Fabulous Fudgy

Wednesday was terrific and our photo studio was graced with Fudgy, a German shepherd-Labrador retriever cross. At 13 years old, she's getting on and displaying a little gray on her muzzle but she behaved like a playful puppy during her portrait session. She is an extremely intelligent and obedient dog but the background paper proved to be a little slippery for her and she preferred laying on it to sitting or standing.

Another perky puppy

Guss came in to have his portrait taken yesterday. He's another Shih Tzu cross (with a poodle) which seems to be a very popular choice of dog here in Victoria. Anyway, he's a beautiful, loving dog, loaded with personality and just wants to play all the time.

Fun times with a little fluffball

Saturday was a blast with Miley, a Shih Tzu-Bichon Frise. She was so sweet and loves everybody; this dog would totally go home with anybody. She's only a year old, still a baby, and by the end of the portrait session she was right tuckered out and in dire need of a nap.

Rodie

We had the pleasure of taking Rodie's portrait yesterday and he has the distinction of being the first dog that we have photographed in our studio. Rodie, a Labrador retriever/rottweiler cross, was really a joy to photograph. He looked so proud while posing for the camera and is extremely to Dean, his owner, who he could never bear to be more than a foot or two away from.

We're getting a facelift!

It's still too early to say exactly what we are going to look like after the procedure is completed but we're moving ahead and starting surgery. Nothing too drastic; a little nip here and a tuck or two there is all we require. We're just wanting to revitalize things a little.

With the separation of children and dog portraits from our corporate headshot and performer headshot photography, there will be a lot of changes over the coming days, weeks and months. The logos and the look of each have yet to be decided, new images will be created, new clients coming in for portraits, one brand new website will be launched and the other completely made over and the Victoria studio will receive a makeover.

-APJ

Devising Distinct Doggie Division

We're very excited to be launching a new branch to our studio called Studio 26 Photography. The new offshoot will feature Loren Greig as a primary photographer and we'll be photographing portraits of dogs for now and adding children later. Check out our new blog to stay up to date on all the news and events  at the studio.

A. Paul Jacobs Photography will still be specializing in headshots for corporate executives, actors, models and musicians. Both parts of the company will operate out of the same photo studio in downtown Victoria, though Studio 26 will be more prominent in the space.

-APJ

Another workshop down

We had a great couple of studio portrait workshops on the weekend. There were some amazing photographers in attendance and Kathleen was a terrific model that made it easy to create beautiful portraits.

Kathleen is an Victoria-based actor that we photographed headshots for in the past. She really saved our asses this time when our scheduled model got bowled over by the flu the night before the class.

Realtor or Supermodel?

We had big fun on Saturday during our session with Claudia Anghel. Claudia just got her license for a real estate agent and stepped into our photo studio for headshots. She was so at ease in front of the camera and a real joy to photograph.

New Blood

A couple of new bodies are now sharing our studio space and we're excited about the community that's starting to build. Many photographers are protective of what they are doing but we feel that there's more to be gained by engaging than holding everything close to your chest. We'd like to change that guarded, defensive attitude in the photography world because, really, everyone benefits when you help each other to improve and grow and learn.

Timothy Elliott of Sixth Sense Photography and Greg Haskett of Shuterjunkie Photography have both jumped on board this month and there's already new energy and creativity flowing through our place and through ourselves.

Timothy is currently the official photographer for the Canadian Pacific Ballet in Victoria, as well as shooting fashion and figure but is starting to find his niche in pin-up style fashion photography.

Greg has recently relocated to Victoria from Salt Spring Island and shoots children, fashion and figure studies but seems to be headed in more of a fine art direction.

Anyway, we're glad to have both of them around, breathing some new life into the studio and supporting and encouraging each other.

-APJ

New workshop dates announced

We're holding another round of the beginner studio lighting workshops on March 7th and 8th. This program is perfect for anyone that knows a bit about photography and wants an introduction  to studio portrait lighting.

The lovely and talented Jessica kickin' it...

We'll be covering proper metering, equipment operation and portrait techniques while using our studio gear. The class is limitied to four students and is very hands-on so that you actually learn-by-doing in a working studio space. The main focus will be creating a variety of portrait lighting set-ups using only a single light source.

-APJ

Back from WPPI 2009

We just returned from the WPPI 2009 convention in Las Vegas and it was amazing! There was so much information in each seminar. I just wrote madly and tried to absorb as much as I could -- I'll try to digest it all later, after I've had a little more rest. Mostly I'm exhausted from walking the hallway in the MGM Grand Convention Center everyday. I swear it was one of those hallways out of the horror movies that just keeps getting longer and longer and longer as you run down it. I'm not kidding.

I also got to meet Joe McNally while he was giving talks at the Nikon booth. I've admired Joe's work since forever and still have a copy of LIFE with his "Naked Power" series of Olympic athletes from 1996.

I rehearsed in my head exactly what to say, then went to shake his hand and started blabbering incoherently. I'm pretty sure I frightened him. 

Anyway, it was such an honour to have been in the presence of so many great photographers who freely shared their knowledge and tips to improve.  I must say, this was definitely the best convention I've attended. Ever. And I can't wait for next year's event.

-APJ