Simon Duhamel Photographe(r)

Last Call!

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Duhamel) — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 15:10:00 +0000

This is it. The last call. Shortly this blog will be closed definitely. So before you hit the wall, make sure to transfer your bookmarks and RSS feed to

www.simonduhamel.com/blog

Closing Shop

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Duhamel) — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 23:27:00 +0000

Today was the official soft opening of my new website and by the same occasion, my new integrated blog.

After 4 years and close to 1400 posts, this blog is closing and moving to a new location. So please update your links and RSS feed. Thank you for following this blog and see you on the other side!

www.simonduhamel.com/blog

Breaking skin

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Duhamel) — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 09:37:00 +0000

Over the next few days, a couple of major changes are coming. First of, this blog is going to be migrating to a better place. Finally it's going to be merged to my website so both can live under one roof! The downside to it is that my archives are gonna be lost. Recent posts were transfered but it appears that most of what's here will be gone, bye bye. After four years and close to 100,000 hits, this blog will be breaking skin and given a fresh start. It's time to turn the page.

Making such a move will definitely make me lose some readers, but it's worth it in the long run as it's currently attracting more people than my website! Having both linked together will generate more traffic for the site and make the work more visible.

Can't wait for the site to be online. Lots of new features, two new projects for the time being, but more to come!

Meeting up Canon

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Duhamel) — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 09:53:00 +0000

Last week, I headed to Toronto alongside Sylvain Dumais for a special meeting with Canon reps organized by Sparks Photographers. We all gathered at Paul Weeks studios. I met photographers John Cullen, KC Armstrong and Darrin Klimek whith whom we spoke a lot. Canon had dispatched 4 reps including their Canadian director so we had high expectations.

We saw the future! The 5D Mark III, the 1DS Mark IV and a brand new prototype in the works! ... euh not quite.... I think this is what I was dreaming about while I was given a sales pitch about their basic line of cameras. Nothing new? Well of course, everything new was at our latest photo show... yeah right! So basically, we were given a live brochure reading with a Canon bias! I know all of this guys, I've been shooting with your 5D MarkII for almost two years now. Please don't tell me it makes videos and please don't speak to me about Vincent Laforet's Reverie movie... yarn...

So yeah, the good folks at Canon (because they truly are good folks) didn't realize who they were speaking to. It felt like we were avid amateurs when all of us were working photographers. Hello?!

But all and all, it was a good opportunity to meet the Sparks Photographers and exchange a bit on the realities of the markets comparing Montreal to Toronto. So there you have it, nothing new. But thanks to Paul Weeks for the tour of his awesome studio and thanks anyways to the Canon guys for their website theatrical display!

Jury Duty

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Duhamel) — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 14:35:00 +0000

Every year, the Lux contest celebrates the best in photography and illustration. For this year's installment, I was invited to be a member of the jury. It's with great pleasure that I accepted the offer as it was a unique opportunity to see the mechanics of such a contest and to witness from within the discussions leading to the award attribution system. As a young photographer, one who was taught during the transition years between film and digital, I thought I could offer another perspective and offer a different point of view to a jury.

The jury was pretty impressive, composed of individuals strongly opinionated and experienced each one in their respective field. Some discussions were intense, other seemed to all flow in the same direction.

I can't go beside the fact that some of my projects were awarded. It's something I've been thinking about ever since the judging took place. I was under an embargo and couldn't speak a word, which I respected. People who know me can understand how serious I took this embargo as I am known to be a verbal individual.

I am not trying to excuse myself but rather to explain, as the project awarded, ThermoPlastic, was one of a personal nature in which I truly believed in. I am glad the jury was able to grasp the thought process and appreciate the aesthetic research put in to this series. But I know that being on the jury, questions have arise so I would much rather give my side of the medal and explain the process than to let speculation run loose.

I had submitted my work long before being invited to the panel. During the process, I wasn't allowed to discuss any project I was involved in, but I could discuss other projects. I couldn't vote for myself and couldn't talk about my project if it got selected to be on the juror's table to be up for awards. So if a project of mine ended up on the juror's table, someone else had to vote for it in the first place. All projects were presented flat on a table without any form of labeling, making the projects anonymous. They were laid down by an InfoPresse employee following categories and the photographer's sequencing. The only thing the jury could know about a project was the submitted description given by the photographer during submission.

So no. I didn't have my say in the judging of my own work nor did I do anything to put my work up front. I was the first to be surprised by the results, though very happy to see a personal project reaching people. It would've been much nicer for me to simply walk in the room to discover that I won a prize, but if I had to do it again, I would definitely say yes, as being on a jury allowed me to understand the process that goes in to such a contests.

Ultimate Paranoia

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Duhamel) — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 09:40:00 +0000

That being said, I totally agree with him! Data is your most prize possession once off the shoot. You can't just leave a set with a compact flash card. However, we don't all have a guy dedicated to our backups, and it does take quite some time. Backing up data is a discipline you need to have to ensure yourself a safety net in case something happens. One thing you should definitely do is keeping copies off shore.

What I usually do is keep the files on the compact flash card in the camera bag. Have a copy onto my laptop that follows me on the road and another copy on an external drive that I keep on myself. This way you have 3 live copies in different locations.

Once I've backed things up at the studio, I can clear the compact flash card for the next shoot and clear my laptop, knowing there are still two copies in different locations.

This is kind of the low-fi paranoia plan!

Wild shoot

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Duhamel) — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 05:22:00 +0000

Today for a concept picture, I found myself caged, shooting a wild animal. Never did I found my life threatened but still, being in the presence of a wild beast with a killing potential at 10 feet away was exhilarating. It was a trained animal, but clearly you cannot defeat nature's way. However, it was far more scared than me than I was of it. A pretty humbling experience that should turn out in a stunning image.

Makes you realize that you cannot have control over any situation. When I came in, I had a plan in mind, but we had to change our lighting and simplify to make it happen. Otherwise the whole set could've been taken down due to the beast's suspicious nature. Thank god I wasn't shooting the Tigre!

On a side story, a monkey pulled our chain literally when he pulled on the lights because of an extension cord too close to his cage. Nik had to wrestle the little bastard to get the cord back. This little misadventure truly made my day!

Some News

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Duhamel) — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 10:24:00 +0000

Expect a lot of news and new stuff in the weeks to come! New website and identity is on the way. It won't be as "flashy" as my current one, but slick, multi-platform and straight to the point, putting emphasis on the work. I'm also holding off a few things to show once the site is up and will continue to feed the site as projects are released.

A new creative side-project is also coming, expecting to shoot the first piece in October.

And my Moleskine is packed with ideas I plan on shooting during downtime.

Oh, did I mention that I'm taking a holiday! Two well deserved weeks in California with the family.

These are exciting times!

Business of Photography 101

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Duhamel) — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 10:36:00 +0000

I picked up this post via APhotoEditor about the blog A Year in Pictures telling us about the 4 Rules to succeed in photography.

"Here are the rules:

1. Have talent. (Talent is not when your friends tell you they love your work, but when people who don't like you have to admit it's good.)

2. Understand how the world works. (Not just globally, but on a macro level. Understand what people need and don't need. Understand when to approach people and when not to. Develop social skills.)

3. Choose good friends. (There's nothing like an effective network.)

4. Be modern. (Don't do anything that looks like it's someone else's work. Stay on top of technology. Engage on multiple platforms.)"

I especially liked a comment left by Ryan Phillips on APhotoEditor:

"Being in this business for more than 20 years I can tell you that talent has less to do with it than you would think. You often see untalented people at the top and then wonder why they are. It’s all about who you know! Plain and simple your connections, friends, colleagues, etc are the ones who get you jobs or get you connected to the right people. One job, one connection, one image could put you in the right place to take you to the top."

I totally agree. Some people are just there because of their quality to use the talent of others! Though it's comforting to think otherwise, talent is not the only factor. The Network has a strong influence on one's career and can get you further than talent alone. There are great photographers out there that don't always get the opportunities that their talent should grant them. On the other hand, doors open up sometimes to the lucky. I guess it's all a mixture of talent and a whole lotta luck! Now that's Business of Photography 101 for you!

Face to Face with Jean Pascal

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Duhamel) — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 03:52:00 +0000

Today I met Jean Pascal for a quick photoshoot for an upcoming project. I took the opportunity to shoot more so I should have a short series of portraits of him on top of the commissioned work. At the end of the shoot, I asked him if I could take a picture with him. He didn't expect me to take off my shirt for a quick staring contest. Given his busy schedule, preparing for his next HBO title-defense fight, Jean was very generous of his time. The bout lasted about 30 min and I am very happy with the shots. Looking forward to share them with you.

Check out his site!

Shooting the Champion of the World

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Duhamel) — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 11:46:00 +0000

Today, I will have a precious 30min with a current Boxing Champion of the World. Hope to make most of it by shooting a couple of shots to create a small series. This ought to be a good adrenaline rush as we really have 30min flush!

On self-promotion...

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Duhamel) — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 01:57:00 +0000

Promoting your work and being noticed is all about being original. A while back, I started using Facebook to promote my work. Whenever I got something new, I would write a Note about it, describing the project. Later, to maximize traffic, I would link my blog post to Facebook. This way I could get people from Facebook to the Blog and hopefully get them to read past the images! I would upload the picture, put it on Flickr and link the pic on the Blog to the Flickr page. On the Flickr page, I would put a link to my Site, a link about the Blog post and to Vimeo for the Making of. The idea is to make sure that one could travel within any platform.

The formula worked really well. Any day I put something on Facebook and Twitter, I get a lot more hits than on average. But now it seems that everyone does that! My Facebook, mostly filled with creative people, is now also filled with everyone's projects. Being of curious nature, I try to hit every hot link to creative projects but have found myself jaded by the amount of self-promotion out there. Now that everybody's doing it, it starts to feel more like noise.

Using multiple platforms also gets tiring. It's a lot of work to put your work all over the place. And for the people that really follow you, it gets very repetitive to see the same shots popping out on all media.

So I keep on writing on my blog, but let LELOI's blog and Made of Stills blog carry the news of my commercial work. I try to use twitter more for redirecting people to places my work as been featured and let others spread the word.

I'm trying to think of what I could do to emerge from the flock. Couple of ideas in mind. Time will tell. Till then, hard to avoid the Facebook...

Getting things done state of mind

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Duhamel) — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 00:28:00 +0000

Sometimes, you just procrastinate. Not that you want to, you just do. It feels like everything can be done tomorrow and nothing is worth so much of your time...

Lately, I've been so rushed jumping from one project to the other that I just wanna get things done. Shoot it, process it, deliver it... on to the next one. It's never that easy. But when you are in that state of mind, nothing seem to get in your way. The challenge is to stay in that zone and not fall back and give in to procrastination (aka facebook).

An hour with a Billionaire

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Duhamel) — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 01:15:00 +0000

Today Nik and I had the opportunity to spend an hour with a Billionaire, shooting his portrait for Canadian Business magazine. We met a man with a great sense of humor who was very generous with his time. We got a few advice along the way... Pretty impressive to meet a man who's life was built on success and who's life strategy is based on knowledge. Inspiring.

15 down, 10 to go

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Duhamel) — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 11:04:00 +0000

Over the past few days, I've shot 15 on location portraits. Every location is different, which makes it a challenge in creating an harmonious series. But that's what's great about the project. We've been to Quebec city, Trois-Rivieres, Granby, St-Hyacinthe and all around Montreal shooting in the Bombardier jet showroom, a hockey jersey company, a volleyball court, at a prestigious law firm, in front of the Château Frontenac... Every location is different and meets its own challenge. Though it's been real fun, it's also extenuating. More than 1000km on the road so far and tiring hours putting up and taking down setups moving from one shoot to the other. On average, we did 4 shoots a day plus travel. A great way to test out some new acquisition in the field.

The next few days will be spent in studio, closer to home. Then next week we hit the road again to finish up the series...

On Restaurant and Hotel food

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Duhamel) — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 06:25:00 +0000

The first day feels like being on a field trip. You get sloppy at the buffet and order some roast beef and mashed potatoes. The second day, you start it off with some bacon and eggs, breakfast of champion. The roasted potatoes look soooo delicious. Then at lunch you start thinking: "Am I really gonna eat some fries?", and you indulge. That's where the second roast beef doesn't seem like a good idea anymore. So the third day you get some roasted chicken with BBQ sauce! Top that off with soft drinks, you have heart burn in the making.

Every single rest area will offer you a wide selection of them accompanied by either chips, salted nuts or jerky! That's where you thank the god of your choice for Tim Horton's and Vitamin Water. But after a couple of days on the road, you cannot stand the smell of donuts and find that little chicken wrap a bit empty.

You cannot wait to get home for some feel good home cooked meal. But the moment you get home, the girlfriend just wants to go out for diner to spend some time with you, ironic isn't it!

So tomorrow is day 1, the best of them all!
Peppered steak here I come!

Wanted: Sarah Hall

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Duhamel) — Sun, 12 Sep 2010 16:11:00 +0000

Here is stylist Sarah Hall. Sarah is probably the first stylist I've worked with shooting my very first videoclip! Since then we've multiplied projects shooting personal and commercial work alike. She has a strong personal vision that she carries out throughout her work.

Hitting the road and reuniting with Nik

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Duhamel) — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 11:26:00 +0000

For the next week, I will be shooting 25 on location portraits for Alliance Sport-Etudes, a foundation supporting athletes in their studies. I already shot a campaign for them featuring 4 current student-athletes but this new series will showcase athletes that have been supported by the program over the past 25 years. Pretty excited to meet Olympians, gold medalists, hockey players and a current Champion of the World!

This series is also an opportunity to reunite with Nik Mirus who recently got back to the city after a summer out west. Working with Nik is always a great pleasure and lots of fun. During the next week we will be heading to Quebec city and across the province to shoot various locations indoors and outdoors. The lighting concept is down, all is left is execution. Let the shooting begin!

Wanted: Max Dumont

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Duhamel) — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 11:10:00 +0000

Maxime Dumont is an editing workhorse as well as a great cameraman. I've worked with Max on a great deal of jobs and just appreciate how is mere presence on a set gives you a feeling of security. Doubled by his acidic sense of humor, this editor is sensitive and dedicated to his work. I don't get to see Max enough, but he's one of those strong characters you know you can depend on. Plus, he's got surfer hair!

Tips from APhotoAssistant

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Duhamel) — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 11:06:00 +0000

Gaff Tape Dispenser for Your Grip Kit from A Photo Assistant on Vimeo.

An interesting blog dedicated to photo assisting where photographers can learn a few tricks of the trade. Meet APhotoAssistant.

Timing and opportunity

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Duhamel) — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 11:00:00 +0000

In the business of photography, it's all about timing and opportunity. I would say that the same thing applies creatively.

The right series coming at a right time can have a tremendous impact. Accessing a location at a given time can give it a timeless feel.

Over the summer, I had two unique opportunities, both of which I shot at the right time. Both came from epiphanies while driving around without a purpose.

The first opportunity came from shooting an empty pond early spring. A week later, the pond was filled with water and back to its usual state. Had I not driven that day and came back to scout and shoot, it would never had materialize. This personal shoot has been put on stand by due to high traffic but I should be working on it during the down season.

Second opportunity came from driving down the highway. I spotted this complex that was about to be thorn down. A week later I went on location at 6am on a Sunday, trespassed my way through the fence beside the Asbestos warning, and shot away as the sun came up. I recently drove by this location only to realize it had been destroyed. I looked at the sky for some odd reason and thanked my lucky star that I had woke up that morning to seize a couple of pics that will become the background of another personal project. On I've been thinking about for a long time.

Both shoots were unique opportunities. Both shoot could've never taken place. Luckily they did.

Applied Arts feature!

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Duhamel) — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 11:00:00 +0000

About two months ago, I was approached by Applied Arts to submit a gallery of work for their September issue. A few weeks later, I was called up for an interview that would accompany the 4 page spread! It's always interesting when you submit work to see what will catch people's attention and what will be left out. The result represents well the eclectic type of work that has been coming my way this past year. From Kaaz to Triptyqu3, one could believe I am a fashion and beauty shooter! Then with Pro Tour, Fete Nationale and Urbania's Captain Quebec, we go from sports to objects to conceptual portrait! I think the bunch is somewhat representative of my career, always different!

As for the article, it is pretty straight forward. No artsy talk here! The conversation revolved around the fact that I've been in business for a relatively short time and how I was managing my career, shooting stills as well as motion.

Hopefully this article will allow my work to travel south of the province! I would really like to get more advertising work from TO! But for the time being, I'm just grateful to see Applied Arts magazine taking the time to showcase my work, to spread the word around.

A great amount of thanks to all the collaborators of these projects, especially makeup artist Maina, stylist Sarah Hall and VisualBox who all have been part of the success!

Quote of the day: Dan Winters

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Duhamel) — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 08:15:00 +0000

Excerpt from the interview given to theFstopMag.

"I think photography, like anything in life, is best served when you work within a place of consciousness and being really aware of what you’re doing. And having the dialog with yourself, that internal dialog, ‘why am I doing this?’ And I think if you can establish that, that’s probably the most important thing a photographer can do."

Chase Jarvis has beaten me to it!

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Duhamel) — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 17:05:00 +0000

Photographer and photoblog icon Chase Jarvis just launched his new book: Seattle 100 - Portrait of a City! This book features artists and people that are important to him. Funny sometimes how life creates these parallels! In the essence, it's pretty much what I am currently doing, building up my Wanted series!

You can pre-order the book here.

Interview with Dan Winters

noreply@blogger.com (Simon Duhamel) — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 10:19:00 +0000

I first discovered Dan Winters through his book, then realized he was shooting for one of my favorite magazine: Wired.

Check out this interview with photographer Dan Winters on TheFStopMag.

See more of his work on his site.