it’s thursday. but it’s not just thursday to me. it’s the day after one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.
i’ve spent the last two days with a group of the most open, honest, and genuinely wonderful people i ever expected to share so much with.
over the last couple of days, justin and i hosted our first stillmotion workshop for professional photographers, an opportunity that forced us to truly introspect into our art, but more importantly, into ourselves. we wanted to share that experience with the photographers that were attending our workshop and from the connections we all seemed to make with each other, it seemed evident that everyone was moved in some way – including us.
hence the name, the workshop was much more about the why of photography than the how. but, in asking yourself “why”, you trigger so many more questions about yourself than you ever knew you had. this was the most incredible part of the workshop for me.
one of the main topics that was discussed was the process and personal commitment to creating meaningful images. on day two, we went out for a small shoot where we shot two of the attendees, mel and dave, who actually got married earlier this year. we had about 15 minutes of free shooting before we started into a bit of content. in these 15 minutes, i asked for the story of how the two of them met, and managed to create three images that represented that story in my eyes. what was amazing to me was how mel reacted when seeing the images for the first time. before she realized the meaning of the images, she probably noticed the photographic and esthetic qualities of the images, which is what most people see when they look at our blog or website. it’s only when she realized the deeper meaning in what she was looking at that the real emotions came. in the honesty of the moment, her tears inspired the photographers around her (including myself) to continue down the path that we are newly and constantly exploring.
i asked mel and dave if they would be willing to share their story with you all. they sent me two separate perspectives of their growing friendship and romance.
melanie:
When I met David, I was in the darkest period of my life. I was 28 and getting divorced. I was humiliated and felt so alone – I didn’t know anyone else who was separated. My friend, though a great listener had no idea how to relate to my situation. So, one morning while we were chatting, he handed the phone over to Dave in the hopes he could provide me with some insight since he’d just survived his own divorce. David was so sweet and supportive and told me I could call him anytime if I needed to chat. But everyone says that. He knew I’d never take him up on his offer so later that evening, he called me just to check in. From then on we were fast friends and confidants. We helped each other persevere and grew as people. Later, when I felt ready to resume real life, I remember a friend rolling her eyes when I said “I need to find someone like Dave”. I couldn’t see what was right in front of me. Finally it hit me – like a truck. David sees the real me. He is the light that took over once the darkness faded.
david:
I moved back to Sudbury after my divorce. My best friend, Shawn, wanted to support his close friend Mélanie through her divorce but was having difficulties relating to her situation. One morning when he was listening to Mel on the phone, Shawn asked me if I could talk to her since I had just gone through it myself and might have some advice. I agreed and he passed me the phone. I didn’t have any advice, but I understood her and that made a difference. When we were done talking I told her that she could call me anytime. I knew most people who say that don’t mean it and she would assume I was full of crap, so I called her that evening just to touch base and check on her.
At this point, Mélanie believed me and took advantage of my offer after that. Our friendship grew out of our honesty, a genuine desire to help each other through an experience no one else we knew could even understand, and a shared sense of adventure.
When I was ready to date again, I found myself wanting to find someone like Mel. Apparently, she felt the same way. We found our counterpart in each other. I couldn’t have trusted or loved anyone else as easily as Mélanie.
I have studied Journalism and English Literature, but I have never found a combination of words capable of describing the depth of my love for her. We are partners in everything, even learning how to live.
Monday 06, 2009 03:26am
today i went out for my first shoot of the season.
i had been thinking for the past few days about where to take teresa and marco, and had a few ideas. but it wasn’t until yesterday that i realized that i wanted to do something difficult.
i started thinking about why we as photographers choose the locations that we do. for me, it’s mostly based on the couple’s personality. if they’re super outgoing, i try to find a location that reflects that. i also try to add some variety to the photographs by choosing a location that will yield different types of photos than the wedding location. in addition, if the couple says that they really like a certain “feel” of photograph, i keep that in mind when choosing the place.
but for today i asked myself, “where could i take ANY couple and make the photos feel like THEM?”.
there are certain types of locations that make it really easy to produce a good photograph. there are some places that make awesome pictures even without any couple in them. but what fun is “easy”?
so today I chose a very ordinary location. the weather was nice enough, but resembled a typical Toronto spring. the grass was brown with puddles, the trees were leaf-less, and everything else was yellow and crispy.
the location: at the side of a busy road in mississauga.
what I learned: you can find beauty anywhere.
maybe I didn’t chose as plain a location as i thought. but, at the same time, i can almost guarantee that no other photographer has ever shot there before.
of course, teresa and marco played a huge role in making the shoot a success. as they put it, they have a “love-hate” relationship, which made for some really sassy photos.
i wanted to share my favourite image from the shoot. as many of us can recall, “colour-isolation” was a really popular trend a few years back. Remember the classic black and white photo with just the bouquet in focus? oh yes…
well, the general consensus among photographers is that it was a trend that was born out of availability. with digital, it was sooo easy to do such things, so why not do them? and so, a lot of people did…. until it was overdone and expired.
but, here’s what I love about this image: it almost looks like colour-isolation, but without any of the fake manipulation. This photo is straight out of the camera with only contrast and white balance adjustments. i thought this was really cool.
…at the side of the road, everything was grey, brown and dead, except for a vibrant green pile of dirt. amazing.
-amina
Wednesday 25, 2009 18:14pm
Well, another year with John has come and gone. It seems like only yesterday, John Edgar of Silverline Studios was making advances on Still Motion. Next thing we knew, he was telling the world (from beneath a cardboard box) that we were moving and creating something much bigger, better, and… Of course, his life has been very fruitful. His many inventions (some quite crummy), encounters, impersonations, influences, inspirations, impacts, proteges, aspirations, illustrations, qualifications, humiliations, teddy bears (you know which one), friendly fire, not-so-friendly fire, inadvertent thefts, disorganization, sense of style, dawn of organization, collaboration, communication, but best of all, imagination, have made him the (slightly crazy) guy we all know and love. So from all of us, John, we wish you a happy birthday. And thank you for bringing our daily lives something that few people have. May the craziness never stop.
-Amina
The John Edgar Birthday Compilation from StillMotion on Vimeo.
Wednesday 25, 2009 18:11pm
Evolution is a funny thing, isn’t it? Things start from very little and are given the chance to grow and grow into something. That’s what StillMotion offered me. Patrick and Amina took me into their company, their home, and their hearts and gave me the opportunity to grow. I’ve probably been the most fortunate person in the world, being given the chance to learn from such amazing, amazing people. And so you can imagine that it’s so hard for me, for all of us, to say goodbye.
Thank you so much, thank you to everyone at StillMotion, thank you to our couples, thank you, thank you, thank you. Thank you to the amazing industry that I’ve been so lucky to partake in. Things will be very much the same at StillMotion, so don’t worry. My email address will no longer work, however if you have to get in touch with anyone here, please don’t hesitate to call the studio or email Artists AT StillMotion.ca Thank you again.
Much love,
John.
Monday 09, 2009 00:00am
Who ever said a shoe shot had to be a close-up? This is one of my favourite shoe shots, and I think I was pretty clever when I thought of it (hey, it’s my blog, and I can toot my own horn if I want to!). This type of photo is particularly difficult to execute. Shot using a tilt-shift lens, external flash, and movment (of the shoes), this photo combines three elements of photography that are difficult to shoot when even on their own. What does a tilt-shift lens do? Well, let’s start with a normal lens. When you focus on something, normally, things in the foreground and things in the background are blurry. In other words, the blur is front and back (the plane of focus is parellel with the image sensor of the camera). But with a tilt-shift lens, you can alter the plane of focus. This means that you can make things go blurry side to side, up and down, or even on an angle. This is how I got the focus to go right down the middle of the image – Antonia is sharp, and her shoes are sharp, but the further you look to the sides of the image, the blurrier they get. While I’m making sure that the focus is perfect (it’s a manual focus lens), Jaime (from blueprint events) is holding an external flash with a RadioPopper for me. It’s broad daylight, but I feel that adding some extra light adds a certain mood to the photo and also brings the viewer’s attention to the shoes a lot faster. This is what is illuminating the top part of the image and casting a shadow of the door. The door would be a lot harder to see without the light too. And then there’s the movement. So you can imagine that when you have a very narrow line of focus AND you are shining a light in a particular spot, you have to track the movement of your subject really well, or, the subject has to move in a very specific way. Enter Antonia. Toni… how many times did you have to throw your shoes in the air? And how scuffed were they after they landed on the pavement every time you threw them? All in all, it took about 20 minutes to get this shot. Good thing we had a lot of time for the photo session!
-Amina
Saturday 31, 2009 00:00am
Photographs… they can be so many things to so many people. They can be traditional, alternative, candid, posed, real, fake, cool, cheesy. For me, photographs should carry a story, whether it’s obvious or not. As a wedding photographer, it’s my job to document the events of the Day by capturing moments, and helping people to relive them days, months, years later. For many, this means taking a series of photographs that combined tell a story. Much like the act of photographing a ceremony – the images when placed together in an album are able to bring back all the emotions that were felt at the time. But what about a lone image? I feel it is much more challenging to tell a story with just one photograph. This is a challenge that I will be continuing to conquer for the rest of my life.
Above is an image that I particularly love. It is well composed, with good contrast and colour. Its depth of field pulls the viewer into the rings almost instantly. But the part I love most is the secret that it holds. When I arrived at Erica and Jay’s wedding venue, everyone was a little nervous about the weather. It had been raining off and on all morning. Erica is a very easy going, fun loving girl, and even she was a little bit worried. While she was having her makeup done, I went outside with the rings for a brief moment. I found a puddle on the deck that surrounded the building she and her family were in. As time went on, the rain turned to drizzle, and a bit of sun started to peak out. By the time the (outdoor) ceremony was beginning, the rain had completely gone and had left us with nothing but beautiful light. It was perfect. Their ceremony was perfect. About half an hour later, we began our portrait session together. As Erica and Jay were sitting together enjoying their time in front of the camera, the rain returned – but this time there was no anxiety. In fact, there was opportunity. With caution to the wind, Erica decided that frizz or no frizz, she was going to get wet! Because this was her wedding day and she was going to enjoy every minute of it! This is what I remember when I look at this photo. I remember the relief that everybody felt when the rain stopped. I remember the joy in Erica’s eyes as she and Jay laughed in the rain. I remember a day that turned out perfectly. And it makes me really happy.
-Amina
Friday 23, 2009 00:00am
As the new StillMotion studio manager, I would like to take the time to formally introduce myself on the StillMotionBlog. I would also like to thank everyone for such a warm welcome.
My experience at StillMotion has been far more exciting then I ever imagined. It’s such a great feeling to wake up in the morning and enjoy going to studio. In the last 2 months I have made many friends and have connected rather quickly with everyone, which has been awesome. Thank you Patrick, Amina, Konrad and Michael (and John) for this wonderful opportunity. I look forward to many more exciting experiences to come.
I would like to say how awesome it was meeting everyone from the first evolution experience. It was awesome to see how much passion and excitement everybody had. I too was soaking it all in and learned quite a bit about cinematography.
I hope that I can be as much help as possible to our couples and everyone at StillMotion. I will be updating information on the blog and checking my e-mail on the regular. If you need to contact me I’m jessica@stillmotion.com
- Jess
Tu trabajo es precioso. me ha encantado, felicidades
Hey, so when are you guys gonna show off footage for the 1D Mark IV? LaForet has already posted his on SmugMug! =P
Amina, you might find this hard to believe but I\’m speechless. I\’m pretty much changed as a result of those few days. Great to meet everyone and plan on hearing back from me!
wow. and this is just the beginning…!!excellent post; thanks for sharing
Aww, Amina, you are so awesome. I am so excited that Lovanna and Will had their engagement session with you and cannot wait to see the pictures that you produced for them. I know they adore you! :-)
I love that you guys are all about the connection. It\’s so real, so important, and I know no other way to shoot. Thank you for being an inspiration.
Words cannot describe the enlightening two days spent with you, Justin, and the 10 other unexpectedly open and genuine photographers within the group. I am forever changed by the experience and saying thank you just simply isn\’t enough. Justin – I think you could captivate a crowd just by the simple act of flossing your teeth. :) Your humor and the intensity with which you express yourself is infectious. Amina – I wish I could see inside your mind. Your incredible talent is astounding and your willingness to share even more so. Jessica – you\’re a sweetheart. Thank you for all of your help. Looking forward to Fusion! :)
I know them both and \’real\’ is the best word to describe them. I\’m sure they made excellent subject matter!
Amina – the tears are still flowing. This experience has turned our entire world upside down in the most wonderful ways. The changes have already begun and I am so inspired. Thank you for this.Also – thanks to both you and Justin for inspiring us to question EVERYTHING.
inspiring. you guys really dig into what it means to call oneself an artist. good stuff!