stephen j edgar photoblog

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hey folks, Happy Thanksgiving to all you Americans reading this! Happy Grey Cup to all you CFL fans - you are a strange lot (check this and this out)!
Wanted to lay down some grub about photographing weddings. Wedding photographers get no respect, do they!? Not from the purists anyway. Nope. For years and years I turned my back on this much-maligned niche. I diss’d it! Laughed at those who chose to do it! Occasionally I shot friends’ weddings reminding people all the while that it was a favour and that I was, in actual fact, a “commercial pro”.

But there was a dirty little secret just itching to come out: I was actually good at weddings…and worse, I kinda liked doing them.

But, with my ego on the line, I suppressed and denied and hid…until finally it was just no USE! I had to let THE BEAST out!!!!

Photographically speaking, weddings are a real challenge. One MUST be on his toes, with finger on the trigger. Your surrounding elements are constantly in flux and you really never know when someone might, just might…blow a gasket! So it’s a little like venturing into uncharted territory…THIS is what get’s me goin’ I am there as an unbiased observer…and fleet-footed dancer, a story-teller for the generations. I am there when two worlds collide and become one.

Baby, it ain’t no tea-party!

Over the course of this blog (yet more uncharted territory!) I’ll touch on my experiences both as a “ligit” commercial shooter, and as an enthusiastic wedding photographer. Can I be both? We’ll see, won’t we? Personally I think it’s a necessity not to limit myself….oh whatever.  Check these out:

Graham and Monique got married at the Eglinton Grand in Toronto.

What a couple!  What a party!!!  This was the perfect job to walk the line between hired gun and honoured party guest.  I loved it!  Being a fly-on-the-wall/paparazzi and enjoying the treats.  Photographically this job was a challenge;  multi-coloured, moving spotlights, lighting an otherwise moodily lit (ie dark) venue meant I was constantly changing settings from shot to shot.  And the way I shoot, baby, this was a second by second occurrence.

Steve and Kate got married at the Festival Theatre in Stratford Ontario.

Again, Beautiful couple and Excellent party as illustrated here in the couples’ impromptu reenactment of Shakespeare’s great tragedy, “Macbeth“…or was it “Midsummer Night’s Dream“?  “Merry Wives of Windsor“????  I’ve forgotten and, for better or for worse, so probably have they.

Another photographic challenge in any case.  This venue was lit beautifully with nothing but white T-lights wrapped around 6 foot branches suspended from the ceiling…very moody!!!  Steve and Kate decided to have my “photo booth” as a part of the festivities which gave them and all their drunken guests the opportunity to try their hand at being thespians even if for just a moment or two.  A standing ovation to you all!

Anyway….that’s it for now.

check out my wedding site

www.celebrations.stephenjedgar.com

hugs

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Look! Up in the sky!!!! It’s a bird, it’s a plane…NOPE. It’s just the photographic genius.

What a blast going 80 feet up over Toronto’s AGO to photograph the new Frank Gehry addition. Holy Crap was it cold! Not the best weather for an architectural photograph but what the heck…can’t have everything. Anyway, here’s a shot, or rather, a series of shots…

I’ll get some specs for all 5 of you but suffice it to say in the meantime that this is a heavy-duty piece of work. The boys involved are working their tails off to get this baby up and happening and it was a real priveledge to not only to see this from the sky (thanks Derek and Dan!) but to walk around the site and wonder at the engineering! See the top horizontal beam? It runs the whole length and is more than 3×3 feet thick! The diagonal pieces (still in there green packaging) start as verticals at the centre of the ‘breezeway’ and then slope further and further out at their base until at either edge they are almost horizontal…does this make sense? Probably not. It’s all WAY beyond me….

Back on the ground had a wonderful lunch (buckwheat crepes!!!) and cafe au lait at a fantastic little gallery/cafe called ART SQUARE (334 Dundas W. TO). They even threw in two homemade organic chocolates -almost made me blow a gasket, these did. Many thanks to my pal, Billy K, who footed the bill.

Back in my outlying community things are very nice and relaxed. The snow is falling and threatening to stay. I’m here editing my photos (never ending task) with a great new software called “Photomechanic” while watching the Raptors beat up Indiana.

For photographic insperation visit my site, www.stephenjedgar.com

talk soon

Wow…watching American History X and editing some images of my family from over the weekend. Pretty messed up movie VS. going over shots that might just make me weep. I’m torn: AMX is well shot I must say, and Ed Norton…WHew! what a actor, WHAT A ROLE -’nuff said, back to editing. Here are some faves from a great weekend (albeit WAY too short!) with my two lads. Here they are, 10 years apart and great pals. It’s hilarious watching them play off one another…they both take turns being obstinate little angels…
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Living out of the city is the way to go. I can feel myself loosening up, shedding stress and pent up bullshit. It’s good. I’m inspired.

Anyway, check this one out:

and the detail:

What a little dude…and then we met an old old spirit…

This beautiful retriever hung out with us the whole time running and laughing -or so it seemed- for the whole walk. It was so much fun.

For me photographing kids and animals is like a holiday -just so much spontaneity, always unscripted. Running through a field with a camera and just shooting what you feel -shooting for the moments. So much camera technology these days is all about FOCUS. You got VR -vibration reduction- and AF -auto focus. When I got to certain point in my shooting something clicked (ha ha), I just stopped concerning myself with this focus thing. Hey, focus is cool and necessary but man, Blur gives Life! I love what I do for a living. Kids and dogs: run ‘em in the morning and again at night. What am I trying to say? I’m tired. Enjoy the shots. As always, go to my sight:

www.stephenjedgar.com

sitting at fedex/kinkos printing a copy of my book. Sacrilege! (and on Remembrance Day too…I’m going to hell.) Any photographer would cringe at this, but, hey! gotta do it. I’m throwing my photography out there so many places at once…a book gets expensive!!! and the kids gotta eat. Which reminds me: I haven’t had any dinner. Great place here called Kismet -beautiful Bangladeshi food- stomach is grumbling. but I digress.

Kinkos. Printing. Portfolio.

Got a presentation with the photo editor of the local paper. I guess one of these days I should name the little place I’ve moved to…this has nothing to do with protocol and everything to do with my ego…I’m just (still!) attached to the stigma of being OUT of the Big City. hey man, I’m connected…that old “gotta be in the centre of the universe to make it as a pro” mentality is SOOO antiquated. Whatever, I live in a small town…The Photographic Genius LIVES IN A SMALL TOWN! and I’m submitting my photographic portfolio to the local newspaper dammit!…and I’m proud to be doing so… Nothing wrong with that, is there? -hell no, infact, it makes a nice little story. so there.

But what if they reject me?

ugh now I don’t feel so good. The photographic genius from the big city gets rejected by the little local paper…doesn’t sound good.

Maybe it is a good thing I’m doing my book on a laser copier at kinkos for cheap….I dunno, we’ll see.

Here’s a shot that made it into this presentation:

see? It ain’t too bad, is it? With the new ‘green’ treatment I’ve given this image it’s actually a truer representation of how my subject, Andrew Martin, was feeling that day. Sick as a DAWG he was…The guy almost tossed all over my backdrop! Kinda sexy isn’t he? Maybe that’s yet another new look for our model/actor types. Gives a whole new -yet old- meaning to the saying, “…man! he’s SICK!..” What a sport Andrew was that day. The guy is super cool.
To see more of this stuff check out my site:

www.stephenjedgar.com

sitting here watching the Leafs…yes, I know I know: why? they suck! Old habits die hard. Generally speaking, I’m liking the Raptors, but that’s another story.I’m hanging with my twelve-year-old, Dev. He of the title, “THE most photographed kid of all time”, but I’m thinking soon he’ll be usurped by his kid brother, Ethan. Just the way it goes I guess; every dog has its day. Which takes me back to my love-hate relationship with the Leafs. Nope, ain’t gonna happen this year, nor the next, nor the next. Enough ink has been wasted on the chain of command in MLSE -the faceless evil empire that owns the boys in blue. It’s just another example of little to no transparency in big biz…only this time ( IhopeIhopeIhope) the Leaf Nation seems to be catching on to the shenanigans. If I were a little better at the blog thing I’d fwd you to a series of articles written on the matter by folks who really know what they are talking about…WHATEVER.

Hey, I’m a photographer and -who’s kidding who- this blog aint’ here to show off my writing skills, eh? NO! It’s to draw the attention of millions and millions to my awesome shooting skills! Public Engagement, BABY!!! oh ya I can hear them bangin down the door now! -hey, i’m not called “The Photographic Genius” for nothing!!!! Stand back folks….ok, here it goes:

so….like…I’ve got a new fridge magnet, eh? Love to hear what you think. isn’t it awesome?

oh ya…just waiting for the money to start rolling in.

curious about any of these thumbnails? Just check out the site!

www.stephenjedgar.com

go RAPTORS!

Well, here we are. It’s c-c-c-cold today, and the new (old) house is showing it’s age. Built in the late 1800s, it can be called the cookie-cutter of it’s day. Rubble foundation, yellow brick, square….wood floors, unfinished basement, 37″ flat screen hd lcd etc etc. Regrettably, the nice new plumbing installed, didn’t prevent a little fecal explosion the other day….up to my elbows, I was! Saw a slow draining washer tub in one corner and a little drip drip drip down the line…hmmmmm, thought I, red flags unfurling. Checked out the colour of the water drip -’uh-oh’….gray with a little bit of…Brown… Luckily had the presence of mind to take everything out of the line of ‘fire’….slowly released the valve and “SISSSSS, BLICK, SQUIRT…” can you say, “are you embarrassed easily??”

Anyway, this blog wasn’t meant to give you the moment by moment exploits of the shit-busters -so I’ll say, ‘NUFF SAID on that whole experience…cept I have to toot my horn and admit with a little smile that the plumber almost threw up -a true badge of honour.

Hey, almost forgot, check out my site

www.stephenjedgar.com