Archive for the ‘Portraits’ Category
Make-up and hair preparation for the JCI shoot
Posted by Michael Lee in Portraits on March 3rd, 2010
Thought I would post up some of the behind the scenes photos from the JCI shoot I did in January. Here you can see the girls doing the make-up, hair, and wardrobe dressing. The make-up and hair took the longest but the job the girls did was fantastic! Parm Pandher did the make-up, Siobhan O’Brien the hair, and Sami Ward the wardrobe choices. Jenna Cunningham, the model, did a great job showcasing the students’ work. I also have to say Jenna did a great job modeling.
Evening shoot in Richmond
Posted by Michael Lee in Portraits on February 18th, 2010
Two weeks ago a friend of mine, Sam, asked if I could photograph a model for her and a friend who plan to get into make-up and nails. I said sure, no problem! And then she said it was the next evening! 
. Monday nights are for 24 and Heroes, lol. So after work I packed my gear together and headed down to her Richmond apartment with my buddy Wes. I was pretty tired already after work (as you’ll see in the video below once I get it uploaded) but that didn’t matter. They took a bit longer getting the model ready than we expected. It was suppose to be an in and out type thing but turned out to be a lot later. Thus I didn’t get as much time to shoot as I would’ve liked. I think we shot these off in 20 minutes all in one small room. The apartment complex had an clubhouse I really wanted to try but it was getting too late and we had work the next day and the model had class. We’ll have to try her clubhouse next time!
John Casablancas International BYOB
Posted by Michael Lee in Portraits on January 26th, 2010
Every couple of months John Casablancas International had a build your own book (BYOB) session where students from their make-up, hair, and fashion departments get together to put together four looks. They are pushed to achieve four looks (outfits) within a 7 hour time frame. The five best photos from each look are then picked and submitted to the school and String magazine for review. The set they like the most is then published in their monthly Vancouver fashion String magazine. It might seem easy but the make-up, hair, and clothing changes usually take anywhere from 1-1.5 hrs to complete leaving little time for photographing the subject.
The school invites local professional photographers in Vancouver to these sessions where they are placed with one of the groups for the day. We’re allowed to either photograph on location or inside their studio. For this shoot I brought with me a friend who I often photograph weddings with, Tom Wagner. Having shot many weddings with him and Three Sixty in the past made this session go smoothly as we’re use to thinking on the spot and using our natural environment to our advantage. Thanks to the Water Street Cafe for letting us use a table for 5 mins and Ray for letting us use his lights inside the studio.
So what happens when you combine the following:
- Vancouver portrait photographer (Michael Lee)
- Make-up artist (Parm Pandher)
- Hair stylist (Siobhan O’Brien)
- Fashion stylist (Sami Ward)
- Talented model (Jenna Cunningham)
You end up with (I would hope) a great set of photos that you’re proud of and that you can feel confident about showing to others. Check out the below 30 second clips of two looks we shot. Below that are some of the favorites from the day out of the four looks/outfits.
Alysha in Yaletown and Gastown Vancouver
Posted by Michael Lee in Portraits on January 5th, 2010
Alysha and her family has been good family friends for a long time. I remember when she and her brother were just lil tykes. She’ll be going out of province for her first university co-op experience and her mom wanted some portraits in Vancouver of the family. I gave her a call a week before she was about to leave and suggested that in addition to family portraits we do a set of photos in Yaletown and Gastown of just her. I had just about two hours to photograph Alysha including all the traveling. We spent about 30-40 mins just outside Urban Fare in Yaletown photographing the outdoor portraits. After freezing our butts off (ok it wasn’t that cold) I promised her we’d warm up inside and take a set indoors. We headed over to the new Woodwards apartment in Gastown where we spent the remainder of the time taking indoor shots. We produced a great set of photos given the time I had.
A word of advice for aspiring photographers, a good portrait photographer should be able to shoot in any location whether it be inside in a nice studio or out in the back alley.
Family Photography in West Vancouver
Posted by Michael Lee in Portraits on December 6th, 2009
I had the opportunity last week to photograph some outdoor family photos as well as indoor pictures of the Szeto family. We had originally planned to shoot during the morning but that didn’t pan out so we ended up shooting in the evening. It was pretty chilly outside (Vancouver in December = cold) so we decided to shoot the outdoor photos in the backyard. Their backyard is great for family and children photography. You can achieve different scenes with the different areas in the yard; outdoor forest look, vacation patio, beautiful brick staircase, separated lawn areas and a backyard bbq. For the indoor photos I had them sit on the family couch. In most cases the photos were shot with a two light setup and in some cases just one.
Portrait session with Seungyon
Posted by Michael Lee in Portraits on December 1st, 2009
Continuing where I left off with that impromptu session with Seungyon. These were shot in the district of Wudaokou in Beijing, China in an apartment complex. In the middle of the apartment complex, four towers surrounding a small terrace, we found an inviting park where children and seniors play and pass time. The day was overcast so it was perfect for these naturally lit photos. These are some of my favorite individual pictures from my time in China.
Impromptu portraits in Beijing
Posted by Michael Lee in Portraits on November 21st, 2009
Shot these impromptu photos of a friend while at a birthday party in Wudaokou district of Beijing, China. My friend had stepped out to take a breather and myself as well. Shot off a few in front of her while she wasn’t looking then she caught on and started to ham it up. Wasn’t hard to figure out that she liked being in front of the camera so we did another mini shoot which I’ll post pics of later.
This district is where Tsinghua University, Beijing University and Beijing Cultural and Language University are located. In addition to the local Chinese there are also many foreigners from abroad in this district; finding a cozy cafe or bar where locals speak English isn’t hard (if you can find these precious “hole-in-the-walls”). Often times students will hangout or study at them, nothing different from other countries. In fact, some of the cafes had the ambiance of ones I’ve visited in London and France. The subway stop is “Wudaokou”. When you get out of the stop you’ll be at the main intersection of the district. On the north west corner there’s a pizza hut as well as a nice bakery/cafe called “Tour Les Jours”. If you walk to the south west corner and continue south past the bookstore, you’ll find two cafes on the 2nd and 3rd floors of two buildings. These two cafe are common hangouts for students and foreigners.
Justin and Chloe – Portraits, Queen Elizaben Park and Granville Island
Posted by Michael Lee in Portraits on November 6th, 2009
Justin and Chloe are both good friends of mine, I’ve known both since our high school days. They’ve been dating for quite a while and Justin just loves being in front of the camera, more so than Chloe I think. They wanted some nice portraits done of them so I said sure. We did the first shoot in just over an hour at Queen Elizabeth Park in Vancouver.
Most people don’t like walking around so I made sure to work with what I had around me. You need to be considerate of your client and know what type of person they are. Some are more adventurous and don’t mind doing anything to get that perfect shot, for example running into water and getting soaked or lying down on a beach and getting all muddy. Justin and Chloe are clean freaks (don’t like grass for example) so I had to be mindful of this. I actually had them sit on one of my reflector covers for one of the below shots.
The other two photos were taken at Granville Island. I like how the background suggests a European atmosphere and the boat just adds to it. I had a great time photographing the two of them. They’re emotions for each other just radiate when you’re around them. I think the photos do a good job of capturing this as well.
Emily – Portraits in Vancouver and Burnaby
Posted by Michael Lee in Portraits on November 6th, 2009
Emily and I have been friends since university. We met in one of our communication classes but I can’t quite remember how. She was quite a chatterbox and me the same (once you get me talking). She can talk about random stuff and just keep going on, it’s great to just talk about anything with her. One of my school design classes involved creating magazine spreads and also photographing it. I had just the person in mind, Emily! Her outgoing personality and fashion sense made it a no brainer. The first few photos below are back from our university days. The one at the beach was taken in the past year. She’s also into photography! Sorry guys, she’s taken, lol.
I like the images below as they show how versatile she can be in her looks, and no she’s never taken modeling school.
