style and new gear

Here's a portrait of a fellow assistant, Warren Hrycun.  Now that summer is here, shooting has turned up in frequency and intensity.  I'm definitely finding inspiration starting to show up everywhere, which leads us into this post.

There are certain things that change the way I think.  I find it can generally be put into two categories.

The first category is knowledge.  It could be learning something new about myself, or a new skillset, but either way, it has a huge impact on my creativeness.

The second category, and the one that this post specifically is about is gear...

Sure, I could mindlessly chant the cliché that gear doesn't matter, but really, to a certain degree that's complete BS.  There are certain pieces of kit that have changed the way I think.

I've been saving up, researching and debating what path to take, but I finally caved into my subconscious (and conscious) demands for a location system.  Everything came into consideration; I went through the "I don't have a car" to the "I love going places without power" and everything in between.

So, I bought a battery pack system.  I'm not going to go into brand and model details on the blog (if you have questions, throw me an email) but I FINALLY have a powerful, fast and portable flash system!

Which brings us back rather neatly to the beginning.  Now that I have quality w/s wherever I go, my ideas have started to change completely.  I'm looking forward to shooting more location based portraiture and concepts.

walking with the blad

Today was one of those days where nothing was lined up.  It was rainy, miserable and quite foggy.

I had my blad already loaded so I threw it in my small pack, along with my light meter and an extra roll.  After I was all packed, I threw on my trusty trekking shoes and weather gear (aka my bright orange jacket - yes it's thomasdagg colours...) and met up with Erin Leydon.  She's a recent grad from OCAD, and a fellow filum lover.  

Here are a few frames from the roll of HP5 showing Toronto by the water in the fog.  On a related side note, I really love my blad for stuff like this. 

I also felt like attaching a frame from North Bay that was on the same roll.  I liked the contrast of shops and rolling hills.  

I can't wait to talk about some style related gear I picked up recently.  The next blog post will involve it so stay tuned!