A nice, easy morning shooting actor, DJ, music ambassador, realtor and great friend Craig Pady who needed some head shots for his real estate webpages. To help with getting that natural friendly smile, his 8 year old son Leo made funny noises and faces as we captured this expression.  Thanks Leo!

Soundtrack to this snowy morning was Chet Baker’s album CHET.

Well, after shooting about a dozen people for my alternative book thus far, I think I’ve finally found a name for the project.

I have been drawn to the arts from as far back as I can remember and I have always dabbled in music and poetry to compliment my passion for photography.  I play several instruments (clarinet, alto sax, baritone sax, piano, bass guitar, acoustic and electric guitar) and played in several bands dating back to the early nineties.  The image above is a cd I made several years ago.  I titled the band Red Sky and wrote all of the music and lyrics for this album.  It was probably the most rewarding (intrinsically) and stressful project that I have ever completed and looking back several years later, it gives me a great sense of pride and accomplishment.  I have very talented friends and musicians to thank for that.  Anyway, the lyrics I wrote for this cd came from some of the poetry I wrote while I was at university. Incidently, I shake my head at some of the stuff that I came up with.  Definitely alcohol infused.  I always found it easy to write depressing or moody pieces and looking at those lyrics, it definitely fits the alternative fine art photography project I am working on.  The title of the cd, alone…delicate…mad sums up the theme of the cd and definitely sums up the images.

So now what?  I will continue to shoot these types of images until I have a good selection and add a line from my lyrics (poetry) to best match the images.  Then a book and perhaps a showing if I get a good enough response.  We’ll see.

In the meantime I have blown up one of the images to 16×20 in a giclee print and the depths of the blacks are just awesome!  Definitely an inspiration as the print hangs in my loft to constantly motivate me to complete this project.  Until then, enjoy the updates.

First shoot of the year with Ivanka, an aspiring model and actor from Toronto.  Ivanka definitely demonstrated her energy and enthusiasm for the shoot, bringing a large selection of outfits along with make up and hair accessories.  Lots of great images on this night and the usual favourite five posted here.  Oh and yes the last one is for the book.

Thanks to Colette for her assistance and for driving back to the home studio to pick up the mini softbox that I forgot.  Although I probably could have used a reflector with a grid that I had at the studio, I figured it was important to keep the lighting consistent for my book.

Music for the shoot was Jamiroquai’s albums Rock Dust Light Star and A Funk Odyssey.