stephen j edgar photoblog

Feeling stoked.  I’m finally going to move all my stuff out of my little home office and have set my sights on a new state of the art post-production facility.  That’s the good news…the bad news is, it looks like this.

yuk

And this

gross

See that pipe going across the width of the room?

barf

This is me getting a better view of it.  Am I on a ladder?  Nope.  This is me crouching slightly so as to get a better look at the contents of the wrapping.  Horsehair.  Yum.  Images just don’t do this place any justice I tell you!   The shit that is caked on the walls…the grunge on the floor….the deadly toxins invisible to the naked eye….oye wey what am I thinking!??!
Keep an eye on this post and watch for updates on the space.  I’m sure by the end of 2020 it’ll be looking just fine.
I’ve got a lot of irons in the fire these days.  Putting together an amazing album for dear dear friends of mine, Jay and Michelle.  Here’s one of my fave layouts:

if this doesn

Yes, this is a single spread!  What do you think?  These albums are Blood.  They are Sweat.  They are Tears accompanied by retching Sobs, but holy shit;  when I am finally finished, I know that I will feel like howling like the bloody, sweaty and weeping dude that I am.  It’s just THAT goood.
Here are a few more layouts:

The wedding was just beautiful…it was an honour to be a part of it…and now they’ve got a beautiful baby girl.  How time flies…Hey I never said I was fast…just good!  And now back to the pile on my desk.  nice chatting with you!!!!

s

Who wasn’t absolutely BLOWN AWAY by this past week’s events?  Wow.  Hey, I’m a Proud Canadian and the explosion of self-lovin’ from south of our border had ME feeling misty!  Truly a beautiful thing.  All the jawing I give my American friends and relatives about their Prez and their policies and their war-mongering ways can be stuffed…for now anyway.

This story continues and will be talked about, well, for-EVER.  As it should be.  More and more I am amazed at how this all came to be.  Obama surely is an incredible guy with an AMAZING team behind him.  Brrrrr…  That was me shivering with the recollection of THE MAN’s beautiful timbre and usage of the english languge even while under attack…Brrrrrr, that’s me shivering again just thinking about how this web technology was utilised for the greater good!  As the Adrianna Huffington rightly proclaimed HERE even before the day was done, the winner in this campaign:  the internet!  Listen to what Al Gore says!  and I believe him.  In fact, it’s what he said here that kicked my ass to start blogging again (so you can blame him).  But I’m actually going to go a little further than Adrianna and Al and get a little more pin-pointy on this.  I think the day belonged to the PHOTOGRAPHERS.  Yes, CNN and all those dudes covered him in the news, but look deeper.  Barack’s PR team went to town!  His face was everywhere!  Kudos to Barack’s team.  They did such incredible job with image management on this one -what a coup.  There were just so many wonderful photographs out there for us to drink in.  I can’t remember seeing any bad ones!  The other guy….hmm.  Well let’s just say, another ball dropped (and I’m not even gonna get into his running mate or, more to the point, her godawful media team).    Well photographed, well managed, and VERY well distributed images such as this captured the hearts and imaginations of many across the globe.  This was a major ingredient for Obama’s win.

wow

This shout out to brothers and sisters in my profession is SO NECESSARY at this point in tech history.  With all the access to digital and info technology these days, it is said anyone can be a photographer -hell, I’ve said it more than once!  It’s amazing the wonderful work I see everywhere coming from enthusiests around the globe.  Unfortunately however, the double edge sword here is that people like me who have shed blood sweat and tears to earn the title PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER are being driven out of the biz.  The availability of all this great technology has cheapened our services to the point where it is extremely tough to survive.  And not to pick on anyone in particular but the culprits consistently seem to be PR people and Art Directors….sorry guys, but it’s true!  and I hate to say it but your photos SUCK!  I’m kidding, I’m kidding…kind of.  Here is a much more eloquently communicated article on the matter as it pertains to the publishing industry.  and by the way, this blog is SO good.  All professional photographers should bookmark this guy and read him regularly.

So the moral of the story is:  No one interested in marketing their services or products can say that great, professional, dynamic images are too expensive.  Expect to go cheap, and bad image management will sink you and your product.  Let’s fix this marketplace with baby steps.  In the marketing and communications biz hire someone that knows what he/she is doing and -here’s a novel concept- PAY THEM WELL FOR THEIR EXPERTISE!  It will come back on you and you will reap the dividends.  Photographers out there:  STOP undervaluing your services.  You know who you are… By doing so you hurt not only yourself but your brothers and sisters!  This is quite an oversimplification of an ongoing and complex issue I’ll admit.  For those of you working in Canada, go to THIS SITE, and read read read.  It’s dry, but you won’t regret looking it over.

Thank you Barack for so many things, but especially for supporting the point I have been trying to make for so long.

wow….I dunno how you full time bloggers do it.  It’s amazing the amount of dedication -or is it basic time management.  I can’t wait to get all that spam about time management now.  GAWD!

Anyway I’ll be back with some snaps for you and hopefully a post of interest

s

What a trip, what a trip! One little day off and off the races tomorrow for part 2. Exhausted, but feeling fine. No malaria, no more altitude sickness, no montazuma…..

We set a torrid pace for week one. Took three flights to various regions in the North and the East, down in the rain forest. Quite a change in climate from La Paz. Places we went to had been badly affected by flooding a month ago and the water has yet to recede in some places. Villages have been cut off from any help or food or medical aid and their crops have been ruined -not good. But there are folks willing to help. Rode with Oxfam, World Vision, Save the Children, and even the Bolivian Air Force. Very inspiring to see such an impressive mobilisation of support -many of them volunteers! So there I was roving around the country side with all my gear going here and there and taking meetings and sitting in on lectures -shooting the whole time of course -whew….it has been a job

Go here to see a little gallery I put together of week one. They are in no particular order I’m affraid…have had no time between taking pics and shooting video and then tagging ALL the shots…up late many a night organizing and editing things down a little -tonight being no different. Anyway, no time to write this thing so i appreciate all your patience!

Last night did pop out with the gang for a little walk about around La Paz. What a marvelous city! There was an all night museum tour that was just spectacular. VERY well attended to boot.

gotta fly! up early and still have yet to pack -YIKES!!!!

s

Well folks, here I am at Miami International Airport drinking it all in. Peeps of all shapes and sizes from all over the Americas are wandering around aimlessly (none more so than myself!), or lining up at the various troughs for consumption, or corralling their brats, or watching CNN, or just staring off into space….

it’s truly unbelievable how jam packed this place is.

Anyway, I’m here awaiting my connecting flight to La Paz Bolivia. Only 5 more hours to go…Yup. It’s finally happening. I’ve been meaning to keep you abreast of the pre production aspects of this assignment but it’s been tougher than I thought and I’ve had little time left for my lovely family let alone this blog.  All in all it’s been a little different than what I’ve been use to. Emotionally speaking, I feel as though I have hit every hill and valley of my very being during this exercise. Ah, the details aren’t important, so I’ll sum up the experience with the help of an old master:

Bottom line is that part’s over and now it comes down to what I do best. So I’m happy.

Here’s the gig as I understand it so far: 9 consecutive days of flying and driving around Bolivia with a writer and a translator. Priority number one is Stills. Priority number two is Video. I’ll traveling with my Nikon D2x for stills and a Sony V1U DVcam for vids…sounds good, doesn’t it? The joy I’m feeling now is because I successfully got through customs and was able to carry-on all my essential camera gear without any hassle whatsoever. I even got myself a bulkhead seat!

and now for the flight to La Paz….I depart for that storied region in mere hours….and hours.

I’ll try to keep you updated. I have no idea whether there will be any connectivity in the areas I’ll be shooting but something tells me it’s gonna be a little dicey. PLEASE get in touch with me. I’d love to hear from you…

hugs

whoa.

had an excellent experience while on a last minute gig last night. Got the call at the eleventh hour to go out and shoot a university hockey game…but not just ANY university game, a SEMI-FINAL university play off game…not just ANY University Semi Final play off hockey game but WOMEN’S University Semi-Final play off Hockey. and you know what else? The game was won in a thrilling end-to-end over time that had me riveted. Just a shame I was only one of a handful of spectators.

Serious hustle. Serious skills. Serious Fun. I loved it. And listen, I’m a hockey fan, big time. But like many Hockey fans ’round these parts, I’m feeling major LEAF-fatigue. With all the Trade deadline crap going on I’m just about ready to throw up. Millionaire hockey players ENOUGH. What perfect timing the gods have sending me to shoot this game. Must admit as well, I’m one of those guys who, while I’m quick to give huge heartfelt props to the gals on Canada’s Olympic squad, I’ve never really paid too much attention….Things change baby, things change.

Hey, another thing I must admit, I’ve never shot a hockey game (other than my son’s) before. It’s tough work!! Hats off to the guys and gals who do this regularly. As a Nikon shooter I’ve always felt a little behind the Canon set when shooting sports. Canon’s auto focus is lightspeed faster than Nikon’s. No contest. And frankly, that’s fine. I tend to photograph things OTHER than sporting events…however last my trusty D2X’s autofocus system was put to the test -these gals were Flyin’!!!  I had to really pay attention, utilising not only my YEARS of photographic experience, but also my hockey prowess (ya right!) to keep up with them.

AND in the end, at about 2mins to go in overtime, it all paid off. I was right there with Lauren Barch (no.77) as she swiped home the game’s only goal, the OT winner!

Read the story in Monday’s KW Record.  Hey! and while were on the topic of hockey, my number one son has a goal per game streak going! I’m so proud!!!  He’s at 4 games now…Keep it going Devlin!!! and don’t forget to play defense!

Anywho, back to the Oscars.  I’ll report on THAT mess 2morrow!

s

HI there!  Seems like my Lunar Eclipse shots were well received.  Thankyou for all the feedback!  I even got a little nudge in WIRED magazine’s science blog.  Check it out here.  Apparently I live in a  ‘far-flung place’.  Yahoooooo, it’s something I’ve always aspired to!  Snowing again.  Shocker .  Will spend much of today shoveling.

greetings to all you folks trying desperately to find the time to get all that shopping done.

Just a few notes to pass on to the hordes. Had a few fun family shoots over the weekend that went off beautifully. Since then have been fighting like a madman to fend off the wolves…those being the cold-bug, the flu-bug, the strep-bug, the blues-bug etc etc etc.

here are some shots from the weekend!

it was really a make lemonade outta lemons kinda day. Had a shoot cancel cuz of a little cold sore, and was stuck with a wonderful studio facility and no one to shoot! Called up some pals, booked a few last minute deals, had an old friend happen by and viola! Some pieces for the portfolio and heirlooms for generations to come.

Wanted to touch on the man and his best friend. Lucked out really. There was a knock on the studio door, took a look outside and before i could even see who it was I saw the sky -WOW! and then I saw little Magnus and his big pal Andrew. Grabbed the profoto with the beauty dish and …really wasn’t rocket science. Awesome location and very patient clientelle didn’t hurt either…oh and 15 plus years of experience…oh! and I forgot the $20k worth of equipment…
Balancing the light. Always a pleasure. Shooting with strobes and dragging the shutter for the BG is an age-old technique that I just cannot get enough of.

Can’t keep my mind off TJ Ford today. OOH did he take a swat to the face and then a blam off the floor…right on the back of his head -check it out here. Didn’t get up….off the court 10 very unsettling mins later on a stretcher. Talk about air being sucked outta the room. It was the last 90 seconds of play in a game the Raptors had one handily. Atlanta rookie Al Horford was the culprit.

Gotta Fly. But before I do, I must leave you with a very sobering article on global warming. check this out.

hugs

stephenjedgar.com

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…
:

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