Tossed into a box...

By now I should just assume I am walking into a challenge every time I arrive at a shoot location. Recently I was asked to do some advertising photos of Todd Blumel for Bow-Mel Chrysler, in Duncan. I made sure to ask that we have a room of certain dimensions to be able to fit the gear required and to allow for full-length body shots.

Sure enough, the room was the right size but it was full of storage shelves and there was just, barely enough room to get the job done. No worries. After tinkering around a bit to get the mini-studio set up I got about shooting the photos. At least one of these is going to be used as a life-size cut out for some advertising in the car dealership. The others are going to be for newspaper ads so we just played around and did silly "So, you want to buy a car?" type poses.

And to be quite honest, I'm getting used to shooting a pure white background now. It has been beaten into me now and I can accept that. I'm even learning to make it work for me creatively and that's fun!

That's all for now :)

kurtknock.com

Family Day

Today is officially Family Day here in British Columbia. Just in case you need an excuse to spend some time with your loved ones ;)

Which brought me back to August of 2012 when I was sent on a day trip to Kelowna do photos for the Marsh Family.

 

The day started with my flight from the Nanaimo airport at the crack of dawn.

Upon arrival in Kelown I was whisked away to the Father Pandosy Mission historic park for the photo session.
Now, keep in mind, this is August in Kelowna. When we arrived at the park it was about 11:00am and already over 30 degrees Celsius. I had to be as time efficient as possible and keep people out of the direct sun otherwise this was going to be a meltdown in no time.

 I did a range of photos while there, trying to get everyone in some creative shots and taking in the historic buildings.

After we figured we had enough photos and enough heat, it was time to head into town for some lunch.

 Then back to the airport for my flight home. I had a little time to kill while waiting for my flight so I grabbed a couple photos of the airport. And yes, I asked the airport security if it was ok.

 When in Vancouver to catch my connector back to Nanaimo, I was treated to a pass to the Maple Leaf Lounge (thank you Sean and Amber!). This was a great way to kick back for an hour or so and have a drink or two and some food before my final leg home.

 The foyer of the lounge was quite impressive.

 

As was the view of the goings on outside.

 

And after a long day of travel, I arrived back at the Nanaimo airport with the sun starting to set.

I appreciated being part of the Marsh family get-together as it was significant enough for them to understand they should take the time to have some photos of everyone. It is harder to get everyone together as families grow and sometimes move away. Schedules are difficult to synchronise and everyone is busy. It was a fun day for me too. It felt like a big field trip, with 1-1/2 hours of hard work in there to keep me on my toes!





With this being Family Day, I took the boys out for a ride on the big rig, my town bike equipped with Wee-Ride carrier for Rhys and the Trail-A-Bike on back for Kole. Yes, it is an absolute beast to ride but I tell you, there is nothing I'd rather be doing when those boys start squealing with delight as we zoom down our favourite trails! I just wish Nina could have joined us today on our adventure but sadly, she had to work. Almost forgot, the above photo was taken by Kole. He is getting pretty good with the camera :)

Happy Family Day everyone! Get out there and make it special :)

kurtknock.com

Great People

It has been way to long since I last updated my blog. Sorry but life and work sometimes get in the way of blogging :)

My last entry was on a beautiful wedding I shot last August and it was to be a three part series but the last parts was not really needed in my mind. It was going to be the portraits and reception. And, I'm so backlogged in my blog I thought I'd jump ahead a bit...

So here we are in 2013 with a new entry.

I was happy to do another shoot for Clemens Rettich, business coach extraordinaire. The subject this time is the incredible Gifty Serbeh-Dunn, owner of Shea Butter Markets.

I arrived a little before Clemens and chatted with Gifty. Right away I felt this warmth of her character. She is just one of those people who radiate a good vibe. And the more you know about her story (read the interview) the more you like her!  

I won't get into her story as Clemens is the one who has made the effort to tell and share it. I'm just going to share some of the photos I captured while there. 

 About half way through the interview we took a break for some more formal portraits. See below:

For those who don't know Gifty, make an effort to stop by her shop and say "hi" or buy her products when you see them in the stores. It all goes to good causes thanks to a great lady!

 

kurtknock.com

The Big Day (Part II)

This is a continuation of my last post (The Big Day (part I)).

These photos were from Robin and Cathy Dutton's wedding at Painter's Lodge in Campbell River, back in August. Just moments before the ceremony began, the rain started to come down. Then magically, it stopped five minutes before we walked down to the ceremony area.

 

I chose to post the ceremony separately as there are many different factors at play here:

More people

Action

Outdoor light

Moments that you can not ask for a retake of

Lots of emotion

 

My setup was pretty simple. I used a zoom lens for these as I needed to be able to get in close and also take wide angle shots to get the scene in. I also used a flash for fill light but you probably don't even see that in the photos.

I try to be unobtrusive and convey a casual look which captures the true emotions and interaction of the ceremony.

I'm not going to say much more about these photos - you can just browse through and enjoy.

 

And then on to the portraits...

kurtknock.com

The Big Day (part I)

I am still working away to bring some of the highlights of the past summer to my blog. Not as easy as I thought. Winter is one of my busy seasons so making time for the blog is tough!

 

I'm going to share this entry in a couple sections. The photos are from Robin and Cathy Dutton's wedding at Painter's Lodge in Campbell River back in August.

The reason for me breaking it into sections is there are a couple different looks and there are just so many photos!

Starting with the photos below - the getting ready shots. I used one lens (not a zoom, in case you were wondering) for these and no flash. The style is soft and warm which I wanted to carry through the getting ready shots.

 A little bit of makeup and hair styling.

The bride's bouquet just waiting for action.

Checking the veil.

A moment before getting the dress on.

What can I say!

The bride's maids do a last minute check of their toe nails :)

I found some fantastic windows in the suite to provide the light and create the scene.

Another shot using a nice big window and the couch to relax on.

A fun family photo before walking down to the ceremony.

One last check before heading out.

 

The very first photo at the top of the this post is actually the last in chronological order. This was just a minute before the ceremony began. More to come on my next post!

 

kurtknock.com