The Head Shot

Business portraits, or head shots as they've macabrely know as, are a fairly new thing for me. Being in Whistler, commercial space is expensive and hard to come by, so I've always worked out of my house instead of a traditional photographers studio. About two years ago, we had a big fire, and as a result had to strip out all the drywall and floors. Since it was open, I took the opportunity to knock down a few walls and opened up a space just large enough to use as a photo studio.

While I've done a few tests, I hadn't actually had a paying client in here until this week when Nick Davies, a local lawyer, called me up and asked for some new photos for his web page. I've done shots of Nick in the past, but mostly in the Whistler business style, casual shirts, outside, maybe a set of skis in the shot. He's working a lot with Vancouver clients these days, and needed to look more a suite wearing, boardroom prowling, big city lawyer.

Tech Stuff:
I used three Alien Bee B1600 strobes. A key light with a 22" beauty dish to camera left, a kicker and hair light behind Nick with a extra small 12x16" softbox on it, and a background light against the wall on a short stand. The wall to camera right is painted bright white and makes a great fill source. The background wall is painted 18% grey. To get the tone, I took a Kodak grey card to Home Depot and got them to colour match it.

Camera: Nikon D700
Lens: Nikon AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8
Lighting: Alien Bee B1600 x 3

Jordi and Scott's Wedding at the top of Whistler Mountain

Jordi and Scott are from Hinton Alberta, and came out to Whistler with some friends for a quiet wedding on the top of Whistler Mountain. To top it off, we got one of the nicest days of the year.


The ride up on the Whistler gondola.


The ceremony, with a view that can't be beaten.


One of the things about working on mountain tops is that it's really bright, and I don't mean that figuratively. It's 1 to 1 1/2 (in non photo speak that twice to three times as much light) stops brighter than it is at the bottom of the mountain, which can give you real head aches for using fill flash to even out the shadows. If you were to use the standard camera sync speed of 1/320 (1/250 on most pro cameras), that would mean you'd need an f/stop of f/16, which means that everything in the frame is in focus. For this shot I wanted the background out of focus, but still needed some flash to fill in the harsh shadows. On the Nikon pro cameras, there's a high speed sync feature that lets you shoot up to 1/4000 second with the flash, which is what I did with this shot, and that brought my f/stop down to f/4.








While I love shooting on the mountain, it can be a harsh environment, and there's almost no shade or shelter from the sun. Just to get some better looking personal portraits, I asked Jordi and Scott to come out to my favourite location along the shores of Green Lake.


The hem of Jordi's wedding gown. It did a trip up and down Whistler in the dust, and I marched her all over the whistler Valley trail for extra photos.



Tech Stuff:
Camera: Nikon D700
Lenses: Nikon AF-S 17-35mm f/2.8, AF-S 28-70mm f/2.8, AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8
Flash: Nikon SB-900

Helene and Robert's Wedding at the Brew Creek Lodge

Helene and Robert are something unusual for me, a couple who actually live and work in the Whistler area. By far the majority of my clients are destination clients who come to Whistler to get married. They had a great, really laid back wedding at the Brew Creek Lodge, a great wedding location about 20 km's south of Whistler.


A spectacularly disheveled bathroom. I love shots of the mess that always seems to come with getting ready for a wedding.


The ladies helping Helene to get dressed.








It was a beautiful day for a wedding. I had a bit of a misstep when I tripped over a flower bed and went flying just before the ceremony. Thankfully, nobody caught it on video, so I didn't end up on a million viewed YouTube video. It was a pretty good joke for the guests for the rest of the day.


At the end of the ceremony, they released butterflies, which was something I hadn't seen before. It made for some nice photos.










Helene's niece, a really cute flower girl.





Tech Stuff:
Cameras: Nikon D700, Nikon D2x
Lenses: Nikon AF-S 17-35mm f/2.8, Nikon AF-S 28-70 f/2.8, Nikon AF-S 70-200mm f/2.8
Lighting: Mostly natural with fill from Nikon SB-900 flash

Marlene and Kyle's wedding at Nicklaus North, Whistler

Marlene and Kyle are from Evanson IL, which is close to Chicago. They came out to the Nicklaus North Golf Club here in Whistler for their wedding last week and really had a great time.






Marlene and her bride's maid got ready at the Fairmont Chateau Whistler, which is one of the top Whistler hotels.


We were all able to squeeze into an elevator.


The ladies in the Mallard Bar at the Fairmont Chateau Whistler.


Kyle and his father and brother just before the ceremony.


Giving away the bride.






Nicklaus North has one of the best patio's in Whistler, and it's a favourite location of mine for weddings.




What I have to put up with. The valley trail boardwalk is a great spot for bridal portraits, except for the almost constant bike traffic.








A great way to introduce the couple to start dinner.

Tech Stuff:
For most of my wedding photography, I keep it pretty minimalist. For a nice sunny day later in the afternoon, lots of extra flash just blows out the already beautiful looking light.

Cameras: Nikon D700 and D2x
Lenses: Nikon AF-S 17-35mm, AF-S 28-70mm, and AF-S 70-200mm. All f/2.8

Abby and Ben's wedding at Steeps Restaurant, Whistler Mountain

Abby and Ben are a nice couple who got married this last weekend at the top of Whistler Mountain at Steeps Restaurant. It was a beautiful evening to be on the mountain, and it made for a beautiful wedding.


Abby getting ready in the Roundhouse. Whistler closed off one of the women's washrooms for them to get ready in. Being in there always makes me feel a bit weird.


Veteran Whistler wedding co-ordinator and old friend of mine Linda Marshal fixes the flowers in Abby's hair.


Ben walks down the aisle on the sun deck at Steeps Restaurant.














Sunset on the mountain is incredible, with bright red colours. The last two photos are straight out of the camera, no colour filters applied.

Tech Stuff
Pretty simple really. D700 camera, and my three main lenses, the 17-35mm, 28-70mm, and 70-200mm. With the evening shots, I try not to use flash.