Mel's Tea Party

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We recently caught up with Mel in Toronto's Music Garden with her Gloomy Bear, amazing dress & mini-hat and picnic basket that we found at the last minute on the street (full of really great colourful plates, cups & cutlery).

And what a perfect day to pull out the brand new 5D Mark II with a 50mm 1.4 for some golden hour goodness! (Scroll down a little further for some more fun with off-camera lighting composites and to see how the tea party ended!)

Chihiro Noda starring in "A Change of Plans"

Chihiro Noda

Update: Thank you to Ardean Peters for the fun behind the scenes coverage!

Maria is a wonderful makeup artist. Together we've been planning one particular idea for maybe two months now, maybe longer, but it involves a sunny day and a chaise lounge. We've already had to cancel it once because of rain. This time around it was looking promising until about an hour before we were supposed to start. Too late to cancel again, so...what do you do¿? Make lemonade and hope it at least stays dry.

Lux and Hani featuring Mid-Day Sun

Shot with my new (!!!) 5d Mark II (with 50mm f/1.4)
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This week's project was a little last minute at Toronto's Harbourfront Centre with Lux and Hani. I arrived not expecting to shoot in mid-day sun and...wound up shooting in it anyway. On top of that the different skin tones between the two models made for some very difficult conditions to shoot in.

Read on for some creative solutions....

Melodie of Movement

Hula Hoop! (Click any image to see it larger)

I mentioned in last week's post that the cheery blossoms were just in bloom - a little late this year. Nevertheless we took full advantage and met up with Melodie of Movement in Toronto's High Park. Last week I also promised some hula hooping goodness, so here it comes....

Workshop with Zack Arias!

See setup shot below

The CreativeLive workshop with Zack Arias last week was absolutely worth the 3-day commitment. We just had the chance to get out there and give some of it a try.

I've been scouting for a location for a project next weekend and came across the vacant lot you see above. I asked Cristy if she would come out and model with a prop. She chose the accordion - awesome choice....

Mixing Ambient & Artificial Light

Liddle Red Writing Hood

Update: for more on mixing ambient and artificial light, see this post and this post.

I wanted to experiment this week using my speedlights in late afternoon/early evening sun, but...realized that I really should have been out there a little earlier.... The sun looked like it was in the right place in the sky to give us another hour of light or so, but unfortunately at my chosen location it was already just sinking behind a row of houses.