Candid Portrait Photography

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I’ve called my work “Active Portraits” or “Lifestyle Portraits” but in its purest form it’s simply candid photography. I appreciate portrait photography that doesn’t heavily rely on staging, posing, or overcooking in Photoshop either. A good portrait is one that draws attention to the subject and does not employ techniques or gimmicks merely to draw attention to the photographer. A person shouldn’t be turned into a prop in a photo!

Commercial and fashion photography turns people into props but in those circumstances it may make sense to do so. That photography isn’t created for telling a story about the individual but simply uses a person to help tell a story about a product or service. That type of photography has it’s place and usefulness but being bombarded with commercial imagery has unfortunately influenced personal portrait work too. When I do personal portraits I only want the work to look like it naturally belongs in a home, not made up for a catalog.

Seeing a person in a real setting and doing what they really enjoy doing is what I aim for. Rather than doing posed and staged photos I prefer to shoot portrait photos around a location, setting or activity that is meaningful to the subject. I am trying to capture a person’s real moment in time, their moment, rather than create an artificial one for the sake of a photo.

I specialize in child portraits and find that the best images are created while kids are at play, in a game, hobby, activity or sport. When kids are absorbed in their activity, experiencing their own moment, they aren’t thinking at all about performing for the camera. It puts the burden of responsibility on me to get the shots rather than putting the burden on the subject to give me the shots.

At this time of year much of my photography works around a sporting theme, particularly hockey. boys at hockey game pile on goalie I’ve been shooting ice hockey since about 1980, starting with film which I developed and printed in my own darkroom. Many of those early photos ended up in newspapers and in family collections. It was very challenging to get usable shots when working with film and poor rink lighting but the experience taught me to take extra care when shooting.

This isn’t a casual hobby for me, and I’m certainly no latecomer to the game who’s just picked up a nice camera and decided to call himself a pro. I’ve shot hockey every winter since 1980, published, displayed and sold that work every year, and improved on gear over the years too. I set up a full digital darkroom and print studio in the early 1990s and have worked heavily in digital editing and processing since the very first versions of Photoshop.

During the years of photographing hockey I’ve covered all ages, NHL pros and their families, local amateurs and backyard skaters. My favorite is community level grassroots hockey. That to me is as real as it gets. The big league players are great to see up close but the stars I’m thinking about in “Shooting For The Stars” are the people just getting started in hockey and playing solely for the love of the game.

I have also enjoyed playing for years as a goalie and think the experience of being on the ice watching plays develop, and keeping an eye on player positions, has helped me with the timing and anticipation needed to get hockey photos. It has also helped me with the reflexes to duck at the right time and save the camera when a puck comes over the boards!

When I go to a rink it’s not to shoot randomly but to cover a specific player for the entire game. If I don’t get the shot I’m after then I come to the next game and try again. By focusing on a single player, or very limited number per game, the success rate for getting a winning shot is greatly improved.

Usually early on in the hockey seasons I’ll start getting invitations to come out and shoot games. When the word gets around about the photos I’m shooting the growing requests will keep me returning to those same leagues. Once committed to one or two leagues for the season it can be difficult to get out to many others – so, if you are interested in having me come out to your games please contact me as soon as possible.

Sponsors, Coaches and League Organizers

If you would like to have action photography provided to an entire team or division, or to have coverage of a special player, event or tournament, please let me know . I would be happy to help with providing photography to help with team or league fundraising, create the photographs you need for your newsletters and media articles, websites, or as special gifts or awards given to the players.

Candid Portrait Photography