Looking For A Midnight Snack

Upon arriving home the other day, I was welcomed by these tasty looking treats on the kitchen table.  My lovely assistant had passed the day hard at work in the kitchen, and one of the results was these Parmesan crisps.  They looked so good that I felt I couldn't pass up this opportunity to take a shot at doing some food photography.  After doing a little arranging I pulled out the camera and began shooting away.  For a light source, I have a large window in the kitchen that faces the setting sun, so that was an easy problem to solve.  More difficult, was waiting to actually eat these delicious snacks while I was trying to get the perfect shot.  I finally found one I was satisfied with by shooting at f/2.8, 1/40sec, ISO 800 at 34mm.  Even with the setting sun, I had to up the ISO in order to make sure that my shot wouldn't have been ruined by camera shake.  In retrospect, it would have made much more sense to get out the tripod and leave the ISO at a lower number.  Tripod or not, I still would have used a large aperture in order to throw the background out of focus, though I think I would have preferred to shoot it at f/4.  Again, I'll make sure to use the tripod next time, though I'm not sure that my lovely assistant will appreciate the added intruder in the kitchen.  I'm not sure that this photo is ready to be used in Ricardo's next magazine, but the chef was happy so that's a good sign.  Now, if you'll excuse me, there's still a few crisps left, and I'm hungry.

One Of These Things Is Not Like The Other

 Those of you who keep tabs with the frequency of my updates may have noticed that last week saw a bit more activity than usual both here and at my Facebook site (Eric Mahannah Photography don't forget to head over there and 'Like' the page if you haven't done so already).  I had the good fortune of being on vacation and I wanted to make sure that my time was well spent and that my camera was well used.  One of the photographs I really wanted to get during my week off was the shot you see here on the left of the page.  It's probably a photograph that some of you have seen before as it's not exactly a secret location.  This shot was taken from the observation deck on Mount Royal and it's one that I've wanted to take for a while now.  Being from Montreal, the skyline at night is a thing of beauty, especially with all of the buildings lit up.  As an added bonus, you even get to see the Champlain and Victoria Bridges from this location, and by waiting for the sun to go down, you get to play with the exposure time to capture the lights of the South Shore, the regions mountains and the light streaks of the passing cars.  To be truthful, there was very little traffic when I took this picture, so the streaks of light from the passing cars were few and far between.  I still managed to capture a couple.  I posted two versions of this photo as a way of trying to perhaps share some opinions.  I was just wondering if anyone had a preference about the colour of the sky.  The general rule is that it's always best to leave the sky a little blue, but I've always found that the darker the sky gets, the sharper the lights of the buildings appear.  Pitch black isn't an option, but sometimes I like a little dark blue in my pictures as well.  Feel free to let me know how you feel.  The first shot was taken at f/14, 10sec, ISO 100 at 62mm.  The second shot was taken at f/14, 7 sec, ISO 100 at 62mm.  I know what you're thinking, it doesn't make any sense for the second photograph to have a shorter exposure time than the first, and you're right.  However, the second shot was taken 15 minutes after the first.  That's right, I waited 15 minutes in one spot just to get a photo.  Actually, I was there for a little over 45 minutes taking shots as the wind kept pushing my tripod around a little each time.  Now you see why it's hard for me to find people to go on photography outings with me.

You're Right, Babysitting Is Dangerous

The lovely smiling model you see on the left is Alexia, and this is our story.  Yesterday I found myself in a situation that, to be totally honest, I've never found myself all that comfortable with.  I was, insert ominous music, The Babysitter!  I was actually more of a curious observer as my lovely assistant did more of the actual babysitting, while I stood around pretty much looking like a lost fish out of water.  My only previous experience in babysitting was a New Year's Eve about 25 years ago.  I've never seen the two kids since, but I'm told that they survived their ordeal.  So, what to do when you find yourself watching a very active almost two-year old?  Grab the camera and shoot away.  I don't really have that much experience taking photographs of young children, and I though this would be a great opportunity to grab a few hours of experience.  However, after a few minutes of trying to convince a very active child to "sit still and smile" provided to be about as effective as telling me to "get off the couch and take a walk", it was time to change gears.  I figured that if I just stuck close by and let her act naturally, she would get used to seeing the camera in my hands and everything would work out in the end, like an episode of Scooby-Doo. Very shortly, I went from dealing with a youngster that would quickly look away whenever I got close with the camera to photographing a seasoned model who had a wider range of emotional poses than most Academy Award winning actresses.  I ended up with what I, and most importantly the mother and father, think are some pretty great shots.  I didn't use any flash in any of these shots as I didn't want to potentially frighten my model.  After the amount of time it took getting her used to the camera, I figured it wouldn't be in my best interest to be flashing a bright light in her eyes.  So, I repositioned a few pieces of furniture that she liked sitting in and generally tried to keep her in rooms that had a good amount of sunlight.  It also meant upping the ISO as shooting at ISO 100 just wasn't giving me fast enough speeds to get the shots I wanted.  The first shot you see at the very top of this post, which I feel was the best one of the day, was taken at f/5, 1/125sec, ISO 400 at 58mm.  We have a very comfy round chair that I put Alexia in.  After crawling around inside of it for a few seconds, she found a comfortable position and then turned her head with the great smile you see in my photograph.The second shot was taken at f/2.8, 1/50sec, ISO 400 at 68mm.  This one was taken near the end of our time together and she was pretty much used to my camera by then.  We were sitting on the couch and she climbed up right next to us.  Shot number three was taken at f/2.8, 1/200sec, ISO 800 at 55mm.  This one was taken a little bit after lunch as she was enjoying a post meal drink of milk.  That's something I can sure understand.  She had made her way into the bedroom and was resting her elbows on the bed while taking a drink. The fourth photograph was taken at f/5, 1/640sec, ISO 400 at 62mm.  I really like this one as well.  She was sitting on a decorative tin next to our sliding patio doors with the afternoon light coming in on her.  The light was cut a bit by the window blinds, but they kind of added to the drama of the shot.  In reality, there was no drama at all, she was just looking out the window.  However, with the way that the light lands on her, and the shadows that were created by her body and the blinds, it kind of feels like she's a little bit sad.  Where's that Oscar that I was talking about?  Shot number five, the upside down shot, is quickly becoming one of my favourites.  I took a similar shot with my cousin's newborn back at Christmas and I figured I'd give it another shot here.  For those of you with short memories, or who wish to see those pictures as well, you can find them in the post titled Newest Family Member.  While Alexia was laying on the bed, I quickly moved around to the other side and shot a couple of fast frames.  This one was taken at f/2.8, 1/320sec, ISO 1600 at 68mm.  As with most of the shots I take at ISO 1600, I was worried about there being an excess of camera noise in the shot, but there was none that can be noticed unless you zoom in incredibly close to a size that would never be used in printing anyway.  For the sixth photograph, I shot at f/2.8, 1/160sec, ISO 1600 at 48mm.  The story behind this photograph centers around making the bed.  As my lovely assistant would wave the bed sheets in the air, Alexia would shoot one arm up to follow the movements of the sheets.  Every time a sheet would go up, so would her arm, and the natural smile came with it.  The final shot of this album, and another of my favourites (aren't they all) was taken at f/2.8, 1/100sec, ISO 400 at 67mm.  This one was also taken around lunch time as she was walking around trying to find the pieces of poor Mr. Potato Head that she had thrown on the ground earlier.  At the end of the day, I think I can chalk this experience up as a success.  I had a great time, my model was in great spirits and everything seems to have gone well.  A lesson learned here was to not take out the camera right away and just expect the child to be ready to pose.  It's important to play a bit with the child and let them get to know you.  All of the shots you see here on this page were taken after lunch, and after she had been with us for a couple of hours.  The smiles came much easier and were also much more natural when she felt comfortable around us.  As a result, I think that I not only captured some nice photographs of Alexia, but also captured her personality in them as well.  One thing is for sure, I had to have some quick fingers while spinning the dials of my camera to make sure I had the right speed for the shots.  See Mom and Dad, playing all of those video games when I was a kid ended up being good for me after all.  I never would have gotten these shots if we never owned that Atari 2600.  That brings an end to my adventure in babysitting.

It's Snowing...Slow Down

The forecast is 30cm's of snow?  Well, why not use that opportunity to go outside and take a walk!  That's what was on my agenda a few days ago as we were hit with the last big snowstorm of Winter 2012/2013.  It also gave me the chance to do something I'd wanted to do since the beginning of the season, play around with shutter speeds.  What I wanted to accomplish was to take a nice photograph where you could see the flakes as they fell from the sky.  My wonderful assistant acted in a role that is natural for her, that of being a pedestrian, and also served as a colourful backdrop so that the flakes would stand out a little more than in the otherwise very white frame.  As she walked down the street, I took several shots at different speeds, hoping to find one just slow enough to catch sight of the snow.  The winning combination was f/16, 1/30sec, ISO 100 at 66mm.  Some cropping was then done in order to better place the walker in the photo and to get rid of some real-estate signs that were on the other side of the street.  While taking the photo, I didn't think that 1/30sec would be the best of speeds as you generally need a shutter speed of 1/80sec in order to freeze human movement.  As my model was walking, I was a little worried that she would become rather blurry.  As it turns out, there is some blurring around her left hand and foot, but not on her body itself.  As a result, in my opinion anyway, this adds more to the image by giving the appearance of movement.  We see her walking through the snowstorm.  Your best bet when it comes to photographing the falling snow also applies to driving in it.  Slow down.

Old Man Winter Strikes Back

It's been said before, and I know that I find myself in the minority, but I find no joy in the end of Winter.  Most people can't stand the strong winds, cold weather and snow, but I love it.  So, while yesterday was officially the first day of Spring, I love that Winter didn't go away silently but rather with a storm that dumped another 30cm's of the white stuff on us.  That's where this photo comes from.  I went out for a walk and captured this image near the Jacques Cartier Bridge.  It was shot at f/2,8, 1/1250sec, ISO 100 at 55mm and then cropped to 12inches x 4.5inches.  I had taken another shot at a slower speed to try and capture the falling snow, but I found the flakes to be more distracting than anything.  I preferred this photo as I feel it is more clean and more representative of the situation.  So there you have it, one last look at Winter.  See you again in a few months.

Everybody Loves A Parade

What better way to spend a Sunday afternoon than by watching a parade.  The sun was out, spirits were high, and the temperature was low.  It was a brisk -8 degrees on parade day, but being Montrealers, we're not about to let a little cold spoil a good time.  I've got a little story to tell when it comes to photographing the St. Patrick's Day Parade.  A few years back I "coached" a fellow photography/journalism student while taking photos at this parade and the photos that I "coached" this person to take ended  up earning them an A+ on the assignment.  I had just finished my Certificate in Photography from Concordia  and I was happy to know that the photos I "coached" this friend to use could earn a high mark from someone other than my Concordia professor.  Don't worry Mr. Anber, I didn't "coach" anyone in any of our classes.  After having skipped last years parade, I was more than happy to be back on the street this year.  My usual strategy is to place myself on the side of the street that the sun isn't shining on.  The best reason behind this is that there is much more space to move, and you can easily find a spot to stand without worrying about blocking the view of someone else, or getting into an elbowing war trying to protect your spot.  The only negative is that sometimes because there are fewer people on that side, the people who pass don't always turn to wave in your direction and you end up with lots of shots of the back of people's heads.  Another thing I like to keep in mind when I take photographs of such events, is that I try and imagine myself as being an actual press photographer and try to create images that I could imagine being used in a newspaper or online.  Always try and look for something special or unique.  Along that line, I often go right on the computer when I get home and check out the local newspapers to see what kind of pictures the pros took.  I think my pictures rank up there with the ones that I've seen published online.  Also, going back to my speil about location, a photographer from the Montreal Gazette, Phil Carpenter, published a shot taken from my exact location.  I know, this may not seem like much, but to me I see it as a pro using the same technique as I do, which means I must be doing something right.  You also have to be pretty fast with the trigger, so I generally try and shoot in AV mode.  AV allows me to set the aperture I want to use and the camera then takes care of the shutter speed that will be necessary, which means I have one less thing to think about.  All of the pictures in this post were shot at f/2.8 as I wanted to have the widest opening possible, and ISO 100.  I did take a few shots at f/14 and higher as I wanted to create some effects photographs using the slower shutter speeds to capture motion in the hands of the drummers and some flag bearers, but those experiments will be saved for another time.  In order of appearance, the shutter speeds used were, 1/1000sec, 1/800sec, 1/500sec, 1/1000sec and 1/2000sec.  They were also all shot using the Canon 24-70mm lens, so all of the photographs fall somewhere between those focal lengths.  If I were to be asked about a favourite, they say to always lead with your best.  I feel that the first shot was the headline grabber for my afternoon.  The float passing by with everyone on it having a good time gets doubled in fun with the addition of the people also having a party on their balcony.  It's like the title says, everybody loves a parade. 

Some Press From The Past

This past week the Acadie river flooded due to an ice jam.  I think I can safely say that for all of the people who were affected by the flooding, this wasn't the highlight of their week.  However, for me it brought back memories of another flood that I got to cover two years ago.  I had the chance to be the 'unofficial' photographer for a small regional newspaper that covered the Chambly/St. Bruno/St. Basille area, l'Action Regionale.  I got the job the old fashioned way, I earned it.  Actually, my girlfriend was the editor-in-chief...don't look at me like that.  One of the stories that I shot during this time was the flooding of the Acadie & Richelieu rivers in March 2011.  We were able to get past police roadblocks and go deep into the affected areas.  I wasn't feeling very comfortable taking pictures of people bailing water out of their flooded homes, so we chose to go with shots of the flooded roads.  In retrospect, I should have taken the shots of people bailing the water, but without a press credential hanging around my neck I thought the locals wouldn't appreciate my presence.  I felt that had the roles been reversed, I sure wouldn't have.  I guess I need to work on my personal morality.  The first shot was taken on Rte 223. in Carignan, Qc.  With permission, we drove past a police roadblock and continued down the road until there was no road left at all.  This shot was taken at f/2.8, 1/6400 sec. ISO 400 at 24mm.  The second shot that appeared in the newspaper was also taken on Rte 223, but at a different point where the flooding wasn't heavy enough to force the road to be closed.  After observing a couple of cars going through the waters at a rather high speed and causing some impressive splashes, I figured this would be a good spot to take another picture for the newspaper.  However, the minute I got out of my car and position myself to take the shot, the cars began to slow down and the splashes were no longer as impressive.My theory, the motorist might have thought that I was a police officer as I guess that from a distance a cop holding a radar gun doesn't look much different than I do while holding a camera in my hands.  This shot was taken at f/10, 1/500 sec ISO 100 at 24mm.  However, of the two pictures I took that made it to print, neither one of them is my favourite.  That particular honour goes to the final photo you'll see in this blog post. It's of a mobile home that happened to be parked in the wrong place at the wrong time. This is another shot that I took while driving along Rte 223.  It was shot at f/2.8, 1/250sec, ISO100 at 54mm.  This shot didn't end up making it into the newspaper, but it became a personal highlight to me when a very similar shot appeared in La Presse the day after I took this one.  It wasn't the same mobile home, but seeing the photo in La Presse gave me a sense of personal satisfaction.  It made me feel that while I wasn't able to find the courage to shoot the people who were suffering through a rather painful moment in their lives, I did atleast have the eye to shoot the kind of photos that would appear in a large well known publication. I've also included some pages of the newspaper from that week because I am not against trying to draw a little attention to myself.


 

Choeur Vives Voix Production Booklet

 I just spent the afternoon taking headshots for the next production booklet for the Choeur Vives Voix. They are a theatre group that I worked with last year, also taking some portraits for their production booklet as well as being the photographer for their show, Contre Temps.  This years production will be called Romeo vs Juliette and if you live in the greater Longueuil region or are nearby, you really should go and see their show.  You can visit their website at Choeur Vive Voix, where you can find all of the information you need about the upcoming show as well as how to get tickets.

I've included in this post a photo of the production booklet for last years show which included several headshots that I took and, yes, I am just vain enough to include the page where my name just happens to be mentioned.  Hey, if you don't advertise yourself, nobody will.  Finally, I've also included the group shot for this years show, which we'll also be redoing the night of the show.

I can't explain how great it felt to pass the day doing something that I really enjoy.  If only everyday could be just like that.  Photographing their production last year was easily one of my highlights of the year and I can't wait for this new show to be ready.  It's probably not necessary to be mention, but if you keep your eyes peeled to this site, chances are good you'll see some photos from that show here next month.

Montreal Snow Village Ice Hotel

For Christmas, my girlfriend and I were given a voucher to visit to the Montreal Snow Village.  It was given with the instructions that I take lots of pictures.  I've been looking forward to the visit since we got the tickets, but due to differences in schedules, we were never able to find the time to actually visit the place.  Until this past Thursday.  Upon arrival at the site, I was a little bit worried as it looked like it was just a bunch of igloo's joined together.  My worries were soon eased after entering the main room.  It's inside the rooms of this giant ice hotel where all of the treasures are hidden.  Several of the rooms have giant ice carvings in the wall and the main theme was New York.  The light in the rooms was rather low, so it was a good thing that I decided to bring my tripod along.  I was able to take a few handheld shots as well as some rooms were better lit than others.  It was also a good thing that our visit took place on a Thursday night when the Canadiens were playing.  That resulted in there being very few people on the site, meaning less people to be bothered by my tripod and long picture taking times.  The first shot we see here is in the main hall of the ice hotel.  It was shot handheld at f/4, 1/80sec, ISO 100 at 24mm.  The second shot was in a room with the New York Aquarium as a theme.  I don't know about you, but I can't see myself trying to fall asleep while a giant shark is waiting to swallow me whole to my left.  The blue lighting was perfectly done, but was a little to dark to be shot without the tripod.  This one was shot at f/6.3, 2sec, ISO 100 at 24mm.  Shot number three was in a room that had a New York Taxi cab theme.  I loved the taxi cab that was carved into the wall, along with the traffic light.  In my experience, though, it would have been a little more funny had the traffic light been yellow, or even red.  I'm sure we've all had such experiences with taxi drivers here at home, though I suppose that it's possible that those in New York follow the rules of the road a little more closely.  I wanted to create a star effect in the headlights of the taxi cab, so I pulled out the tripod again for a long exposure.  This image was shot at f/6.3, 3sec, ISO 100  at 24mm.  The final image is the one that I considered to be, hands down, the best one of all.  It's a carving of King Kong swatting away air planes over the New York skyline.  I ended up on the ground after doing a bad double-lutz attempt on the icy floor and trying to find a way to fall without landing on my camera, but despite this, I must have taken about 20 photographs in this room alone.  This shot was taken at f/4, 1/25sec, ISO 100 at 24mm.  I had a great time at the Ice Hotel, and if you find yourself with some time to spend, it's worth paying a visit to the site.  I took lots of shots in other room as well so you can expect to see some updates made to this page as time goes by.

Fly! Bring Me That Girl and Her Slippers!

This little runaway from the Land of Oz was found looking for some ruby slippers at the home of my Uncle over the Christmas holidays.  Always on the look-out for chances to practice taking portraits, I found him to be the perfect model.  A non-human.  I still find myself being a little nervous when it comes to taking pictures of actual people.  I don't have doubt in my abilities, but rather with my instruction giving.  There's just something about my telling someone to "give me your best smile" just before I count to three that seems to not produce the natural smiles I'm looking for.  Shocking, isn't it.  Luckily, this guy was used to taking orders from a Wicked Witch so he found my direction giving to be a little less stressful.  I did a little redecoration and moved the statue out of its corner and positioned it on a table with some Christmas lights in the background.  Lighting consisted of a hanging table lamp that was just above the statue and some background light from the room.  I took the shot at f/2.8, 1/60sec, ISO 400 at 70mm.  The main reason for shooting at f/2.8 in this case was because I really wanted the blurring effect on the Christmas lights.  I felt that the out of focus balls of light looked nicer than if were we to see the LED lights that were strung together along the wall.  Being the perfect model, he held his pose long enough for me to snap off a few shots before vanishing in a burst of smoke and fire and a clap of thunder.  Something about needing to find a girl and her little dog too.

And Now A Message From Our Sponsor

I'd like to take a moment to thank all of the visitors who come here.  You're not a vocal bunch, but I do notice that you've been passing through.  Feel free to also visit my Facebook Page in order to keep up to date with everything I post.  Thanks again.

Je voudrais prendre un moment pour remercier tous les visiteurs qui viennent ici. Vous n'êtes pas un groupe vocal, mais je ne remarque que vous avez été de passage. N'hésitez pas à visiter aussi ma page Facebook afin de rester à jour avec tout ce que j'ai poster. Merci encore.

Eric Mahannah Photography On Facebook 

Walking On, Walking On The Moon

They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.  This morning I saw a photograph that my professor, Richard Anber, had posted to his Facebook page and I thought it was so cool in it's simplicity that I had to go out and give it a shot myself.  It was nothing more than a photo of a footprint in the snow, but it managed to do something that I haven't done for myself in a while.  It got me and my camera out of the house.  He added a subtitle to his photo, "That's one small step for man..." a link to the moon landing, so I decided to follow in that vain and boldly go where I have never gone before (with any real success)...using Curves in Photoshop.  I took the original photo at  f/22 1/60sec ISO 100 at 46mm.  As you might imagine, the image was rather white.  That's when I decided to let the magic of Photoshop go to work.  I'd like to give a little tutorial on Curves at this point, but the truth is that I just placed a couple of anchor points and just generally moved the curves around until I got what I was looking for.  That being turning the white snow into a grey lunar surface.  So, Mr. Anber, thanks for all of the info you've passed along over the years and thanks for getting me out of the house today.  Although I did break your golden rule about spending more time using Photoshop than taking the picture.  I'll try to make sure that it doesn't happen again.