Trash the dress

Trash the dress events have become a popular trend in photography over the past years and I was very fortunate to be invited to one. The idea behind such an event is to capture interesting portrait photographs of models wearing their wedding dresses in unusual locations without the worries on the outcome of the dress.

The event for which I participated was hosted by the The Ottawa Photography Meetup group and was organized by Mike Giovinazzo. We were fortunate to have 3 gorgeous models at the event, Clarisse Cale, Brandi Tweed and Lisa Mountain.

The setting for the event was the beautiful Carbide Wilson’s abandoned mill. This site offers several visually pleasing settings for photography such as still water, waterfalls, raging water and old ruins, all of which is located in the nature of the Gatineau park.

This was my second model photography event and I fear I am taking a real loving to portrait photography. I would like to extend my sincere thanks to Mike, Brandi, Lisa and Clarisse for making this event possible. I would also extend thanks to the fellow photographers that attended the event and were generous to share their ideas, tips and even equipment.

I’m looking forward to my next portrait photography shoot, until then enjoy the images.

Alain G. Pratte

Geisha photography event.

I’ve decided to raise the bar in my pursuit of betterment in photography and this week I participated in my first model photography event.

The Geisha shoot event was hosted by Mike Giovinazzo and Jack Checkowy from The Ottawa Photography Meetup group, they were friendly and helpful and offered the attending photographers a great event to learn and practice portrait photography at the Travelodge Ottawa Hotel & Conference Centre located at 1376 Carling Avenue in Ottawa.

The event also served as a fund raiser for the model Tammy Lim, currently Miss Ottawa whom is currently attempting to enter the Miss Canada competition.

The event was a great learning experience and I would like to thank the organizers, Tammy Lim our model and also the makeup professional, Lisa Small.

I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Alain G. Pratte

First couple maternity

I had the opportunity to photograph a couple in a maternity outdoor photo shoot this fall. James and Stella were patient with my coaching them through various poses in the less than warm weather and were both very inspiring providing some great shots that they will enjoy sharing.

The photo shoot was done using only a Nikon DX AF-S 35MM F1.8 lens therefore maximizing my efforts to compose and produce images using a fix focal length lens rather than a telephoto zoom lens. I found that using a fixed lens is greatly helping in learning to understand perspective as opposed to a telephoto zoom lens where you may make the mistake of remaining stationary using the zoom to compose rather than actually moving to compose the picture.

It was a great experience in being able to produce and represent with pictures the strong bond this couple has for each other. I congratulate James and Stella in the coming to birth or their new baby boy Eli and hope these pictures will be part of their family memories.

Enjoy!
Alain Pratte