I present: Cynthia

Hi everyone, 

In my trip to Mexico, I took the time to do a 60 minutes photoshoot with a friend that was at a nearby resort.

They are all taken with a Canon 5D MarkII and a Canon 70-200mm f2.8L.

Here are some results:

Thank you, 

Sébastien D'Amour - Wedding and lifestyle photographer.

Back home from Mexico!

Hi everyone, 

Hope you have been shooting lots of great images in the past week.

I went to Mexico for a trip with 10 friends from Ola interactive agency. I sure had a blast. It was my first time in an all inclusive trip. The food was great, the weather awesome and the people are very nice.

I did not shoot many images. I really took this opportunity to recharge my batterie and escape the world of photography for a couple of days. I took this time to think about other parts of my business such as my future website, reading about marketing, talking about life, my plan and more...

Now, I did shoot some shots of my friends for photography purposes and also for fun!

Here are some of them:

Thank you and have a great day

Sébastien D'Amour wedding and lifestyle photographer

Just wanted to say HI

I just wanted to let you know about a little project that will be going on in the 10 days.

I am leaving for Mexico tomorrow morning at 5h30 am. I am going on this trip with friends and co-workers from the Agency I am affiliated with.

The first goal on this trip is to have fun, live the experience to the fullest and enjoy the sun and warmth. My second goal is to shoot stock photography on the beach and other adjacent areas.

My third goal is to go visit Tulum ruins - the walled city. I have always been fascinated with ancients civilizations and their lifestyle. I am confident about shooting some great images for stock and personal work while on my trip. Of course, there will be some HD video also of the trip :P

Keep posted to see what will come out of this adventure.

Here is the gear that will travel with me:

Canon 5D Mark II

Canon 24-70 f2.8L

Canon 70-200 f2.8L

Canon 15mm f2.8 fisheye

Canon 85mm f1.8

Canon 580 EXII

Reflector

Lots of batteries

64 Gigs of memory

Macbook

Have a great week and keep shooting great images!

Sébastien D'Amour - wedding and lifestyle photographic artist

A new tip about photography.

Hi everyone, 

Here is a new tip about photography. The tip is not technique or equipment oriented.

You need to understand when you are taking the picture of important people that you have to be quick and efficient.

This morning I had another portrait session of an important man in the EDC of Canada. I took the images of him in a meeting room in the building. The client required the image to be taken on a white background. This way they will be able to easily cut the person in question if they choose so.

Here is why you need to practice a lot before you adventure in this type of work. I took the images in 10 minutes and I had a total of 30 minutes for setup, portrait session and replacing everything back in order.  I took 6 images of the Ottawa Economist in question. In all I took 23 minutes of time from the press attaché of Mr. Peter Hall. We had fun, we laughed and we accomplished the work in less time then ask for.

I learned this lesson early while reading about my favorite journalism photographers and while working in the media.

Here is another example of the speed required in some portrait session. I was asked to take the portrait of the City mayor in my home town of Gatineau, Québec for a local magazine. I went in with my assistant and did my setups with him for a model. I was ready ahead of schedule and I did 5 portraits of the Gatineau City mayor in 7 minutes. The press attaché and the Mayor were very grateful for the extra time that was suddenly added to their agenda. They had schedules for 45-60 minutes.

I will quote a photographer that I look up to.

"Always underpromise and overdeliver" Chase Jarvis

I wish you a great day, 

Sébastien D'Amour - wedding and lifestyle photographic artist

If you love photography...

and want to make a living out of this passion. Here are some tips that have been useful for me.

1. Get a website

2. Read about SEO.

3. Get the best equipment you can afford.

4. Learn and master retouching or hire a great retoucher.

5. Read a lot about photography in books, magazines like PDN.

6. Learn about marketing since this tool will be the one bringing home clients. Use tools.

7. Learn to negotiate.

8. Learn to work hard and for long hours.

9. Get business card printed and leave them everywhere you go.

10. Help others when you can. I try to give out some time, knowledge and business to my wedding assistant and other photographer friends.

11. Get genuinely interested in your clients.

12. Show your real self.

13. Be strong.

14. Never shoot for free on the promise of future paying work is never wise. A client who gets you to shoot for free is never going to respect you professionally.

15.  Always post your best work on your website!

16. Love what you do and share that love!

Have great day, 

Sébastien D'Amour - wedding and lifestyle photographic artist

Some classy girls...

Hey hey, 

I shoot these to two girls today for stock photography. We shot some make up and hairstyling images. I then decided to go for some more dramatic and interesting images of these girls with wicked personalities. These girls have a pinup style with great tattoos...

Enjoy the images.

Sébastien D'Amour - wedding and lifestyle photographic artist

Here are some test of my Rayflash ringflash.

Hi, 

So I purchased a Rayflash ringflash a couple of weeks ago.

I have been doing some test. I am very happy with the results of the flash and possibilities with it. The build is good and I find it does a great job for the price of the ringflash. This ringflash is built more for portrait then Macro. I have yet to try it with a macro lens on.

My only point that I do not like is that using the ringflash sometimes create red eye...

Here is a quick test and edit of my friends portrait.

Sébastien D'Amour - wedding and lifestyle photographic artist

Thinking about short films...

Hi everyone, 

I am toying with the idea of starting to create short films with my 5D MarkII. Somewhat like the Vincent Laforet production for the Canon Ad of the 5D MarkII.

Let's see what I can come up with.

Sébastien

Be my model!

You can sign up to be a model for a free stock photography session at this link.

Be our model

Thank you for your interest in the project!

Sébastien D'Amour

Be my image editor

Today I decided to leave you the opportunity to select the top 10 images that will be reflecting my Wedding portfolio in 2009. These images come from various Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto and Gatineau weddings.

Please write the number in the comment section under this post and please feel free to critique.