a busy year in review...

wow. ok, so I suppose tomorrow is the end of the decade, eh? crazy. I guess it doesn't really feel any different than the end of any other year.

This really has been a busy year for me. Seems like just the other day I got my D300 and started shooting somewhat seriously, even though that was March of '08. I've shot so much stuff since then it's really hard to keep track of it all. A bunch of weddings with my pal Leah (please do check her blog, as there is some excellent stuff there!), a tonne of burlesque, and more bands than I could ever remember, live and otherwise. Oh yeah, and we did the calendar this year too!

Here are a few things that I shot over the past year that I don't think I've put on the ol' blog yet...

In no particular order:

Nik 7 Paronomasiac promos in my back alley...


Jenn in the office at home... it's nice having a model around whenever I need one to try out my (somewhat) silly ideas!


Makeup portfolio stuff for Karly P, who is now in London UK...


JZ with Misery Signals @ Starlite...


Lucky Lamour (who is also in the calendar, just sayin...) with Capital City Burlesque in December...


Portfolio stuff for Nyla Stormy...



And of course, a couple of my best pals got married, and I got to shoot it! Congrats to poppa and kimmy!


ok. that's all for now. see y'all next year. if this year was any indication, things are only going to get busier........

xoxo gravy

Hindsight... 20/20?

yeah... hindsight is 20/20... a pretty popular saying, one my dad used to use a lot (it seemed) when I was growing up... True in life, and as I was cloning out stupid hay from photos tonight, true in photography!

had I known, or not been so lazy, or even really thought about what I was doing, I would have taken the time to sweep the studio floor. hey, it would have taken me all of two minutes. oh well. lesson learned I suppose.

here's a good example. 10 mins of cloning could have been saved by two minutes of sweeping.

(click it to see it bigger)


shot some promos for good pals (and great band) The James T Kirks. Some of the outtakes are probably my favorites...

Used a simple light setup for these... B800 w/shoot through umbrella for key, 2 SB800's backlighting the guys (back corners for the bottom shot, directly behind for the top shot). worked well... about as well as the broom would've worked on the floor.

Anyway, if ever there was a message (for myself!) in a blog that I've written... I suppose it is "hindsight really is 20/20". So think about what you're doing before you do it. It will save you some time and energy in the long run.

bussssssssssssssssssyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy....

busy busy busy... I suppose it's that time of year though, right? I've got about ten minutes now before running out to do yet another photoshoot... then another tomorrow. then hopefully a break until at least after xmas. I've got a bunch of crap to show you, (all two of you haha, thank you both!) but it's going to have to wait.

until then, and I know this might be a little premature, but here's a little wallpaper for January. This is the image from the calendar, complete with a little extra design work from Jenn.



click and save.

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Out of Boredom...

I was bored tonight. Took my turn at photographing water drops. pretty boring stuff here folks. Took a bunch of tries to get the lighting where I wanted it, and then a bunch more to actually get the drops. Oh well. Here's one I edited because I thought it turned out kinda neat.


If you like it (like I do) and want to make it your desktop (like I did) then click one of the following links...

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On another, entirely more exciting and not boring note... we got the calendars back today, and they look pretty great! if you want one, make sure and let me know, and I can either get you one, or tell you where to go (to get one).

bye bye.

3 for 3...

Yeah, why not...Seems I've got the late night out-take ball rolling. A little less saturation on these, but hey, whatever. I like em...

First up, Ms. October, Lili DeVil


And Ms. February, Samantha Valentine

One of the more difficult shoots of the calendar! As much of a star Meiko the cat was, he was still a little on the fussy side when it came to sitting still. Can't say I blame the lil' guy. If I was shaved like a lion, I'd want to be out on the town too! For the actual Feb. image in the calendar, I went with a composite image of the best of both Samantha and Meiko. This one was lucky I guess, although dude looks like he's about to pounce!

again again!

Hey, I think we actually get the calendars tomorrow, so I figured, why not post another out-take...

here's Ms. June, Bella Bombshella


pretty much the same treatment as the last image, tweaked a lil' more... click on the image to view bigger why don't ya! I should mention that one of my flashes didn't go off on this shot... I like the lighting though. A little more dramatic than the other shots, but I still think it works. hmmm maybe I just just stick to one light from now on...

oh, hi blog...

it's been a while... sorry. I've been busy with the calendar, which is now done. Should have it in our hands on thursday. if you want one, be sure and let me know, and I'll tell you where to find one.

here's an outtake, that I did some messing with, courtesy of this here webpage. pretty nice lil' tutorial goin' on there. pretty much followed it step by step (oooh baby!) except the border part. I really dig stuff like this - the tutorial, not the vintage look, although I dig that too. I really appreciate the work that goes into something like that. so, for all of you people that actually put the time in to making a decent tutorial or blog or what-have-you... thanks!

Lucky Lamour - Ms. September!

Sneaksy Peaksy!

Shot a great client of the drum shop and his lovely lady the other day... Probably one of the most fun shoots I've done to date. Dan and Colleen are just so damn happy! They were willing to do everything I asked (hey, I'm not that demanding!) and the resulting shots turned out amazing.


Click and check it out large...


More coming soon... I'm about a quarter of the way through shooting the pin-up calendar Jenn and I are working on, and it's turning out pretty amazing. Really great models. Shot with a bike from After Dark customs... A little freaky shooting with a $65K bike, but hey...

Here's a lil' sneak peak of the bike... this shot doesn't really do it justice. oh well.

Home at last...

Nice to be back at home again after a 3 week tour with the guys. More so, it was really nice to have a real camera back in my hands again! I didn't bring it on the road this time, as time has told that I don't really use the slr when I'm gone. I still had the kodak and did lots of video shooting (check my youtube for proof of that if you haven't already) but I most definitely missed my D700 while I was away.

Oh well... didn't take me long after getting home to get back into the swing of things... I ended up shooting half of the Capital City Burlesque show the day after I got back. Only half, as I had a show with The Get Down the same night, which was conveniently located upstairs...

Here are a few that I dug of the 730 that I shot during the 45-ish minute set.

On the Road Again...

Yeah, here I am in Winnipeg, about to leave for Chicago... Getting sick again. I don't know what it is, but the last three times I've gone on tour, I've been sick within a day or two. Oh well...

Here are some photos I took the other day at the High On Fire/Converge/Mastodon/Dethklok show at the Shaw.

Pretty bad b/w conversions, as I just did them in Lightroom. Whatever.

This one is one of my favorite photos I've taken recently...


So is this...

Stay tuned for tour videos... The first one is ready for youtube, but we ain't got no internets in the van...

Corb Lund, and another wedding!

Another busy weekend... Assisted Leah in Hinton for another wedding, and then did a photobooth setup that evening for the reception. I was really surprised at how many good photo locations there were around that town. Despite the smell of the mill, it was actually really nice there.

Congratulations to Devon & George!


I also managed to weasel my way into the Corb show at Empress last night... a few from that:

Oh hai blog.

Been a while... not much to report in my neck o' the woods... Here's a few oldies, that I just got around to working on for Capital City Burlesque. This was the first shoot with the D700... I'm happy, although it needs to go into the shop I think. The shutter on it is extremely loud. I mean, it sounds really solid, but compared to another D700, it's about twice as loud. Not good. Oh well... these things happen I suppose.



I also shot another wedding with Leah a few weeks ago... my first wedding with (of course, I mention it again...) the D700. I gotta say, it was really nice to blast away on Aperture priority, Auto-ISO, and let the camera do the heavy lifting for me. Not having to worry about noise is amazing. I actually took quite a few less shots than I normally do, but with (in my opinion) a lot more keepers. These are just quick Lightroom edits. Anyway... enough blather from me...

Congrats to Chelsea & Shawn!

You can see a shot almost exactly like this one over at Jill Coursen's blog too... hey, I suppose great minds think alike! Or Jill is a copycat... haha!

I know this shot isn't all that great, (I mean, it's cute and all, but...) but I wanted to include it because of the couple in background. They were wandering by as were snapping photos, and then stopped to have a quick lil' makeout session on the sidewalk... haha! I suppose maybe they were inspired by the wedding or something... who knows, maybe I'll be shooting them sometime soon... awww. ain't that sweeeeet!

For some reason this shot bothers me... I know the composition is off (or at least I think it is) but I still like it...


This was shot at ISO 2800. Clean.

And here's a 100% crop just for funsies... no noise removal done. Like I said. Clean.

Hey Look!

A new blog!

yeah, I've neglected the ol' blog lately, but I've actually been really busy shooting shows and editing stuff for Vue, as well as editing shoots that I've done for myself... This will be the action packed "sums it all up in one blog" post...

ok... where do I start...

As I mentioned in the last blog, I did a shoot with Shoutset Willie's sis Sarah, and her lil' dude Ethan.... here's probably the cutest photo I've ever taken...

Apparently there is no rule about going UP the slides at Kinsmen Park... :)


Also shot a bunch of bands over the last week or so... Passenger Action's last show with Pud, Molten Lava, and Dream Theater. For the first two shots were with the D700 and 50mm f/1.8, which is a pretty great combo I gotta say. The last shot was done with the 700 and my 80-200 f/2.8. It's quite nice being able to shoot shows using what ever settings I like... Auto-ISO? sure, why not. The shot of Portnoy is at ISO 360.

Ok, then there was the shoot that I did two Sundays ago... Samantha Valentine... no real explanation needed... I did this shoot with the D700, Sigma 24-60 f/2.8 (which, for some reason doesn't like focusing so much on the D700...) with an ABR800 ringflash, and two SB800's... Last shot was done without the ringflash, with one SB800 bouncing into an umbrella, and one bouncing off the ceiling. fun stuff! Oh... go check out Samantha's website too...

This is what happens...

... when you sell your pal a lens... apparently...

still works though! who knew the nikon fisheye lenses were built like tanks...

(these photos taken with my camera phone... obv.)




More stuff coming down the pipe soon... I managed to get a D700 on Saturday, and I've already put close to 2K shots through it. Capital City Burlesque on Saturday, Samantha Valentine on Sunday, and Sarah and her wonderful (and extremely energetic) son Ethan on Monday! It was a busy weekend to say the least... stay tuned.