The last few days in Toronto have been sunny and hot and Simone continues to find places in the loft to cool down.  Her favourites are the kitchen table, under the bed on top of a shoebox and of course the polished concrete floor.  I was fiddling with my equipment and cleaning some lenses when I noticed a nice soft light from the sunrise coming through our window and spreading across the floor and onto Simone.  I snapped this shot slightly underexposing and continued to lie there for about ten minutes enjoying the coolness with Simone.

Richard Hawley’s album Lowedges eased us into the morning.  Man I love listening to this guy’s albums first thing in the morning with some coffee!

Last minute decision to take a day trip out to Niagara Falls on an awesome sunny and hot day.  There really wasn’t much to shoot at although it was probably me since the last few days I haven’t been too inspired to shoot.  I’m curious to know how you other photographers get out of a funk.  I have been reading a Diane Arbus biography for some inspiration but so far I am finding the book more depressing then anything else.  I’m also getting myself in a lens lust funk where all I can think about is purchasing some new equipment.  Anyway, it was a great day just to get out of the city and I ended up in the Butterfly Conservatory at The Falls and spent a sweaty 45 minutes snapping up some exotic butterflies.  I didn’t have the appropriate lens with me but I guess the important thing was to just shoot.

Soundtrack was Damien Rice’s album 9.

I had a small set up beside the runway for some quick candids of the models between fashion shows.  These were shot with just the Elinchrom beauty dish against a light blue/grey backdrop.  I know the designers will give me heck for converting the image to black and white but I really like the way these turned out.  I also added some vignetting in post.  These were my favourites not only because of the great outfits but because of the model’s expressions.  It was great to be able to capture a great look in only two frames per model.

Thanks to all the models who gave me three seconds at the end of the runway and for the eye contact.

Fabulous designers showcased their latest collections at the Clothing Show in the Better Living Centre, Toronto, Ontario.  I was privileged to be the official photographer for the event and had a blast shooting 9 fashion shows in two days.  For a complete listing of the designers visit www.theclothingshow.com. After shooting Friday night with no flash at the runway, I downloaded the images to my Macbook and discovered roughly 15% of  my images were ruined by other photographers flashes.  I really wish the organizers would demand no flash but I guess sometimes you just have to deal with it.  So what did I do?  The next day, I asked to put my Elinchrom beauty dish right at the end of the runway in the photographer’s pit area and surprise, I got the go ahead.  You can imagine how the other photographers felt.  I apologized (not sincerely of course) and was able to get some nice shots.  These were my favourites for the day. On a side note I prefer no flash for runway.

Thanks to Bonnie Meacham, producer of the Clothing Show for inviting me to be part of a great event and for putting on a great show.

Added thanks to Clayton for giving me the go ahead for the beauty dish.

Thanks also to Heather for making the show run smoothly and for helping me get the models to the photo booth between shows.

Special thanks to Orange Model Management.

Of course thanks to Colette for her assistance (one day we will get that back drop up and down smoothly).

Tech note: Friday night I was using my Sigma 70-200 2.8 while Colette used the Nikon 70-200 2.8VR.  After reviewing the images on the Macbook that night I don’t think I can use the Sigma lens again.  It definitely was not as sharp as the Nikon at 3.2 and 4.0 and I seemed to have several focus issues.  I used the Nikon on Saturday and noticed a focus advantage in speed and accuracy.  I usually use the Sigma lens in the studio at F8 and in a controlled environment so there are no issues.  I think its time to visit Vistek or Henrys for a serious upgrade!

Also got to love the Elinchrom RX600.  Used it all day on Saturday without a glitch.