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Content Credits Editor Mario-Pierre Gaudreau Pictures Mario-Pierre Gaudreau, Kimberly-Mai Therrien, Philippe Caetano, Shawn Harquail, Jason Lorette
CONTENT Editor’s Desk Cropbury: The Importance of Make Up Featured Model: Tarra-Lynn Bertram An Engaging Expo! Featured Photographer: Shawn Harquail Photography Tips and Tricks: Mind your background
Cover image: Shawn Harquail Cover Insert: Shawn Harquail 2
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Editor’s Desk Season’s Greetings! Well this is the last issue of 2015 and we’ve come a long way already. Four issues in and what started out as a monthly newsletter for our non-profit organization FSpot has turned into a full fledge webzine thanks to the overwhelming support from the photographic arts community. We are absolutely thrilled about it and looking forwards to great things in 2016! So many people wanted to get involved from the get go but the plan was to keep the zine short but we will
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be expanding and covering more areas of visuals arts. We will keep the focus primarily on local talent as well, featuring photographers and artist from the Atlantic Provinces in each of our issues but all Canadian artists are welcome to submit their work. One change that is coming is that we will have more coverage on more contemporary art events in the region, which had been the primary goal from the start. We want to bridge the gap between artists and communities in order to help artists and communities
know of each other, work together and to grow as a whole. This is an FSpot initiative but it is in no way bias. We welcome anyone who is interested in being featured in our zine to contact us, no matter how big or small the institution, and no matter how famous and how many exhibits you’ve participated in, everyone will get a fair chance. And if you hosting or even hear of an event, do let us and chances are, we will be there to cover it.
tographers for the new expansion. We are looking for people who love to get out there and meet people and try new things. We also certainly look forwards to hearing from all you, you can contact me with applications, thoughts, corrections and ideas at mario. gaudreau@gmail.com
We will also be looking for new writers and pho-
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Cropbury
The importance of Make-Up
by Hillary Leblanc
As a model and a cosmetician, make up is something I find integral to my day-to-day life. Be it to wear to school, work, or a photo shoot, I always have make up in mind. The importance of make up in a photo or to a photographer might not always be the first thing thought of. There’s the setting, mood, clothing, hair styling and theme to worry about before someone thinks of make up, however, the importance make up has in a shoot is heavy and easily mastered. Make up can make or break a shoot. It can transform someone from natural, to punk, to glam. Simple product application can turn one person into an entirely new one for the sake of a shoot, but even less-drastic looks can
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benefit from some coverage. Photographers can spend less time editing if some basic make up is added. Every model – male or female should have a powder and concealer. Concealer can cover any pimple, scar or other minor imperfection. Powder can even out tone, fix blotchiness and helps fix shine under strongly lit shoots. For girls, a simple stroke of mascara, eyeliner and lipstick can transform your shoot from bare-natural to natural. A little make up isn’t meant to make a person look fake, it’s meant to enhance. To illustrate my point I asked model and friend Taydra to let me apply makeup to her and be photographed to see the subtle differences. In comparing her bare
face to the final product you can see that a small amount of make up can transform someone’s look. The more drastic the make up depends on the type of shoot, but for this experiment I just wanted to show how the bare necessities of make up can change someone’s complexion. Finally, I’d say it’s important for a photographer to keep all of this in mind when doing a shoot. It will save editing time and make the shoot much more cohesive if the look is brought together by dramatic eye shadow, nude lipstick or crazy eyeliner. Make up helps the skin but it’s one of the most fun creative tools that can be brought to a shoot and should be taken full advantage of.
Cropbury - A Fashion, beauty and lifestyle blog can be found at: http://cropbury.blogspot.ca/
Model: Taydra Riley Photographer: Mario-Pierre Gaudreau Make Up and Hair: Model
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Featured Model
Terra Lynn Bertram Photography by Jason Loretteerre Gaudre Written by Mario-Pierre Gaudreau Up
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Terra is an absolute beauty with a versatile personality in front of the camera. I met Terra more than a year ago and we’ve worked together quite a few times. We’ve shot together for ACTMA, CMTC and more recently during the Miss Maritimes Pageant which she won the title of Miss Teen New Brunswick International. We had discussed having her featured in this Season’s issue over a year ago, well before earning her title and I’m really glad we did. I also knew early on that I wanted Jason Lorette to shoot these images. Jason has the uncanny ability to highlight a model’s features like none other. To say he has a great eye is an understatement. As technically and artistically sound has he is Jason still shoots from the heart. Together they’ve created these images which I hope you will enjoy. Terra Lynn’s miss teen NB facebook page at: www.facebook.com/TBmissteenNB Jason Lorette’s website: www.refrainphotography.com
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Artist: Talya
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Photographer: Mario Gaudreau Make Up Artist: Talya Morgan 10
Photographer: Mario Gaudreau Make Up Artist: Stephanie Carson
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Photographer: Mario Gaudreau Make up artist: Model 12
Photographer: Mario Gaudreau Make Up Artist: Model
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An Engaging Expo! Text and Pictures by Mary Susanna Withers Lawton
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edding Shows have certainly changed in the past 20 years. Maybe I am showing my age…. But as the saying goes “back in my day”, a Wedding Show was just basically a Bridal Fashion Show put on by a Bridal Gown Shop or Boutique. There was none of this hubbub of wedding planners, photogWraphers, cake decorators, etc….Now the Wedding shows have become an industry of their own. But how much time, effort and money does it take to put on a display at a Bridal show…. And is it worth it? On Friday, Sept 18/15, I attended
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the “Engaged- Bridal Expo” in Saint John, with Normand Hector of NWH Modelling and got a sneak peek at what goes on behind the stage. I also met with Monte Durham from “Say Yes to the Dress- Atlanta”. I spoke to some of the vendors as well to get a little understanding of the ins and outs of a Bridal Expo. Normand Hector has been around the Wedding business for some time now. In fact I personally bought my wedding dress from him many many moons ago after attending a bridal show. Since then he has gone from shop owner
to modelling group owner and has the busy responsibility of coordinating models and dresses and keeping the whole fashion show aspect of the Expo running smoothly…. A small feat in itself. I also spoke to a wedding photographer while I was milling about. I asked Diane Aubie of Studio 57 Photography if Bridal Expos are really worth it for wedding photographers. She replied that she probably gets about 10% of her yearly wedding bookings from the shows such as this one. But then you factor in another 10% of which may come from other cou-
ples booking because they were at one of those weddings… it all adds up. Engaged Bridal Show, Saint John was put on by ‘Trademark Productions’ with Mark Hovey. Vendors’ booths at events such as this have a wide price range, depending on the size and location of the venue and of course if there is a celebrity guest, such as Monte Durham from TLC’s “Say Yes to the Dress”. The average price for a booth ranges from three to eight hundred dollars. Admission to these events range widely as well, about thirty dollars per person. Since there were approximately fifty vendors and 300 guests at this particular event, I would suspect the event business to be quite profitable. Of course you also have to take into account the rental of the location, food services and staffing… but still a good business to be in. I noticed a new trend in ‘wedding guest entertainment’…. The Photo Booth… an actual photo booth… like kids get in in the mall and make silly faces! Instead of a photographer standing there waiting for guests to come over and have their photos taken, guests can just grab a silly prop or two,
pop into the photo booth and take a pic for the couple of the hour’s memory book! Fantastic… Being a photographer that has been standing at the ‘photo booth’ more than once I really like this idea… and I don’t think it really takes
away from the wedding photographers’ business. In fact it probably gives them more time to focus on the bride and groom.
traction as well, with the Wedding fashions business becoming a popular reality TV subject. Monte himself was a draw for many, brides and the general audience alike. Monte was just as we see him on the TV…. Friendly, funny and a charming southern gentleman. But what else would you expect. He loves to take selfies and the ladies at the bridal expo were happy to oblige by posing for selfie after selfie after selfie. His love of fashion came from his mother’s impeccable style emulated after Jackie Kennedy… which anyone who watches ‘Say Yes to the Dress’ would know is his icon. Monte can be seen on Friday nights ‘jacking up’ brides and calming down irritating mother of the brides, so called BFFs and diva brides. So what’s hot and upcoming in bridal trends? You will just have to attend a Bridal Expo or two to find out. Do some cupcake tasting, sign up for a makeup demonstration, jump in a photo booth… there are lots great ideas for weddings and other big celebrations to be found.
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featured photographer
Shawn Harquail Hey! That’s me! Shawn Harquail, and I’m thrilled to be featured in this month’s issue of ViewPoint. So this is where I’m supposed to start rambling about how great, meaningful and profound my work is. The truth is, though, it’s all very simple. I’m just a guy that enjoys capturing light inside a box. I catch light in a box and use it to tell a story. My story. Your story. Stories looking for a voice. Simple. My uncle got me interested in photography when I was just a kid. I remember when he’d take me out to shoot random things in and around Edmundston, and then we’d head down to his darkroom and develop film together. Snapping photos, immersing film in liquids and watching a photo appear was very impressive to me. Like magic! Fast forward to today, and I find myself dabbling in all sorts of photographic styles: macro, landscape, travel, street, astrophotography, and more recently, portraiture and flash photography. My heart will always be with travel photography though. I just really enjoy documenting an area’s landscape, its people, cultures, customs and history. What does the future hold for me? Three things. First and foremost, I want to travel near and far, catch light, and continue to tell stories. Second, am working on a photography class to teach other amateurs the basics of photography. Finally, I want to continue to practice portraiture in an an environmental / theatrical style. I don’t want to be the guy who snaps a family sitting on a sofa. I want to be the guy who shoots a family while they are doing everyday stuff they love, and tell their story. Simple.
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Model: Ed Bowron Photographer: Mario Gaudreau
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Model: Leigh Amelia
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Phototography tricks and tips
Mind your Background
by Mario-Pierre Gaudreau
People often go a long way, both metaphorically and literally to find the ideal background. Sometimes photographers rely on short depth of field and sometimes they head out and venture hundreds of miles in search of the ideal location, but doing all of that is pretty useless if you’re not careful about how you use the background. When I first started taking photography seriously I would mostly shoot landscape, so when I started shooting models I really wanted to integrate them into what I was already familiar with. I already knew how to isolate my subjects at that time and I found doing that was even more important when I was shooting people. You can have the most beautiful an intricate background but when you introduce a model, the focus should be on the model. I could go on for hours about all the different things that run through my mind and all the things I consider when shooting models but the one thing I want to discuss this time is how to decontaminate your model from the background.
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So let’s say you venture out in the woods, you have this beautiful setting and you start snapping away. You look at what’s behind and around the model and you try to make the most of what’s available. That’s all great but it’s also important to consider how to use these elements in a way that will benefit the model. Typically, you’re not using the model as a prop to enhance a background but rather you’re using the background to help enhance the portrait of the model. There are numerous elements to consider when doing this but the one I find the most important is the one that is directly behind the model. You should always find the area in the frame that will help decontaminate your model from the background. Most of the time that is the area that will offer the most contrast and the one that is less “noisy”. If the model is wearing something dark then you don’t want her in front of shadows because, unless you have another way to define her contour, the shape of her body will be lost. If she is wearing something white, then you
typically don’t want her standing in front of something too bright because again, details are lost. So if you’re shooting in the woods, find that area that will complement the shape of the model the best. This is also important to consider when using short depth of field, since the bokeh can be a distraction in itself if not used right. The best way to do this is to have the model move around. You can also look through the viewfinder to see what your camera sees, then look for that ideal background area and that ideal angle that will make her stand out. Getting low and having the sky in the background usually gets rid of many of the distracting elements and clutter that makes looking at an image unappealing. To conclude this article, I’ve shared few example of how to better decontaminate your subject from the background on the opposite page. Hope that helps you out during your next shoot!
These are pictures I shot in October with the beautiful Emily Steeves. In the image to the left, you can see how much the vibrant red dress pops out from the neutral background. I desaturated the yellow tones slightly make the dress stand out even more. The image above focuses on her face, I lit the model properly and underexposed the background by one stop to help add contour and definittion to her figure.
Hair and Make Up: Talya Morgan
These examples below show how this also works well when you’re shooting other subjects. The plant in the picture below is separated from the background by using short depth of field but the background is still somewhat distracting. While not terrible, it is a bit noisy. I got down low for the picture to the right, making the puffy white hairs match with the clouds. Getting low and using a clutter free background helped isolate the subject further.
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