portraits now. It wasn't until a portrait shoot I did several years ago with my new DSLR that got me hooked on portrait photography. With the right lens, the right light and the right subject, there's nothing stopping me from shooting for hours! There's something about it that is completely captivating - the subtle looks, the personality, the mood... a person says a lot in terms of emotion and mood, and putting that into a photo is what drives me when doing a portrait shoot.

Posted by f/action member, Gabrielle Touchette.

I remember...

2009-07-26T16:17:00.002-05:00

I love my holga camera. It's small, lightweight, made of plastic and easily fits in my purse or backpack. It's the perfect companion for mundane wanderings or impromptu shooting adventures around town. Even though city scenery in early spring can be quite boring, all you need is a Holga to make anything look a little more interesting.

It also reminds me of my teens, when I would carry my little plastic point and shoot camera everywhere. I documented everything: my house, my neighbourhood, my friends, and all the places we went to. It really was boring, I guess you could say. But now, looking back at all my old 4x6 photos (printed at wal-mart and black's no less), I'm forever grateful for immortalizing all those moments from my teens. In the moment they may have seem like any old day that didn't mean much, but the fact that I felt the need to capture every moment with my camera makes me think that I probably knew deep down inside that those moments meant a bit more than we realized.

These photos that I took with my Holga remind me of that. Just plain old life, with nothing that grandiose about it. That's what photography is sometimes, remembering even the littlest unimportant details that often go unrecognized.

Posted by f/action member, Gabrielle Touchette.

Carnival

2009-07-17T11:26:00.009-05:00

A day at the Red River Ex proved to be a fun shooting experience; so many colours, so much action! It was a good to have to think and try a whole bunch of different camera settings in order to achieve different looks.

Posted by f/action member Ailsa Dyson

Dreaming in Lomo... Double Time!

2009-06-12T18:50:00.001-05:00

I just love Diana! Her vibrant colours, attention to detail (but only some of it - she's picky) and constant begging to be double exposed! She's a real charmer.

If you haven't gone Lomo... you don't know what you're missing!

Revisiting Old Photos

2009-06-07T15:40:00.001-05:00

It seems like forever since I was in photography school, and looking back at work I did last year feels like I'm looking at someone else's work. It's amazing how a lot of us students evolved creatively throughout the year, and even more so in the past year since graduation. Still, though, there are times that I look at some images from school projects and I feel a sense of renewed inspiration. One of the things that I greatly improved on since finishing school is optimizing. I was pretty conservative when it came to optimizing my images before starting school. By the end of the year, I was all over the high contrast saturated look! Yum yum. So recently, as I was browsing through some old images, I rediscovered a fun photo session I had done with my friend Bev. At the time the optimizing hardly did anything to boost the photos, so I decided to re-optimize them, to bring out more pizzaz. So here they are, from my "Transformation" project, shot in 2007 and re-optimized in 2009!

Posted by f/action member, Gabrielle Touchette.

Anyone's Son Will Do

2009-06-04T00:25:00.005-05:00

Posted by f/action member Ailsa Dyson

Lomo Love!

2009-06-02T18:24:00.005-05:00

Do you feel the love? Ahh, sigh.... my heart's been cross-processed!

Posted by f/action member, Dallas Ludwick

Product photography - first shot

2009-06-01T22:18:00.013-05:00

This is the beginning of my very first attempts at product photography, and I obviously need a little practice (nothing tones your lighting technique more than glass). Overall I think it went ok. Clean enough, but it lacks a little interest. The product is organic local hemp oil and I think my approach was too clinical to appeal to the sorts that might buy such products. I would appreciate any advice or criticism.

love is in the air

2009-05-26T15:35:00.002-05:00

It's Spring! And lots of love. I did an engagement photo session for my sister the other day all the way up north in Saskatchewan. Yes, there is life and scenery all the way up there, believe it or not! And here are some photos to prove it. (Taken at Little Red Park in Prince Albert, SK)

Posted by f/action member, Gabrielle Touchette.

Winter Plastic!

2009-05-23T18:03:00.000-05:00

Some of you may know that I'm working on a long term project currently under the working title "Plastic Series". The goal of the project is to travel around Manitoba photographing natural and manufactured landscapes using a unique process in which I shoot through a plastic bag. The plastic filter represents the impact of a lifestyle that distorts our recognition, and it also creates some very interesting results in the photographs! I began this project to teach myself more about the surrounding landscapes where I live, and to test my own recognition of them. The project has grown, and I now intend to see it through all four Manitoba seasons before considering it finished. I hope to show this work publicly, but for now... a sneak peak of freshly edited Winter photos!

Posted by f/action member, Dallas Ludwick

Dare To Flare

2009-05-23T17:46:00.009-05:00

Haikus by Duncan McNairnay

Fish-eyes wide open
Sun will want to join in too
Flare becomes subject

Shoot into the sun
Light captured through refraction
Brings brilliance to pic

Film is your canvas
Paint without inhibition
And a plastic lens

Make-up and Photography

2009-05-22T15:25:00.003-05:00

Curious to see how much make-up you actually have to wear to show through in photos, I photographed my sister right after we got our make-up done at Clinique today (trial session for our sister's wedding). Well, let me tell you, Rachel hardly ever wears make-up, so after her Clinique session, she looked like she was super dolled up. But of course, as soon as she was photographed, you can hardly tell she has any make-up on. This goes to show that having enough make-up is important in portraits, especially if you want it to show through. Of course, make-up goes a long way to pretty-up a face, but there's also the photographer's side of it too. Making sure to get great lighting and to properly optimize the images after makes just as much of an impact as regular make-up does. Both hand in hand can help you to get great results in your portraits.

Posted by f/action member, Gabrielle Touchette.

Happy Birthday Dziedzio

2009-05-13T13:02:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday my Dziedzio turned 87 years old.

He's getting ready to start tending to his garden, still lives in the only house he's ever owned, goes for at least one walk every day, is a member of an awesome mall food-court club, sets his own fashion rules, and best of all... can and will dance all night long at every opportunity! Ladies, if you want to learn how to Polka - this is your man!

I often wonder what goes through the mind of an 87 year old who grew up in Poland, began his WWII service as a 16 year old, lost much of his family during the war, waited for his number to be called to "go to a new land", randomly ended up on a Lethbridge homestead of all Commonwealth cities accepting war immigrants, moved to Winnipeg where he met a beautiful and wonderful woman with a similar story, married, had two children that he hardly saw grow up because he worked the night shift building rail lines (including the one that runs in front of my house), located a sister through the Red Cross who had made it on a boat to South Africa, worked, retired, lost his stomach to cancer, tragically lost his wife to an allergic reaction during routine low-risk surgery, quit smoking and regained his health, and now has four grandchildren between the ages of 10 and 29.

They say a picture is worth 1000 words. This portrait of my Dziedzio looking out his bedroom window is one of my all time personal favourites.

Posted by Dallas Ludwick, f/action member

Polaroid Spectra

2009-05-08T00:01:00.022-05:00

I was able to track down some discontinued film for my Polaroid Spectra camera. This Polaroid only takes Spectra film, which is obsolete since Polaroid pulled the plug. Once my last package of film is gone I will likely have to retire the little darling.
What makes the Spectra unique is its ability to function with or without a flash, something the standard 600 Polaroids can not do.
The images are a mixture from Winnipeg's China Town and my Wedding reception.
These images have been scanned in order for me to share them with you.

posted by f/action member Ailsa Dyson

Pulling it all together

2009-05-06T22:36:00.004-05:00

One of the greatest things about being friends with talented people is that they always need promo shots. They are also clever enough to want every updated image to look creative but slightly different from past shots, so as to keep their look fresh. For the pic above Sarah Michaelson (aka Mama Cutsworth) and Caitlin Brown (aka Mizz Brown) were already late getting an image to the Winnipeg Jazz Festival. About an hour after getting together we had a pretty neat concept, a floor full of records and a decent lighting setup (even a lovely lighting assistant). Sometimes its amazing what a few minds can whip together.
As for the lighting... I had a strobe shooting through an umbrella at camera right as well as a bare flash as rim light at camera left to spice up those shadow areas. The background (or actual ground in this case) is lit with a mix of spill from the umbrella and underexposed tungstin ambient.

What to do...

2009-05-06T11:02:00.001-05:00

When you've no one to talk to?

Take a look around...

Photograph all the lovely things!

Posted by Dallas Ludwick, f/action member

Venetian Snares

2009-05-05T00:01:00.035-05:00

I had the pleasure of shooting internationally renowned electronica Artist VENETIAN SNARES (aka Aaron Funk) the last time he did a rare show in his home town of Winnipeg, Mb. I ended up focusing a lot on the crowd since they were dancing up a frenzy! I employed my trusty Canon 40D at an ISO of 1600 with no flash for these shots. The result - multifaceted surreal images that convey the music's deep-layered-energetic style, drawing the viewer in for a closer look into the rabbit hole.
http://www.venetiansnares.com
posted by f/action member Ailsa Dyson

from the other side of the lens....

2009-05-04T14:32:00.007-05:00

If you feel awkward in front of a camera, you're not alone. In fact, you're one of 12 million Canadians who complain of heart palpitations due to large cameras, especially dslrs, pointed in their direction. Being the subject of a portrait session can be an unnerving feat to overcome, but rest assured, we're all in this together.

Ok, I just made up those statistics, it just rolled off my tongue! But seriously, I wouldn't doubt that that number's accurate. It's very common and more normal than not to feel awkward when being photographed.

For those people, being photographed is something they avoid at all costs. Yet a lot have no choice, and need pictures. Whether it be headshots they need for their line of work or family photos they need for their Christmas letters (who's never gotten one of those?), being photographed can not always be avoided.

But being photographed is not as bad as you may think. True, as a photographer, it is harder to direct someone who doesn't feel comfortable in front of the camera. A person's countenance is directly affected by how they feel. As I'm directing subjects, I often ask those who look visibly uncomfortable: "Are you comfortable?". They'll say no and I'll have them reposition until they feel just right. I ask them the question so they understand that it's important to me that they feel comfortable. (please, gone are the days of the painful awkward studio poses!) Once anyone feels better about their stance or pose, all awkwardness that was once showing dissipates.

I really enjoy the challenge of working with people who aren't so keen on being photographed. Working with people in those situations brings a great dynamic between the photographer and the subject. It gets you talking about the photography -- you're creating interaction and engaging your subject in honest dialogue. Everyone who has a personality and a soul can be photographed beautifully, given the right coaxing, directing and positive encouragement. It sometimes takes a little work, but that work builds trust and energy and the results are often more dynamic and inspiring.

These pictures were taken of my good friend Mandy, and if anyone knows her, having this many photos of her is a miracle. She loves photography and has been a great support and encouragement of my pursuit of professional photography, so she agreed to pose for me for a quick shoot. We worked through a few poses and ended up with some cute shots of her. I'm glad she gave me the opportunity to photograph her, and I hope these pictures will serve as a reminder that no one is impossible to photograph! (seriously, I told her she should use these for an online dating profile. haha)

Posted by f/action member: Gabrielle Touchette

Artists in Action

2009-04-21T16:09:00.020-05:00

A few weeks ago (when the ground was still covered in snow), I had the pleasure of doing a shoot with emerging singer-songwriter Nichole Amundsen.

She didn't have a specific outcome in mind, so it was up to me to think on my feet given my model and the surrounds we had to work with.

It didn't take long for me to notice the funky staircase in Nichole's pad (that seemingly went nowhere) and the awesome scruffy porch with vintage red chair! We shot for a solid hour before even leaving the house! With a lovely and creative performer on your hands, it is amazing how many great shots you can get... and how quickly time can fly! When I got back into my car at the end of the shoot, I could hardly believe that 3 hours has passed. But when I got home and started going through the images, I was amazed at the fact that it looked like we had done 4 or 5 completely different shoots in those three hours! The diversity of images was awesome!

I thought I would share some of my favourite images from the shoot. And show just how different a single person can look on any given day!

And of course, if any of you are interested in checking out Nichole's music, here is a link to her website: http://www.myspace.com/nicholeamundsen !

Posted by f/action member,

Dallas Ludwick

My advice.... seek professional help.

2009-04-11T12:13:00.011-05:00

I collaborated with photographer April Plett a while ago to photograph the talented impov comedy troupe Crumbs. It soon became obvious that this was going to be one of the easiest shoots I'd ever do for two reasons. The first is because there were two photographers there to bounce ideas, cover the talents that the other is lacking and, not least of all, distract the client while the shooter is thinking about equivalent exposures and composition.
The second is because photographing comedians is hilarious. The big fear of doing portraits is that your subject will be dry and bored and hard to pull interesting expressions from. Usually, as the photographer, you have to do the performing. With these guys it was just a matter of keeping your framing and exposure and letting the artist do his thing. It really made me respect the talent that performers can have and the ease that it brings to my job. As a beginning photographer, I am usually not picky about getting free models for the projects I shoot - don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for their help - but when you have someone in front of your lens that is born to be on stage, a master of characters that knows what kind of presence you need before you do, it becomes a joint effort.
I've learned that there is nothing like working with professionals.

Looking Into Eyes

2009-04-10T11:54:00.005-05:00

There's a whole world that opens up to me every time I use my macro lens. And that's exactly why I use it. Not only to see, but to capture and share what this lens sees. It serves to amplify what we can't see just by "normal" seeing. And what better subject to photograph than the very organ we as photographers treasure the most: our eyes!

Posted by Gabrielle Touchette, f/action member

Guacamole on camera

2009-03-15T16:09:00.001-05:00

I think the greatest thing about being a photographer is that your passion follows you in everthing you do - even when making guacamole! Hope you enjoy. :)

My Name in Print!

2009-02-27T09:34:00.004-06:00

I'm sure all of you can agree, there is something exciting about seeing your name in print... even cyber print. Just the other day, Ailsa posted "My Blog made the London Observer!" when her name (and status) were shown in an online story about facebook. It's a big day! For most of us, it doesn't happen all that often, and I admit to feeling just a little bit proud of myself - even when there is absolutely no reason to be - just for the sake that my name made it somewhere, somehow.

Well, a while back, I came across this photo competition for photojournalim / photoessay of series up to 12 images called the Leica Oskar Barnack Award. It's been going on for years, and like many contests, it now takes place online. The best part: ALL of the entries were posted ONLINE! (Ok, I'm not yelling... just excited!) I must have perused series posted by photographers from around the world for hours - days really. I was addicted. I absolutely LOVE series work. I wanted to enter.

Finally, I buckled down and worked for two days straight on putting together my series, trying to make it on par with the level shown online. Finally, I posted it. (To top it off, this contest is FREE!)

I'm not going to lie, I was a little nervous when my series didn't show up right away, or even within a few hours, or even the next morning! Did I get CUT??!!

Nah, with the contest closing date quickly approaching (March 1st), I realized that over 50 new series were posted the morning that mine wasn't. I guess they are a little back-logged on uploading! The next morning... there it was:

Dallas Ludwick, Canada

How exciting is that? (For me, very!)

I'm actually NOT going to post any photographs here, because I really think you should check out this site and the awesome series work from all around the world!

http://www.leica-oskar-barnack-award.com/#/en/contest/oskar-barnack-award-2009-entries/

Happy looking!

Posted by Dallas Ludwick, f/action member

Getting back to Something Different

2009-02-16T19:10:00.019-06:00

Well, here I am... the lone delinquent member... the last of the mohicans to post! I wouldn't say that I'm generally tardy with my work - in fact, I think most people would say the opposite!

And now that I'm here, I'm going to continue on with what Duncan was saying in an earlier post: "And Now for Something Completely Different". I too, recently found that I needed a little mix-it-up in the photography world. And for me, it had to be something FUN. See, I think I am a little too "particluar" at times. I don't like the word anal to describe my attention to detail! (In school we had to do a metaphorical self-portrait, and I submitted an image of my sock drawer - 4 rows of socks sorted by type, colour and preference. Yep, I needed a little more fun in my life!) Just kidding, I like my socks like that. And I think I am pretty fun. But I needed creative outlet to make some of my shooting especially fun!

In the fall I got two new toys: a lomo diana and fisheye. Oh yes, it was so very exciting. But I found that after the first roll on each toy, I didn't shoot any more. Was it that I didn't know what I was doing, or the fact that only half of my shots came out halfway decent (actually only 4 out of 12 negatives on my diana were even exposed!)... I don't know. But I recently re-loaded both cameras and headed out with them. My new method was to experiment, expect nothing and laugh at the results. Well, laugh I did!

See, part of my renewed enthusiasm was due to my new idea to use my on-camera flash (off my camera and in my hand) to get a better exposure with my fisheye. I thought this was genius and wanted to try out a whole roll of exerimental shots...

Here we have a series of hilarious attempts to use my flash as a main light (synched to the very low powered flash on my fisheye)...

We see my model - nicely lit - and my flash and entire arm clearly in the frame!

Whoops! I forgot just how exremely wide angle that fisheye lens is!

Of course you don't realize your errors right away when working with film, so...

When my model (the lovely Ailsa) offered to hold the flash and dump all that light into her own face, I took her up on it!

Low and behold, now she is clearly holding the flash within the frame! Haahaha...

I was pretty confident that my flash would adequately light the model from a close distance as above. But, I wanted to experiment with the range of the flash and the subsequent exposure with my fisheye.

Here you see me - backed up quite a bit... clearly shining the flash right into the barrel of my lens, rather than on the model! Yet again - whoops!

Apparently my second attept was much better, in that I actually lit the scene... and got a good exposure on my model.

Of course, there is my nemisis... the hand again!

So much for keeping lighting techniques a secret!

Hey, look at this... no arm! Well, not mine anyway!

I guess I got so excited about getting that flash to fire, that I clearly did not wait for my model to be ready.

Wow, there is just way too much to think about when holding a toy camera in one hand and a flash in the other!

Alright, enough with this single model stuff... I was ready for the big times.

Here you see me trying to capture a scene: Gabrielle working her magic with studio lights. What I was trying to find out was if the little flash on my fisheye would trigger the studio lights - and yes, it worked!!

Too bad about... the hand!

No hand!!! Yes!!!

Cool scene too... I love the fisheye effect on this one!

Now I'm getting confident... surpising my new unsuspecting model, Duncan, with a huge flash in the eyes - and a neat play on perspective with the tiny girl beside his face.

Plus, no hand!

No, I didn't get the best images... but I definately laughed my butt off when I saw the negatives!

So in sum... the heck with knowing what you are doing!

Think up something to experiment with and go for it!

Go LOMO!

Posted by Dallas Ludwick, f/action member

The makings of a sweet portrait

2009-01-26T14:42:00.002-06:00

I want to share my favorite portrait that I've taken along with a few of the unedited shots from the same shoot.
The end product came to fruition through some crafty post-production work; by exercising some simple tricks in Adobe Lightroom, I transformed an ordinary portrait into something sublime. The first 3 are cute and work on a certain level, but once I changed the colour and gave it a warm tone to match the natural warm background, I ended up with something a little out of the ordinary. I also broke one of the first rules in portrait making... never centre your subject!
This image became my favorite of the shoot because all of a sudden it was no longer just a little girl posing for a nice picture; her gaze along with her placement in the frame suggest otherwise and give the viewer more to contemplate.
She's the centre of the world, yet all by herself.

Posted by f/action member Ailsa Dyson

Fine Grain at a High ISO? It Can Happen!

2009-01-03T01:01:00.001-06:00

As a digital photographer I am constantly concerned about the horrendous havoc of digital noise. Because I don’t shoot with a six thousand dollar camera, there is a distinct threshold at which I could risk ruining a picture because I am at an ISO that lends itself to the distractingly ugly mish-mash of oddly coloured pixels in my shadow areas. For a long time I would stay clear of this threshold, no matter the circumstances, and aim to shoot under 800 ISO.

Recently, however, a friend gave me some very good advice that proved the contrary.

He said that it is better to shoot at a high ISO and get a perfect exposure then to underexpose at a low ISO and brighten the image in post production. Anyone who shoots in ambient light must often battle to stay above hand held shutter speed, but I was never prepared to sacrifice my ISO sensitivity and, because of this, often ended up with underexposed images. I had presumed that because sensors at low sensitivity have lots of time to gather light information, Images could be adjusted as needed without falling apart.

So I tried it out.

Here are two pictures I shot of the same scene. One is shot at ISO 200 and is two stops underexposed and the other is shot at ISO 1600 and is two stops over.

Now I adjusted both images in post processing to be of equal density and zoomed in on a portion of the shadow areas. Even brought down two stops, the ISO 1600 image at close detail looks better in terms of digital noise.

The noise is greatly decreased and the pixels are smoother, they don’t have those chunky blue-ish splotches.

The reason for this is that digital sensors are designed to be more sensitive to highlights than it is to shadows. The human eye itself is always more concerned with what is going on in the lighter parts of a scene than the darker. Engineers design sensors to have 50% of their pixel’s sensitivity at the brightest stop of its latitude, 25% at the second brightest, and so on, leaving a whopping 3% sensitivity in the darkest stop. All this equates to more information in the highlights, more information to recover, and an image that is easier to save than one that is underexposed… even at the ‘worst’ ISO I have.

The rule that was drilled into my head in school was to ‘push your whites as far to the right of the histogram as you can without going over’. Now I can add the part ‘even at the expense of your ISO’.

In the race for resolution of today’s digital world, it is much more important to know your camera and how it operates best than it is to criticize it for poor performance. I have been reminded once again that, though my camera isn’t the best on the market, it still can do everything I need it to.

essential eyes

2008-12-28T15:33:00.000-06:00

There's something fascinating about the human eye. I won't get into all the clichés and metaphors (the window to the soul! ok, sorry, that one slipped out...). And I won't get into the scientific make-up of the human eye (seriously, I have no idea what it's all about. I do know it has something to do with cones, but not ice cream cones). What I like about the human eye is its glossy-glass colour (blue, brown, grey, green, chocolate), its dark thin rim around the iris, and of course the ever expanding and retracting black pupil. Oh the black, dark pupil, it has so many things to hide, and teases us even more when sparkling with specular highlights! And we have the milky whites and the delicate eyelashes. There's nothing I like more than photographing a human eye! (but I say that about a lot of things...)

Eyes, more than anything, really get me excited about being able to see. They're such an amazing thing to look at, yet you need one to see one. Is that irony?

So when I photograph a person's face, I love using natural light and getting them to look up at me. It opens up the eye and reveals its best.

Posted by Gabrielle Touchette, f/action member.

...and now for something completely different...

2008-12-14T00:33:00.001-06:00

Photography is an art form. Like knitting, graffiti or cooking, it is based on creativity. As with all creative acts, it happens from time to time that inspiration flows like molasses, shoots become bland and tasteless and one relies on the true but tried methods.

Scientists aren’t really sure what causes photographer’s block and there are many home remedies for curing the symptoms, but all they really boil down to is shaking things up. Recently I have found what may very well be the mother of all shake ups…. changing mediums and/or formats.

If you shoot digital, pick up a 35mm. If you’ve shot 35 already, find a medium format camera. Already done that? Go Large! If you’re used to shooting with a 5D, steal your little brother’s 3 mp Optio point and shoot and see if you still have ‘it’. Get the cheapest thrift store toy camera you can find (the kind that they don’t even make film for anymore) and mod it. Shove a roll of anything that fits inside and work your magic.

Whatever side of the scale you call yourself… gear head pixel peeper or artistic retro silver snob… go out and grab the favorite tool of the other side and light it on fire (figuratively, of course).

Having shot digital for too long, it took a plastic camera with no settings, no preview display, and 12 shots per roll to shake and bake my creative mind enough to give me the freedom and confidence to bring my camera absolutely everywhere I went and take any shot that came to mind. It was just the spice I needed to see things from a different point of viewfinder.

Wine Shooting!

2008-11-12T19:26:00.000-06:00

As graduates of PrairieView School of Photography, you may be able to call some of us photo nerds. But I like to call us passionate. A few of us still get together every so often with a shoot idea in mind. This past weekend, we decided to tackle product photography. With a few external flashes, and a few holding white reflectors, we managed to click off a few shots. The great thing about having a bunch of photographer friends is that you can never get too bored, especially when the weather starts getting dreary. Here are a few samples of our product shots:

Posted by Gabrielle Touchette, f/action member.