JAMES HODGINS PHOTOGRAPHY

I just finished photographing Sylvia Barnard (The President of Cambrian College)………….again, but this time we decided to go a different route than the previous images we captured.  Darla and the marketing team wanted to show a different side of Sylvia, one that the students could connect  with on a familiar level, sooooooooooooooo, out comes the motorcycle (Sylvia rides a classy BMW and has ridden  10000′s of kilometers).  Yes, even Presidents of Colleges can’t resist the pull of the open road on a motorcycle.  This was just 1 of several different sessions we photographed today, and to be honest with you, Sylvia is an extremely approachable woman, always smiling, and always listening (of course she does have some great stories from her motorcycling adventures).  Thanks again Darla, Sheri & Sylvia.  This was a FUN session!

Of course, what is a visit to Cambrian without getting your feet wet.

I wouldn’t want to drink this concoction as I am sure the side-effects would be something from the 70′s.

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Behind closed doors lies an internet world that not too many of us ever see.  What world is that?  The world of SERVERS.  Luckily for me I don’t really have to do anything with them (even though we own a few) especially now that we have a hosting company that has excellent customer service (something that is hard to find these days).  College Boreal on the otherhand have their own technicians to take care of everything that they have 99.9% uptime all the time.

Second year students of College Boreal’s Welding & Fabrication course get to play with some awesome equipment like the Plasma CNC Cutting table.  This machine is fast and precise and it’s also hands free (once the machine is programed for the project).  Able to cut anything from aluminum or steel in minutes this machine is an asset to the college program.  I wonder if they can make me a Steel James Hodgins Photography Logo.

While I was on my commercial shoot today a bunch of us where going through my phone looking at the various images I have uploaded to it.  We had a good laugh over my “Mining Maniac” image that I believe I took somewhere in Utah (It was somewhere in the States) years ago.    I remember finishing the actual image we needed for the project and while taking a break I asked “Miner Moe” to make a crazy face like he was playing an Xbox, because the controls he was using was controlling some heavy equipment, it reminded me of a video game.  Anyways, I think that was the birth of my first Hodgy Humor image.

Whenever I am shooting in a new City, Town, Village orTrailer Park, the first thing I do is scope out a place to get my morning coffee (when I was in my twenties, it was the Beer Store).  While I was in  Sioux Lookout on a commercial shoot, the pickings were rather slim as there are really on 2 places you could go to.  One was a Robin’s Donuts and the other was a Small Coffee Shop called “Roy Lane”.  First impressions are big in my books and I will admit Roy Lane looked sooooooooooo inviting.  Tables and chairs outside with people enjoying their beverages, clean store front complete with flowers, and an overall feeling of “come in, you know you want to.”  Robins Donuts? Not so much.

So the first day of shooting I heading over to Roy Lane for my first cup of RL coffee.  The staff was friendly, quick and polite  with smiles and let me not forget that the coffee was gooood.  I know I started out my day with the first right decision.  The second day I was greeted with the same staff and smiles but this time was also offered a conversation.  Sylvie asked “Ok, you can come in here once and get your coffee, but the second time you have talk.  Are you new here?  Working?  Just passing through?”   

We quickly discussed my reasons, background, length of stay and oh yes, the Fire Fighters Calendar  (which I photographed) that they had behind the counter that was obviously opened and closed many many many times.  That pretty well struck up the conversation with everyone in the shop, including owner/operator Nancy Roy.  What a delight it was meeting her.  I haven’t met too many people that will invite you out for supper (wings and beer) to hang out with them and their staff after only meeting them for 5 minutes, but that is what Roy Lane is all about.  Friendly Service & Friendly Staff.  We all hung out that night swapping stories about Sioux and Sudbury, photography, coffeee, the history of Roy Lane, family and friends.  Honestly, it was the highlight of my whole trip and spruced up an otherwise mundane commercial shoot.  I would like personally thank Nancy and the staff at Roy Lane coffee for creating the establishment you have worked so hard to obtain.  You are defiantly one for the books.

If you are ever in the area of Sioux Lookout, be sure to stop by www.roylane.com

To go the extra mile, I received this in the mail from Nancy.    A women after my own heart.
(This is the coolest coffee mug I have ever owned)

I get asked this all the time from photographers via email and facebook.   They want to know how I make my images “POP” in photoshop.  Well, I will let you in on a few little secrets.  It really has nothing to do with photoshop.  There, I said it.  So what is the big secret?  Lighting, composition and lens choice.  A lot of new photographers think that OCF (Off Camera Flash) is something relative new when photographing outdoors, but really it’s been around for longer than I have been alive.    It is the exact same thing as lighting inside your studio.  Nothing changed.  So why do I see a lot of photographers still not getting it right?  Getting your flash off camera is simple, but it’s not the only thing you need to do.  Placement of your lights is KEY, using different ratios of output is KEY, and placing your subjects in their environment so that they compliment it (not blend into it) is KEY.  Note:  Placing your lights at different angles to your subject will create shadow, shadow equals depth and dimension.  Take note of that, it’s very important.  Anyone can place their flash off camera beside the camera, yes it’s OCF but you really are not doing yourself any favors.  You want your subject to POP out of the image, away from the background, not blend in it.

This is unacceptable. My mom can do this.

I always try to light my subjects faces so that they have some dimension to them, I also like to rim-light them so that they are separated from the background (hair and clothing), and then I will try to light the background so that it is not distracting, but compliments my subject completing the image.

Take the time and “build” the image.

Lens choice is another big factor in having your subject pop out of the frame along with what Fstop you want to work with, but another easy trick is to just have your subject as far away from the background as possible.   When you bring all these elements into the “picture”  there is very little to do in post processing.  Like the above.  All I did was a little contrast boost, sharpen and some slite burning of the bottom of the image.  That’s it.