Welcome to Our Blog - Greg van Riel Photography

Dec 05

by gregvanriel in Photo, Travel 0 comments tags: Life, Work

The calm

No! I want to live! There are still too many things I don’t own! Is the Space Pope reptilian!? Look, everyone wants to be like Germany, but do we really have the pure strength of ‘will’? Is the Space Pope reptilian!? Well, then good news! It’s a suppository. Tell her she looks thin. OK, if everyone’s finished being stupid. You can crush me but you can’t crush my spirit! Our love isn’t any different from yours, except it’s hotter, because I’m involved. Why am I sticky and naked? Did I miss something fun? Switzerland is small and neutral! We are more like Germany, ambitious and misunderstood! What are their names? You can crush me but you can’t crush my spirit!

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Jul 18

by gregvanriel in Uncategorized 0 comments

Georgian Bay Islands Shoot

Jingkai and I did a cool shoot of 2 houses designed by William Grierson that are situated on some islands in Georgian Bay which is in Lake Huron, in Ontario, Canada. In this video we thought it would be interesting to talk about each other and how we work together. We also discuss some specific photography techniques such as staging and dealing with locations that have big differences in exposure from inside to outside. Feel free to let me know what you think.

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Apr 22

by gregvanriel in Recent Shoots 0 comments tags: 3rd Gravitational Pull, Austin Texas, Frameline Magnetism, portals, Roy H. Williams, The Wizard Academy

The Wizard Academy Photo Shoot

Deep in the heart of Texas exists an enchanted place called The Wizard Academy. Tucked away in the hills south of Austin, it is a place of transformation, renewal, and most importantly, where one can re-connect with their true essence. I was invited to the Academy to attend a Photographers Round Table Discussion. Led by Roy H. Williams we discussed some very interesting concepts about what goes into creating memorable images, paintings, and music. Here are some images that demonstrate the concepts. The first one is ANGLE: The 2nd is FOCUS. Drawing the eye to where you want the viewer to look: Next Roy explained about Frameline Magnetism. The idea of leaving something out allowing the viewer will fill in the rest with their imagination: Portals are openings to another world. A portal can be a window, a door, stairs going up or down. It makes the viewer wonder what is beyond. Here is an example of a PORTAL: Color vs B&W. Color represents reality. B&W is symbolic. 3rd Gravitational Pull. This is when there is something in a picture that doesn’t really belong but somehow still makes sense visually: Subject matter is of course important. How to make the […]

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Feb 24

by gregvanriel in Recent Shoots 0 comments tags: Excel Fund Management, formal portrait, Headshots, speedlites, Vanity Fair look

Vanity Fair Couch Shoot

I received a call recently from Caroline Grimont at Excel Fund Management to take some headshots. She also wanted group shots for the cover of an industry magazine. I went to their offices to do a scout and met with Excel CEO Bhim Asdhir. The minute I met him I could see that he was easy going and has a great sense of humour. Bhim explained working at Excel isn’t like Bay St, where a boss thinks nothing of asking people to work over the weekend on some “urgent” report that doesn’t get read for two weeks. “I want people to look forward to coming to work here,” he said. I took a look around a thought we could do some cool shots in their lobby. Michael Tenaglia, an amazing photographer and friend, came out to help me. He suggested a Vanity Fair look. We set up a couch in front of the company logo. We put up 2 umbrellas with Speedlites in front of the couch and one behind to the left for the hair light. Pretty simple. Then we positioned everyone and I asked Bhim to lie down in front. He was totally into it and it helped […]

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Nov 30

by gregvanriel in Recent Shoots 1 comments tags: cropping, metal roofing, vicwest

Heavy Metal Roofing Shoot

On this shoot for VICWEST I shot some of their cool metal roofing installations. It was in post production that these shots really came to life for me. Specifically by cropping them. As you can see here. Cropping a shot, sometimes even just slightly, can make all the difference. These two below are a good example. In the second shot below you can pick up much more detail so it tells the story better. The next shot isn’t bad but the client wasn’t interested in seeing the shingle roof since it’s not their product. The focus is on the metal roof in the second shot. The pan cropping of the one below is quite effective. It was a beautiful Fall day and the light was quite good so I couldn’t help taking some personal shots along the way. The tighter shot of the house with the silos in the background feels more dynamic. The next shot is a bit of a cliche countryside image. But I think the cropped one takes it up a notch. Also, notice that I added in a second plant in the foreground to mirror the silos in the distance. A somewhat banal country road image […]

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Aug 08

by gregvanriel in Recent Shoots 3 comments tags: Hard Candy, Hard Candy Fitness Toronto, Madonna, Mr. Brainwash, Stanford Downey Architects, Wall Yoga

MADONNA’S HARD CANDY FITNESS SHOOT

Recently I did a cool shoot for Stanford Downey Architects at Hard Candy, Madonna’s fitness club. Something I liked right away was the Wall Yoga room. I met with Lori Kirwan who demonstrated how Wall Yoga is done. Here she is below, hanging from the Wall like a ship’s figurehead. This next shot is the entrance into the Wall Yoga room. The mural was created for the club by artist Mr.Brainwash Working out under the stern eyes of a Pop Goddess. This group of shots give us the scope and size of the club. As you can see this is a huge club with many different workout machines. I thought the lighting in this Spinning Room was quite dramatic. I just used available light and bracketed and then used the overlay technique. It’s a combination of 4 shots. I had fun shooting Hard Candy Fitness. I hope you enjoyed seeing these shots. Feel free to leave me some comments.

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