Happy Canada Day!

With Dorrie Mack, art model

Tatters #2

I had the pleasure of shooting with life model Dorrie Mack very recently and I'm busy processing shots from that studio session. So far this one is a clear hands-down standout. Taken in just natural sunlight filtered through white sheer curtains and molded with a black v-flat behind her. Very simple, very elegant.

Aly

Aly with Statement Necklace

I had a great portrait shoot with Aly Westwood a couple of weeks ago. I borrowed some jewelry from The Trap Door in The Junction, Toronto, for which I have to thank Gabrielle Neveau.

Model, makeup, hair: Aly Westwood
Photo, retouch: Bruce Walker

Lighting: 22" beauty dish boomed C-L, 2x Apollo Strip + 40 degree grids behind, L & R. 3x Paul C Buff Einstein strobes. Cybersync all 'round + Cyber Commander.

Pentax K-3, DA* 50-135/2.8, 135mm, f:11, 1/160th sec, ISO 100.

Gothic Geisha

From an enjoyable creative shoot with designer and artisan Emily Yoshizawa last Wednesday.

Model, hair, styling: Emily Yoshizawa
Makeup: Bronwyn Martens

Lighting: Paul C Buff Einstein in Westcott Medium Apollo softbox, camera-left; Einstein with socked 22" beauty dish on background, camera-right.

Gandalf

More testing with my new lighting gear has produced one of the best portraits of Gandalf the Russian Blue kitty yet.

Camera: Pentax K-3, SMC DA* 16-50/2.8 SDM @ 39mm, f11, 1/125th sec, ISO 100.

Lighting: Paul C Buff Einstein e640 monolight with 22" beauty dish wearing white diffuser sock, camera-right forward (just feathering the subject); white foamcore sheet camera-left.

Post-processing in Lightroom.

Santa was good to me

I've been needing to upgrade a few bits of gear moving into the new year, so I appealed to Santa and was rewarded with a new iMac and five boxes of Paul C Buff lighting stuff.

Here's me sitting in my (messy) office illuminated by a 22 inch beauty dish fitted with a 15 degree grid mounted on an Einstein 640 strobe. The grid does a fine job of tightly controlling the beam spread.

I did little retouching to this image, I just used a red filter in the black and white conversion (Nik Silver Efex Pro).

Grim? Who's grim?

Woman seated on a bamboo chair

Model: Fredau H.

Photo, retouch: Bruce Walker

Patri

I had a lovely test shoot with local Toronto emerging actor Patri Erdei on Thursday morning. So far Patri has had a number of background appearances in TV and film, but has no portfolio to speak of yet. She had also never shot in a studio before yesterday.

I shot several different lighting styles from ambient window through contrasty spotlight over three and a half hours. This portrait caught my eye while reviewing the days catch.

Lighting:
Neewer TT560 in Westcott Apollo 28" softbox C-L front; TT560 in Apollo Strip with 40 degree grid C-R behind, Pentax AF540FGZ with 1/8" Honl Speedgrid aimed at black background C-R. Silver reflector C-R.

Kat

Kat, a photo by Bruce M Walker on Flickr.

Jewelry designer Kat Shura of Curious Oddities at Artisans of the Metropolis.

Alt.Portraits of Madame X

Alt.Portraits of Madame X, a set on Flickr.

My creative photography projects got off to a bang in 2014! The first for the new year is inspired by John Singer Sargent's 1884 oil painting, Portrait of Madame X. 2014 is the 130th anniversary of the original.

This project includes 12 images. If you can only see 8 at Flickr, then you need to set your safety level. If you aren't a Flickr user, then you can see the project in its entirety here instead.

Model/makeup/hair: Eugenya MM# 1364518
Photo/retouch: Bruce Walker MM# 1440574
Special thanks to Gabrielle at The Trap Door for loaning me a key prop.

Lady of the Lake

Lady of the Lake, a photo by Bruce M Walker on Flickr.

Model: Sophie Cugliari
Lighting assistants: Megan Cugliari and Olivia Bowe

This was taken fully 45 minutes after sunset, looking out onto Lake Ontario from east of Port Credit. Just proves that it's worth waiting for those deep colours.

Lighting: 30" umbrella softbox with Pentax AF540FGZ flash, on monopod right. Bare Pentax AF540FGZ flash, handheld left.

Steampunk Warrior

Steampunk Warrior, a photo by Bruce M Walker on Flickr.

From a creative shoot with photographer-turned-model Atalanta Fugiens. She approached me to get some experience on the other side of the lens to help with her own photography. I borrowed an idle exercise space, enlisted Yurie Oka, a talented MUA and hair stylist, and out came the corsets.

Model: Atalanta Fugiens MM# 3197882 Atalanta Fugiens Tumblr
MUA/hair: Yurie Oka MM# 2347096
Photo/retouch: Bruce Walker MM# 1440574

Elegance

Elegance, a photo by Bruce M Walker on Flickr.

From a creative shoot with photographer-turned-model Atalanta Fugiens. She approached me to get some experience on the other side of the lens to help with her own photography. I borrowed an idle exercise space, enlisted a talented MUA and hair stylist, Yurie Oka, and out came the corsets.

Model: Atalanta Fugiens MM# 3197882
MUA/hair: Yurie Oka MM# 2347096
Photo: Bruce Walker MM# 1440574

Gabrielle Neveu

Gabrielle Neveu, a photo by Bruce M Walker on Flickr.

Gabbi is the owner of The Trap Door in The Junction, Toronto. She sells clothing and accessories "for the artistic professional".

I shot this portrait with one light, a 30" octa umbrella softbox with a Pentax flash, left.

Will work for a brush

Will work for a brush, a photo by Bruce M Walker on Flickr.

Gandalf the Russian Blue

He's helping me test my DIY backdrop support, an under $10 IKEA hack you can read about here ...

Lighting: Pentax AF540FGZ flash in Westcott Medium 28" softbox, right.
Bare Pentax AF540FGZ flash hair/kicker clamped to background stand, left.

Industrial Design

Vanessa Furtado, a photo by Bruce M Walker on Flickr.

Also Vanessa Furtado - Events Coordinator, Metropolis Factory

Lighting: Pentax AF540FGZ flash in 30" octa umbrella softbox, right.
Bare Pentax AF540FGZ flash behind chair, pointing straight up.

Pentax K20D, DA* 16-50/2.8 @ 50mm/f:6.3, 1/15th sec, ISO 200, handheld.

Chairman of the board

Chairman of the board, a photo by Bruce M Walker on Flickr.

Marco Pecota - Partner/Owner and creative force behind Metropolis Factory

A one-light portrait: a single 30" octa umbrella softbox right. I got lovely rim lighting from a number of north-facing windows above and to either side of my subject. I dragged the shutter to 1/40th sec to take advantage of that, and bring up the background just enough.

Nico Skellington

Nico Skellington, a photo by Bruce M Walker on Flickr.

Nico Skellington is one of the multi-talented folks at Metropolis Factory in The Junction Triangle area of Toronto:

Metropolis Factory is housed in an old power station where they create industrial themed furniture and sculpture from recycled, vintage and found materials. Besides workshops and showrooms, the building is also a large event hosting space.

K20D, DA* 16-50/2.8 @ 31mm/f:5, 1/180th, ISO 640.
AF540FGZ on camera with StoFen white diffuser.

6-in-1 reflector

6-in-1 reflector, a photo by Bruce M Walker on Flickr.

Taffy is seen here treating my photo-gear with respect. She also demonstrates that this 5-in-1 reflector is actually a 6-in-1 reflector.

Sophie

Sophie, a photo by Bruce M Walker on Flickr.

Shot on location in my sister's living room.

Strobist: Pentax AF540FGZ flash in Westcott Medium Apollo above-left; AF540FGZ in 30" umbrella softbox, behind-right; bare Pentax AF200 on background; silver reflector right; aluminum baking dish handheld below for fill (ran out of reflectors!).