Pets, Dessert & New Canon EOS 1D MKIV: Toronto Family Photographer

I was very excited, the other week, to get the call from Henry’s Camera that my new Canon EOS-1D MarkIV body had arrived. They have been in short supply as priority was given to Olympic photographers. This is one amazing machine! I did a family shoot with it last Friday, and am extremely pleased with the results—watch for the sneak peek of that session soon! (See “My Camera Equipment” in footer section for links/more information on camera equipment used.)

The first weekend, with the camera, was dedicated to testing it, seeing the results I could achieve and the type of focusing it could nail. It definitely focuses in lower light/lower contrast situations better then my old Canon EOS-1D MarkIII did. Is it perfect, no, but I am very pleased!

That Saturday the kids and I went to my mother’s for dinner. Here’s a shot of Milo (Canon EOS-1D MarkIV and Canon 85 f1.2L lens):

Simon (shot with the Canon EOS-1D MarkIV, Canon 85 f1.2L lens and Canon 580EX II Speedlite):

Milo (shot with the Canon EOS-1D MarkIV, Canon 85 f1.2L lens and Canon 580EX II Speedlite):

Kids and I brought dessert, do you remember this one? Usually prepared as a log, but I mixed it up a bit (shot with the Canon EOS-1D MarkIV, Canon 24–70 mm f2.8L lens and Canon 580EX II Speedlite):

Yum!

Of course I have to post some new shots of Alice, as she is great to practice on! Is it any wonder I can get any work done with such cutness? She loves hanging out with me while I work (she is sleeping on my lap as I type this!), the printer spot is fine, but she blocks my screen in the other position! (Shot with the Canon EOS-1D MarkIV, Canon 85 f1.2L lens and Canon 580EX II Speedlite):

I pulled out the macro lens for some shots, look at those amazing blue eyes! (Following three images shot with the Canon EOS-1D MarkIV, Canon 100 mm f2.8 macro lens and Canon 580EX II Speedlite):

The next two were shot with the Canon EOS-1D MarkIV and Canon 85 f1.2L lens, the first one at 1/100, f1.2, ISO 1600. Very impressed with the high ISO capabilities of this camera, no issues with an image shot at 1600:

This is a spot that Alice loves in the dining room, at the floor by the rad, nice and cozy. Shooting wide open completely blurs the legs of the chairs/table in front of her, giving this cool effect to the floor in front of her. Shot at 1/125, f1.4 (s/b 1.2!), ISO 2500. Definitely getting more noise/grain in the image at ISO 2500, it’s useable, but could be pushing it depending on final use of the image:

Finally just a couple of Alice on my bed, shot with the Canon EOS-1D MarkIV, Canon 85 f1.2L lens and Canon 580EX II Speedlite:

Stay tuned for the sneak peek of the adorable toddler I photographed last week!

P.S. Regular visitors may have noticed that I’ve changed my site/blog. There is no longer a ‘website’, per say, but my redesigned ‘blog’ is now my website. It still contains all the information as was previously contained on both the website and the blog. I hope you like it! 🙂

nicoleFebruary 11, 2010 - 1:18 pm

love it all….great look.

and alice is such a sweet baby…..kisses!

nicoleFebruary 11, 2010 - 1:19 pm

it all looks great!

and sweet kisses to Alice. Her eyes amaze me!

[…] snoozing photos remind me very much of Alice snoozing, as since here (scroll down), and look how adorable he is sleeping on his back! Too […]

January 2010 EatSavvy: Commercial Food Photography, Toronto, Ontario

Another extremely yummy EatSavvy shoot this month, featuring the “Super Grain” (that’s not really a grain).

Quoting from SavvyMom.ca: Quinoa (pronounced KEEN-wah), though new to many of us, has been around since pre-Columbian civilizations. Quinoa is what’s considered a complete protein, meaning that it has all nine essential amino acids. It’s also an excellent source of iron and dietary fiber, it is gluten free, and it’s easily digestible. It’s not actually a grain, but the seed of a plant called Chenopodium or Goosefoot. However, because of its cooking characteristics and texture, it is often substituted for a grain. Use it in places you would normally use rice or couscous.

Here’s a macro shot of what red Quinoa looks like when it’s cooked: (Shot with the Canon EOS-1D MarkIII, Canon 100 mm f2.8 macro lens and Canon 580EX II Speedlite.)

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(Equipment Used: The following were all shot with the Canon EOS-1D MarkIII, Canon 24–70 mm f2.8L lens and Canon 580EX II Speedlite.)

The incredibly delicious Quinoa and Mixed Berry Hot Cereal, it’s a new fave for me. I add frozen blueberries, dried cranberries, and toasted pumpkin seeds, yum!:

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The Veggie Bean Chili with Quinoa is fabulous too! Made a batch myself this past weekend:

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The Winter Citrus Quinoa Salad is super yummy! I made up a batch that lasted most of the week, it’s great to have something delicious and healthy to pull out of the fridge:

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Had the Teriyaki Chicken Stir-Fry with Quinoa for lunch after the shoot, love stir-frys, and this one was as yummy as everything else from the shoot:

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Looking forward to the February shoot…which will warm those cold winter days! Keep an eye out for photos and links to the recipes next month!

Lensbaby Honorable Mention Gallery & Fashion: Toronto Photographer

I was thrilled to receive word on Friday that an image that I had submitted for an upcoming Lensbaby book, while not one of the 12 images picked for the book itself, was selected from almost 2,000 submissions to be included in the Honorable Mentions Gallery (see page four for my image). Also pleased that it was one of the first lensbaby images I ever captured! With the acceptance to the gallery, also comes the invitation to submit images for use by Lensbaby on their website or beyond. You can view more of my Lensbaby images by viewing my “Lensbaby Category” on this blog.

On Saturday Rebecca and I went to Fabric Land to choose patterns and fabric for her upcoming Elite Fashion Prep class at The Sewing Studio. As it was our first time choosing a pattern and fabric, it took us quite a while! But we are both so thrilled with what we found/choose.

(Equipment Used: The following were all shot with the Canon EOS-1D MarkIII, and the Canon 24–70 mm f2.8L lens. The Canon 580EX II Speedlite was used for both shots of Alice. The fabric was shot in natural light.)

One project will be a vest, with the polka dot fabric as the main fabric, and the pinky/green for the lining. I think it will look amazing when completed, and will be sure to post images of Rebecca modeling her vest:

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The second pattern, which was suppose to be a skirt (but Rebecca couldn’t find any skirt patterns she liked), will hopefully be her graduation dress. The black fabric will be the main part of the dress, with the red fabric being the lining, but Rebecca also wants to use it for colour on the dress. She plans to have it extend beyond the hem of the black part of the dress, and also plans to add a slit, the bottom part of the dress, to show the colour. Again, excited about how it’s going to turn out!

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And, since I’m posting, a few of Alice. She has found a new spot to snooze, on top of the covered rad in my bedroom. I really don’t understand how she doesn’t overheat! 😉

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Oh, if only ‘I’ were this flexible! Is this crazy or what???

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Disney, Christmas & Alice the Cat

As I did last year, I took a break from the computer over the holidays, so here’s a massive photo update!

The kids and I got an extra long holiday break this year as we traveled to Disney World in mid-December. I didn’t want to be weighted down with camera equipment on the trip so just brought the lighter Canon 5D, Canon 50 f1.4 lens and the Lensbaby Composer for the trip. (See “My Camera Equipment” in footer section for links/more information on camera equipment used.)

On our second day we visited Animal Kingdom, we all enjoyed the Kali River Rapids, and then the kids went again (I decided that I had gotten wet enough the first go-around!):

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One of the things we very much enjoyed was the different wildlife around us, instead of pigeons we had birds like this visiting us during our outside lunch:

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On the way out of the park we stopped so I could photograph these beautiful parrots:

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On day four we visited Disney’s Hollywood Studios Theme Park, Noah and I went back that night for a show and then visited the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights on the Streets of America. You can’t tell in these photos but there was actual snow flakes falling down on us (which freaked Noah out to no end, go figure!). (Shots were taken with the Lensbaby Composer with Lensbaby Fisheye Optic (first two) and the star shaped Lensbaby Creative Aperture Kit installed.)

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The next day we went back to Magic Kingdom, after riding the Pirates of the Caribbean the kids tried on Nightmare Before Christmas top hats, and then goofed around outside on the way to the next ride:

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This was the best photo I managed to capture of Rebecca and Noah in front of the castle. We had planned to attend Magic Kingdom one more day but unfortunately Rebecca came down with the stomach flu, so it ended up being a hotel/by the pool day instead.

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Even though they are not great photos, I regret that I didn’t make better use of the Disney Photo Pass, where they have photographers throughout the parks to take photos of you. But here are two of me with the kids at Magic Kingdom:

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Finally, as the last photos from the trip, a few quick shots I took of the hotel grounds of Disney’s Port Orleans Resort French Quarter where we stayed:

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(Equipment Used: Unless otherwise noted, the following were all shot with the Canon EOS-1D MarkIII, Canon 24–70 mm f2.8L lens and Canon 580EX II Speedlite)

As much as we enjoyed Disney World, and the much nicer weather in Florida, we were very happy to get back to the comforts of home, and Alice. Here she hangs out with Noah as he does some drawing on my bed:

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Didn’t capture that many photos of Christmas morning, but here are Rebecca and Noah both enjoying presents from their stockings:

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Alice very much enjoyed one of her gifts too!

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(Equipment Used: Unless otherwise noted, the following were all shot with the Canon EOS-1D MarkIII, Canon 100 mm f2.8 macro lens and Canon 580EX II Speedlite.)

One of my goals, for the holiday break, was to capture some updated photos of Alice, she is now four months old and she has changed so much since the last time I did this:

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Her facial markings are really coming in:

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So happy that our little girl has blue eyes!

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Another nose shot, as I just love her nose and whiskers!:

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The next three were taken with the Lensbaby Composer:

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I was enjoying getting in close and filling the frame with the Canon 100 mm f2.8 macro lens:

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She is the sweetest cat. While we were away she stayed at my sister’s, and she so fell in love with her that she has placed her order for her own little ‘Alice’ from the breeder! I can’t wait to meet her, and take photos of her too!

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Hope everyone reading this had a wonderful holiday break too!

Dana PughJanuary 6, 2010 - 7:52 pm

Holly!! Thanks for the sweet comment on my blog!! Funny thing–I leave for Orlando on Friday!!! Your images are getting me SOOOOOOO excited!!! 🙂

The G Family: Family Photography, Toronto, Ontario

Had a fabulously fun session with Deborah and her son, Christopher, for my last family session of 2009.

(See “My Camera Equipment” in footer section for links/more information on camera equipment used.)

We started out inside with a family photo including Butterscotch the cat (shot with the Canon 24–70 mm f2.8L lens):

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Christopher is learning guitar, and mom wanted a shot of him playing (shot with the Canon 85 f1.2L lens):

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Love these two, shot in the back alley behind the house, such great ‘boy’ shots! (Shot with the Canon 85 f1.2L lens):

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Loving these moments between mom and son (both shot with the Canon 85 f1.2L lens):

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Love these shots of Butterscotch being taken for her daily walk in the back alley, so cute! (Shot with the Canon 85 f1.2L lens):

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I adore this shot of the whole family, going for a walk (shot with the Canon 85 f1.2L lens):

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Christopher was trying to be tricky, and hide from me for this shot, and it ended up being a fabulous relaxed portrait of him (shot with the Canon 85 f1.2L lens):

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Thank you, Deborah and Christopher, for being such fun for my last family shoot of the year!

Dado Norma & FattiDecember 15, 2009 - 8:43 pm

Ooohh ! They’re beautiful !