Vancouver Photographer » Portraiture

Make-up and hair preparation for the JCI shoot

Michael Lee — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 09:42:13 +0000

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.

Alysha in Yaletown and Gastown Vancouver

Michael Lee — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 10:39:55 +0000

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.

Portrait session with Seungyon

Michael Lee — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 17:27:54 +0000

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.

Justin and Chloe – Portraits, Queen Elizaben Park and Granville Island

Michael Lee — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:37:51 +0000

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

Michael Lee — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:10:09 +0000

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.