Saturday, June 18, 2011

Off to Paris!

So... I haven't blogged in a while.... a good while actually.
I'll be going off to Paris very soon.  I'm leaving Sunday night and will be back on the 27th.  Very excited.  I'm going mainly because I've never been and want to.  Strange thing is the amount of people that have been congratulating me thinking I'm going there for a job.  A job would be nice, but why not just go for the sake of it?  I think Canadians are conditioned to think that one should not bother traveling unless it's vacation time.  I guess you could say I'm going on vacation, but to be honest I just feel like traveling and wanting to go to places I've always wanted to visit and explore a bit.

I'm going with a friend who randomly told me one night that she's going.  So I randomly asked 'Can I come?', she said 'Sure!!!'.  I wasn't expecting that ..... and this was just about 3 weeks ago.... so I decided why not?!  So here I am...writing to you to tell you I'll be off to Paris :D  I'm packing light and just taking a small Canon S95 camera with me.  It's a 10 megapixel camera that also shoots raw should I feel the need to photograph something.  I don't normally take pictures when I go off to somewhere.  I want to look with my own eyes and not through a viewfinder constantly.  This way I remember the actual trip and places and scents and tastes.... you get the idea.

I managed to find a flat to rent at a very short notice.  Luckily it's in Les Halles, which is pretty much a central area in Paris and almost everything is within walking distance.  My landlady seems very nice and enormously friendly!  She's gotten great reviews and after I get back from my trip I'll be blogging about my trip and what my stay there was like.  I've been fortunate enough to establish a connection there through a friend here in Toronto.  Great friends are hard to come by, but when you do have them it just makes life that much better.  Thank you friend!  I'm very much looking forward to my trip :)

I also wanted to provide other updates as I've been lacking sorely with providing news.
I was featured in May on a blog called Fusion of Effects.  Marcus Kan is the creator of the blog and does a fantastic job with showcasing up and coming photographers, illustrators, designers, etc.  All mainly related to fashion.  I recommend that you add this blog to your bookmark!  Thank you Marcus for the feature and interview :)

Through Marcus Kan I was able to get one of my photograph's featured on Swide Magazine run by Dolce & Gabbana.  The article was based on Lace in commemoration of introducing Dolce & Gabbana's Lace Sunglasses.   Here's the image that was used in the article:


Photography:  Nadia Cheema
MUA/Hair:  Greg B. @ PUSH
Stylist:  Luis Zulaykha @ PUSH
Model:  Katherine Hastings @ PUSH

I was able to muster up a quick shoot with a fantastic team provided by PUSH  agency.  Absolutely great team!  

Another shoot I had recently did was done by some old and new friends who put our heads together and came up with a vintage inspired shoot with some antiques used as props.  Here are the images:


Photography:  Nadia Cheema
 MUA:  Rhia Amio
Stylist:  Cisya Paramita
Model:  Gabriela Otis @ PUSH
Assistant:  Antoinette Scott

Aside from just doing creatives I also did a lookbook for a local designer named Carrie Hayes.  She's a fantastic designer and very inspirational to shoot for.  Lookbooks tend to be normally on a plain background where you have a model wear the clothing desired to be photographed.  You're basically showing off the clothing.  Well Carrie was kind enough to give me some freedom with the shoot.  She wanted the lookbook to have a slight editorial feel to be.  Yay!!!  I can do that!  Here are some of the images:






Photography:  Nadia Cheema
MUA/Hair:  Vanessa Jarmen @ Page One
Stylist:  Cisya Paramita
Designer:  Carrie Hayes
Model:  Jillian Kelly @ PUSH

We photographed 5 looks in total.  You can see the layout and the rest of the photographs on Carrie Hayes' site.  It's the first collection in the lookbook that will show up when you enter the site.

Another news to add on top of so many other things.... I was asked if I could present discussing Beauty photography for a local photographers all-in-one summer workshop named Rob Davidson.   He's an absolutely talented photographer and teacher!  I have learned a great deal from him and when he asked that I speak I was honored and nervous as hell.  Key is not to show it...and apparently I did well not showing it.  I hide it well I guess.   I presented both workshop nights, Tuesday and Thursday.  It was a great experience and the response was great.  This has motivated me to throw my own Beauty Workshop in August.  Once I get back from my trip I'll be planning towards that.  
Here are some quick images from the workshop.  I decided to keep everything clean since the core reason of the workshop was to display some lighting examples, tools used and providing direction to the model and how to interact during the actual shoot.  


Model:  Nicole Baptiste @ PUSH

Model:  Sarah Newman @ PUSH

None of these shots have been retouched except for basic work in Lightroom.  The key idea in the workshop was to shoot as if you were shooting film.  Get as much as you can in the shot and always remember what you are selling.  You're not selling the model, but the clothing, accessories, concept, etc.  You are all-in-all selling fashion!  I wanted to thank PUSH for kindly providing us with models for the workshop and Keirsten Morris for doing Makeup and Hair on set.  Response after the workshop was just phenomenal.  I couldn't have asked for anything better.  Therefore, do keep an eye out for the August workshop announcement.
Well...phew!.... I'm going to say that's it for now.   Cheers everyone :)






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