georgeMetzler

Jan 13, 2012, Friday the 13th!

2012-01-13T16:46:00.000-08:00

something a little bright and happy on Friday the 13th!

sumi filter and a linear dodge to bring back the sparkle

original image i took a little dark and moody, but I was really feeling brighter and happier today!

Jan 12 Edges

2012-01-13T10:58:00.000-08:00

This is a pic of the waterbulb - you know the ones used to feed plants? I used it for texture on the canopy pic a few days ago, this time, I added a glowing edges texture to get more of an automatic painting kinda feel. It reminds me of some of my oils on canvas!

and the original below.

When it comes topainting, as I imagine most art forms, you have to be able to do the realbefore you can do the surreal. That didn't sound right. Let me tell you astory;

When I was 11, I wasover at my Aunty Donna's house, I was taking dance lessons and Joey, my cousinwas in grade 8 piano and practicing 'the entertainer' non-stop and he alwayshad the metronome going, tick, tick, tick, in perfect rhythm and harmony. I rememberdancing while he played piano. Anyway, my point is, it was always noisy, rhythmic,and dynamic environment. I loved it. One day, I think my Aunt went to the storeand Joey wasn't there. I was sitting on the couch, all by my lonesome staringat a decorative chair in the corner. (You know the one, popular decor in the70's, straight back, small, solid wood that no one could sit on.) No TV, noRadio, no noise, just silence. I decided to sketch it.

I grabbed a piece ofpaper and a pencil and a book to draw on and curled up on the couch and got towork. It took me 4 hours, but I had a perfect sketch of the chair. I think Igave it to my Aunty, but I don't remember. I just remember that when she sawthe finished sketch, she said 'wow'.

At 11, was the pointin my life when I was able to sketch photorealism, with perfect balance andlight, and I did it all the time...fast forward to age 12.

When I was 12, myfamily and I went to Europe. An 8 week back pack trip through 7 countries. We,of course, visited museums of great artists. They had displays of the processesthe greats took to achieve their works. I didn't know before that that youcould sketch it out first. I also didn't know that almost all the greatmodern/automatic/impressionist artists started in realism and then moved to thealternate style. You can see the progression in their work. You can see Picasso’sdecent into madness as well as van Gogh, Monet, etc. That's when I realized,that an artist must be able to do the basics, realistic, how the light movesand plays with the colours on a visual level. He or she must be able to see thelight for what it is, see the colour for how it is, see the balance of actualitybefore he or she can start to interpret it into something else, something more.Don't get me wrong, artists who can do realism to higher levels areawesome...but I've always loved the surreal.

My epiphany; Irealized that by drawing my technically perfect sketches, I had now earned theright to paint from that part of you that is emotional and not logical.

In other words; youhave to be able to do the real, before you can do the surreal.

Oh, and before Idigressed, I wanted to say that, I like how in automatic paintings, everyonesees something different.

take care!

George.

Jan 11, 2012 Barometer

2012-01-13T10:54:00.000-08:00

Slight angle...I know, cheating...but only a little....I really liked both of them... :)

taken on a tripod.

I tried to do the zoom thing, but I seem to have lost my touch!

I'll keep practicing.

Jan 10, 2012 barometer

2012-01-13T10:52:00.000-08:00

Jan 9 Canopy

2012-01-13T10:50:00.000-08:00

with a layer added from the waterbulb pic, for extra dimension...and I liked how dirty it looks.

Jan 8, 2012 Orange

2012-01-13T10:48:00.000-08:00

Sorry! Had to redo everything, my point and click...well...I lost the cord and have spent the last few days searching for it. Le sigh, I guess those particular pictures will have to wait until I can get my hands on a new one!

Jan 7, 2012 Sparkle

2012-01-08T00:33:00.000-08:00

You had to know my Ba would be on here sooner or later!

Jan 6, 2012 Snow Star

2012-01-07T00:43:00.000-08:00

had a little ps fun with an outside decoration. it involved layers and a fibre filter...

original shot:

Jan 5, 2012 skull

2012-01-05T23:16:00.000-08:00

Here's a different shot I took.

Still having issues with the point and click! Should have used the SLR at the game and for the examiner article.

Jan 4, 2012 the mask

2012-01-04T16:46:00.000-08:00

Pic of the day is a mask I have hanging in my room. It's a souvenir from an excellent industry party I went to 100 years ago!

no examiner article today.

Jan 3, 2012: the daytime moon

2012-01-03T15:01:00.000-08:00

If you happened to look east this afternoon, before the clouds came in, you would have seen a daytime moon!

and some more daytime moon shots.

Jan 2, 2012 Tatted Hen and Chicks

2012-01-03T00:35:00.000-08:00

When I was 12, my Great Grand-Mother taught me how to tat. Here's a pic of a string of Hen and Chicks I'm working on in silver thread. I'm going to make and trim something and suprise someone close to me with it!

I also did an examinar article on 'how to'.

http://www.examiner.com/life-photos-in-calgary/tatting-a-fading-art-form

Jan. 1, 2012 Amaryllis Angel

2012-01-01T21:02:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone! Long time, no post. Inpired by one of my photography profs, I've decided to do a picture of the day! Here's my first!

Photo of the Day Jan 1 Amaryllis Angel

How in the world did I get to that? You ask.

Well, we have this beautiful Amaryllis plant that just came into this beautiful full bloom with two flowers.

From the side, I kind of think it looks like a butterfly. Originally I was going for something like this, in black and white.

Because my shutter speed was quite low in order to get the glowing petal effect that I was looking for, I ended up with this blur. And loved it. I duplicated the blur on the same settings, 1/2 sec at f5.6 while shaking the camera quickly back and forth.

I ended up with a 4sec shutter with an f10 in order to get the final image, I used the on camera flash in order to freeze a bit of the flower and held as still as I could for a second then did very small jiggles to get the final glowing/butterfly effect that I was looking for.

I posted a little article and slideshow about Amaryllis' on my examiner page.

Enjoy!

http://www.examiner.com/life-photos-in-calgary/amaryllis-1

Why hire a Photographer? Me or anyone else.

2011-12-06T11:55:00.001-08:00

Yervant said something in a course recently that is absolutely true. We shoot they way we see the world. People can copy what we do, they can try to post process to get similar effects, but they'll never quite get it. Because no two people are the same. So yes, people can copy, but it'll just be a copy.

Cameras are advanced. So advanced that they can set up shots, seek out people and even follow them around the room. Anyone can take a wonderful shot. Anyone can set up a 'canned' pose, you know, those poses that everyone wants at a wedding or portrait shoot. Like formals, the wedding party jumping, rings, details, candids, the flowers on the train, etc.. At the big store photo studios, it's close-up, head and shoulders, 3/4, full length, full length different angle, sitting looking behind you, 'connection' pose - looking away from the camera. Don't get me wrong, they look very nice and they sell. But does it take talent to take them with the technology that's out there? No, not really. The camera will do most of this work for you and when you can hit the shutter 100 times, at least one will turn out.

So why hire me or another photographer? Well you don't have to. Is it prestige? 'Ooh, I have Joe Buissink and paid $100,000 (my made up number) for him to shoot my wedding and he shoots film, and digital and movie stars, and aren't I rich and special.' Well maybe. But more than likely its because of his amazingly beautiful images, that's why the stars hire him. Your cousin, armed with one of the new fancy cameras, might take nice images, but she or he won't take them the same as Joe. Only Joe can shoot the world like Joe sees it. Only Joe can put his emotion into his photos. And only Joe can tell your story the way Joe does. And people pay Joe very well for for that vision. Only Yervant can tell your story like Yervant. Only Parish can tell a story like Parish. And only I can tell a story like me.

I see the world, like you see in my portfolio. So yes, that is the style you will get. All the time. That is what you pay me for, to tell the story and to interpret that story with photography. The way I see it. I shoot from my heart, how I feel at that moment. No one can copy me and I can't copy someone else, nor would I want to.

You hire a photographer for how they interpret your story. How they can tell your story through film or pixels. Find a photographer whose story telling you love and you can't go wrong.

No two people see the world the same. A machine can't duplicate the emotion, interpretation, and story telling that each photographer puts into an image.

Light is our paint, and the Camera is our brush.

With love and light, and, love of light,

G

Restructuring and Refocusing

2011-12-06T11:45:00.001-08:00

Wow, it's been a long time since I've Blogged.

What I've been up to in the last year or so: a couple of weddings, a few portraits, a few fashion shoots, and a swack of 'for me' stuff. Not terribly much. I've been trying to find my focus, my voice, my direction. What kind of photographer am I? Who do I want to shoot? and Why do I want to shoot it? It has been a bevy of courses and soul searching. All in the name of finding my direction.

What kind of photographer am I? I'm a Fashion, Beauty and Editorial Photographer. This was a struggle to define. I enjoy so many different types of topics and types of photography and I dabble in all of them. Which is why I originally thought Wedding Photography would be the perfect fit. Then I took a Matthew Jordan Smith course with CreativeLive on Fashion and Beauty Shooting a couple of weeks ago. When he told of how he comes up with story ideas and storyboards and picking the 'hero' of the story and how he composes and why, well, it was like he was describing what I love to do and why I do it. Model shoots with Stories are my passion. I even design and create costumes so they can be 'just right'. It felt like the puzzle piece just slipped into place.

Who do I want to Shoot? I could do commercial, and probably will, but my main focus is going to be creating Fashion stories for everyday women like you and me. I don't want to say "Glamour" because that brings images of overly made up, fluffy haired, over airbrushed/soft focused 80's Glamour portraits. Yea, um, no. Not that. What I'm shooting for are more Fashion/Beauty, Burlesque-esque sometimes, but not Boudoir; think Old Hollywood Glamour. On location or at your house.

Why do I want to shoot it? I think Boudoir does give women an ego boost. It shows women that they're sexy and playful and sassy and mysterious and all those wonderful things that, well, we all are. But there are lots of wonderful Boudoir Photographers in Calgary. I want the same feeling, the same ego boost for my clients, but I wanted to do something a little different. Something that could be hung on your living room wall or sit on your husbands desk for all to see and say 'wow'. Fashion and Beauty: Art with you as the star, showing the world just how beautiful you truly are.

Think...

Finally the "Bugatti Veyron" of Wedding Albums

2010-03-13T11:39:00.000-08:00

Queensberry Musee was introduced this month at two of the largest Photography Conventions in the world; WPPI in Las Vegas and FOCUS in the UK. I haven't personally met one yet, and probably won't until they bring this fully polished 5ct blue diamond to a local convention. The reviews, however, are off the charts! From what I hear, the Leather is the same as Hermes uses for their handbags and the paper is from the same factory that Monet used for his watercolours.

I see solid art pieces gracing these pages. Its been suggested that I take my bridal work to the next level and use that style, my style, where the pictures look almost painted, throughout the entire wedding. And that is where I am taking my weddings from now on. (Which is why my investment page now says 'call me' because there is so much I'm incorporating that is very different from whats normally done.) I digress.

How perfect would that be? Your wedding, my art photos and this exquisitely elite album. WOW.

If you want the bragging rights of having the best wedding album available, then The Queensberry Musee is for you. So exclusive that Queensberry will not provide sample albums. And if you have to ask, you can't afford it.

Don't worry, "if you have to ask", like most of us do, we have other albums that feature high quality watercolour paper. Wild Magnolia and Couture Book...both Eco friendly and beautifully presented at $3,500.

And because a photography blog should always have some photography! Some shots from a bridal/model shoot with Krystal.

Pinup/50's Glam Shoot

2010-02-16T00:54:00.000-08:00

Some shots from a recent shoot with Kaylla. We had so much fun! & Loved the images we created...way to many to post here. You can see more on my facebook fanpage www.facebook.com/georgemetzler

Shoot from the Heart, Things I Learned in 2009

2010-01-05T09:00:00.000-08:00

2009 is behind us and 2010 is ahead like a beacon of hope and wonder. After my first year of wedding photography, I’ve learned many things and I would like to share them with you. Perhaps it will give incite about the type of shooter that I am and what I’m able to deliver.

I've learned that:

I’m a photojournalist, portrait, landscape, architectural, fashion, artistic, product and sometimes even a pet photographer all within any given moment during a wedding.
Capturing moments with real emotions are more important than being technically ‘perfect’.
I prefer to shoot with available light so I’m less noticeable but sometimes flash is the only available light.
My second shooter is priceless!
Most of my time is spent processing the pictures.
It is important to spend the time because each image is an emotion and needs its own special care.
Every wedding I shoot is better than the last.
I love all the couples that I choose to shoot, their love is inspiring and they’re all really sweet and interesting couples.
I cry during the ceremony and during the speeches...what can I say, I'm a romantic!
Every Bride and every Groom gives their fiancé a look behind their back that holds such purity of happiness and love that it can’t duplicated or faked.
Every child looks like a princess or a prince but fortunately they still act like kids. Yay!
I have the honor of being the photographic storyteller of a love story will be shared with future generations.
I do more than photograph the event.
Most importantly, to shoot from the heart, always from the heart, and never from the head.

2010

For the last month I’ve been working at the Walmart Portrait Studios. I took the Christmas job in order to improve my posing abilities and learn a bit about the ‘business’ side of things. Yes, I made my intentions clear to the District Manager…who is a wonderful lady! Practice makes perfect, and this was a wonderful win/win for both sides! My Mom worked at Sears a few years ago in St. Catherines and she used to complain that there wasn’t any creativity allowed. I have to say that here, in Calgary, that isn’t true. You’re encouraged to be creative and as long as the customer is happy, they’re happy. Yay! I’m happy to report that my posing skills have improved exponentially. Just before Christmas I had one customer ask when I was working in the New Year because they loved my shots and wanted to have me shoot their Mom. That was a great compliment.

My last wedding is proof to myself. (Even though I can’t show you, unless you’re a woman and it’s in person...but I love the shots.) It was a Muslim Wedding and after the men left, the ladies took off their hejabs. Needless to say, I wasn’t permitted to do a lot of PJ shots. Basically, I had two hours in a private room with the bride and groom to take portraits. Could click away during the ceremony and take candid’s of family members, which became impossible after the dancing started. I put away my camera so I wouldn’t be tempted! Most of what I took was posed portraits, if I didn’t have the experience Walmart gave me, I wouldn’t have done 1/10 as good a job as I did! Yay Walmart!

2010 holds promise and my goals are;

Use everything I’ve learned from 2009. Shoot from the Heart!
Integrate more formal, creative, artistic, and fashion portraits into the Weddings I’m shooting.
Improve my PhotoShopping ability to include 3-D manipulation (like Gabriel Rancourt’s Superhero trash the dress shoot…yes, I added another photographer to my ‘hero’ list!)
Shoot with a variety of Models on personal projects, theirs and mine.
Improve my Portrait Portfolio by offering Themed Promotions during the winter months like for Valentines Day and Christmas, perhaps for High School Seniors…or maybe Easter…have to think about that.
Improve my post processing workflow so I can have a quicker turnaround.
Attend more seminars, events and take more classes than I did last year.
BLOG MORE OFTEN!!!
Make Photography my Full-Time bill paying Job!

Yes, 2010 brings promise and hope and wonder. I look forward to creating even better images in the coming year! My love of photography will never diminish and my skills will always improve. As they say, “If we aren’t learning, we’re dying.”

I wish you and your family all the best in the New Year and I look forward to shooting you soon! (I love this job, where else can you say, “I’m taking you out back and shooting you” and everyone has smiles on their faces?)

George

Profound and Powerful

2009-12-28T22:20:00.001-08:00

...the two words I would use to describe the Aribic Wedding I shot last night. I wish I could share images with you guys, but I can't because of cultural/religious reasons. I'm so glad I had the honor of being their photographer.

Sara and Byron

2009-09-01T13:40:00.000-07:00

OMG...lets just face it! I love engagement shoots almost as much as I love Weddings! People in love are just beautiful. Another sweet and wonderful couple, Sara and Byron. One of the winners of my pro-bono wedding shoot contest. Their pug puppy was attacked by a large dog and had to have several surgeries...poor puppy - and as you now know, I'm a pet lover and a sucker for a sick puppy story. Fortunately, their new puppy is doing very well and looking healthy and happy like a little puppy should.

Bev and Nick

2009-08-20T23:43:00.001-07:00

Engagement shoot! What fun this was! They're a lovely couple who just makes you want to pinch their cheeks. teehee...sorry Bev, but it's true! You two are freaking adorable! Discovered another park I had never been to, a waterpark in Castleridge.

Bev and Nick will be getting married in a small ceremony in Sept! Keep an eye out for the pics! :) :) :) Here are some of my favorite shots from the session.

Sherri and Erics wedding

2009-08-17T02:41:00.001-07:00

OMG so much fun! They are probably one of the most 'in love' couples I've ever seen in my life! Such a romancenovel story too. My absolute favorite pics from their wedding are these four when they rang the bell for the bride and groom to kiss and he couldn't wait to kiss her!

How can you not just eat them up? For more of my favories, visit the website www.georgemetzler.com Sherri & Eric.

Yay! Fixed the pics

2009-07-30T15:50:00.000-07:00

Now all the images in the slideshow won't be all over the place :)

Here are some new images I added. :) enjoy!

Oh if I could only remember my JavaScript...

2009-07-21T22:00:00.000-07:00

Have to fix the images on the portfolio page and HAVE to organize them better. I'm starting to get quite a collection, woot! Which is wonderful. Now I just need to remember how to resize my images in JavaScript --- it's been a long time.

But a blog on a photo website is incomplete without pictures, here are some of Kevin and Erin's wedding. Perhaps you read where I said I went to a friends Wedding and it inspired me to pursue Wedding Photography, well, they gave permission for me to post some pics for my portfolio. :)

My new camera and I are finally getting along!

2009-07-12T21:35:00.001-07:00

Woot!

Yesterday I went out again and tried to take some narrow focal length shots of flowers on a hill. Usually I'm very good at these...but NONE of them turned out! I was devistated. Why couldn't I get it to work. My view finder showed perfectly focused flowers. Sigh. My focus has always been off with this one and I just couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong!

Today I went out again, practice, practice, practice...maybe I couldn't hold my telephoto still enough, maybe he wobbles a bit in the wind. After taking a few shots of a wild rose, I found the answer. Right near the view finder there's a dial to adjust for eyesite. So you don't have to wear your glasses when shooting, I imagne someone like my Mom who needs reading glasses would benefit from this feature (and me in a few years!) but not really for near-sited types like me. Well I clicked that dial down all the way and what do you know! Focus! Woot! Now, I'm excited! :) :) :) Here's some flower shots from the day.

Jenica and Ben's Engagement Shoot

2009-07-12T11:03:00.000-07:00

What a fun and lovely couple! Had a great time on a beautiful acreage. They jumped on a trampoline, swung on a swing, hung out in bushes of flowers, battled red ants and mosquitos!

Some lighting worked...some didn't. But its all about adjusting what doesn't work and working with what does. I tried the reflectors for the first time and you can really see the difference. Thanks to Christine for managing that for me! I might need to get an assistant...wonder if she's for hire.

Thier sweetie Baxter was the one I was trying to catch an image of. He's really quick and had tons of interesting things to look at and smell and chase. No time for standing still for us. He's so cute, and his personality reminds me so much of Sparky I wonder if there isn't a little Terrier in Sparks!

They're getting married on the beach in the East Coast, it'll be absolutely gorgeous I'm sure...I can't wait to see the pictures! :)

Parish Kohanim Seminar

2009-07-05T20:58:00.000-07:00

That was a wonderful seminar on light! I learned so much. Like that everyone has an off day and to follow your gut...something I forget to do when I'm nervous. I must practice more with this camera so its more instinctual. I'm just not used to it yet. That will all come with time and clicks.

A few of my class mates also strongly advised I shoot in RAW. I tried it for the first time today with Jenica and Ben. (Will blog on that tomorrow---so much fun---such a great couple!) and I'm now a true believer. It was 1000 time easier to go through and correct the light than it was with the Jpeg.

Anyway back to the Seminar. We learned about angles of light, reflecting, what to look for etc. To take our time and feel the moment. Something I need to work on. I'm too busy trying to catch the 'moments' that I think I'm missing, and missing the important ones. To slow down and let the light talk from the heart. And it's true, all of my best shots are all from the heart, moments that I felt more than saw, if that makes any sense. And to practice and even if you have no one to shoot, give yourself assignments and shoot and experiment and try to look at things from different perspectives!

They did a really cool thing with rope lights. We had two models to shoot all afternoon...fashion, bikinis, lingerie, outside, inside, climbing on statues. Great fun and experience. And an exercise to see how the light moved in different situations.

Then he went through a slide show of his work. OMG, freaking awesome! You should check him out if you get a chance. http://www.parishkohanim.com/

What can I say, it was an awesome course given by an inspiring photographer.

Lisa and Jeff's Engagement Shoot!

2009-06-07T19:49:00.000-07:00

I was so excited I could have burst! Lisa and Jeff are a sweet and freaking adorable couple! I had lots of fun and thoroughly enjoyed Bowness Park. I can't believe I've never been there before. It's beautiful! Beautiful couple, beautiful weather and a beautiful day! I still have lots to learn about light and shade and sun and changing weather! I think I need to invest in some reflectors to reduce some of the harsher shadows when the sun suddenly pops out. But, all in all, I think they'll have a few shots they like. I'll be way better come the wedding day that's for sure! Practice, practice, practice, that's the lesson of the day! :) OK, back to work so I can post some shots here. :)

For the Love of Photography...

2009-06-06T20:13:00.000-07:00

When I was a little girl, my Grandfather bought me a subscription to National Geographic for Kids. I loved it. Every month they would have articles and projects and I just couldn’t wait for the next adventure! One month they sent a very basic pin-hole camera. You know the kind, it’s like a cardboard box with a flap and you have to use a key to turn the film and lift up a flappy thing to expose the film. I was the happiest kid on the block. I had my very first camera. I’d experiment with light by keeping the flap up longer or shorter and seeing how everything turned out. They weren’t too bad actually and that very basic device worked very well. I loved it. So much so my Uncle Albert bought me a Polaroid for my birthday. You can imagine how many of those cartridges I went through!

It was funny that even though I enjoyed photography and found it almost intuitive, I really didn’t take it up. In High School I tended towards the arts that I found challenging and photography was left behind, buried somewhere in my childhood. As an adult, my photography skills were gone. My talent with a point and click went poof! I couldn’t hold a camera without shaking and thought I totally sucked! I could see the photos in my head, I could see what the light would do, but for the life of me, I forgot all the basics I had learned as a child. A few years ago, I took the Basic Photography course at S.A.I.T. A couple of my girlfriends asked me if I wanted to join them. I had this SLR camera and didn’t know what to do with it, so I went. And everything opened up. Suddenly I could get the focuses I wanted, the light would talk to me, and suddenly, I could translate the images in my thoughts onto film.

Huh.

It’s amazing how quickly you can forget a childhood passion only to have it reawakened decades later!

Since that course I don’t want to stop. I’m never without one of my cameras. I’m constantly going on courses, growing and learning and discovering and playing with light. I love shooting flowers and taking natural portraits. Um, by natural portraits I mean that I like taking pictures of people when they’re not posed and catching that easy beauty that everyone has. I discovered a particular affection for wedding photography at one of my friends’ weddings. I love the way the photographs tell the story. If I could photograph for a living, I think I would be the happiest girl in the world. So I took the Wedding Photography course at S.A.I.T. And I was on my way!

We had two photo shoots; one with the softbox flash with poses from a lovely couple who volunteered to pose for us, the other was using natural light in one of the large buildings with the instructor’s son. I confirmed that I have a dislike for posed shots! OMG I hated the ‘studio’ lighting part and I dreaded all the photos that I took when the couple knew I was going to take them. Don’t get me wrong, lots of wonderful photographers can do the studio thing exceptionally well, but I’m not one of them! The best shots I got were when the softbox was off and they didn’t know I was shooting. The nose bump was something she did to him after every shot. I wanted to capture it because it was natural and affectionate and personal to them. I loved the shot. The second photo shoot, the one with natural light, I loved all the shots! My favorites were the ones where my classmates were at the end of a long hall in silhouette and their reflections on the surface of the floor were just gorgeous. I’m wonderful when I’m capturing moments…especially when people forget that I’m there!

Take care
George

My name is Georgina, but my friends call me George...