Month: August 2006

On my hard drive

whilst looking thru my hard drive i found some photos that i completely forgot about.

kinda like em.

they’re from a street shoot from a while ago.

i love seeing similarities and patterns on the street … or sidewalk. 😉

you can see the recycle bins are knocked over even on the next street.

this never happened to me, but it must suck having your shit up on an electricity wire.

… especially in a grimey alleyway.

and this next one’s dedicated to anyone who still uses film. 😉

that’s all for now!

H&K (hugs and kisses, if you didn’t know)

Unpublished moments from the street

There’s a lot of shit that I shoot …

There’s a lot of shit that I shoot that I like …

But never ends up making it on a site like deviantART where I post what I consider my best work.

And it’s a shame that some of the stuff I shoot that I like never gets seen beyond my camera and my eyes … maybe a few people, but usually just my camera and I.

So … in light of Mr. Weeks’ finally finished 160-fucking-page street article (which I might add is fucking boss) I decided to sift through some of my street photography shoots … and share the “diamonds in the dirt.” No … I don’t mean that these photos are fucking amazing. I think they’re good. But I only used the saying “diamonds in the dirt” because I can’t think of any other way to say “photographs that haven’t been seen by anyone yet” in a better way.

To break the ice, here’s one I took on June 22nd in my hometown that smells like Halifax, Toronto:

On a sidenote, but relatively similar topic, the article written by my main man Chris Weeks is fucking stellar.

So stellar, that I’m thinking of buying a fucking Leica.

I just started photography in mid-March of this year.

I’m 16 years old.

So I still have time to buy one … no rush. But I’ve definately been thinking since street photography is something I love to do … and most of the time I like to do it without people noticing me. Chris and I share the same taste in that sence, as do many other people. I’m shooting right now with a Nikon D70s and I used to use a Tamron XR DiII 18-200mm lens until I traded it in for the Nikkor 18-200mm a couple weeks ago and it really is kinda hard to shoot STREET with a big D-SLR like that. It works amazing for my concert photojournalism and commissioned shoots …

No doubt.

I fucking love my D70s and I really love my lens. Couldn’t ask for anything better … especially at my age and time shooting. I still have a lot of time to grow and learn.

But for street photography … I think I’d be better off with a little Leica and a prime …

We’ll see. 😉

Anyways … on with the photos!

This next one was also taken on June 22nd … same shoot.

I really like how “movie” this looks … back faced … suit … walking towards the sun in an everyday neighborhood … garbage can knocked over.

I dunno. I like it. You don’t have to though.

Speaking of movies and Hollywood — here’s the closest shot I have to a movie production set … kinda “Hollywood-like” I guess.

The guy in the middle was yelling … the guy on our left (possibly the movie bitch?) was confused and holding 2 coffees (that’s why) and the guy on the right was upset. I thought it captured something. But again, you don’t have to agree.

Taken on June 11th by the way.

I don’t shoot buildings … architecture … whatever.

But, this one time I did:

Whether you’re fixing a bandage on your foot:

Talking on your phone on a curb on a branch off of Queen Street W.:

Homeless and proud of it:

Or trying to get in to a shitty club:

…people are people.

Or they’re all targets for my next shot. 😉

I like photos of people in thought.

Or two parents arguing while their child is caught in the eye of the storm but still enjoying a ride on a swing.

Or two friends making photos of eachother, not giving a flying fuck about what people around them think.

That’s the sequel to this photograph.

See … that one got published, but this one didn’t. I like both.

But I think the other one is better.

I don’t shoot animals really either … But I don’t mind doing it.

That dog is fucking annoying by the way.

Thank God it’s not mine … it belongs to my Aunt.

Little Figaro is my cat though.

Love her.

I wonder how Raphael and Figaro would get along.

… but I don’t wanna give it a try cause I still want my Aunt to have her dog 😉

Figaro is fucking vicious.

I love photographing my Grandma:

She’s so connected with nature.

Dogs don’t bark at her.

Cats don’t shit on her furniture *ahem*Figaro*ahem*

Etc, etc.

Dunno what these two were talking about.

Dunno if they were friends … or perhaps something more.

Dunno why I like this photo, but I do.

Sometimes you don’t have to know why or who, or what, or where, or when.

You just know.

Know what I mean? 😉

This is a “whatever” photo.

I like their jaguar bags.

Was he homeless, or did he just have a tiring night?

Who the fuck knows? I don’t.

Kinda cliche, but I don’t care. I deserve my own cliche photos. 😉

Got a good one of my sister pissed off:

😉

Another rather cliche photo:

But again … I don’t really care, I like it.

I like my shadow.

I like the outfits and the different brands of shoes.

All with the same message.

An anxious daughter … trying to get attention from a tired mother.

And lastly …

A simple game of rock, paper, scissors.

Because life is nothing but a simple game. 😉

Sean-da Paul & Mimi

So last night I shot Sean and Mariah.

It was a fun night … kinda chaotic … but fun.

I really like some of Sean’s music … I think he’s got a really unique voice and just as unique a character.

Not too hot on Mariah though … she’s not bad, but she’s just “not my thing.”

It was the third “big” concert I’ve shot … first was Korn & Mudvayne and second was Depeche Mode.

Ya’ know … I’m so glad I decided that I wanna make photos in mid-March of 2006.

Yeah … I’m “new to the game” … but I’ve already done so much with my time. I don’t like waiting. And if I can do it … why the fuck should I, right?

So as I knew it, press was shooting from behind the mixer … bad news for me since I own an 18-200mm lens.

Called up my friend Tom since he’s got a shitload of photo-equipment and I borrowed a 70-300mm off of him … I took my 18-200mm just incase, though. Better safe than sorry.

And thank God I did.

Press could only shoot Mimi aka Mariah Carey from behind the mixer, but we were allowed to go in to the pit for Mr. Paul.

And by “we” I mean me, since I was the only photographer for Sean Paul.

Now imagine if I were shooting Sean from less than a foot away with a 70-300.

I wouldn’t have got one good fucking shot.

So again … THANK GOD that I took my 18-200.

Same shit as always … first three songs, no flash. What I didn’t expect was how fucking energetic Sean was.

Wow.

Dancing, air-humping (and lots of it), and running from one side of the stage to the next.

At least he made it a bit more challenging. 😉

He was probably tougher to shoot than Korn … and Korn moves a lot too.

I like this one, even if it’s not the “traditionally” best photo.

Another thing that surprised me aside from how energetic he was … was that he had a full band behind him.

Drums.

Guitars.

Bass.

Every-fucking-thing.

I thought it would be a DJ and him and some of his buddies.

… and some dancers as well.

Last night was filled with a lot of pleasant surprises.

So here are some of last night’s “traditionally” good photos.

Yeah, I can take those too. 😉

There’s the air-humping that I was talking about.

And … the dancing.

Not a bad dancer if I might add.

Here’s a nice little closeup for y’all:

I like this one for some reason.

This one looks like he’s saying “Okay, that’s enough.”

Obviously he wasn’t though.

This next one is probably my favorite photo of the night …

Again, not a “traditional” photo that would appear in a mag … but I like it.

I like the interaction in it …

And this next one is probably my best “traditionally” good photo of the night.

I really love it too … maybe my second favorite of the night:


So that was Sean-to-da Paul.

Very great singer and performer …

I can’t stop listening to “When You Gonna Give it Up to Me” or …”Give it All to Me” or whatever it’s called.

Great song.

So is “Like Glue” and he’s got many others.

Really became more of a fan of his after I shot him.

So after the first three songs, which went by much quicker than I had expected as well …

Kathy (my photo-guide) and I went back to the press table and instead of going to watch the rest of Sean’s show, I just stayed there and talked with her. It was very wicked and I’m glad I stayed!

I found out she lives across from my school.

“I live at Yonge & Eglinton”

“Really? That’s where I go to school.”

“Which school?”

“North Toronto”

“What street is that on?” [with a grin]

“Roehampton.”

[now with a bigger grin] “Oh my God, that’s my street!”

Small-fucking-world. 😉

The hour and some minutes of break passed by quickly and then the rest of the photographers showed up.

There was a really cool guy from CTV shooting video footage, as well as another very cool guy shooting for the Toronto Star, and Anita Zvonar from Chart Magazine.

We could only shoot the first two songs.

No flash (of course).

But the problem was it was from behind the mixer.

The guy from Toronto Star (sorry, I’m really bad with names) had a ginormous fucking lens.

Very cool guy too, we talked for a while as well.

Told me that you can sell your photo-pass on eBay and get CAD$50 for it.

He doesn’t do that though.

He likes keeping them.

So do I.

Much better than fucking CAD$50.

Anita, from Chart had a 70-105mm I think.

I was shooting with a 70-300.

But I also had my 18-200 in my bag so I told her if she wants she can use it.

She did, and made some good photos with it too!

Mimi didn’t come on for a while … but when she did the crowd fucking exploded.

She sold out the ACC … so fucking much infact that she’s coming back in about a week and a half again with Sean-to-da Paul to do another show.

I’m happy for them both.

I like this one of Mariah a lot.

Interesting with that guy on the light.

This next one is probably my favorite of the night from Mimi:

Twas a fun night.

Anita asked me if I would mind doing some assisting for her.

Of course I will.

Any-fucking-time.

I mean … I’ve been shooting since mid-March.

I’m “new” to this in a sence.

Even if I’ve shot some pretty cool people.

I’m so glad I got into photography.

One of the best decisions of my life.

Anyways, I hope you’re all doing well.

I hope someone finds joy in seeing these photos.

I sure did. 😉

Cheers.

UPDATE:

This has nothing to do with Sean-to-da Paul or Mimi, but a few minutes after I wrote this I saw a photo that I thought I’d share. Photo credit goes to my friend Megan.

Make of this what you will. Wish I knew who’s fucking idea it was to put that picture under that headline.

Ah well.

I thought it was funny … in a someone-is-so-fucking-stupid-it’s-scary kinda way.