UV Session 4 - Our Mermaid, Malorie

Certainly, it was my intention to give the previous post a fair amount of time at the top of the website, but not this much. The dilemma being that the communities and the networks are on social media so, as much as I have much greater control over the final appearance of everything here on my site, the action takes place on Facebook and Instagram, with Twitter bringing up third place. Once again, I prefer the format here where I can tell my story, where people can skim by what I have to say if they wish to. Often on social media the photos take center stage to the extent that often what the poster has to say is completely missed.

But I will start catching up with this post from the second ultraviolet photo shoot with Malorie Thomson all the way back from March 25.

 

   

 

 

When Malorie arrived, covered in gems and vibrant colours, I knew that we were in for an incredible day with some stunning results. Once we got her illuminated by only the black lights it was tough to take our eyes off of the glowing face and hair before us. I cannot express enough how impressed I always am with Jennilee's work. If you need outstanding makeup done I highly recommend her. The link to her page is at the bottom of the post, but check out Vamp Make-up if your need is unique. But, book early because she is pretty busy, and rightly so.

 

   

 

 

Unfortunately, I did not read the instructions on the reactive contact lenses used in the previous session with her. Because they were not stored properly, the contact dried out and were not safe to use any longer. I had plans for my other pairs, and thought about opening a second set for her, but am satisfied with the way her eyes looked because of the incredible makeup and the inky blackness that matches the whole underwater theme. As well, I Incorporated small kisses of light to illuminate her costume and those also served to bring her eyes out from the darkness, in the photos that the additional light was used.

 

   

 

 

After a few experiments, one including my favourite Rapella that I remember saving up for two by when I was about 11 or 12, we did a few close-ups and then moved into the real plan for the shoot.

 

   

 

 

I cannot take credit for the incredible styling of her wardrobe. My plan was to shoot to imply the mermaid with the tail. Thankfully, we had enough material and the creative work of Gerald and Julia, once again my assistants, to make a fabulous tail for Malorie. We weren't entirely certain what she was going to wear. A turquoise pair of backdrops that used to be a cover for a display easel that we toted with us to a variety of craft and art shows when I tried selling prints on the circuit did just fine. Of course, regular material like that did not reveal itself under black light, but that never stopped me from lighting it to give it the appearance I wanted.

 

   

 

 

All of those factors, the makeup, wardrobe, lighting, bequeathed giant clamshell, aquarium gravel, painted rubber ball from the dollar store, accompanied by plastic balls and three street hockey balls and an old fishing lure came together to make some pretty magical photos.

 

   

 

 

 

   

 

 

Once again, none of it would have been possible without the many hands that were there to make things happen quickly and smoothly, and bring my ideas to life.

 

   

 

 

 

   

 

 

There is more to come. I have a number of great ideas that I would love to see become reality. That said, I don't want to be known as a one-trick-pony and do have some other fine non-UV work to share, in the near future. As well, the trees are in bloom and I need to get out shooting this week, before that short-lived beauty disappears on us.

 

   

 

 

Model: Malorie Thomson
MUA: Jennilee Cardinal-Schultz of Vamp Make-up and Edon Garland
Hair: Malorie, sprayed by MUA
Agency: Infinity Management

UV Session 3 - Malorie Thomson

   

 

I'm hooked. It's as simple as that. Every time we complete another one of these ultraviolet sessions I am astounded by the results. As with any work most photographers do, they grow tired and jaded of looking at the photos over the long term. When you spend hours working on them they lose their impressiveness and that's what I found with the past black light shoots. I still loved the results, but they weren't as amazing when you stared at them for a long period of time.

 

   

 

The amazement returns the minute you see your model walk-in, with another round of amazing makeup, and creating more magic begins anew.

   

 

Missy Makeover was booked up and I'm very happy that Mark Tiu was able to refer us to Jennilee of Vamp Make-up, who did a beautiful job on Malorie. The fine work of Mel Corkum from Alchemy Clothing and Salon on the hair was the final touch to complete the entire costume which was a wonderful delight to see glowing before our eyes.

 

   

 

I was very grateful for the help from Gerald Murray and his girlfriend, Julia. Those extra sets of hands, especially another woman for wardrobe adjustments, are not just handy, but essential for the things that I am physically unable to do. I am grateful for the people who have made these shoots possible and I am happy to organize and share the opportunity to participate in a shoot like this.

 

   

 

For the photo below, I was glad to have an opportunity to once again work with my gift from Angie this Christmas, my Lensbaby with the Sweet 35 optic. It's a tool and not to be abused, but for one fine shot I'm quite pleased with the result. However, it is a manual focus only lens and in a pitch black garage with only the UV fluorescence it was tricky to nail that focus in the sweet spot.

 

   

 

Without question, the most complex photo was the absolute best shot of the day, once again not possible without Julia running the smoke machine. When I bought that little thing for its first use at the CPA Help-Portrait event all the way back in 2013, I had no idea that this little tool would be so useful in adding that extra element of uniqueness the way that it has. Without it, I don't think that my favourite self-portrait from last summer would have been all that it was.

 

   

 

The planning for the next two UV shoots are well underway. Unfortunately, we learned that the lifespan of these contact lenses are shorter than indicated so either we need to plan shoots closer together or just consider them single use. No one's vision and eye health is worth risking for some photos. That said, they took the whole shoot to another level and I will be getting my hands on at least a few more pairs to make sure I am stocked because I certainly don't want to go backwards in complexity with these sessions.

 

   

Model: Malorie Thomson

Makeup: Jennilee Cardinal-Schultz of Vamp Make-up

Hair: Mel Corkum of Alchemy Clothing and Salon

Agency: Infinity Management

90s Punk Rock Collaboration

   

Model: Lesley Pickering of Infinity Management

Hairstylist: Taylor Froese (Taylorfroesedesign)

MUA: Ashley Dormuth  

 

Feels almost as long ago as the 90s since this gathering happened. I know that I've been behind in posting, but this is ridiculous. As much as I'm not Facebook's biggest fan, it is where everyone is, communicates and collaborates. To not use it for these purposes would be to miss out. Each year of organizing Help-Portrait is no different. It's a good platform to efficiently reach a lot of participants. Unfortunately, those requiring updates by other means are either an afterthought, or another consumption of time that isn't always free. As a result, social media has seen more attention than my website.

   

 Model: Kealy Cheyenne Heeg of Infinity Management

Hairstylist: Taylor Froese (Taylorfroesedesign)

MUA: Caitlin Wiklun

 

I was given a late invitation to this shoot. Had it been sooner I would have happily helped in the planning, though the organizers did a great job. I left the little hall in Clavet, Saskatchewan, feeling like it was in the top five best times I've ever had. And that included the downside of fighting the cold I had at the time. A weak voice from my cold was gone for days after directing with all I had over the excellent music, curated by Sean.  

   

Model: Kymm Wright of Infinity Management
Hairstylist: Taylor Froese (Taylorfroesedesign)MUA: Caitlin Wiklun  

 

I believe it was that cold of about 12 days, with the cough lasting over a month, that kept my sleep poor and my head in a fog, this long. My productivity is returning, I've participated in another collaboration, that those of you who follow me on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, will know about, and I have planned more UV and themed shoots. The momentum continues, to my satisfaction.

   

Model: Lesley Pickering of Infinity Management
Hairstylist: Taylor Froese (Taylorfroesedesign)MUA: Ashley Dormuth  

   

   

Model: Lori Cherkowski of Infinity Management
Hairstylist: Laryssa ScottMUA: Ashley Dormuth  

 

This Monday will be another UV. Next Saturday is an informal shoot the breeze, each other and still life, along with any questions and conversations that arise. Following that, I'll see where plans go. It all seems so much easier since I've had such an opportunity to network and meet some great people in the industry.

   

Model: Sean Arcand of Infinity ManagementHairstylist: Laryssa Scott  

 

As mentioned, there will be a number more UV shoots, but my preferred makeup artists, who have the right skills and makeup, are busy. Booking early should solve any availability issues.

The themed shoot coming up involves a little digital work before and after the session, and this will be my first time using this method. However, as I learned in the past, if I apply the theory that I've learned as I have with past techniques, the results will be very predictable and that's what I'm hoping for. If they are not, I know I will have no problem adjusting while we shoot to make certain we get the result we want. It might be a little bit trickier because it requires the preparation, the shooting and the postproduction to all play nicely together. I'm pretty sure I am well prepared, though.

 

   

Model: Lesley Pickering of Infinity Management
Hairstylist: Taylor Froese (Taylorfroesedesign)MUA: Ashley Dormuth

 

I realize I haven't said a whole lot about the talent of this 90s punk rock, but I am very grateful to have been included. Working with such energetic people who absolutely fit the theme and enthusiasm made the day great. I'm glad I didn't give in to my cold, but pushed through to produce some results that went straight into the portfolio.

 

   

 Model: Kymm Wright of Infinity Management
Hairstylist: Taylor Froese (Taylorfroesedesign)
MUA: Caitlin Wiklun

 

I believe that there is a value to consistency in the appearance of your final images, but I wanted to apply processing to the photos that would fit the person, their outfit and the lighting. In some cases that was very edgy and with high contrast, in others it involved more softening of skin and textures. I was happy with the results and most definitely found my job to be a whole lot easier working with these professionals. That said, there was still room for me to direct and communicate what it was I was trying to make happen.

 

   

Model: Kealy Cheyenne Heeg of Infinity Management

Hairstylist: Taylor Froese (Taylorfroesedesign)

MUA: Caitlin Wiklun  

 

I wouldn't have minded having the opportunity to change backdrops a little bit, but we were absolutely maximizing the space available to us in the hall that we had. We had five people shooting in a space not more than 20' x 40', at most. This included tables and space for the makeup artists and hair stylists, as well as an area for people to mull about when they were taking a break. There was a pool table in a lower area, that I couldn't get to. It had some character and I took a few shots from a distance but they just didn't stand out enough for me to share them. The basement had a lot of character, but the narrow staircases leading down there were not going to be friendly to me, even though they would've made superb backdrops.

I'm not upset because I feel like I made great use of the one wooden door I had to work with. Sometimes constraints produce the best creativity and results. 

   

 Model: Raylyne Jensen of Infinity Management
Hairstylist: Laryssa Scott
MUA: Caitlin Wiklun

 
Model: Nikki Marie Larson of Infinity Management
Hairstylist: Laryssa Scott
MUA: Ashley Dormuth

What you may have noticed is that there were a greater number of photos of Leslie. I didn't plan this, but her outfits and her look reminded me of a friend from my past, ironically significant in the 90s. This, combined with the photos I had found ideas and inspiration from, made for her spending the most amount of time in front of my lens. I don't think I realized all of this until processing the photos, thinking about the results, listening to the same music we listened to that day and finding memories, themes and feelings resurface from that decade in my life. The subconscious can be a very interesting and powerful thing.

 

   

Model: Lesley Pickering of Infinity Management
Hairstylist: Taylor Froese (Taylorfroesedesign)MUA: Ashley Dormuth  

 

As I said regarding the space, we made due. But, I think it might be my turn organize something again pretty soon and I have a few other places that might be a little more accessible, more spacious and only a little bit more costly than this hall in Clavet, and it was pretty cheap for the day. We talked about a few themes for the next one and I actually might need to take some time to watch a few movies, listen to some music and see if I think it would be the right theme. If I do, I'll confer with others and start inviting people to be a part of it.

 

   

 Model: Raylyne Jensen of Infinity Management
Hairstylist: Laryssa Scott
MUA: Caitlin Wiklun

 

Until then I will continue to try to keep the balance between processing current work, planning future work, planning social gatherings and informal shoots, and trying not to get too anxious for spring and the spontaneity of dropping a post on Facebook to say I'm going shooting somewhere and seeing who shows up.

   

 Model: Nikki Marie Larson of Infinity Management
Hairstylist: Laryssa Scott
MUA: Ashley Dormuth

 

Western Development Museum Adventures

   

I believe I've found another underappreciated gem in Saskatoon, the Western Development Museum. So much so that, after a few visits, I bought a family membership. It was a great place to take Fiona to explore and make her 17 month photo, as seen above.

 

   

Samantha Willey

   

 Nikki Larson

One of those first visits was while location scouting. I was trying to squeeze in one more accessible photo excursion before the end of 2015. It was a wild progression of events. The intial plan was to go to the University for accessibility, variety of indoor and outdoor places and familiarity. Then Colleen, of Infinity Management, offered us models, whom I accepted. I found out the campus buildings were locked up over Christmas and New Year's, as well as all stat holidays, the Commerce and Engineering buildings being an exception. Still, not enough information or variety in time.

 

   

Kymm Wright

 

   

Samantha Willey 

 

Queue the WDM, for our planned Wednesday evening outing. Evening, because I hoped more people could come than would be able to during the day. That's when I found out the museum closes at 5PM. Why did this surprise me? Because my most frequent visits were to the Festival of Trees, when it is open in the evening. Last resort, and by this time the models were committed, had costumes and I feared appearing unreliable, was to go during the day. Most were good with it and the turnout was great! Could've used more photographers, but, more talent available for us to shoot.

    

 Samantha Willey and Sean Arcand

 

    

Carlee Davidson & Kymm Wright

 
Regarding WDM accessibility, it's not horrendous. Boomtown has a number of buildings we chair users cannot access, but my biggest beef is the museum entrance. Where the asphalt meets the concrete of the door there is a wide, deep groove, followed by a lip. This means a chair's front wheels fall down into the rut, before needing to pop up, onto the lip. It's the same for the rear wheels. Add to that a camera bag and it's tricky. They do have automatic door openers, though. I really need to send an email about that rut. It's bad, and would be easily remedied.

   

 Carlee Davidson

   

 Carlee Davidson

 
Prior to this gathering of good friends, and soon to be new friends, I felt a growing confidence and comfort working with new people. I'm not a shy person once I get to know people, but I'm not the best at breaking the ice. Give me 10 minutes to get to know someone and I'm happy to tell stories, joke and laugh. This is not just for expressions and genuine smiles, but it certainly helps. Since I work with this great crew, all from Infinity Management, and a number of them on a another shoot after that, I look at the photos and think of the great time that I had and the excitement about the next round. My posing and people skills have greatly increased, thanks to this crew.
 
   

 Nikki Larson

 
Coming soon will be a post about our 90s punk rock shoot at a little hall in Clavet. You may have already seen the photos on 500px. All I can say about that is it was a great day, with great music, fun people and ranked right up there with in the top five or 10 most fun times I've ever had in my life.
   

 Kymm Wright

This weekend will be the third of a three-week collaborative winter-themed shoot with a large number of models, hair and makeup artists and photographers. The weather is looking great, though the ridiculously cold one two weeks ago made for some outstanding photos with the River and the steam in the background. I have a pair of able hands to hold a light or whatever I might need to make some great images. And, I plan to do whatever I can in the way of holding a reflector are light so they can take advantage of this great opportunity, as well.

I will finish with a photo of our Kiwi. Fiona was having a sleepover at her grandparents' and Angie was out for the evening at a musical so I had my studio/living room back for a few hours. I made the most of it and found out what a great trooper that little dog is. The pedestal I had her put on was the laundry basket. This worked perfectly in the past for the previous eight year old photo of her from December, 2015. At that time she had no problem popping up on it and sat just as good as can be. I had placed my sheepskin on it so she had a soft and grippy place to stand. Without thinking, for this photo below, all I had was the slippery backdrop, directly on plastic.

If that dog didn't come charging off the couch and jump up there when I called her, sliding right off the back and into the half wall. Once I knew she was fine I had a pretty good laugh, consoled her and got her something better to stand on. It took a bit of coaxing but she gingerly stepped off of my lap, onto the hamper and sat there while I shot for about 10 minutes. She might be a little bit barky, her anxiety seems to be getting worse along with a few of her senses, but she still that energetic little dog that enthusiastically greets me whenever she sees me.
   
 
 

Winter Solstice Sunrise with Olivia

 

   

 

 

Make no mistake, the main reason for making some photos at this time of year was for the latest sunrise possible, and therefore the most forgiving call time. I'm not afraid to get up early for something I love doing, but I had to consider everyone else. Rae, my invaluable assistant for the day, probably would've been up, anyway. Olivia, well, she did an incredible job but was on her Christmas holiday break from school so I didn't want to ask her to get up too much earlier than necessary. Her dad, Paul, who is better at getting up earlier than I am, was her transportation and I had to make sure he had enough time to be properly ready for the day.

 

   

 

 

We didn't get a stunning sunrise, as it was overcast, but that wasn't going to stop us from making great photos. The temperature was brisk and the wind was enough to definitely affect how it felt, but we have a couple of more vehicles for our brave people working outside to pop in and warm up in. For me, by wheelchair with all of the snow accumulation in the parking lot well, it was obvious that it would be easiest for me to get the most angles and stay the safest by shooting from my van. So, that's what I did, getting a few different looks with different focal lengths.

 

   

 

 

There's no question that without the help of an able bodied assistant, none of these would have happened. Sure, we could have taken some snapshots, but would not have been able to continue working on refining my use of my two new flashes. I still have a little ways to go with the automatic exposure refinement, but I'm getting there. I learned manual and still am most comfortable using it when the environment is reasonably static. I've often thought of how it compares to learning to aim a rifle with open sights, then learning to use a scope. When it comes down to, I still prefer to target shoot without a scope and I still prefer to use off-camera flash in manual mode.

 

   

 

 

It was good to do something that I have wanted to do for a while, now. It took getting out of bed a little earlier than I might've liked, on a cold morning and asking people to sacrifice their comfort along with me. They did and I am thankful for that. It was far more rewarding than the backup plan of skipping the photos and just going for a hot beverage somewhere.

 

   

 

 

The same can be said for the amazing 90s punk rock shoot I participated in this past Sunday afternoon. I fought an embedded cold, a lousy night's sleep and a degree of inaccessibility but I went. When all was said and done, enhanced significantly by the 90s music that we listened to, I found myself rating it in probably the top five most fun things I've done in my life. I will leave you with a teaser photo from the shoot and get back to editing the rest of the other great shots from the day.

Model: Kymm Wright (Kyki Wright of Infinity Management)
Hair: Laryssa Scott
MUA: Caitlin Wiklun