Halloweeeeeeeeeeeen :)

Busy busy bee, working away on many fall photo shoots. Photos edit, Photos edit, Photos edit, Photos edit ... that's what I am up to these days. Very soon I will be posting some of the fabulous images captured over the last month. In the meantime, I wanted to inform you that you can find me this Friday at the Great Pumpkin Charity Ball!, a Halloween Costume Party in support of the Canadian Cancer Society and the Canadian Association for Disabled Skiing.



Tickets are still available at Malabar's and Audrey's. There is a live band AND DJs/dancing throughout the night and there are TONS of door prizes to be won (see the facebook page for an UNBELIEVEABLE list of prizes). 8pm to 2am at St. Brigid's Castle in the Byward Market ( Cumberland at St. Patrick ). I will be one of the staff photographers, so if you see me, SMILE and you'll find your smug mug on the Great Pumpkin Charity Ball website/facebook page after the event.

I am a HUGE halloween enthusiast, as a child I went trick or treating for as many years as I could get away with it, I just love dressing up (and the free candy didn't hurt). Nowadays I live vicariously through my fur babies, my Misty has been a greyhound bus and last year she went as a racing greyhound. (complete with jockey of course)



Just wait and see what my horse Ransom is going to be this year ;)

How photoshop saved the day!!

Over the years I have been able to see first hand how effective and critical a tool photoshop can be. Now, that is not to say that I try to make up for poor photography habits with a whole bunch of post-processing. I try really hard to have a good eye on site to spot potential items that will later have to be removed digitally, and of course I know the technical aspects of lighting/composing a shot in camera. However photoshop can certainly help, to enhance or correct images where certain factors just couldn't be avoided.

Here are 4 stories of triumph! [use the slider over each image to see the before and after edits]

First ... a creative that never really .. popped! This was a project I set up many years ago that involved quite a lot of effort and collaboration to set up, but the final product , well , left a lot to be desired. The makeup application was a little boring and the model had facial piercings which I thought would add to the look but then later decided it detracted.

For this equine portrait, the dad was enlisted to help still a fidgety horse, as a safety precaution. It saved me from having a shot of a frisky pony dumping it's 2 riders but it also sort of ruined what otherwise would have been a lovely image.

This shot is an example of HDR , which isn't available in-camera on my Canon 50D. I decided to try it out in post-processing to see what sort of look I would achieve. These sorts of adjustments are very much analogous to what we would do in the old days when selecting a film to use, choosing the processing method, and perhaps making and developing the print. For these sorts of adjustments, Photoshop is a thoroughly legitimate choice.

Finally this large family portrait grouping didn't work for me as the dad and his wee daughter were just too far outside to my liking. So I digitally shuffled them closer to the group, removed a distracting pair of sunglasses from grand-dad and then adjusted lighting and noise.

Panning ... aka hand-galloping your way into my ❤

For those who don't know about panning, here is wikipedia's explanation: "refers to the rotation in a horizontal plane of a still camera" . "In still photography, the panning technique is used to suggest fast motion, and bring out the subject from other elements in the frame. In photographic pictures it is usually noted by a foreground subject in action appearing still (i.e. a runner frozen in mid-stride) while the background is streaked and/or skewed in the apparently opposite direction of the subject's travel." lol complicated much?

Ok what I wanted was to capture the speed of a horse hand-galloping across a field. Just so happens I had many to choose from as the riders at Stubbe Horse Farm were out enjoying a late summer day and they were happy to oblige me by going back and forth at break-neck speeds until I got the shot I wanted! I believe my best exposure had a setting of f/8 , 1/40s , ISO 100, lens:70-200mm 2.8@200mm... And here are the very fun results:

Reasons to hire a photographer for your family portrait

A few reasons to think about when deciding whether you will book with aCubed for your family portraits:

1) You will capture your family as they are TODAY. Won't it be a great keepsake to look back wistfully on that day when your little girl was riding that adorable little pony, now that she's riding the 17HH mare and launching herself over 4ft jumps?! Tomorrow will bring change, highschool or university / changing faces / changing horses ... it's amazing how fast time flies!

2) You will have a family portrait as a fantastic Christmas gift to send to Grandma in Saskatoon and cousin James in Halifax! It can seem expensive but many photographers, aCUBED included, have promotions on and/or packages to fit every budget. A professional photographer will be worth the investment and a photo session can actually be a more cost effective choice than trying to buy gifts for the whole family, especially when you think about aCUBED's really inexpensive print pricing.

3) It will be FUN! When was the last time you had your portraits done? When was the last time you got dressed up as a family and went out to do something really entertaining together. aCUBED is FUN to work with and you will go away smiling. Just ask any of our other clients ....

4) It's beautiful outside! As I am writing this it's early October and here in Ontario Canada the leaves are starting to change colour but the grass is still green and lush. I couldn't manufacture a more lovely backdrop. The colors of nature are the perfect outdoor studio. But no matter the season you will find gorgeous locations all over this region. Winter is a unique time of year to get portraits done and the cool white light will frame your family perfectly. Summer pictures are relaxed and the kids can go barefoot and the girls can wear their airy summer dresses. Any location where you feel relaxed, that showcases your family, that says something about you(!) is the perfect spot!

And don't forget about aCUBED's fall promotion, 50% off packages. Time is short, before long the trees will be bare and the grass will be brown! So book now and preserve your family's memories.

Beauty and her Beastie | Ottawa Equine Photography

What a busy time for aCubed! So thrilled to be chosen as portrait photographer to so many Ottawa families. My special pleasure of course, to be booking so many equine-rider portraits. My favorite things : photography and horses! The latest rush of course is due to the onset of the beautiful fall colors and the fast approaching deadline of leaf-less trees and brown grass! And what a beautiful time of year, the leaves are starting to change to their gorgeous Autumn hues and my riders are leaving their shorts and tank tops behind for jeans and cozy flannel shirts and fabulous tall boots. I should be a fashion photographer with all these great looking young ladies modeling for me!

Last weekend aCubed was out at Stubbe Horse Farm with a lovely young lady and the beautiful horse Dee. We spent a few hours wandering around the property , there were too many perfect backdrops to choose from and my assistant and I took advantage of many of them. And of course we jumped at the chance to get just a few with our model and her beautiful sister too. I am blessed!