Shoot 14: Sarah Costa @ Granville Island

What: 2 hour fun shoot

Where: Granville Island Google Maps Location

Who: Sarah Costa

Why: Fun shots

Sarah and I headed on over to Granville Island, because my first shoot there didn't cover nearly enough of the area. This time I focused more on the entrance of the island, and the south portion near the creek. It was an awesome sunny day as you can tell in most of the shots. The sun was too high in the sky for me to have any fun with it (unless I wanted to take shots pointing straight up into the air) so I focused more on trying to find some interesting bounce lights. In some of the shots the color of the light filled the image with drastically different colors (even without post applied to them) and it was an interesting introduction to indirect lighting for me. As usual, I didn't know what I wanted until I saw it, but luckily Sarah is an awesome sport and let me play around while she stood there looking all cool like.

What did I learn?

Afternoon sun casts shadows on people and make them look like old wizards. Women don't necessarily like looking like old wizards.

Hair does interesting things in different lighting. Darkened hair looks rich & supple, lit hair looks crisp & dry.

Ruffles, unbuttoned shirts, and loose overcoats make people look frumpy. T-shirts henseforth will be the order of the day.

Sarah Costa's life is easy because she is ridiculously good looking.

Fun Fact: When I was three I went to Sarah's birthday party when she turned four and it was fucking awesome.

SUPER BONUS ANIMALS!

Vancity even makes our critters look good.

Randoms @ EXP Bar Event

What: 60 minute fun shoot

Where: VFS Cafe Location on Google Maps

Who: A whole buncha nerds

Why: Fun shots

I spent a few hours at the EXP gaming event hosted by the EXP bar brigade at the VFS cafe, a known location and an old stomping ground. The event was packed into such a small space and I forgot how dark and gloomy the cafe is. The area had to serve the use of multiple TVs, monitors and projectors, so the lights were necessarily lowered; which made my camera pretty much useless unless I planned on drowning the subjects out with my flash. I started locating and hanging around the natural sources of light, and that did not leave much space to play around with. I eventually found some focus lights I could play around with so I set up a makeshift portrait wall. I think the next EXP event will have this set up beforehand for students and couples.

What did I learn?

My camera cannot possibly take photos in low lights save for using the flash, which I do not want to do. I purchased a lens with a lower F stop, so now I stand a chance in most club/bar locations.
Taking candid shots are not nearly as fulfilling as taking controlled shots. That's just how it is.
Most people will stare awkwardly at cameras or try to hide their face. It pays to follow those people until they calm down, just to teach them a lesson.