Feature in Magazine - Papercut Mag

It's a good day today..... my team and I did a shoot over a month ago that was quite the production and involvement by many.  It was an underwater inspired shoot, but not quite being submerged ;)

The number of people involved though was quite impressive considering it's a creative based shoot.  Model, stylist, MUA/hair and four assistants.  That's right FOUR assistants!!!  And thank goodness they were all there.  It couldn't have been a success without them.  There was just so much work involved and it took us 9 hours just to complete 4 looks.  What took the longest was all the co-ordination.  You'll see what I mean when you see the actual series of photos.

There's a reason why we did this shoot though.  It wasn't only to see if we could do it and grow from it, but also for publication purposes.  Yes.... this shoot was done as a submission based idea.  I've never submitted before and don't know any real procedure behind it, but decided to go ahead and try.  I mean there's so many photographers out there that do it.... so what's the difficulty and hesitation?  I know what my real hesitation was.  How do I get my work noticed amongst so many emails that coming flooding through a creative directors and editors emails on a daily basis.  How can I make mine stand out amongst the masses?  My real intention by doing these submissions was more on a recognition basis rather that actually having any of the photographs be published and, if possible, receive feedback.

Well.... my journey begins as a virgin submitter.  We did the shoot, I polished and prepped it for final submission then sat and pondered.  Pondered so much that I didn't move and .... I think... basically marinated in my own old clothing.  I blame my brain for over thinking and not actually doing anything.  I mean.... it's not going to happen on its own.  I need to be the one to do it.  What's their to loose really?  I won't get a response back.  That's the worst case scenario when you think about it.  If I don't hear back from a magazine then you try again next time and keep trying without... well...seeming like a stalker.  So what was my first move.... I got up and took a shower then changed my clothes to feel fresh and rejuvenated.  I think tried to figure out a way to see what magazines are out there and how to contact them.  What's the default approach whenever we seek to find something on the internet?  Well... we Google it!  So that's exactly what I did.  I googled.  I have to say.... I was very disappointed.  Google had failed me for the first time since I discovered it initially in my semi-mental state.  I couldn't believe it.  What do I do??!!?  If google can't help me who can?  Umm.... being overly dramatic here.  In actuality finding online magazines using google wasn't the easiest method.  Reason being is because the listings that it outputted didn't... well it lacked quite a bit.  After googling the supposed info and not receiving anything majorly helpful I sat back and once again pondered as to what to do.  Sat and thought... thought about it ... thought about it some more and decided "I'm bored... let's check what's going on Twitter land!".  Went onto my twitter account and read up on recent tweets when it dawned on me.... browse online mags through twitter!!!  Lo and behold... it worked!  Huzzah!!  After vehemently searching through twitter and being linked from magazine to another from its original source I was able to get info on over 30 different types on online mags around the world.  Hell ya!  So I emailed all I could find that I felt should be contacted for submission purposes.  Yup... all 30 or so that I found.  This little woman was on a mission boys and girls!

Long story short... many of the online mags actually replied back with great feedback!  Unfortunately they wouldn't be able to use it for their next issue, but definitely look forward to future submissions by me.  That's fantastic!!  To be recognized and responded back to is truly fantastic.  Definitely motivates anyone to keep working on future works and show it to the world... because truth be told, that's how you'll ever be noticed is by showing your work.

After all that... I was contacted by a magazine that's both online based and print as well.... Papercut Magazine.  They actually accepted two of the images from the Underwater series and it's now up on their online based magazine and in print for purchase!

What makes it sweeter is that all moneys accepted will be donated to War Child International.  It feels good and gifted.  Please do feel free to visit their site and check out all the photographs whose work have been accepted.  You'll find my two images on pages 28 and 29.  To view the rest of the images from the series please visit my own site at www.nadiac.com.  Any thoughts, comments, opinions and/or questions are much welcomed and appreciated :)  Also if you'd like to try and figure out how it was all done please do let me know ;) 

Thanks to everyone involved and especially my friends who assisted me that day.  Couldn't have been successful without their support and contribution. 

I have future projects in mind and would like to share three photographs with you that are available for print and will be used as a 'prop' for something soon!  These three are going to be a part of a series that again will be available for print sales.  If you would like more info please feel free to email me at nadia@nadiac.com. It's an ongoing project and hoping to be done in a few weeks time.


Another piece of good news I'd like to share is a very good friend of mine and close colleague Rob Davidson is now official a guest writer and contributer for the Foodists blog based in Vancouver.  His photographs are devilishly delicious and his writing would make Pavlov proud.  He's just had his first and new post up on the Foodists blog titled A Foodist Guide to Liberty Village as a restaurant reviewer in Liberty Village (Toronto, King and Dufferin area).   Please do check it out!  All photographs and writing by Mr. Davidson himself.  As an addition do visit his Epicure In Light blog for recipe ideas and wonderful and very much drool friendly photographs taken by Rob.

As a closing note I'd like to share with you the people involved in the underwater shoot;
Photography: Nadia Cheema
Makeup/Hair: Carly Sellen
Styling: Hungre
Model: Cait (Elite Model, Toronto)
Assistants:  David Addington
                    Chris Hazard
                    Urszula Kozak
                    Antoinette Scott

Cheers for now and stay tuned!

  Prints available for purchase.  Contact me for size and price details.

All images are copyright.   Nadia Cheema © 2010  www.nadiac.com

 

Dec. 14, 2010

I am now officially a freelancer.....  I no longer work as a full-time assistant to a photographer here in Toronto.  So what have I been doing since?  Sleeping and resting.  Feels bizarre because it's something that I don't do often!  Now I feel ansy though....  Which means I'd like to get back to work and do up a 'to do' list.

What did I do yesterday?  Well I asked my handsome friend Rob to help me build a glass water table.  I purchased some glass pieces cut to size to build a glass water table.  I have some ideas in mind that I'd like to bring to fruition over the holidays.  Not quite sure what yet, but I have a start to that idea and it's just a matter of following that path to see where it leads to.

A  lot has happened in a few weeks, both good and bad.  The good parts are what is needed for my future...as for the bad ones... they are best left behind.  All I'm going to say is karma's a bitch.  I didn't deserve the treatment I had received. 

As for now I'm just going to work on my creatives and call on my resources.  The shoot I'm planning on doing over the holidays will be available for print sales.  It's something I haven't done in a while and I look forward to sharing it with everyone!!  I see it very strongly in my mind, which means it needs to be executed and brought forth for all to see.

I'm going to try updating my blog on a regular basis if I can.  I have received some requests as to again '....eh!  What's up with your blog???  When are you planning on updating it???' I apologize :)  BUT here's an update!  I have some good news..... all I'm going to say for now is that a magazine got back to me regarding a submission I made a while back.  I can't say more till it's out and I see it.

For now though I'd like to share these two photographs that were taken over the weekend.  Both of these ladies are lovely at their own right and it was such a pleasure to both meet and work with them.  Makeup artist is the lovely Carly Sellen whom I love love LOVE working with!  She sees what's in my head and just brings it forth.

All images are copyright.   Nadia Cheema © 2010  www.nadiac.com

Recent Beauty Shoot - ICON Models

Did a recent beauty shoot with a great team.  I wanted to experiment using a mirror as a reflector placed at the base of the model.  Clamshell lighting or butterfly lighting method.  I've seen mirrors used before on beauty shoots to provide contrast.  It can be used in different degrees of intensity depending on the size of the actual light source (key light).  I wanted to go for a more 'blasted' look where I could really pale out the skin after in PS with very little work.  I must state that actual retouching work only took me 5-7 minutes per photograph.  Lighting, makeup and skin type were great! Made my editing work much easier.  Less editing work...the happier Nadia is.

People involved:
- Models: Sara J and Allana C (ICON Model Management)
- MUA:  Rhia Amio
- Hair:  Carlos @ Spellbound
- Assistants:  Khalid Mutlaq and Robert Boic (such great guys!!)

Yes....two assistants.  Funny how that worked out, but I have to say having both Khalid and Robert there was great!  They were so helpful and honestly made the workflow much easier for all of us.  I can't thank them enough.  They also both assisted in blowing the hair around on both models.  Two fanners for one model.  Sounds strange I know, but to have a proper movement of hair and for directionality it helped having one person using the actual electric fan and another person fanning using a foam core board.
I must say... the models never complained about how cold it became for them while shooting.  Such troopers and true professionals.  Never showed it in film either.  I did take breaks in between shoots to allow them to warm up.  I tried to shoot as quickly as I could so as not to torture poor Sara and Allana with all that fanning around.  Great work ladies!

This is also where I used the Canon 5D to shoot with and a 90mm tilt/shift lens.  Yes a true tilt/shift lens.  If you note any blur in the photographs it's caused by using the tilt/shift.  It's completely manual focus so it was tricky, but once I got the hang of it I have to say that I absolutely loved shooting with it.  Not just for the tilt/shift factor, but also because this lens is tack sharp.  I normally like to sharpen the eyes in my photographs, but I didn't have to after using this lens.  If you zoom in on a full resolution photograph you can see that even the liquid in the eyes are shown with such clarity that it's truly impressive!  Will be doing future shoots using this lens that's for sure.

Unfortunately I don't have any BTS shots from this shoot, but like before I'm going to share with you before and after shots.  Hopefully that'll sate your cravings a bit ;)  Rest of the photographs can be seen on my flickr site.  Only two shots from that shoot will be placed on my actual site.

All images are copyright.   Nadia Cheema © 2010  www.nadiac.com