Shooting in the Capital Episode 2: Two Great Shoots, Love This City, Keeping Photography Simple

Hey All,

Sorry for the delay in this blog entry, things have been getting really busy - and even though I pretty much touched base on this very topic in the last blog - determination and professionalism keeps me working at this in a positive light.

The day before I left to return home, I had set up two shoots with some models.  One was a young and talented newcomer named Anna Chernykh, Anna was a natural and a joy to shoot, she's shown below:

My second model was Sarah Foley,  Sarah was great to shoot with, she had terrific energy and new what the camera liked.  See her images below.

I totally loved Ottawa, it is truly a great city to visit and live in.  There is a wide variety of culture, knowledge and people there from all over the world and it all comes together in a unified way.

Just as a sidenote, my flight back was great, white clouds, sunshine.  That is, until we landed, there was a windstorm at home and I could literally feel the plane slide sideways in the air as we were landiing.

I'm planning a new photography clinic next month, and I am taking a very different approach to it than my past clinics.  Simplification.  That is key in teaching anything.  So NO LCD tv screen with visuals - all visuals will be hands-on tools.  Experience with equipment will cement the information in these classes. 

Below is the ad I created for the class, I hope you can attend.

That's all for today, chat you later on the busy projects coming this month!

Michael Carty
www.wix.com/michaelcarty/photography

Shooting in the Capital Episode 1: Planes Falling, Great City, American Embassy

It was a pleasant drive in the new EDGE.  The sun was shining, the tunes were playing, I had everything I needed for this almost 1200 km trip to the capital of my beloved Canada.

After stopping to a few places along the way, buying books and having a bite to eat, we finally made our way to the airport to complete my check-in.  My mothers boyfriend Terry helped me with my bags and the nicest receptionist at the desk informed me of the precautions taken in case my luggage didn't arrive at the same destination as I.  She then assured me with the utmost seriousness that that situation would NOT happen.  Believing now that if my baggage were to get on the wrong plane, that this lady of aeronautical authority would fly them back to me safe and sound - even if it meant she would flap her own arms to do it - Terry, my mother and my wife settled down in the airport pub for a last minute bite to eat.

The tomato bisque was DELICIOUS, seriously it was.  The giant slice of cheesecake with drizzled chocolate syrup on it was even better.

Anywho, after all that good stuff, I grabbed my carry-ons, said goodbye to mom and Terry, kissed my wife(I got a little misty here) and started towards the gate.  Security was very thorough and professional, and yet they were also very friendly - which was nice.  The plane was a little cramped, but the service was excellent.  Our craft rolled speedily down the runway and took flight, reaching speeds of over 600kms/hour.  It was a great view, and I would've said that it was an excellent flight, except for the turbulence.

Now turbulence isn't anyones fault.  It happens and you have to deal.  I haven't been on a plane since i was 15 years old, and since this was my 31st birthday it had been a while.  It would've been okay if we only hit one pocket, but we hit 5 consecutive pockets of turbulence spread out evenly over the entire 1.5 hour flight.  NOT FUN.  Let me just say that there are different degrees of turbulence.  Little bumps.  Big, jarring bangs.  Sudden drops of 200ft before you slam into a high pressure system below.  Luckily - and I use this term loosely - I was somewhere between the first two.  I would describe some of it as hydroplaning a car, the back end swinging out a bit to the side and then righting yourself again.  Still:  NOT FUN.

Needless to say, I was white-knuckling my tray, sweating profusely, thinking of my wife and unborn child that I so foolishly left behind, and reflexively starting to make a deal with ANYBODY who would make the plane stop bouncing, before cutting myself short because I would realize that I would never come through with my end of the deal.  After chatting with Tom, my flight-mate in the seat next to me(he's a veteran flyer who has often seen those 200ft drops in elevation and shrugged them off), I survived the trip without snapping and sending the entire group of passengers in to hysteria(thx again Tom!).  I arrived just before 8pm(7pm Eastern), kissed terra firma like a lost lover and continued on to the baggage claim.

**SIDE NOTE**
You know when the flight attendant thanks you for flying with them and tells you to watch your head as you disboard?  Well it's good to listen to the "watch your head" part because I almost got a concussion trying to hurry out of there.

I was tired but excited to be here, Ottawa; the Washington of Canada and the home of most of Karsh's work.  I was already impressed before I arrived.  Most of you probably don't know that it has the second highest quality of living of any city in the Americas and is the third cleanest city in the world.  I can tell you that the facts are true.  Out being the tourist today, I commented on how clean it seemed, even the air seemed extremely clear for what you would expect from a major city.  It feels safe too, safer than any city that I have been in, and after some stat checking - I found out that it IS.

The culture is incredible, the food is a explosion of flavor and the people are diverse and yet cohesive.

My uncle's picked me up and we drove to their incredibly fantastic home where my Uncle Gerry fed me gin and tonics until I went to bed(bless his heart, he makes the best gin and tonics).

As I mentioned earlier, I did the tourist thing and below you will find a few of the shots I took, of course there will be the generic shots of the hill, but I tell you they are incredible feats of architecture.  Tomorrow we are off for some more shooting, I got close to the impressive and depressing American embassy.  I have to say, it is the ugliest building that I have ever seen - it looks like a prison, seriously.  If you don't believe me I promise to get a good shot of it tomorrow.  From what I hear, the paranoia is so great that if I went to the front door to snap a shot, security would probably detain me after smashing my camera to bits.

That's all I have for now, time to go eat some lemon pie and drink some wine, later folks!!

Below: The Prime Ministers office is on the third floor

Below:  Canada Revenue - Boo!

Below: An eight-legged freak attacked the city

Below: Oh jeez, it doesn't like its picture taken!!

Your Art And Your Health

Now I'm not sure if this is something that a lot of people in the business talk about, but I have noticed - from a handful of photographers at least - that exercise or at least keeping an active lifestyle can mean the world to them.

There are a few reasons for this, the obvious being that you are healthier, you have more energy, positivity and - believe it or not - creativity.  I personally try to stay as active as I can, not only is it good for me but I actually like keeping busy.  I do occasionally hit those walls, days that I just don't feel like doing anything, but the least that I can do is run.  Running is freedom, easy and challenging, requires no equipment(unless you count running shoes), can be done with others or alone, is meditative and is self-competitive.  When I say self-competitive, what I mean is that you can completely compete with yourself, with what you've ran before, for time, distance, whatever.

Now what the hell does this have to do with photography or any other type of art?  Well, let's think about this for a second.  I'm healthier and happier, which are definately big pluses when dealing with clients, models, assistants and people in general.  What about your family?  Do you have children?  Do you find that if you are happy at home you will be happier at work - and vice verca?  Say you are an action photographer, would it be easier to hike up a mountainside or through brush if you were fit instead of flab?  The answer is a big, emphatic YES.

Also, leading neurobiologists agree that the added bloodflow from cardio exercise, in addition to specific chemicals released(and others whose levels are decreased) increases brain function, which can help us be more productive, less prone to mistakes which saves time, and allows us as artists to better create images of higher quality.

Let's face it, we spend hours behind the lens of our cameras, or putting make-up and doing hair for models, or even sitting getting these things done as models.  We also spend hours reading up on the latest technologies, techniques, styles, etc etc etc.  Photographers(unless they hire photowizards) also spend hours on their computers, transferring files, backing them up, processing and posting images.  We all also spend hours updating, texting, messaging, emailing, networking, posting, blogging, tweeting and a thousand other things in front of a computer screen.  So if we spend so much time on all of these things, I would say that setting aside some time for our health is crucial not only to ourselves and our well being, but our business, its growth, and our families and our futures with them.

I want to know what you do to keep active.  Do you run?  Lift?  Greeko-Roman wrestling?  Do you do nothing and disagree with my opinion?  I WANT TO HEAR IT!!

Last week I promised images, well I do have images, but you will have to check them out on the link below:

www.wix.com/michaelcarty/photography

This is my new(and favourite) website, I love it, it rocks, it is so easy to control and change.  I hope you like it and send me a message sometime to tell me what you think of it or if you would like to work together.

Later players