HAPPY HOUR!

HAPPY HOUR!, originally uploaded by Paul Joseph Photographs.

This is an out take from an editorial assignment.
While setting up a shot for the client my eye kept wandering in toward the center of the frame, so I zoomed in and shot a few frames.
It is one of those images that are snapped off in a moment of opportunity. Only to roll around in the back of my mind until I finally get around to letting it out.
The shot for the magazine was considerably more wide-angle.

I followed an old man 2

I followed an old man 2, originally uploaded by Paul Joseph Photographs.

Shooting on the street between meetings i kept running into this fellow. I think we were both walking in circles.

Let a smile be my umbrella

Atop the Musée d'Orsay
This photo always makes me smile.
Today, here in Vancouver, it's pissing down. Let a smile be my umbrella.

Elvis has left the building...and is taking requests at the curb

I have been having an immense amount of fun as of late photographing in public. I've always thought of myself as primarily a colour shooter. So I'm somewhat surprised by my inclination to interpret these results in black and white and not colour. It's a welcome reminder that an open mind is the best attitude with which to approach anything. The challenge of this type of work is that I'm relient upon my ability to recognise, compose and execute a photograph almost instantaneously. I don't have the luxury of pondering solutions to a photograph, I must quickly and effectively react to the events around me. Sometimes I fail and sometimes I succeed. I do not know at the time. I am trying to see, and this what i have been enjoying as of late. There is no client, this is simply a selfish act, a self-indulgence. It is joy.

The End of Summer

The end of summer is here.
Working the games at the Pacific National Exhibition

Forage

Forage, originally uploaded by Paul Joseph Photographs.

The wasp that had coffee with me this morning.

Doris and Sven

Two of my favorite portraits of two of my favorite people. Photographed in Paris between June 8th and June 10th, 2006. Paris just had this amazing light that flooded the shade.

Children's Fair, Paris

pjoseph_20060611_6379, originally uploaded by Paul Joseph Photographs.

I'm going through the photographs I took in Paris in June of 2006. There is something to be said for allowing a little distance between the shoot and the edit, though 3 years might be a tad excessive. I think the passing of time allows for my expectations to diminish and I am able to see what I caught more clearly and honestly.

This photograph of children at a street fair in Paris is one of my favorites. The colour and the light are extraordinary to me. You can see more of the photographs I took on that trip  here

Vancouver Magazine Tear Sheet

I photographed Steve, Andre, and Anthony from the Corner Suite, for the July/August 2009 issue of Vancouver Magazine

Super subjects... fun, confident and outgoing. Go try the food and drink there when they open, promises to be something special.

I love the outtake.

Jean

I got an e-mail from my uncle Patrick today asking about the photographs I had taken when visiting him in the UK about 3 years ago. In particular the photos I had taken of Jean, an elderly woman we had met while strolling the streets of Eyam, Derbyshire. Eyam has a story behind it which you can discover through Google. Jean, however, has probably never heard of Google.

Jean was born in Eyam and has lived in the same house all her life. Except for three years when she went to Stoke-on-Trent to work in a munitions plant during The War. She assembled bullets and then bombs.

What a sweet smile she has.

Darren and the Premier

My brother, who was assisting me on this shoot, sat in for Premier Gordon Campbell for a lighting test. The shoot was for the cover of BC Business magazine a few months back. Same light, very different shots.

Olivia and Naomi

I photographed these two lovely sisters this past Saturday.
The shoot is for use in promoting their personal fitness training business.
We shot it on my back deck and they laughed the whole time.
These are two of my favorite photographs from the shoot.
There will more to come from this as I get deeper into the edit.

Fragments from yesterday.

Yesterday I photographed at Collingwood School in West Vancouver. These are fragments of images that struck me.

From yesterday.

iPhone/CinemaFX

Recent Tear Sheets

BC Business_May 2009: Lights Out by Jim Sutherland
retouching by Debbie Lynn Craig
at Canada Wide Media

Western Living Condo_Spring/Summer 2009: Society columnist Fred Lee's condo,
styling by Amanda Ross

Vancouver Magazine_May 2009: Camil Dubuc, President of Genesis Security

BC Business_March 2009: Premier Gordon Campbell,
make-up by Farren Dufault

A day at the races.

Ok, I embellish a little. It was more like an hour and a half, and we were there to test my wife’s allergy to horses not bet the ponies. It was long enough to have a beer and a hotdog in the sun and catch the last two races. I left the camera at home and shot these on my iPhone.

Arthur Erickson

I was fortunate enough to be assigned to photograph Arthur Erickson for the Globe and Mail’s Report on Business magazine some 8 or 9 years ago. I remember he was dressed immaculately. He had agreed to 15 minutes for me to take his portrait. As we worked we talked between shots and eventually we wound up talking about photography. At the time I thought myself clever for having touched upon a subject that Mr Erickson found interesting and indeed seemed well versed in. In hindsight I think Arthur was just trying ease a young photographer’s nerves. In any event, he made a comment about believing the square format to be the perfect format to photograph in, because it is the truest approximation of our natural field of view. That stuck with me and every now again I stare off into space exploring my peripheral vision, examining it for edges and corners…

Anyway, he gave me 25 minutes and shook my hand as we said goodbye. I remember him as a gentleman and a warm conversationalist.

Fire Hydrant

This caught my eye the other day. I love the colour palette.
iPhone/ CinemaFX/ CoolFX/ Photoshop CS4

This month In BC Business magazine

This month in BC Business
Lights Out by Jim Sutherland

Today 05.21.2009

I gave a talk today at Cap College on what it is that I do. I think I evaded that question very effectively by focusing primarily on what it was that I have done. That was noon to 1:30 then I had a shoot scheduled at three but showed up at 2:15 so i could be set and ready for the subject. This went swimmingly and I was done by 3:30. Then I had a meeting with @bcbusiness a couple of blocks away so I did what any self respecting photographer would do. I left the $5000 camera body and the $2000 lens in the bag and shot on my iPhone.

The Audience

I hope I entertained the crew in Rick Staehling's class today at Capilano College. That's an hour and a half you guys will never have back. So if i didn't impart any wisdom to you i hope it was at the very least somewhat amusing. Should any of you be reading this I'd appreciate the feedback + or -. Thank you for having me again Rick.

The Ferry Two

iPhone/Photoshop CS4

The Ferry

The Ferry is is both the biggest pain in the butt and the most magnificent way to travel all at the same time.

iPhone/ColorFX

Waiting to shoot

There's a lot of hurry up and wait involved in photography. Waiting for the set prep, waiting for make-up, waiting for the light... Then the hurry up and get the shot so we can move on to the next shot, then the waiting again. Its good to keep your eyes open and a camera handy during these in-between moments.

from my iPhone, processed in Color FX.