Summer please!

Louise and Tessa, a photo by Bruce M Walker on Flickr.

A shot of Louise and our doggy Tessa from late May of last year. I'm so needing that weather again -- please!

Abstract Macro of the Day

Grainy, a photo by Bruce M Walker on Flickr.

"Grainy". Seen at the Junction Chiropractic and Wellness Centre, in Toronto.

I've been profiled!

The Art Gallery of Mississauga has been running a series of profiles on artists whose work is appearing in the current exhibition, VAM35.

Today they featured moi ...

Mannequins, when they're at home

Mannequins, when they're at home, a set on Flickr.

Photography, Retouching: Bruce Walker

Huge thanks to Conn Burke of Recycled Displays for hosting and entertaining us!

Wang Chung - Stargazing

Too cool: new Wang Chung ...

Trio in VAM35 at the Art Gallery of Mississauga

Trio, a photo by Bruce M Walker on Flickr.

Well, the opening (VAM35 @ AGM; see this article) is over, and it was really well attended. In fact it was a crush of the kind where inching sideways was necessary to navigate at times. Surprising as Mississauga is not known as a cultural hot spot and it was also pretty cold (-9C) and snowing last night.

I took my SLR but didn't really bother with it. It seemed more of an enjoy-the-moment kind of evening to me. Met some friends, drank some wine, and snacked on a couple of veggie spring rolls. Wondered how on earth a few of the works ever got selected, but on the whole quite enjoyed the show.

This was the first year (of 35) that photography was included with traditional fine art media, so I was proud to have been selected and to represent the photographic intruders. I printed my shot at 30 by 20 inches on gallery-wrapped canvas, which I thought was plenty large enough, but it was dwarfed by the paintings, some of which were enormous. I'd say the size of the average work in this show is 3x4 feet -- clearly Big Art is In.

But interestingly the show's First Prize winner was a conceptual piece made up of a collage of photos. Not strictly Photography per se as it's documentation of the work which is really an installation, or a series of smaller installations.

I didn't win anything, except for a warm buzz of participation -- or from the wine; unsure which.

Undercover

Undercover, a photo by Bruce M Walker on Flickr.

Light on the right is courtesy one of the best bargains in lighting, one that anyone can afford: a Fotodiox 36" silver umbrella softbox. List is $34.95 but I got 25% off during Christmas so it cost me $26 with free delivery!

Update: it's actually very easy to use with a hotshoe flash: put both on a stock umbrella mount and slide the flash and mount right inside the umbrella through the opening in the white diffusion fabric. Set the flash on wide. I flipped-down the fresnel diffuser on my Pentax AF540 as well.  It's a little tricky to use with a hotshoe flash (the opening is positioned for a studio strobe), but with a couple of umbrella mounts and a Lowell Tota clamp I got it going with my Pentax AF540.  It provides beautiful soft light with a gradual fall-off.

Light on the left is a Fotodiox 24" folding softbox with the front diffuser off, acting similar to a beauty dish; ie: more specular than normal. Pentax AF540 inside.

Background is a 42" 5-in-1 reflector set to The Dark Side. Lights triggered by Cowboy Studios wireless triggers.

Model/MUAH: Louise Peacock
Photo/Retouch: Bruce Walker - Model Mayhem # 1440574
Studio: The Family Room :-)

Invitation to VAM35

A work of mine was accepted into Visual Arts Mississauga's VAM35, and the opening reception is Thursday the 17th, Mississauga City Hall, at 6 PM.

If you are in the Mississauga/Toronto area (Ontario, Canada), I'd love to see you there!

YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO ATTEND

VISUAL ARTS MISSISSAUGA’S

35^th Annual Juried Show of Fine Arts

@ the Art Gallery of Mississauga

January 17 to March 2, 2013

300 City Centre Drive

Mississauga, ON   L5B 3C1

Opening Reception & Awards

Thursday, January 17, 6 p.m.

Walk the Talk

Saturday, January 26, 1 p.m.

Exhibition hours

Weekdays 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. (8 p.m. on Thursdays)

Weekends: noon to 4 p.m.

Admission is free

VAM │ Celebrating 35 years of making art

12 for 2012

12 for 2012, a set on Flickr.

2012 was a year of many firsts for me. Among them were my first: model shoot; studio shoot; workshop attended; themed creative shoot directed by me; solo exhibit of my work; work with professional models, MUAs and stylists; fashion design (post-it notes, posterboard, coat-snaps and braided wire); sale of my mounted work!

This year I fully embraced lighting as an equal part of the photographic process, and studied it deeply. While I concentrated on portraiture and glamour, even my street, live music and landscape shooting hit personal peaks.

These twelve shots are a selection of some of the best from these firsts and peaks.

I'm looking forward to more growth in 2013.

Festive Fester Fish

Fester Fish introduces his human girlfriend to his parents at Christmas. And then things go sideways ...

Jeffrey W. Pike

Jeff Pike, a photo by Bruce M Walker on Flickr.

Writer, producer, director. Check out his horror short "Minatory" (2012) on Vimeo.

Minatory

Minatory from Jeffrey W. Pike on Vimeo.

This is an enjoyably creepy short flick by a fellow Mississaugan: Jeffrey W. Pike. He toured it all summer in film fests and now has made it available online. Check it out!

This is quite brilliant ...


CASTOR IS FRENCH FOR BEAVER | Carling Acthim & Lana Mauro from Focus Forward Films on Vimeo.

S

S, a photo by Bruce M Walker on Flickr.

A study in black and white.

Model: Katelin Popiel
Makeup: Matty Cameron ModelMayhem 2565582
Photo/Retouch: Bruce Walker ModelMayhem 1440574

A work of art always surprises us; it has worked its effect before we have become conscious of its presence.

— Herbert Read, The Meaning of Art, 2nd Edition

Party's over

Party's over, a photo by Bruce M Walker on Flickr.

No more lazy sails around the lake with Great Gatsby-esque folk standing about on deck sipping champagne.

My view of yacht ownership may be more romantic than realistic. :-)

Cotoneaster in blue vase

Cotoneaster in blue vase, a photo by Bruce M Walker on Flickr.

I've been working on a lot of still-lifes lately. Concentrating on getting the light just so. Here's one from last evening.

Colchicum in water

Colchicum in water, a photo by Bruce M Walker on Flickr.

Common name: Autumn Crocus.

It's a fall flowering crocus that was in bloom a couple of weeks ago. I couldn't get a shot of it in situ as the flowers were all flopped under a very scruffy shrub. Louise okay'ed snipping a couple of stems, so I headed into The Studio.

K20D, DA* 16-50/2.8 @ 50mm/f:5.6, ISO 100, 1/160th.
AF540 flash in Fotodiox 24" softbox right, white card left, black
foamcore behind and under.
Cowboy Studios wireless trigger. Lr 4.1, Ps CS5

Sometimes I get the blues

Street musician "Ragtime" John Layton performing with his rare Brazilian Del Vecchio wood resonator guitar on Lakeshore Road in Long Branch, Toronto during Shop the Shore 2012.

Pentax K100D Super, DA 18-55 @ 31mm/f:4.5, 1/1000th sec, ISO 1600

Lightroom 4.1, Silver Efex Pro 2.0, Photoshop CS5

I gave this three-tune EP a listen today -- very nice electro-pop.