We were approached for a gig by a newish client last week, seemed straight forward enough.  Show up, light and shoot one musician for a promotional campaign for a clothing line.  Usually I pack according to what I’m shooting, but because of minimal info, I panicked, and brought the whole arsenal of location lighting with me.  Upon arrival, my crew was greeted by a gaggle of models, MUA, video-documentarian, style team and the direction of the shoot had mushroomed from a one-subject promo, to the whole dang clothing line.  Good thing we had extra lighting.

For most of the shoot, I used four Speedlites with various Honl Photo light modifiers, but brought out a fifth for effect and some fill when the client wheeled a motorcycle on set.  For most of the shoot I had two strobes doing main/fill combo for subjects, one rim/hairlight, and one blasting hard shadows accross the graffiti wall.

The whole experience was massively unexpected, but I haven’t had this much fun with mixed-light in a while.  Be prepared!  Gigs don’t always go as planned, but I will never complain about a small shoot turning into a big shoot.  Go with the flow, and don’t be afraid to push out of your comfort zone–you never know what you’re capable of creating–but always take the moment to update contracts to reflect the unexpected changes!

The rest of the session, plus info on the new line from Parispolice, will be available soon.

Thanks for checking out the shots!  More to come, as always.  All images © 2010 Alexander Vlad  |  Captivatethem.ca

I’m also starting to take out my Canon 7D a lot more for location work, instead of the venerable 5D’s.  It’s an amazing cold-weather camera, and I love that I can easily negotiate it, even with thick gloves on.

I’d only shot 45 frames before the speedlites finally gave out, as I was blasting 1/2 and full power to compete with the sun.  As it turned out, our will to brave the cold pooched around the same time as the batteries, so we retreated to the car.

All photographs © Alexander Vlad 2010 | Captivatethem.ca

It’s been a while since I’ve taken on fashion with a hand-held strobe, so the images had more motion and less clarity than I would usually like.  I think I was also under the influence of guitar thrashing as I seemed to have the whole “rock show” mindset about the gig.  The colourful ambience still draws my favour though, so I’ll share ‘em with the net!

The vibe at the show was amazing, with Hamid Rebel presiding over the party, rocking out on his electric guitar.  Hamid has started to become a constant, performing at several events I regularly shoot at, and crossing paths with a multi-talent like himself is always a great experience.

I’ll update with an image gallery when the video is complete.  Enjoy!

“Looks like you’re gonna have to wake him then…”

I can’t think of a better way to start the holiday season!  This gimp shoot was assembled for a promotional campaign for Cirque Noir.  Inspired by the very best of Montréal’s underground fetish parties, Cirque Noir is a 1920′s Berlin-themed event.

This epic party is being thrown at Mercury Lounge, 56, and The Collection in the Byward Market, Ottawa.  The locals out there realize the implications of this.  One buidling, three venues, four floors, all Cirque Noir.  It’s all going down on January 15th, 2010.

Our mischievious friends from Wellfedartist.ca will be providing bodypainting, and there will be a whole host of live performances, including some of the regions best DJ’s and the occasional dominatrix.  Beats will be supplied by Paulo Cardoso (Bomba, Onaversal), Jeff Lapratte, & Mercury Resident Lance Baptiste who is performing a special German Electro set.

It’s been a while since I’ve shot some really sinister shit with hard light.  The whole shoot went down on location at Mercury Lounge, and the models, Cindy and Patrick were energetic and so much fun to work with.  Big shout to Piotyr for playing the role of voice-activated light stand!  The official flyer and promo design is being done by Kid SL and Taktikal Design, so whatever he cranks out, it will impress.

You can find all the kinky info for the party on their facebook event listing.

All photographs ©2009 Alexander Vlad & cannot be used without permission.  We got whips and chains a’plenty.

Suit by Tristan, shirt by Armani, tie by Mexx.

Everyone should run over and check out Maxim’s excellent blog that documents his travels and adventures: Maxim’s Mind.  You should also check out his music, it’s a huge departure from convention and will bring you to simpler place and time.  Check Maxim Cossette on Myspace.

Here’s a preview of another multi-talented dude, Kemal.  We’ll be working with him on his musical and modelling projects in the future.  Stay tuned.

While my night consisted mainly most of playing assistant to Vlad and Alex Wolski – namely holding flashes, running back and forth from the car to the club for equipment and posing for light readings – I still had a blast. I guess it’s tough not to have a good time when you’re swimming through a crowd of models and beautiful women gathered at Lobby, Ottawa’s premiere VIP nightclub, for the unveiling of Bomba’s newest collection of luxury fashion. The show didn’t disappoint, as Bomba’s latest in a line of dresses and shirts, of course draped over a dozen sexy bodies, captured the attention of even the most detached bystander.

The three of us lapped it all up, and even managed to get a little work done. Vlad got a bunch of great shots, which we’ve posted for your viewing, and Wolski shot the fashion show and got some footage of the club scene that unfolded inside Lobby. I think he probably had a better night than either me or Vlad. It was priceless watching Wolski, camera in hand as always, mashed in between like 10 models, grinning ear to ear. Actually, come to think of it, I was grinning like a damn fool too. Hey, can you blame me? I’ve worked hundreds of assignments in exclusive environments, but have never been surrounded by so many models as I was on this night. Yeah, it was a damn good night. Anyways, that’s all I have to say about that (ala Forrest Gump) so check out the goods, watch the video, get jealous, whatever. We’ll be in touch soon. Take care.

RLR

Big Thanks: Bomba, Lobby and the models.

For all of the shots visit captivatethem.ca or click here