Raónraon Creations- Spring Collection

In TRUTH, PRODUCT PHOTOGRAPHY ISN’T OUR FORTÉ BUT WHEN YOU HAVE PRODUCTS THIS BEAUTIFUL IT’S HARD TO SAY NO TO SHOOTING THEm!

Raónraon is a womxn & Indigenous owned business that creates these stunning handcrafted beaded earrings and when they approached us to photograph their spring collection we were thrilled! With gold accents this collection was inspired by the beauty of nature and made with an abundance of passion and care, so we too wanted to incorporate that with the ‘lifestyle’ photos while still providing a ‘studio’ option against the red silk.

In truth this was our first shoot in a long time given the pandemic and restrictions so we were rusty.. We knew when we saw the earrings in person that a direct, strong, natural light would be best to showcase the intricate features of each earring; the different textures, sizes, tones of gold, etc. We shot against the red backdrop first, which is both a prominent colour in Indigenous cultures, as well as something that offered a complimenting contrast to the gold/warm tones of the earring themselves.

The next ‘nature’ set up took a while to build and was interesting to do (said by people who are better with other people than they are with things lol). We shot at home so we used what we had around which, like so many throughout the pandemic/lockdown, is plants. Fortunately this worked out though considering the collection was inspired by nature! While we wanted to shoot the earrings outside in a more nature-y environment it was difficult to find the perfect spot where we could prop the earrings up while still including a few different other elements to the ‘set’. So we kept it all inside and used what we had to build it up.

The important part of product photography that we had to remind ourselves about while shooting this: shoot as you build! Every element that we brought into the frame we took a photo of; first with just the vines + earrings, then vines, dried flowers + earrings, then vines, dried flowers, dried petals + earrings, so on and so forth. Eventually we got a set up that we really enjoyed and we rotated the earrings out as we made minor adjustments (for propping them up) in between takes.

While we don’t have any plans on switching to product photography full time, this was definitely a fun challenge for us and something we look forward to doing again in the future! Thank you for this wonderful opportunity, Raónroan!

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Native Men's Residence (Na-Me-Res) Success Story, Andrew

we are so honoured and fortunate to have photography as our method of connection with people

We are very aware of our privilege of having the unique learning opportunity through our work. Being in front of the camera, more often than not, is an awkward experience and we very seldom get to photograph people who are naturally enthusiastic and charismatic in front of the camera (ourselves included lol) so our way of easing the tension is usually through talking. Since we’re a team of two and typically rotate between shooting set ups one of us is usually the key photographer while the other is the assistant and/or art director. And in that role we usually will chit chat to loosen people up, get their focus off of the big camera and lens in front of them, and sort of give them a little reprieve.

We photographed Andrew at one of the Na-Me-Res off-site residences where Andrew holds the position as building manager. The building being fairly new, and having recently moved in, there wasn’t really a ‘best room’ to shoot in so in addition to some standard white backdrop photos Andrew brought in some of his own paintings to use! They are so beautiful and really complimented the scene.

While shooting/chatting with Andrew we got to learn about his life story; from residential school to homelessness, overcoming addiction, and the new path he is now on with his roll in the building and his art. We’re always grateful to learn, and even more so to photograph someone at this new chapter in their lives.

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Native Women's Annual Report Success Story, Tamara

one of our favourite teams to shoot with year after year is the native women’s team

It almost feels two fold because as much as we love it, we are always shooting at their centre and always in the same places so it can get a little stale after being in the same set up for so long. When we go over to the centre we’re always taking photos of the teams and since we had so much time between teams this year we opted for a couple of indoor set ups and outdoor ones across the street at Allan Gardens. Tamara was so great to work with, it’s always so fun to photograph people who are naturals in front of the camera (and that only happens .0001% of the time!)

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Na-Me-Res 2019 Annual Report

ANOTHER YEAR, ANOTHER NA-ME-RES REPORT UNDER OUR BELT AND WE COULDN’T BE HAPPIER!

It feels like every year we shoot this report we get better! In some aspects it becomes harder to shoot because we’re always in the same space trying to do different things, but in some ways I think that’s what keeps us on our toes.

This year was no different than the rest (other than this Medicine Garden shoot) so we shot different success story portraits (Andrew & Robert), general detail photos from around the centre- used as fillers/for misc. content- team photos of all of the different divisions, and new headshots of the centre’s executive director, Steve Teekens!

These shoots are generally broken up over a 2-3 day period so we can try and get as many people together as possible, but even then, some team members are out in the streets, working with clients directly, in meetings, on vacation, etc. so no matter how hard to try to coordinate it, we usually still missing a few people. Nonetheless though, everyone was enthusiastic as always and on our end it’s always great to be back year and year seeing the organization prosper.

For most of these set ups we use all natural light with the exception of the smaller group photos. For the teams that are small enough to fit inside- where everyone is still visible and in focus- we opted to set up a light to bring in some fill in addition to the available light in the room. The power on the strobe was kept low to softly mimic natural light but it was still strong enough to bring some light into everyone’s faces and diffuse shadows.

https://www.nameres.org/

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