We were excited to be invited to photograph the beautiful and talented instructors at The Goddess Movement in Abbotsford and Chilliwack. We are in the process of working on their headshots and will post a few samples later but in the meantime, here’s a dramatic, creative photograph that Jason did with very simple lighting.

For those of you who are interested in lighting, there’s a spot on the wall to create the red circle plus an SB-800 on either side of the model to create rim lighting. If you know how to do it, it’s very simple and creates impressive results. Here’s the photograph and below is a lighting diagram created on a friend’s iPhone with the strobox app …

We are about to sell our home which proved to be motivation to print the piece of art we’ve been meaning to print for months. This is a photo Jason took in July 2009 at my parent’s cabin at Green Lake. We go there for a week or two each summer to unplug from our life and recharge our souls. Now I can flop down on the couch for a few seconds and recharge just by looking at the photograph. Ahhhhh.

Jason has some art on display and for sale at Mystic Mug at the Mt. Lehman Station in Abbotsford. The licensed coffee shop is a great place to meet up with lots of comfy seating and also is a proud supporter of the arts in Abbotsford. Yay!

The art that Jason has up is a series that he took around my parent’s cabin at Green Lake. All the pieces are 8×8 black and white photographic giclee prints of circular objects. The look great in groupings of 3 or more depending on the space you have to display them in. Here’s a sneak peek at a few:

We have a few more places lined up to have our work on display in Abbotsford and will let you know as they are set up. If you have a location willing to display or sell our art, please contact us at 604-864-6339.

(Click to see final presentation complete with authentic period music)

We don’t write much about the why or how behind our photography. Most of the time it’s because we just don’t have time to and other times, it’s because it feels like we’d be tooting our own horn. I (Jason) decided to set up a personal project on my birthday a week ago for fun, some portfolio images and a way to get together and hang out with some other photographers. I will share some of the inspiration + process that guided the project.

The Idea:
I knew about the Power House at Stave Falls in Mission from an Abbotsford Photo Arts Club get together years ago - it really stuck in my mind as I know of no publicly accessible buildings around us that are like it. The era in which it was the building was completed (1912) informed the look that I wanted for some models. Online archives had many examples of images from the early 1900’s that I used as inspiration. The goal for the final images was to have them be reminiscent of early 1900’s portraits with a modern twist.

Clockwise, starting from left:
Kelsey (model), Chris (photographer), Lara (photographer), Mark + Elizabeth (photographers), Amber (model), Jenn (model), Mike (photographer), Me

Arrangements:
Setting everything up in two weeks was a challenge, but I managed to book three models, a hair stylist and a makeup artist, as well as 5 other photographers. We couldn’t find a wardrobe stylist so I took care of the clothing and accessories. Hair, makeup and clothing were based on original photographs from 1910-1930 that I found online.

The Shoot:
Lighting was done with a strobe light into my home made beauty dish, mostly up higher than the model and pointing down towards their faces. This was done with a slow shutter speed to slightly make the subject stand out from the environment. Sometimes a backlight was used to separate the subject from the background as well. I make sure the lighting and exposure is good in the camera before anything enters the computer - even though I knew I was going to be spending significant time working on the images later.

Final Images:
Many historic photographs that inspired the final images contained texture, were yellow toned with variation, and had a frame/mat of some sort. My post production includes these elements in some way. All the textures, toning and mats were all custom made - textures were from old baking pans (see below), the toning is a gradient map with variations in saturation, and the mat was developed in Illustrator and finished in Photoshop.

Here is the link to the slideshow. I was very happy with how the final images turned out and will be using the images for my portfolio on www.jasonbrown.ca.

Here is s close-up of the full harvest moon tonight:

Those of you interested in how this was done:
Camera: D2Xs
Lens: 70-200mm VR
Exposure: ISO 100 / F8 / 1/200s
Handheld, because of the vibration reduction system in the lens.
Processed in Lightroom to alter white balance and crop in really close.

I used the Sunny 16 rule. For a sunlit subject at f16, use a shutter speed of 1 over the ISO (i.e., ISO 100 / f16 / 1/100). I had to compensate for the atmosphere by opening up the exposure one stop to let in more light.

The camera choice was difficult as I had to choose between the full frame D3 and the D2Xs with the crop factor that makes my 200mm a 300mm. I used both and the D2Xs and the D3 - the D2Xs came out on top with a higher resolution image because of the crop factor.

We just returned mid-week from a 10 day vacation at Green Lake in BC. It’s near 70 Mile House and my parents have a cabin there that used to be my grandparents’ that we’ve been going to since I was a teenager. The kids look forward to it all year and gauge the passing seasons by reciting all the birthdays and holidays in a year followed by “…and then we’ll go to the cabin” for summer.

I posted a bunch of pics of the trip on my Facebook profile and my cousin left a comment under one saying that she set it as the background on her computer. I thought that was a great idea! So we put together a selection of our favorite scenics for you to choose from. Feel free to use them on your computer’s background. If you would like to use them for something else, please contact us.

Just click on the thumbnails to view the full, 1024px x 768px screen size image on a new web page. Right click and select “Set As Desktop Background”.

Image 1:

Image 2:

Image 3:

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Image 8:

If you are looking for some art for your wall, we will be selling gallery canvas wraps of these photographs. They start at $130 for 18″ and go up to $725 for 60″. Our gallery canvas wraps are gorgeous and on a stretcher ready to hang with satin lamination for protection and a 2.25″ side wrap. Please phone 604-864-6339 or email for more information. This is a limited time offer until August 10th.

We’ve decided to challenge ourselves creatively and expand our portfolio with monthly personal projects. This month’s project was a fashion shoot. We had a great team (see bottom) who pulled together to create a great look that resulted in these photos …

Stylist: Patricia Lagmay
Hair: Roxann Redekop of Speranza
Makeup: Chrissy Lambert of Makeup Infusion
Model: Sarah War

Our monthly personal project for April was to create a fashion shoot, complete with professional model, hair stylist, makeup artist and wardrobe stylist. Today it came together, and it exceeded our expectations! It will be a few days before we can post the best from the shoot, so here’s a teaser for the meantime:

Thank you to all who helped to make it all happen!
Model: Sarah War
Hair: Roxann Redekop of Speranza
Makeup: Chrissy Lambert of Makeup Infusion
Wardrobe Stylist: Patricia Lagmay

I have to admit that I enjoy Jason and Xander’s slightly dark, warped senses of humor. We went for a family walk in the park and this is what they photographed and later photoshopped. It is Xander’s hand coming up from a drainage grate. It’s hanging on our fridge and Xander shows it to everyone who comes over …

Jason had a wonderful surprise today when two large trophies and three ribbons from his latest entries in the Professional Photographer’s Association of British Columbia (PPABC) Exhibition and Salon were dropped off at our house. This year’s competition received 322 entries and the association represents about 300 of the best photographers in the province. Each picture is rated Not Accepted, Accepted, Merit, or Excellence. The top scoring photograph in each class, wins Best in Class.

Here are Jason Brown’s winning entries …

The Art of Life
Merit/Best in Class - Portrait of a Child

Urban Passion
Merit/Best in Class - Portrait of 1 or 2 People

Be Mine
Merit