Conrad Portrait Session-GBP Creative Photography and Video

Alright, as promised, we have session two of our portraits with Megan Jensen to share with you today, and we are super stoked to see what you guys think!


So this portrait session was particularly special to Megan and her family, and we were SO honoured to have been able to do this for her....we won't bore you with the story of how it took us THREE attempts of driving out to Carcross to make it happen! (hints: road construction, then crazy rain storm, then third time was a charm!)

But the reason it was so important for us to get out to an area known as Conrad, just past Carcross is because it has such significance to Megan and her family.  On the way out there, Megan told us the entire story of how she was actually the first in her family in over 90 years to take part in a traditional coming of age ceremony where she stayed out at Conrad alone in her own camp for five days, receiving visits from various women in her family and community.  It was absolutely fascinating learning about all of the teachings she received while she was out there, and to see her go through the emotions of returning to that spot and sharing her stories with us.

We learned more in that one afternoon with Megan than we have from reading many-a-books! She has an incredible gift of sharing her family's traditions and knowledge, and so when we got to Conrad to do the shoot and we had Megan do her traditional drumming on the shore, it was an incredibly powerful experience.

Speaking of her drumming, I woke up the next morning singing her songs...they were stuck in my head for days! I unfortunately didn't sound nearly as good as she did...

So we wanted to share these images and send along another huge congratulations to Megan and her family for her recent graduation and thank you guys for having us be a part of such an incredibly special time in your lives.

It was truly an honour.

Prom Dress Portraits-GBP Creative Photography and Video

So this is the time of year when hundreds of Yukon grade 12 students are getting ready to finish up their high school career and jump out into the world on a variety of adventures, whether that's through more school, working, or travelling...

But first, there is graduation. And there is prom.  Time to celebrate all of the hard work that went into getting them to where they are at...We'd like to say we remember exactly how that feels, but we're trying not to think about the fact it's been a while since we were both in their shoes....Like we don't even want to do the math...

BUT that's not the point! The point is to celebrate all of these young adults that are about to embark on the next phase of their lives...and we got to work with one exceptional young lady that fits into this category recently as her mom gave her some portrait sessions with us as a grad gift.

So this is part one of that series...the "Lookin' like a hollywood bombshell" half! 

For this shoot, we really wanted to focus in on the glamour of her dress, hair, makeup and energy, so we decided to go with a nice, simple studio environment with a bit darker of a backdrop to contrast with the tones of her dress.

We could not have asked for a better model...you looked stunning Megan! 

Maternity Portraits-GBP Creative Photography and Video

Baby madness!!
Anyone else notice there's a lot of new families starting here in the Yukon? Because we sure have...

We've been getting a ton of requests for maternity portrait sessions lately, which are always fun to shoot-especially when it's for the couple's first child...

We don't have any kids, unless you count our 'fur child' Bill Murray (he's a newfoundlander with an attitude), but we feel like we have learned a ton about what to expect if we ever do from our clients...they are always happy to share their nervous laughter when they are navigating through what to expect with their first child, and then the tales of both the highs and lows of the parenting process once they've met the new family member.

It's one of the best parts of these jobs, getting to know how each family works together...

These particular soon-to-be parents were top notch.  Great sense of humours, super easy to work with, and just so happened to have epic natural light in their home (Huge win for GBP!)

We'll be getting to meet their newest addition in just a few weeks too!

 

Destination Weddings-GBP Creative Photography and Video

Well, tis the season...weddings 2013 have begun!

In the past we've done a lot of wedding work, however, we actually aren't doing as many of them this year as we are starting to get too busy with other commercial and corporate jobs.

This being said,  we did get to start our summer season with a great one that took us all the way to sunny Mexico, which considering it was snowing here the day before we left, wasn't something we were mad about!

We firmly believe that weddings can be one of the hardest gigs for a photographer...they are long days, high stress and require you to be 'on' 100% both artistically and technically that entire time.  But oddly enough, people don't seem to have much sympathy for all that when the beach, cold beer, and ocean waves are involved...

This recent wedding was a great one to start the season with though.  Everyone there was ready to have an incredible time, and we've gotta say the bride and groom were two of our most relaxed ones yet! Apparently sun and cold drinks will do that to ya...Thanks Robyn and Darrell for starting off our summer season right!

Old Time Machine does it again...GBP Creative Photography and Video

Well, it's finally here! We've been waiting to release these shots as it's been one of our favorite projects to date!

So not only did we get to work with one of our favorite bands again (if you haven't checked them out yet, do yourselves a favour and head over to Old Time Machine's facebook page to see what they're up to lately), but we also got to collaborate with one of our favorite local artists, Joseph Tisiga as well...

So some of you may remember the press shots we did for OTM last year that went a little something like this:

Well, for that same album, Joseph did the cover art along with Eleanor Rosenberg which looked a little something like this:

Now, the OTM boys were stoked with both pieces, but for their newest releases, they really wanted to be able to have the photography and the artwork be more cohesive...SO, what happened? Collaboration magic exploded in our studio...

So for the latest shots, Joseph used cut outs, painted the background, and came up with the wooden log concept, while we then photographed each piece separately, did portraits of Ryan and Kyle, and then pieced it all together to fit one unique, scene...

Although it sounds like a fairly simple process, it actually took a lot of work.  The 'statues' are actually all small hand-cut out images that Joseph collected, which were then individually shot in the studio attached to tiny skewers to hold their shape.

The logs, borrowed from a friend's wood pile, were then all also photographed individually.  

And then there's the hand-painted background...this came about as we were trying to think of what the backdrop would be when suddenly, joseph pulled a paintbrush out of his pocket (because he just happened to have one there...unreal), dipped it into his cup of coffee, and started to paint on a piece of paper...so simple, yet it fit the final image perfectly.

Then there were the portraits themselves which were each shot and processed separately.

And finally, Gary then also created individual shadows for each statue in order to create the depth he was looking for in the final image. He then also added a light texture and color wash to the entire piece so that it had a cohesive feel.

And the result??

A GBP, Old Time Machine and Joseph Tisiga collaboration that looks a little something like this:

Hope you guys enjoy it...and be sure to stay tuned as their newest single, "All the While" is going to be release May 28th and it is gonna be DOPE! In fact, you can stream it early here!

Family portraits in the studio-GBP Creative Photography and Video

What do you get when you take a great family with two adorable, energetic and we must also say, insanely polite little boys and do a studio session with them?

Some pretty fun photos...that's what.

But possibly the best part of the session?... The fact that Gary got to look up Sasquatch photos during a break with the boys (they requested, Gary happily obliged).

Ad Campaign Photography-GBP Creative Photography and Video

Well after a week and a half out of town, we are back in the GBP studio and lovin' it! Turns out when you leave for a week in May, you get home and it's spring! YEsssssssss....

And since we're getting back to business here, we thought it was time to share a couple shots from a recent ad campaign we did the photography for, for Hospice Yukon for this year's Palliative Care Week.

The goal of this campaign was to really show the faces behind the hard work of Hospice Yukon and feature some stories of both the people who work there, as well as the people who have accessed the services.

We wanted the shots to reflect the openness and caring attitudes of the models, and we were stoked with how they turned out!