Kerr Photography - Victoria, BC, Professional Photographer » Portraits

It’s been a while, I’m here at last

Matthew — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 15:00:42 +0000

Unfortunately, due to my crazy schedule that I’ve run myself through over the past few months, I’ve had little to no time to shoot or schedule a shoot; edit anything; or, just outright, blog about it.

First, the graduate and puppy:

My Dad just graduated from the Royal Roads University with a Masters of Arts in Disaster and Emergency Management, we call him MADEM. Second, my sister surprised him with a visit from Calgary and she brought her 11 week old puppy Siesta.

The next couple of pictures are just some crazy high ISO shots from a birthday party that I attended the following night:

Vancouver 2010 – Pictures From The Streets

Matthew — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 04:06:38 +0000

During the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, I had the chance to go and partake in some of the festivities that took place surrounding the men’s gold medal hockey game. During my visit there I saw people laughing, screaming, crying, standing, sitting, climbing, hugging, hi-fiveing, cheering, singing, dancing and watching. It was the most intense emotional experience somebody could have. If you were there, you know what I am talking about. Something, Canadian, was in the air that day. People were extra friendly and I heard the words “please”, “excuse me”, and “sorry” more than one person could say in a lifetime. I had the pleasure of meeting a few people while we were there and connecting (photographically) with so many on what proved to be a very patriotic day.

Click on the images to enlarge then click on them again to go to the next image. Best viewed with a resolution over 1600×900.

* I apologize if the enlarging doesn’t work in your browser. Please let me know in the comments box if you are having difficulties viewing the pictures and I will revise the layout.

Tasty Tuesday #1

Matthew — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 04:19:04 +0000

Reuben Krabbe is the guy to talk to about Tasty Tuesday. The link provided gives a brief explanation of what this whole thing is about. I think it’s pretty cool. And just like #nogjog09, I’m sure #TastyTuesday will become a trending topic on Twitter.

Here’s my first Tasty Tuesday.
A camping Trip that turned in to a snoozing trip. We spent most of the time in one big tent playing a game called Apples to Apples. This was the night we had a fire.

Halloween: Zombies, Gangters and Rorschach

Matthew — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 23:32:10 +0000

Happy Halloween Everyone! Here are a couple of images from an early Halloween party that I attended. All of the pictures here were shot, amazingly enough, with available light. Editing was done in Lightroom 3 beta and Adobe Photoshop CS3. Be safe this weekend.

Don’t forget to vote for this photoblog at the 2009 Photoblog Awards!

Wedding Photography: A Look at Traditions

Matthew — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 22:48:44 +0000

Not all weddings are equal. Just like not all wedding photographers are equal. You have to choose the right one. They must meet a list of criteria that suit your need. Such as: style, personality, quality, direction, passion, and of course price. Sometimes, however, it is not all about price but how well you and your significant other get along with your photographer.

Just as you should choose your photographer, you should choose your traditions. I’ve seen comedies and TV shows where they mock certain traditions like feeding each other cake and the chicken dance. I personally enjoy the chicken dance. Of course, you could have your own traditions as well. The last wedding I shot they had belly dancers perform at the reception and then after everyone had eaten, we all went out side and performed a dance for the couple in the middle to commemorate their wedding.

Scottish Country Dancing

Matthew — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 16:00:48 +0000

I recently did an advertising shoot with the Vancouver Island Scottish Country Dancing Society (VISCDS) to promote their program and their upcoming Open House. This was a group of people of an assortment of age, skill and ethnicity. We had the pleasure of having some guest instructors from Japan come over to show off their talent. Who knew that Scottish dancing is popular in Japan?

Some information about the group can be found on their website. And if you’re interested in attending their open house, it’s being held on Tuesday September 8th, 2009 Church of St. Martin in the field. Just on a side note, this is not Highland dancing, nor do you need a kilt or a partner for the open house.

Chris and Shalome

Matthew — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 05:58:41 +0000

I swear, that’s all I’m posting here. For now. A beautiful wedding that took place at Zanatta Vineyard in the Cowichan Valley. I was lucky enough to have a bit of creative freedom with the pictures when it came to location, editing and post-processing. While I was there, I was approached by the belly-dancing group that came for the reception (friends of Shalome, the bride) to take some pictures for promotion. I gladly agreed and got a few shots off but I can’t show them here just yet. I didn’t take too many pictures during the reception, but what I did get was a very journalistic approach. It opened my eyes to weddings and I hope this isn’t my last one ever. I just don’t want to make a habit of it.

The Wedding Photographer

Matthew — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 06:44:30 +0000

I recently photographed my first wedding ever. It was even more stressful than just being a wedding. My first wedding. For family. The last part hits a little harder than most because if I missed something or didn’t do something it was family! Not only that, the Groom has years of motion picture experience so he knows how light works, depth of field, and all the tricks to keep people busy while you’re fiddling around with settings. I just couldn’t fool him. I do think, however, that the day went by just fine. Here are a few of the shots that I took. I might be uploading the rest to my Flickr account over the next couple of weeks.

The cake above tells a little story about how the Chris and Shalome met. It was designed and made by the Grooms Mother, Jan. Shooting this was very tricky. During the rehearsal, I sneaked away and grabbed a quick shot of the cake and had it posted to Facebook by that evening. I tagged as many photographers as I could in a short period of time and asked, “How do I light this”? I got various responses ranging from very technical light sandwiches to, just stick it next to a window and shoot it with a long lens. I could do neither. I shot it from about 2-3 feet away with a 20mm lens and flash pointing straight up at the ceiling and a bounce card. I through the wine bottle in to soften the lights in the background and the square crop is because the cake was right in front of a fire exit. In my opinion, not bad in the circumstances given.

During the wedding there was a crasher on the loose. The daughter of the best man Rob, brother of the groom, decided she needed to go see him. There is always, so I’ve been told, that one kid who looks back down the aisle at the wedding. I think this was that moment. That’s all for now, to see more of the images, go check out my Flickr account.

a headshot

Matthew — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 22:13:17 +0000

I seem to keep posting older images. This shot is from my portfolio as well. I didn’t use this image, but I feel now like I should of. So many different things that I could have done differently now that I look back at those 2 months before it was due. It’s over though and I can make those changes now.

Jon is an aspiring actor/model here in Victoria who needed some headshots and I needed portraits for my portfolio. It worked out really well and we managed to get some great images.

This image will also show up in my ‘people’ gallery on my website which can be found here.

housekeeping

Matthew — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 15:49:59 +0000

I think it’s in order to post a few housekeeping notes here. My schooling is done, I’ve finished my portfolio, and I’ve graduated as a Professional Photographer. For the next couple of months I will be concentrating on volume of pictures that I can add to my portfolio. You’ve probably noticed that I have (once again) changed the blog around. I’ve done this because this is no longer my primary site for pictures. I’ll still post new pictures from recent shoots on here in the posts, but the majority of pictures will go on the new site.

You can find the new site at www.kerrphotography.ca

On another equally important note, I’ve added an RSS feed button on the sidebar so that you don’t even have to come here to read the post. You can subscribe by clicking on the link. Also, just because I’m working on putting together a new portfolio, doesn’t mean that I am unavailable for work, in fact, the opposite is true. I’m looking for work and open for any ideas you might have. Feel free to contact me by email at matthew@kerrphotography.ca.