Photography.ca » portrait from the plateau

Portraits from the Plateau — Sylvain Grand’Maison

Marko Kulik — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 18:52:47 +0000

I took this shot for fellow friend, art director and podcaster Sylvain Grand’Maison about a month ago. Sylvain produces an extremely successful French podcast here in Quebec that features great podsafe music,‚ great artists and does it all while drinking great beer and talking about social media and podcasting.

Sylvain needed some photography done so we got together for a few hours and clicked the shutter. He specifically had a concept in mind and we focused mainly on his concept (can’t talk about it yet). After the shoot though, we also took some casual shots and many of them came out quite nice including this one.

Sylvain Grand’Maison

Sylvain’s blond hair and eyes came out really well against this black background and both he and I really dig this shot. In terms of lighting, I used a Quantum flash in an umbrella at 45 degrees and a reflector on the opposite site. I did a bit of softening on his body and added some glow to his hair in post so that his face is the most striking element in the shot. Exif data is 1/80 at F-7.0 ISO 400 at 75mm.

Portraits from the Plateau — Sylvain Grand’Maison

Marko Kulik — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 18:52:47 +0000

I took this shot for fellow friend, art director and podcaster Sylvain Grand’Maison about a month ago. Sylvain produces an extremely successful French podcast here in Quebec that features great podsafe music,Â great artists and does it all while drinking great beer and talking about social media and podcasting.

Sylvain Grand’Maison

Portrait from the Plateau — L’il Pigeon Feeder

Marko Kulik — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 16:03:07 +0000

This was a straight shot of a little girl feeding the pigeons on an overcast day. I actually shot this before I recorded my last podcast. Talk about a twofer (two for one) . No flash was used and about 5 minutes of post-processing was done on this one. I really like the intense concentration on the kid’s face. She’s on a mission. I also like the duck in the background looking at what’s goin’ on. I think the duck is envious of all those sweet cheerios! As always, when photographing children it’s best to get a parent’s permission, which I did. If you wanted to sell a shot like this, you’d need a model release.

Pigeon Kid

Portrait from the Plateau — L’il Pigeon Feeder

Marko Kulik — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 16:03:07 +0000

Pigeon Kid

Portrait from the Plateau — Julien Smith

Marko Kulik — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 17:16:28 +0000

I took this shot of my friend and fellow podcaster/social media expert Julien Smith a few weeks ago in Parc Lafontaine in Montreal. Julien needed some promo shots and so we talked about what he wanted and took a variety of shots in the ‘good light’. As I do with all my shoots, after giving the client what they request, I always try a few shots of what I think ‘works’ for their look and personality even though it might not be their first instinct. Although there were many excellent shots from this shoot, this shot is my fave of the lot. I like this shot because Julien’s pose is very casual and the pose in the setting which I scouted beforehand has a teacher/guru like feel, which for me is in keeping with how I see Julien.

Portrait of Julien Smith

On a technical note, Julien has wicked good eyes that reflect a lot of light so my fill flash was set to minus 3 stops lower than the ambient light. The ISO was 400 shot at F2.8 at 1/250.