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Apr 07

by gregvanriel in Shoots 2 comments tags: intimacy, street photography

Rockin’ It With Street Photography

This post is a bit of departure since I mostly blog about shooting Architecture but why not switch it up once in while. I was shooting in Holland a while ago and I came across this couple on the bench. Something dramatic was going on. I took some shots of them and I kept wondering what their story was. It gave me the inspiration to do a series of “Intimacy” themed shots. When I got back to Toronto I started roaming the streets looking for some interesting opportunities to capture intimate moments between people like the one below. The thing about street shooting is that you have to be fast. Set your camera to shutter priority – 1/250 sec and of course use a long lens. Then keep your eyes open for a potential “story”. I like it when the story is not straight forward like this one below. Why is she looking off while he seems so intent on her. Is he proposing? I love the way the people in this next one are so full of love for the child in the stroller. In the one below I wonder if the young father didn’t get much sleep the […]

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Feb 06

by gregvanriel in Recent Shoots 1 comments tags: Fed Ex, Mercury Vapor Lamps

Quick Thinking at Fed Ex

I’d like to help anyone faced with shooting in a site lit with the dreaded Mercury Vapor lamps. They cast a very unflattering green light, as you can see here. What to do? This assignment was to shoot the interior of a large brand new Fed Ex distribution center. It would take way too many strobe lights to overpower the Mercury Vapor lamps. However, since there were about 75 trucks in the facility, there were these giant bay doors. So I requested that all the doors be opened up to allow the natural light from outside to overpower the vapors. It solved the problem for the most part. Although some shots, like the one below, still had some green areas. You can de-saturate the green in Photoshop in Hue/Saturation. Select green from the “Master” drop down menu. Then click the eyedropper on green in the image and de-saturate. The next challenge was to try and capture the essence of the place in one shot. The Fed Ex trucks all lined up looked cool but the place was massive. Here […]

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Jan 03

by gregvanriel in Shoots 0 comments tags: shoot with animals, stone product

It’s a Doggy Dog World!

“You know Greggy, it’s a doggy dog world.” That’s what my friend used to say when we were 18 year old budding photographers. He was new to Canada and misunderstood the old saying, “It’s a dog eat dog world.” It’s a fun memory, and a good segue into this blog post because it involves dogs… Last summer I was shooting for Atlas Block. They make stone products. We arrived at the location a little late and the early morning sun was already up so we had to work fast. The first set up was on the porch of the house as you can see here. There were these two beautiful dogs around so I thought I’d try to work them into the shot. But it can be tricky and as they say, “Never shoot with children, animals and water.” I asked the homeowner to call them and I set the camera to shoot at 5 frames per second. We got these shots below. We kept shooting but […]

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Nov 20

by gregvanriel in Recent Shoots 3 comments tags: Joey Restaurant

Can we clear the shot, please!

Last week I shot the new Joey Restaurant in the big expansion / renovation of Yorkdale Shopping Centre, in Toronto. What’s it like to shoot a place that’s still partially under construction? Here’s a behind the scene peek at what was going on while we were shooting. In this first shot below we had to clear a large hydraulic scissor lift. Turned out pretty good. How do you like the look of this new JOEY? In this next shot we had to hide a bunch of painting equipment under the 1st table. The following image was taken from the stairs that were still being painted. This high angle shot was a challenge. I had to Photoshop out a person who snuck into the edge of frame. I didn’t notice it at the time but someone had stacked chairs on the bar. Can you tell where the bar stools were? For this next image I had to place the […]

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Nov 11

by gregvanriel in Recent Shoots 4 comments tags: Coyotes, Milton Power Plant, Trumpet

Coyotes Eat Shooters?

There’s a MASSIVE AWESOME Power Plant in Milton just west of Toronto that I’ve always wanted to capture. It’s one of those colossal post-industrial power facilities from a bygone age – the 1980’s. This summer I was shooting a job in Milton and thought I’d scout the plant. Here are some different angles of the place. I waited for night to fall. At dusk I parked nearby and started walking across a big grassy field scoping out the shot. As I trudged along with my camera gear I suddenly saw a coyote. It was leaping along in the tall grass. I stopped in my tracks. Not having any experience with coyotes I wasn’t sure what to do. I watched the coyote closely and saw it join another one nearby. Now my mind started racing. If there are 2, will there be more? Do coyotes hunt in packs? Do they attack humans? Do I look appetizing to a coyote? Looking at the Power Plant I started […]

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Rockin’ It With Street Photography

Quick Thinking at Fed Ex

It’s a Doggy Dog World!

Can we clear the shot, please!

Coyotes Eat Shooters?

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