Where did summer go? - North Bay Photography

The past few months have been really crazy, which is great. Business is going really well, and I can't complain. What I'm most happy about is that on top of my usual web and design work, I've been getting a lot of photography jobs lately.  This welcome addition to the workload has been partly responsible for my lack of posts, and my lack of regular sleep.

A lot of this photography has been for the City of North Bay's Tourism and Economic Development departments. There have also been some athletics, coins, political figures, an author, and a wedding thrown in the mix... oh, and a pretty cool dentist too!

I could say, and show a lot about each of these, but there just isn't enough time in the day for that right now. Instead, I'll just say how happy I am to have the opportunity to work on such a wide variety of projects from one day to the next.

Here's a little sneak peek at some of shots I've taken over the past few months (click the image to open it in a new window, then click it again to enlarge)...

A little teaser...The House - North Bay Cinematography

Well, for those who might not have heard, The Lake won for Best Short at Film North International Film Festival last weekend.  That was pretty good news, and a nice way to end things with The Lake's festival run. I've posted more details about this film a few times before, but the last thing I'll say about it is a big thanks to Kevin Hoffman who did the editing, and submitted the short to a bunch of festivals a while back. If that hadn't happened, nobody would have heard of it, or heard of me for that matter.

Now that The Lake has run its cycle, it's time to start pushing the next project: The House.

The House is a short film I worked on earlier this summer, and it's just now starting to get submitted to festivals. I'll keep my fingers crossed that it does well over the next year or so. You can do the same if you'd like, but people might look at you and think you're a bit odd. I'm seeing a bit of a trend with the titles of the some projects I've worked on so far: The Gloaming. The Lake. The House. what's next? The Backyard, The Car, The Sky, The, The etc... Time to mix it up a little!

As usual, we had a pretty small group working on this short, and we actually shot most of it in a single day. Really we shot the whole short in one day, but there were a few things we weren't completely happy with, so we spent a few hours reshooting a scene a few days later.

Starring in the film are Jim & Claire Calarco, Danielle Baker, Abigail Calarco, and Lewis Hodgson.

Jim wrote, produced and directed the piece, I worked on cinematography and Kevin Hoffman handled art direction, sound, as well as the big task of editing the whole thing together. Heather Cairns-Hodgson lent her hand to wardrobe, as well as helping with just about anything we needed throughout the day (including holding an umbrella over me for a while so my camera wouldn't get soaked... Thank you!). And of course thank you to Nicole who puts up with me leaving for a day to get a shoot done.

I can't really say much more about it, but you can watch a little teaser of it below the poster.
Have a good weekend...

The Lake showing at Cinefest - North Bay Cinematography

Well, The Lake (one of our short films) is showing at Cinefest International Filmf Festival today. This is pretty cool, unfortunately I don't think anyone who was involved with the film will actually be there for the experience.  Most of the cast and crew have regular jobs they couldn't just duck out of to go to a festival, which is too bad.

In my case, it's pretty much the same. I have quite a full month with a lot of different contracts on the go, from websites to video work and photography. I just can't take another day away from the computer right now. It's a little disappointing, but in the end paying the bills and hopefully keeping the family fed for a while happens to be quite a bit heavier on the priority scale.

The lake will actually also be showing at Film North - 2010 Huntsville International Film Festival this weekend.  I'll be out in the wild doing a full day of shooting for the tourism industry, so I'll have to miss this festival too. On the plus side, writer and partner in crime Michael Humble will be making it to the event, and I'm sure he'll have a blast.

This weekend will pretty much mark the end of The Lake's festival shelf life. It has been around for a little while, and played here and there over the past year. One of the highlights was the Northern Ontario Music and Film Awards where a certain Patrick Gilbert (yay me!) and Ed Regan won for Best Cinematography. now it's time to move on and start pushing the next one.

We have had a pretty good run with The Lake, and I look forward to continued success with our recent, and future projects.

If you haven't seen it yet, why don't you take a few minutes to watch The Lake...

The Logo Showdown

A little while back I posted some food shots here which I took for Glenn Sheridan, leading up to the opening of his new restaurant. Since that time, I've also been working on a website for the restaurant (Le Bon Marché), as well as a logo.

Last week, the logos were narrowed down to three variations. Glen was having a hard time deciding between the three, and someone mentioned it would be fun to put it up on facebook where people could vote on their favorite. We all agreed that this was a good idea, so before too long, the images were up and the voting had begun.

It has been interesting to watch the voting, and to see people's comments. I didn't want to sway people in any way, so I haven't posted anything on the page, or responded to any of the suggestions with why certain imagery, colours or fonts styles were used. It's fun to see how close it has been between the two highest vote getters. They're both my creations, so I'm not rooting for one any more than the other, but I'm still anxious to see which one comes out on top.

Anyway, today is the last day for voting, so if you haven't already done so, go to Le Bon Marché's fan page and become a part of the decision...vote for your favorite!

Here's a look at the two top choices (don't vote here, go to the facebook page)...

Oliver Sherman

Hey folks, right now I'm in Toronto for a private cast and crew screening of Oliver Sherman, a feature film shot in the North Bay area last year which I did some work on. I have to say it's odd, and fun being in the company of several accomplished film makers. It's nice to have had some part (even a small part) in the making of the film, which will be premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival in a few days. I'm honored to be a part of it all, small or not.

My role was in the art department, and my contribution came in the design of things like beer labels, vodka labels, cigarette packs, a cheque, bus ticket, signs etc... I had fun working on these items during my short time on the film, and it was cool to see the stuff on the big screen. Of course, these are pretty much just little props and are mostly out of focus in a lot of the shots where they appear, but it was still pretty cool.

I have to share a shot of something I saw just outside of the theater where the premiere took place. It got my attention, so i figured i'd post it. Talk to ya later folks!





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