More Published Work in Vantage

December 28, 2010

I once again shot some images for Vantage Greater Toronto magazine, the GTMA’s semi-regular publication. Last time I shot for Vantage, my subject was Toronto mayor David Miller; the subjects for this Winter 2010 issue weren’t as high profile but still challenging to shoot.

Traveling light and working fast is the name of the game here, so I used Speedlights, small stands, and small umbrellas to get the job done quickly.

First up was Promation Engineering’s CEO, Mark Zimny:

Next up was Halton Regional Chair Gary Carr:

Mayor David Miller for Vantage

June 17, 2010

I recently had the opportunity to photograph Toronto’s mayor, David Miller, for Vantage magazine. Vantage is published by the Greater Toronto Marketing Alliance to promote foreign business investment in Toronto.

The perils of working for something so high-profile became immediately apparent as I met the mayor in his office. He was in the middle of an interview and I had about five minutes to snap some shots of him talking, answering questions. There would be no posed pictures, no setups. Just candid shots as I circled around the mayor and the interviewer, all while trying not to add any noise to her audio recording of the conversation. I failed miserably at this aspect, as a long, loud beeeeeeep emanated from the wireless flash after each exposure to indicate success. There was no time to switch if off, though — the mayor is a busy guy!

Mayor David Miller

Mayor David Miller

Wait a sec — that last photo looks kinda weird. They mirrored it! If you glance at the top right corner, you’ll notice the “Mayor Miller Way” street sign is completely backwards. A totally bizarre editorial decision. Why not just leave the photo as is? Or crop out the sign? Or Photoshop it away? So many options. For reference, here are both the original photos:

Mayor David Miller

Mayor David Miller

Publishing weirdness aside, I was only able to fire off about 20 decent shots during the time I had. I used my trusty Nikon 17-55mm f/2.8 lens for all the shots. For lighting, I had a Nikon SB-900 mounted on the hot-shoe of my D300S, pointed up for a little ceiling bounce. On a small tripod to the mayor’s right was a Nikon SB-800 with a LumiQuest Pocket Bounce, fired with Nikon’s wireless CLS technology.

La Lohan

January 28, 2009

Lindsay Lohan in February 2009 issue of Interview. Photographed by Mert Atlas and Marcus Piggott.

This is the most Warhol-esque thing that Interview has put on their cover in years. I’m in love.

Click above to see more photos of Lohan by Mert and Marcus on the Interview site. The issue also features gorgeous black and white images of Lily Allen by Angelo Pennetta, and a fashion spread by the photographer everyone loves to hate, Terry Richardson.

I buy Interview occasionally for the photography, not the words. But their recent switch to a more classic black and white style with serif-font in the magazine looks amazing, and they’ve mirrored it on the website too. I love synergy.

Magazines are a dying art, but I hope this one lives long enough for me to get a few photos published in it… a boy can dream…