Bye Bye Old Blog!

Cuttelfish Studio has moved!

I will no longer be posting here, so come visit the new Web Blog over here: http://www.cuttlefishstudio.com/

Who am I? Who are you?

Victoria Portrait Photographer – {Women}

Don’t we all ask ourselves that from time to time? One of things I decided when I first created this blog, was a decision to be real to my readers. As I grow as a photographer, I am constantly learning many things: details that are technical; concerning hardware & software, details concerning business, details about different techniques, approaches, mindsets – you name it. It is like a steady moving stream of information that I can delve into and scoop out as long as my time and energy permits. The most important element; however (that I am unveiling in the process), are details about myself. Who am I as an individual? As a woman? As a mother? As a photographer? I am none of those things. I am all of those things.

Deep inside we all want to be known, to be discovered, but what defines us as individuals? Photography has shown me many things about myself, and it has enabled me to help others to be captured as the individuals they are. A good photograph will capture emotion, reveal a feeling, & move others to respond to an image with deep interest. That is primarily my goal when I approach a new photo opportunity. I’m looking for those moments when an individual’s true self shines through. These moments are quick, candid, never posed, and almost always make a great capture.

Where do I get my inspiration from? YOU!

That’s right, it is in those moments that my creativity kicks in, and at that point there are many things inside me operating at once - intuitively. Commitment, passion, determination, patience, creativity, spontaneity - these characters that make up the many aspects of myself, help me to capture the many sides that are uniquely, YOU!

I recently had a shoot with a good friend of mine. She is beautiful, funny, spontaneous, smart, adventurous – and much more. We had a great time during this shoot and I was able to capture many flavors of her personality. I’m not at liberty to share those great images with you just yet, as I make it a priority to make sure that my clients are the first ones to view their images – whether on screen or in print, but I will leave you with this. My girlfriend is many things, but she is also a very gifted teacher. I wanted to set up a fun shot using an apple to depict a playful hint of her vocation. So here ya go.

My name is Cheryl, and I SHOOT PEOPLE!

Surf’s Up!

Victoria Portrait Photographer {Children}

My outdoor “studio”, as mentioned in a previous post, Vancouver Island provides me with ample urban, land, and seascapes to choose from as living backdrops for my portraiture. While it’s true that in the majority of portraits, one would want a subdued background coupled with a shallow depth of field, there are indeed occasions where one may wish to emphasise the background - and on this particular day I did just that.  

This day we chose to visit one of our local spectacular beaches here on Vancouver Island – China Beach. The surf is almost always up, and it beckons those great and small to gaze upon its power. I was shooting my children and their friends this day, and was playing around with compositions with my cam on my tripod. The clouds were sweeping across the sky and offered many opportunities to take advantage of the beautiful diffused light.

Here are a few samples from this shoot. The children were engaging in the surf, and although you cannot see their faces, you should be able to sense their emotion, and if you linger longer, you may just even here the surf.   

 

 

 

 

 

“Fashionista” Portraits for Teens

Victoria Portrait Photographer {Teens}

Todays youth are constantly flooded with visual media – propelling them into the visual era of digital music, art, video, and photography.  Many teens are looking for an “out of the ordinary” approach to grad photos and school portraits, and presently - fashion, model and glamour photography are becoming increasingly popular.

Occasionally, when not playing around with natural light, I will get creative with whatever I have on hand – stretching the limits and artistic bounds of my portraiture. A recent challenge in one of my photography groups called me to exercise a little of this growing trend. My oldest daughter agreed to model for me, and we had fun with no more than a Home Depot work light, and an old painters drop cloth. The following images are some of the results of our spontaneous “Fashionista” photo shoot.

 

*Please note that all photographic works and text posted here are copyrighted and are the sole property of Cuttlefish Studio. All use and/or publication rights are reserved and protected under the Canadian Copyright Act. No images or text may be copied, stored, manipulated, published, sold or reproduced in whole or in part in any form without the prior written authorization of the artist.

So, Where’s My Studio?

Victoria Portrait Photographer {Studio}

I have the privilege of living on Vancouver Island in the Pacific Northwest. I’m originally from Vancouver, so to me the Greater Victoria area is a lot like a mini Lower Mainland of Vancouver. There is just enough ‘city life’ to satisfy the city girl in me, but I grew up in the suburbs, so having a variety of communities to choose from is incredibly satisfying for me. We (my husband & I) recently built a house closer to the country, but around here a mere 20 – 40 minute drive will take you back into the city. I enjoy living close to nature – lots of trees, animal life, and beaches. I am a lifestyle portrait photographer, so presently I make our beautiful outdoors my “studio” of choice – and what better studio is that? I have an enormous choice of  “backdrops” to choose from – beaches, forests, parks, garden, rural, rustic and city scapes  make for unique and memorable portrait opportunities, not to mention lots of room for my families to run and play together.

I do, however have a nice big garage, which could easily double as a studio, but for now I choose the great outdoors. I love using natural light – and the sun, with its many shades of cool and golden light provided many opportunities to exploit its very beautiful light. Natural light can; however be exploited in both outdoor and indoor environments. Just as wonderful cloud coverage can act as the perfect diffuser of natural light, so can a sheer curtain, or translucent blind.

Once you begin to study light, you will (if you haven’t already) begin to get very excited when you see it fall on a willing subject. I had a recent rendezvous with some beautiful filtered light, and watched as it softly fell on my daughter’s face. My girls are very gracious, willing subjects, and they help me learn and grow as a photographer with many such opportunities. This particular day, I noticed it mostly in her eyes. The following images are the result of a quick impromptu photo shoot with my daughter, some filtered light, and a woven gauze scarf. I hope you enjoy them!

What’s a Cuttlefish?

Victoria Portrait Photographer {Children}

Though not actually a fish, as its name suggests, a cuttlefish is actually a mollusc from the class of cephalopods. Cuttlefish are highly intelligent creatures and masters of disguise. Cuttlefish, like photographers, are very clever when it comes to changing their color and patterns to suit the environment. As a photographer, I often find myself doing exactly that. If I’m shooting children, I have a way of disappearing into the background – engaging them just enough, until they lose interest and start doing what children do best – play! This is when the magic happens with children’s portraits.

The eyes of the cuttlefish are amongst the most developed in the animal kingdom – and if you ever encounter one, you will find yourself watching something with seemingly as much curiosity as it has in watching you. As a photographer, I absolutely love being behind the lens, and I relish the times I am able to capture an emotion or feeling, frozen in time, in a photograph. Happy moments in childhood are short, and sweet, and fleeting, and should never be forgotten.  Even though we all outgrow it,  it can remain in our hearts – it can remain in a photograph, creating a sort of immortal memory.

There are many more interesting & random facts about this fascinating creature of the sea;  facts involving light, and color and so on, but a most memorable fact about this creature lies in the dark sepia ink it is capable of emitting. What is the connection you may ask? Why it just so happens to be the original sepia ink used in the toning of, you guessed it: photographs!

I hope you enjoyed this little trivia tour of this fascinating creature of the sea – the cuttlefish. Here I will leave you a few images I took of  my children last December. I was shooting some friends and their children for annual Christmas cards; during this time I had disappeared into the background, & while behind my lens, had caught them being carefree with some bulrushes. In honor of the cuttlefish and in keeping with the topic of this post, I have toned them in no other but…..sepia.