fashion passion

My first photo subjects were dogs and horses. Seems childish maybe, but I was only a kid at the time. I used various little film cameras that my dad gave me when I first showed an interest in photography, and living on a farm made shooting very easy.

I still love to shoot dogs and horses, and I'm fortunately a lot better at it now, but along the way I also discovered fashion photography. I've done a few little shoots lately, some more planned than others, but I love creating an image before just taking the picture. Sometimes I create on the spot, out of inspiration, and other times the vision is in my mind and I create it before I execute it.

My inspirations in my four most recent shoots: my boyfriend, a tiger, and my horse.


As I was getting into wedding season, and dreading it, I wanted to try some different shots with my flash on a bright, sunny day. I convinced Dave to come out to the park to model for me. His beard was a bit scruffy and his hair messy, and he was wearing shorts, but that made it even better for me; it made him more Dave. It was very bright but the clouds caused the light to change constantly, so it was good practice. We did some shots in the shade, and some in the sunlight, and played around with thee light for a while before he got fed up... But I ended up with some pretty nice shots of my guy! What do you think, GQ? Thanks Dave!

After that I decided weddings weren't for me, but it was useful practice for other things!!

Here are some other shots, but the first is my fave!

Next, a shoot with my horse Maestro, which I'm still pretty happy with!! This one was with a model from ModelMayhem, who contacted me and was passing through the area. It was different from many of my other shoots and something that I knew would be good for both of us. This one was kind of like an equestrian apparel editorial, and looked like something from a three day event or show jumping competition. Since this shoot is a bit older than the rest, I have narrowed down to one final image that I love, and and decided I don't like the rest.

"And the winner is Jeremiah Hynes, with Maestro!"



I only wish that Maestro's right leg wasn't hidden like that, but I suppose I can't ask for perfection from a horse! At least his legs form a little triangle ... I'm not sure if I like that about it or hate it!









This next shoot was probably the most rushed I've ever done. For my birthday, Dave took me to a place called Jungle Cat World, which is more like an animal sanctuary then a zoo. You'll see images from that shoot another time. The first time we went, there was a 5 month old tiger, named Nadya. We got to play with her and take some shots. I talked to the owners and gave them some of my images, and she said I could come do a small fashion shoot sometime.

Well that sometime, we were just passing through on a Saturday, so I called up a model I know in Toronto, to find out what she was doing that weekend. we put together a vague vision, and she brought some dresses and makeup.

The day of the shoot, the owner sent me an e-mail while I was already on the road, saying they were going to close at 5 that day. Well we had planned to be there at 5, but luckily one of the staff members agreed to stay until 6. Our model got stuck in the infamous toronto traffic, and the tiger was now 7 months old and getting feisty, so after frantic makeup and styling, we had 15 minutes before the place had to be closed and the tiger was fed up.

But we were a determined team and we knew it would be an awesome 15 minutes. Even though Nadya was only about half the size she would grow to be, she looked great, as Michelle, my model is also a tiny girl, and there was nothing else to put the pair in perspective. Michelle and Nadya got to look big and tall for a day, and incredibly beautiful as usual!!

My favourite shot, something about the way they're both relaxed, but still in interesting poses... looks like they grew up together. Plus, the orange is wicked!

Ready to concur the world, this one has a bit of an amazon feel.















Dave's favourite. I wasn't even going to use it until he brought its unique, slightly dark qualities to my attention, and I suddenly saw it in a different light. He also thought it would make a better black and white, to accentuate the dark features rather than the bright orange. I do love how Michelle seems to almost be mothering the tiger cub... Nadya doesn't look so big in this one!

This shoot, believe it or not, was also inspired by Dave. He was playing sledgehammer bingo one night, and won a little pair of "tighty whities"

Being the dork he is, he wore them over his pants the rest of the night. A few weeks later, he dug them up and decided he wanted me to try them on. After a bit of convincing, I tried them on, and admittedly they looked pretty cute!!

Although I knew Dave would be disappointed that I wouldn't be IN the shot, I thought it'd be a great idea for a photo shoot. The briefs, along with up with a mens button up shirt and a bit of dewy "morning after" makeup, and a ring on the table, gave me an interesting couple of images that let the viewer decide what happened here. If I could go back and redo this one, I'd try to get the time on the clock, and mess up Trish's hair more. That girl has the most perfect hair..... ;)

If you made it this far, thanks! I'll save the rest for future blogs, you're dismissed!