Na-Me-Res Medicine Garden

WHEN WE BEGAN SHOOTING CONTENT FOR NA-ME-RES’ ANNUAL REPORT THE DESIGN TEAM LET US KNOW THAT THEY’D LIKE FOR THE COVER TO BE FROM THE MEDICINE GARDEN

With no particular direction in mind- other than something involving the residents, preferably- it was up to us to shoot as much as possible while we were there on a September afternoon.

Having shot with Na-Me-Res for about 5 years now we know how uncomfortable majority of the residents are when it comes to photography, being photographed, and being included in photos in any capacity, so it came to no surprise when most residents asked to not have their faces shown (but agreed to some detail/from behind shots).

We shot most of the other content before the medicine garden so we tried to pull some inspiration from other shoots but were still unsure. One day Ethan, kind of jokingly kind of serious, said “what about a detail hand shot of someone stroking their hand along the garden, kind of like Thanos in the last scene of Infinity War?” (we’re into the Avengers, don’t judge!) It sounded silly to say but we both understood and thought it was a good reference.

We were lucky to have set up this shoot with some of the residents from the Sagatay program who tend to the garden on a weekly basis and will harvest from it, and it so happens that this was likely to be their last harvest for the season!

See more photos below…

The progression of building up to the hero shot was interesting, considering our restrictions (so many of the men being uncomfortable being photographed) so we worked our way around the garden as quietly and unobtrusively as possible. The guys are always great, often giving us some of their harvest to taste and sharing stories about how gardening has been that year. We tried to sneak in a few shots of different men grabbing peas from above, and even an attempt at a down low shot (like the Infinity War reference) but didn’t love it. Finally, towards the end of the shoot, the sun came out in full force and everything lined up!

 
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UofT TRC Report- Pow Wow

THE NEXT INSTALMENT OF SHOOTS FROM UOFT’S TRUTH & RECONCILIATION REPORT IS FROM THEIR POW WOW!

Although this wasn’t our first time attending a pow wow, it was certainly our first time photographing one, and what an experience it was! Local vendors and much of the community (from near and far) all come together for pow wows; they’re an opportunity for everyone to sing, dance, socialize, and honour the Indigenous culture. With that, it was the perfect feature to include in the University of Toronto’s TRC report so we went to the stadium to shoot one afternoon!

While quite beautiful there are a few considerations to keep in mind when shooting a pow wow; photo and video are prohibited during certain parts of the event (prayers, flag songs), eagle feathers are of the utmost importance (you can read about that here), and it’s important to ask for permission before photographing someone.

For this event and shooting for the report specifically we needed model releases for faces so we tried our best to shooting close crops, details, or (to the opposite end) from afar.

JP Gladu for Report On Business

AS WE WERE DRIVING HOME FROM THE COTTAGE WE GOT A CALL FROM THE GLOBE & MAIL ABOUT THIS SHOOT…

Nervous and excited we gathered all of the details and information while on the road, and got the ball rolling on setting this up! Leading up to this we heard nothing but great things about JP which certainly put us at ease leading up to our shoot and truly it did not fall short come the day of.

Much like, literally, everyone else we really do only have good things to share from this session and about JP; he was extremely generous with his time, we have a few mutual contacts in the Indigenous community which is always a great ice breaker, and put the cherry on top of everything, he is incredibly charismatic and easy to photograph which really only made our job so much easier!

We went by the CCAB the day before our shoot to scout out possible shooting locations in and around the office. This is always helpful so that on the day of we have a clear plan of action which is great not only for keeping us organized and on track but for being able to maximize our time with our subject (not everyone has 1 whole hour to spare to shoot so being efficient is the truly the key to success!)

In the office we set up 2 backdrop options (on black with natural light and on white with a light), we tried out a couple of set ups in JPs office- the editors loved the idea of trying to incorporate JP’s hunting background so trying to set up a shot with a pelt he had on his couch- with and without flash and then finally took a stroll outside and set up some final portraits with greenery (we try to shoot outside as much as possible during the summer since our winters are so long which means lots of indoor and studio shooting during that time).

See the feature and some extra photos below! Click the photos to enlarge and browse through

 
 

Branding Session with Happiness Is Sweet

THINGS WE LOVE: SHOOTING & BEING IN COTTAGE COUNTRY

So when Lauren- of Happiness is Sweet- invited us up to her cottage to shoot some branding photos, how could we not be excited?!

Lauren wanted to shoot some lifestyle photos of her and her fiancé (as he’s often her second hand in the kitchen) baking together, some individual photos of her sweets (she spent the weekend baking up a storm!) and she even created a sweets table that we set up outside by the water. The best part of everything? She so kindly sent us home with a box of goodies, which we may or may not have scarfed down on our drive from her cottage to Ethans!

Lauren’s cottage was bright as a cottage can be but the kitchen unforatuntely wasn’t as bright as everywhere else. As always Ethan and I rotated between shooting with and without flash so Lauren could have clean, crisp photos, and grainy, soft, moodier photos.

Lauren was such a trooper and had everything prepared for us when we arrived; kitchen cleared, everything baked, and she knew what she wanted to do so it was easy to shoot! We rotated between doing portraits/”baking” (faux baking) photos and still life photos so we could maximize our time together and shoot as much as possible!

Considering how fun this shoot was and all of the goodies we got to leave with, let’s just say we’d love to do this again ;)