Napping Newborns

Ahhhh the elusive sleeping baby! We've been lucky enough to catch another visit at the studio here recently and are stoked to share the results with you!

The best thing about newborn shoots is the fact that they're so unpredictable.  As any new parents are aware, the little ones quickly take over and squash any sense of order or routine that you may have had in your life pre-baby.  With newborns, the world quickly starts to revolve around 4 things: Feeding, sleeping, pooping and diaper changes...And it certainly keeps photographers like us on our toes...

Early on we quickly got used to 'newborn scheduling' when it comes to our clients. Meaning, we book them, and then bank on them being anywhere from 5min-35 min late...(babies aren't exactly worried about running a few minutes behind...).  We also are used to taking 'snack' breaks, napping, not napping, crying, diaper changes, and even full mom or dad outfit changes when 'accidents' happen. (Yes we've had babies  pee right down the front of dad's pants in the middle of a shoot before...hilarious action shots to show them when they're teens)

But every once in a while you also come across a newborn that's calm, sleepy, and happy to just nestle right into the blankets for a snooze while we shoot.  And this is where the elusive sleeping baby shots are born...And it's also how, no matter how hectic life with new baby may get...we're pretty certain that looking at the little one all cozy, dreaming away about milk and fresh diapers...well, that can't ever get old.

How can a Time Machine be old??...

If there's one thing we love here at GBP almost as much as photography, it's music-and one of our recent shoots reminded us how lucky we are to have such crazy talented artists perform here in the Yukon every year (and how much more awesome it is when they're playing in your studio)...


As many of you may know, last week was Frostbite weekend- an annual music festival held in the depths of winter here in Whitehorse that features not only our amazing local talent, but also brings up incredible bands from outside.


One of our absolute favourite bands, Old Time Machine, was one of the featured artists this year and we were stoked to be able to do a shoot with them amongst their insane schedule.  


Now, band shots are a common discussion amongst us here at GBP...It seems they can be a bit of a 'pet peeve' for one of us (not going to name names), but let's just say you will never see us do a band shot that includes getting a bunch of guys, dressed in dark clothes, standing in a "V" with arms crossed, brooding angrily towards the camera... (Even though i'm part-owner, i'm 99.9% certain if I try to suggest that to Gary, i'll be fired...)


Now, Old Time Machine combines blues/folk with vintage electronics, so avoiding the "angry V" was exactly what all parties wanted...They were looking for some shots that were simple, clean, and incorporated a lot of negative space so they could be used in a variety of media, but still portrayed the style of the band.


What we ended up with were composites, all shot in our studio, focusing on minimal equipment (even though we're pretty sure they can each play about 50 instruments each), and some classic Edison lightbulbs to tie everything together.


And if you haven't heard them yet, make sure you check Old Time Machine out at http://oldtimemachinemusic.tumblr.com/

Brianne-1, Gary-0

Gary and I recently traveled to PEI over our christmas holidays...Why the h*** would we travel at that time of year you ask!?  Well it was a very important trip...one of my best friends was getting married and there was no way we were going to miss it...

Over the years we've obviously had a few friend weddings to attend and/or shoot.  It comes with the age we are at and the business we've chosen, but it reminds me every time how important the connection between photographer and couple really is.

We always try to build a relationship with our clients before we shoot their weddings. Whether it's through an engagement shoot, over coffees or even through the wonderful technology of Skype, we always try to meet and get to know each other before working with them on the big day.  It makes a world of difference to actually know a bit about each other.  We hear the stories of how they met, talk about the nerves of getting everything ready in time, and even vent about the worries of "crazy Uncle Joe" putting on a scene in the middle of the reception.  (Don't fret...every family has something)

This way come wedding day, we're not strangers walking in and getting all up in your business...we're a trusted team who is there not only to shoot, but also to remind you to take some breaths, relax, and soak in the day. (we've been to a few of these things over the years after all and in the end, Uncle Joe will just become and amazing story for the kids one day)

There was no need to build a relationship with this couple though, as I went to university with the bride when she had first met her future-groom.  Considering the group of us girls called him "the best boyfriend we never had", it was only fitting that we were all there with them on their big day. It was a day full of laughs, happy tears and many exaggerated stories just like any good wedding should be...and being in it, I had the added bonus of sitting and sipping champagne while Gary had to run around working.  Brianne-1, Gary-0.

I'm gonna pay for that one....

Now onto the photos...

How I Shot the Rendezvous Magazine Cover

I have had a few people asking me for some more details on the how I shot the rendezvous cover, so I thought I would do a post on it.

Ok so I knew what I wanted: 1 image of 4 girls and an antique car all looking amazing with a 1940’s feel too it. So the fist step was to draw-up some sort of mock-up to have it approved by the Rendezvous people (Turns out Brianne has mad stick-people drawing skills too).

ya.....

Once the idea was approved we had to figure out how to make it happen.... with a tight budget and a tight shooting timeline. So the options were to shoot it all at once, or to shoot it in pieces and put it together later as a composite. The problem with shooting it all at once is that that it would take allot of money, people, gear and time... funny... all things which we don't have! So composite it was! The key to a composite of this nature is to make sure you have everything consistent allowing for an easier time in photoshop piecing all back together. So that starts with your camera on a tripod which never gets moved, and a manual exposure and a fixed focal length lens... then the only thing that changes is lighting, focus and models! First I had 4 photo doubles stand in for the ladies so we could figure out our composition.... which I knew was vertical orientation with negative space on top and bottom of the frame to allow for text. Once we figured out that part, I locked down the tripod.... duct-taped the crap out of it to the floor and hooked up a pocket wizard with a motor drive cable (to remotely fire it and the lighting). 

You can see the high teck duct-tape !

Then it was shooting time... So on manual exposure and focus (again so nothing changes) I shot a ton of images of the car and of the luggage only changing the lighting position and type. With the pocket wizard this worked really well, cause I was able to do this all very fast and by myself. I was able to just run around with 1 light on a wheeled boom stand shooting and repositioning the light. 

Me wheeling the boom stand around

I didn't care about light direction cause my plan was just to light the crap out of it and make a surrealistic nighttime type look anyways... so having the light coming from a specific direction didn't matter for this shot. Once the car was done we setup up and shot each of the girls separately... making sure we got the best possible image of each of them. The girls lighting setup was pretty simple... I used one 4’ soft box as the main in front of them, then had a bare bulb kicker on the sides to give them a little bit of highlight and separation from the dark background. Interesting thing I learnt was that dark fur is like a black hole for light.... it takes allot of light to register on the fur... but then by that time your blowing out the skin... was tough to balance. Doing it this way also had other logistical pluses, like while I shot the car the first model was having hair and make-up done... then when I was shooting her the next one was being prepped, this way we needed only one make-up person and one stylist...cheaper! 

Brianne doing an amazing job on the props

Sharon and Denali 

who is this guy?

Over all view of where we were working

Next came the photoshop stuff and that was pretty straight forward process of a million layers and just painting in things I liked from each different shot. The only cool thing was I was able to use gravel from another shoot in the summer and place in the bottom of the image while maintaining all proper shadows... I was stoked that it worked out so well.

So thats about it.... 

I would like to thank: 

- Mike Collins at Rendezvous Society for great ideas, art direction, and tasty snack table

- Brianne Meister for being an awesome photo assistant and stylist, and set designer, and mad stick-man drawing skills

- Lyndsey Hamilton for her super resourceful stylist skills, and knowledge

- Sharon Speiss for all the lovely make-up and hair work she did for us.

Setup:

Canon 5d mk2

85mm 

Tethered to laptop shooting to Lightroom 3

Fired by motor-drive Pocketwizard

Lights used - 3 Alien Bee B800’s controlled by more pocket wizards

Finished Image

Bras for a Cause...

For the past few years we've been involved with a local event called Mardi Bra-a breast cancer fundraising event which raises money for 'Karen's Fund'.  This is a funding pot which is available to Yukon women undergoing breast cancer treatment.  The great thing about this fund is that it's no questions asked...it's there to help women and their families who are having to deal with, upon everything else, the financial pressures of having to leave the Territory for treatment. So whether its' childcare, travel costs, or even pet care, women have access to Karen's Fund to help them during this time.

SO needless to say, we're always more than happy to donate our services to the event. We've done a photo-booth at it for the past few years (photos of which will be available in a future post as it's always a fantastic time...you wouldn't BELIEVE the amazing costumes people rocked this year), however, this year we also did some product shots for one of the new pieces of the event: The 'Art Bras'.

This year, the committee teamed up with 7 local artists who donated their time and talent to creating "Art Bras" which were then modelled in a mini-fashion show during the event by lovely local ladies!

The diversity in the pieces were amazing as you'll see by the shots...everything from feathers, to paint, to body casts...all unique and incredibly crafted!

They were modelled at the event and then put on display for the silent auction-all of which were snapped up by some lucky bidders by the end of the night! (I totally got out-bid on a few of them...don't worry this is Brianne writing this not Gary)

So check em' out! HUGE thank you to the artists and the models who donated their time to this event...we're already looking forward to next year!

Artist: Rosemary Scanlon   http://www.rosemaryscanlon.com/  

Artist: Jessica Vellenga  http://jessicavellenga.com/

 Artist: Janelle Hardy

Artist: Amber Church  http://craftchick.wordpress.com/

Artist: Amber Walker

Artist: Claire Strauss

Artist: Shauna Jones http://www.angrysheepdesigns.com/

Staff, corporate, or even family group photos... GBP style!

We have been doing more of this style of group photos lately, so I thought maybe I should tell you guys a bit about it.

Above is an example of a staff/corporate group photo... but done in a different way. Instead of lining everyone up in front of the office plant collection, we shoot everyone separately, or in groups of 2 or 3. We then later cut them out and piece them back together in a any sort of position. This has a few key advantages:

1. Not all of your staff has to be shot at the same, time allowing your business to keep running.
2. We can make sure that each person looks their best.... rather than having 7 people looking great and that one guy in mid blink... which is normal of larger group photos.
3. If you have staff turn-over.... no need to reshoot the whole thing.. we can just take that person out and add the new person in.
4. Eliminates distracting elements from your group photo, and focuses the viewer on your staff.

Plus we can shoot this just about anywhere there is enough room to set up our equipment! So if you're saying to yourself "Dang Gary that is a sweet idea... how do I get a shot like that for my office?" just shoot us an email.

info@garybremner.com

GB

Couples in the Cold...

So in gearing up for theYukon wedding season, we're also starting to book up fast with engagement shoots...

This means we've had to learn to be strategic...finding places hidden out of the wind, (or at least rest areas in between shots), finding gloves that allow us to still work our trigger fingers without getting frost-bite, and of course it always helps when we work with couples who are willing to brave the elements and still look great!

This brings me to one of our latest...these guys were only in town for a week over the holidays, so even though it was frigid outside, they wanted to brave it to make sure we got some out-door shots. Luckily, even though the wind was relentless, the lighting that day was beautiful and we were able to hit up a few different locations before we all called it quits and needed to warm up.

Looking forward to working with these guys again this summer in some warmer temps...