Thank you Mr McNally

I've never met the guy but in some ways he's like my photographic Messiah... yeah a little sacreligious I guess.

Was having one of those "HOLY COW I CAN"T TAKE A PICTURE TO SAVE MY LIFE!" moments today and it was if Joe knew it.

Read through his blog post today and came across this gem (which for anyone who follows Joe's weird, wonderful and wild photographic ramblings knows...he's got a lot of em):

"There are times I am so completely bereft of inspiration and ideas I say to myself, “I wonder what a really good photographer would do right now?” I’m not kidding, or being self effacing. There are some jobs I just feel like I’m standing there, the last human in a horror movie, and the zombies are closing in.

So you have to be confident, to be sure. (Or project confidence even while inside your head the insecurity meter has gone to DefCon Five.) But a healthy dose of anxiety and self doubt (”I’m using a 200–maybe I should go wide?”) are also important tools in your bag. Causes you to double check yourself and remember how fragile photographic success is, and while your last frame was Fat City the next one might be a ticket to Pismo Beach. The fact that you rarely have THE answer is a good one to remember. No need to focus on it to the point of paralysis. Just remember it. You are only as good as your last job. The next one may just eat your lunch and your soul."

It helps to know that a successful photographer who's been shooting for 30+ years still gets the same feeling that I have today.

So.

Ready, Set, Confidence, Shoot!

More soon...

For Anna & Adeeb

May your lives be full of love and happiness.

Kat

Baby Rylie

Testing Light Tests Friendships

Okay they don't really test friendships...well actually maybe after all the pics I'm posting of him, they might test the friendship, but I got together with my friend Mike to basically fool around with lighting and grip gear and shoot a pile of lighting tests. I had a Profoto 7a pack for the weekend and two heads (lighting heads that is) to play with and pooled that with Mike's Elinchromm Ranger and a whack of Pocketwizards. Did I mention that Mike is a griphead? Dude has more stands, booms, arms, and clamps than anyone I know (he doesn't have a Justin Clamp yet, so I have him beat there!).



So we filled a good chunk of one of the patios at his place with our assorted kits, cameras, lights and gear and just fired away. (I forgot to grab a shot of all the stuff lying out everywhere. It looked like a studio had thrown up on the patio).


Really we're not going for award winning cover shot material in anything, and we're not TOO worried about composition or "getting it right," it's basically just a time to exercise our photoing muscles and see what we come up with, or how to solve a problem.



Then the fun part comes when I take the pictures home and I get to test out different editing looks. Exhibit A: Mike's nice guy edit. Exhibit B: Mike's "Not With My Daughter You Don't" edit


If you're of the photography group who follows/reads this bog, try a deconstruct of this picture below. I'd like to see what everyone comes up with. Sorry no prizes or any added incenvtives, just some fun reverse engineering a shot.




This one took me a bit to figure out setup wise. Wanted to pick up some of the texture and the conture of the bench behind Mike. I'm fairly happy with it.



Of course, after a long session like that, you need some reward...nothing like some dinner, beer, and of course my Starbucks.

Anna and Adeeb's Wedding!

Anna and Adeeb's wedding day was pretty much the hottest, most humid summer day Toronto has had this year. At 12:30pm, when I arrived at the Old Mill Inn to take pictures of Anna and her girls getting ready, it was already too hot to move, which meant it was even hotter out when Adeeb, Anna and I went outside to do their portraits.


Anna looked gorgeous in her stunning red dress and it was so much fun hanging out with her and her girls while they got ready.









It was so good to see both a couple and a family that lived their faith, and loved each other. Thanks Anna and Adeeb for having me be part of your day! It brings me great joy to know both of you!

Partnership: Bella's Bon Bons

It is with a lot of excitement that I announce the partnership of Photography by Kat with Bella's Bon Bons.

A Brampton, ON based company offering trendy and ready-made bonbonnieres, scrumptious and intricately detailed edible goodies and gifts and accessories for every occasion.

Carolynn T. Gomez, the owner of Bella's Bon Bons, named the company after her daughter Ava Isabella and started it after she recognized a need to work from home, reduce the stress brought on by her job as the owner of DejaVu Events. Bella's Bon Bons allows her to combine her love for special events, her background and education in business management and her creative talents.

So how does this parternship benefit you?

Customer's of Photography by Kat qualify for a 10% discount on their orders with Carolynn and Bella's Bon Bons! Pretty yummy isn't it!?

Anna and Adeeb's Mehndi

On Friday night, I was honoured to photograph Anna & Adeeb's Mehndi ceremony in Mississauga, a ceremony that was full of time honoured traditions, wonderfully scented jasmine, delicious food, beautiful colours, deep-rooted faith, and loving family. The above picture is what I assumed happened at a Mehndi ceremony. A bunch of ladies having their hands and feet hennaed. Yup, definitely not, but I'll let the pictures do the talking.
















Adeeb's face glowed when he caught sight of Anna. In that moment, he was the happiest man on earth. It was difficult to not get caught up in the excitement and joy of this night!


One thing that I wish I could share with you is how intoxicating the jasmine were that Anna wore. Everywhere she went, the scent filled the room, and Anna was blown away that her groom's family had brought her real jasmine to wear.




This family is deeply religious. You could see that they lived their faith. It was visible in how they treated me, how they interacted with each other, how they spoke and how they conducted their day. I must admit that I'm ignorant to a lot of things outside of my Christian faith, but I enjoyed seeing how prayertime was incorporated with the evening's events.