Andrew R

This is Andrew Romashyna.

He's a bike messenger/racer/passionate cyclist here in Toronto; you may have seen him flying past you on the streets.  He's also a member of the Bikes on Wheels team (which is my favourite bike shop) and rides for YNOT (amazing maker of bike gear based in TO).

I've seen him a few times around town, so I asked him if he would mind standing in for some shots.

More photos after the break... click here

snaps - Peter and Jamie

Jamie

Peter

Today I decided to go for a ride with Jamie and Peter.  As work picks up, I've been trying to do as much as I can on days off.

As always, I had my x100 in my bag, and couldn't resist taking some photos for this blog after seeing the light and locations we were riding by.

I also took some candid stuff throughout our ride.  I've posted some of these "behind the scenes" shots to the life blog, but I thought I'd include them on here to give some context to the main portraits above.

It was a good day.

Oh, and here's a shot of me between two dinosaurs that Jamie snapped.

There's some other news that should be coming soon, so keep checkin back.

my bike

This quick video was done for me, as a visualization to a question I was asked.  This is why my bike is on my list of prized possessions.


I had some time yesterday afternoon, so I decided to put a camera on a tripod and on my bike and put some visuals to my answer.  It's nothing fancy or planned, just a spur of the moment vid with my voice (which was recorded on a gaming headset...).

You can watch on vimeo in 720p.

Boy do I hate the sound of my own voice.

new blog: life

I have a camera with me about 99% of the time.  Even when I sleep, I keep one beside my bed.

I created a second blog, "life", to have a place to post my documentary work as I shoot it.  

I can split my photographic interest into two main efforts.  The first, which is what the blog you're on now (and my website) focuses on, is portraiture and thought out concepts.  The light/subject/location is more or less planned, and I am in control.  This is my main passion: personalities.

This new blog is a bit harder to explain; it's part photostory, part visual journal and part experiment.  I can contribute the photo documentary influence to Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Frank, William Klein, James Nachtwey and Vivian Maier (I had to limit myself to 5).  I am constantly inspired by street/photo documentary work.

There's something romantic about shooting the world around you.  I'm looking forward to going through these images in five, ten or even twenty years and seeing how the subject matter, the people I surround myself with, and the places themselves change.  

This is the reason I bought my Fuji X100.  It's probably the favourite in my 3 camera arsenal.  The retro styling, small size, powerful chip, 35mm lens and super silent shutter give it this unassuming quality; no one ever pays attention to it (unless they're photo nerds).

Before I bought the X100, I carried around my small Ricoh KR5 Super 35mm camera) so I find myself shooting the Fuji like I did tri-x.  It's always either 400, 800 or 1600ISO.  It just so happens that the X100 at 1600ISO produces a look I love, which is why I almost always leave it set to that.  

BUT, it's way more about the moments then the gear.  I limit my post work to capture one with just a levels, curves, and black and white adjustments; the files will be kept away from Photoshop at all costs to maintain as much rawness as I can.

So if you're interested, visit the blog at http://thomasdagg.tumblr.com and follow along.

Ian Delaney for ROB

I have some work related news for the blog today...

I was hired by the Globe and Mail's Report on Business magazine to shoot Ian Delaney for an exit interview.

I found out he was a very avid flier (both fixed wing and helicopter), so I asked him if he'd like to throw airplanes around his boardroom.  Luckily he said yes, and he even made a few of his own.

From Castro to barracudas, he is quite the interesting guy; I recommend reading the article below (click to see it bigger).

snap - Matt L

Here's another no concept portrait.  This time, it's Matt Le Blanc.  I walked out to ask him a question and BAM.  Squall + back alley wind + Canada + Matt L + awesome beard.

If you don't know who Matt is, he's Westside's studio manager/blog post writer.  Check out the blog for some great words + photos

This post is far from becoming a wordy one, but I thought I'd mention that there are a few slightly planned shoots coming up soon, so keep checking back.

oh right... it's 2012 now

It's a little late, but happy new year!  

This post took a lot longer than expected to write.  In the end I cut almost everything I wrote and summarized it into these four sentences:

1.  2011 was a really big year for me.  

2.  2011 was full of new experiences, new people, new skills and new ideas. 

3.  I feel going into 2012, I have finally started to figure out where I want to go and what I have to do to get there.

4.  It only gets crazier from here...

Since this is a photo blog after all, I thought I'd post a shot I took of a friend and fellow photographer Steph Martyniuk.  She decided I was worthwhile photographing, so I sort of insisted I snap one of her after she had finished shooting me.

I don't really do many no concept - just shoot you how you are - portraits, but I think I'll suck it up and shoot more of them.

Also, I thought I'd include some of my favourite shots from the year of 2011.  It was fun going back through a years work.  I'm sad how little I actually shot, but I'll be all new years-y and say that'll change in 2012...

Barnes jungle adventure

I've had this jungle explorer idea sketched out for a while, but a few things kept me from shooting it.

I needed to find somewhere in Toronto that looked like a dense jungle.  This task turned out to be pretty difficult, but after a lot of searching, I finally found a place that fit the concept.

With the location picked, I then needed someone who themselves represented an explorer, had an interesting style, could pull off this idea and have the portrait relate/represent them in some way.

Who filled those specific criteria?  Well I thought I'd ask Matt Barnes: a super talented photographer repped by Westside Studio.  I was lucky enough to have him say yes.

Now why did I choose a photographer and why Mr. Barnes specifically?  Without sounding too cheesy, I feel photographers are always exploring the craft/art/medium/whateveryouwannacallit.  I find Matt to be one who definitely excels at it, pushing himself and his work through both creatives and commercial projects.  He also has a pretty unique taste in clothing and culture, so he was really the perfect subject for this idea.

It definitely had fun shooting it.  Once the outfit was donned, it's pretty hard to not get the mindset of a badass explorer.

I have to thank Matt again for letting me photograph him, styling the shoot and being enthusiastic about the idea.  It also wouldn't have happened without Jamie Rosenthal, who helped me out on the shoot.

There are a few more photos from this shoot that didn't make the cut, but are actually hilarious, so stay tuned.  I may just end up posting them.