Visit www.sebastiendamour.com

Change of adresse for the blog...

2009-12-02T18:36:00.001-05:00

Hi,

I have changed my blog adress to the following for personnal reason.

www.sebmour.wordpress.com

Have a great day!

Giving some time for others...

2009-09-14T22:41:00.004-04:00

Hi,

I wanted to share an experience with all of you! I was a volunteer at the Grande Séance held at the Montreal local photography studio " Studio4fun". The "Grande séance" is an open event held to bring the opportunity the photographers to shoot with pro grade equipment with help for a little budget. These have been held numerous time by the owner Hai Au Bui. This year, he got 140-150 participants. At one time we had around 40 models share between 5 studio's. There was 2 seminars on lighting and 3 other studio just for shooting images with some help and to play with the lights and setups.

I got there at 9am. and I finished at 9h30 pm. It was a long but very fun, exciting and rewarding day. I got to meet photographers, models, friends and MUA. I also got to help others create amazing images of their favourite friend, family member or else. I got the opportunity to share some lighting setups that I personally use for shooting portraits.

For more information visit

www.studio4fun.com

Here are some results to show you the day...

Running low on creativity!

2009-09-03T09:24:00.002-04:00

If you are ever running low on creativity, go outside of your regular shooting style. I read Chase Jarvis blog and he is always talking about creating differently and shooting other stuff that you usually don't.

I decided to shoot a series of images at 25 600 ISO just to change the look and feel of my images. It's been fun and helps work on the style.

What can you do differently and do it for a month. Then change and learn once more and create differently!

Sébastien D'Amour

Crazy 16 days coming up

2009-08-14T13:51:00.002-04:00

Hi,

I just wanted to share some news.

I am starting a sixteen days of crazy work.

I have a wedding on the 15th, leaving for Vegas from 16-21, wedding on the 22nd. I then have to work in montreal all week to shoot another wedding on the 29th!

This is going to be a big stretch :P

Keep looking, you'll see pictures of Vegas pretty soon.

Sophie...

2009-08-06T19:42:00.005-04:00

I went with a friend to scout some shooting locations.

I wanted to use the city as a background and then we found an amazing alleyway.

Here are some shots

Thank you for looking,

Sébastien D'Amour - International wedding and lifestyle photographic artist.

So I wanted to see the ocean...

2009-07-25T09:25:00.004-04:00

I have recently got some bad news about a family member's health. Thinking about how life can be cut short sometimes I decided to go and see the Ocean.

I was going to be a 6h drive with a friend who wanted to come along. So we left, 2 photographers, 1 car, full tank of gas, food, 1 tent and just drove until we reached the sea.

We got there and found a beach on which we talked, took pictures and relaxed.

We then went to find a camping spot, beer and of course wood for a fire :P

We talked some more and didi lightpainting portrait with a fill flash.

The next day, we came to visit some lighthouse but it was raining hard. (looks like the normal weather in Main coast line) I took some shots of the lighthouse with my Canon 5DII and Canon 14LII.

We drove back while stopping at some scenic places to shoot some images and portrait of ourselves.

We got to see the ocean, relax, get out of the city and enjoy nature for 2 days...I wish we could have stayed longer!

Here are some images:

I hope you enjoyed the images...

Sébastien D'Amour - International wedding and lifestyle photographic artist.

How to make money with your photography.

2009-07-15T07:30:00.002-04:00

I get this question often in my emails from other photographers. How can I make money with my photography?

There will be 5 rules or idea to keep in mind.

#1. Quality work.

There will be a minimal quality required for people to invest in your photography. That requirement is different from one client to the next. One client might love your work when you capture simple, emotive and real moments. Others might love it more when you make them look like a supermodel! You will need to be able to capture images that are clear, original, well defined and also offer them a variety of images!

You have to find this out by talking with your client. I find that all clients are happy when you actually show their real life joy, personality and soul in a picture. It's not easy to do at the beginning but you will need to be confident with your photography skills. If you are afraid of charging 5 000$ for a wedding or 500$ for a photography session, it will show on the day of the shoot. The client's feels this fear and will be uncomfortable working with you. This will make it impossible to create or capture the images desired.

#2 Wedding photography

Wedding photography is simple yet complicated. All you need is the best lenses since you will be working in harsh condition. You will also need some skills. Most wedding client's are looking for real, uncensored, emotional and representative photographs of their day. You will need to develop various skills like shooting in PJ style and also creating artistic images while keeping it simple.

The demand for wedding photography is huge. The market will always be there. You have two choices available for you to choose. Either you get your clients with your price (charge low and make lots of work) or you can get your client with the experience of your photography (charge more and do less). The second option is the most interesting for everyone but not all photographers are made for that. High end work is for the skilled and also for the one's offering an unique experience. You will need to learn proper lighting skills with a simple yet effective camera flash. You will need to learn and develop your own unique signature style. You will need to learn how a wedding goes along.

My suggestions if you want to start in wedding photography is to start as an assistant for a season and then market yourself to become a wedding photographer. PLEASE do not lie since your clients will feel it and this is a trust breaking issue. Do not call yourself the best or #1 wedding photographer...lol there is no such thing! It also sounds so cliché that your clients will not be purchasing this experience.

#3 Portrait photography

You can make a great living being a portrait photographer. You have various options available to you. Do you open a studio? Do you shoot outside only? Do you shoot at your client's home?

One of these options is the best one for you! You cannot think in matter of which one makes you the most money. You will always need to think about what style you prefer, what makes you comfortable and what will give a unique experience to your clients.

If you go option one, the financial burden is bigger since there will be a lot of overhead costs. Option 2 is tricky since in some cities you need permits to shoot outside what about a rainy day. Option 3 is delicate for a simple reason, do you have good insurance in case you hurt someone or break something during the session in their home?

Think about it and take the decision that is right for you. Then client's will come to you!

#4 Stock photography

You can earn a great living shooting stock images for various agencies.

You will need to learn the skills to shoot great selling stock images.

Lighting for various ideas.

The snap shot look

What are clients looking for?

What is your favorite subject?

How to properly retouch your images for the stock photography business?

You can look at various stock photographers that are making a great living such as

Yuri Arcurs, Lise Gagné, Chase Jarvis, Tyler Stableford and more...

#5 How to market yourself?

Marketing yourself is the easiest yet hardest part. You will need to be honest with yourself and learn what are your strength's and weaknesses. You need to decide what makes your experience different from others. You will need to market your passion and client's will need to feel it when you meet them. You will need to be excited about your work, photography and their contract.

What are you offering that others don't? Price, quality, unique looking images, a flawless service or something else.

You need to understand that client's do not buy your photography skills in the first part but your experience and WOW factor. If you can WOW them they will be loyal client's and salesman for you! Word to mouth is the strongest sales experience. If your best friend trusts someone for is car repair, will you trust him also?

There are various tools for marketing yourself but you will always need a good, simple website to showcase your work. Then when you meet clients, you will need to bring a BIG portfolio. Big meaning huge print size not a big quantity. 10-20 shots max for a portfolio.

You can print ads, post ads on free website and more...but your website is the doorway to the world. Make sure it looks good, it's simple, effective and straightforward. No one likes complicated, slow loading and to much distraction in websites. (read about it)

I would suggest you get your website properly design by business that do this for a living. WHY? You will get better SEO which means you will be higher ranked in google and get more clients. Yes it's expensive to purchase great gear and have your website done but your image is worth everything. I would suggest to you to seek a business like www.olacom.com to build your website and have a great search engine results. It's important since no one ever looks at page 4-5 on the search results.

Selling yourself is easy since you know yourself and your passion. It's hard because you need the proper tools and passion for people to give you your chance. You will need to learn a lot about life in general and various interests in life. You need to be able to share moments, passion with your clients.

OH YES, no one will come knocking on your door if you are not seen, visible or offering a unique experience.

I hope you enjoyed the reading, if you have question's feel free to write them here and I will answer them.

Sébastien D'Amour - International wedding and lifestyle photographic artist

You ask and I will answer

2009-07-11T14:02:00.003-04:00

Hi,

If you ever have any questions about photography either how to make money from your photography or which lens do I use and why?

Please do not be shy, I'll take the time to answer all of your questions.

You can write it in English or in French.

Here are a couple of question's that I have already received from clients, followers or readers:

What lens do I use and Why?

I currently carry 3 lens in my bag with 2 more to come.

I have a 17-40 f4L from Canon.

I use this lens for landscape, environment portraits where I show the environment of the subject and I also use it to get into my subjects comfort zone and make it more intimate.

I use this lens since it's a good aperture lens. It's also sharp wide open with limited distortion on my 5D MarkII. The lens has a great build, weather sealed and light. Of course, there is a faster counterpart to this lens being the 16-35 f2.8L II. I did not in that direction since I have previously owned that lens and I found that for the same sharpness and field of view, the increase in price was not worth fro a 1 stop faster aperture.

I also use a Canon 24-70 f2.8L lens.

No this lens is not stabilized and nor will it be. The fast aperture and focal length make it a necessary tool in the bag. The sharpness wide open at 2.8 is great at all focal lengths. The weight of this lens is pretty surprising but it wears "the brick" name very well. Great build, great quality, weather sealed and superb image quality. I love shooting wide with this lens and creating more space between my subjects and their environment in low light.

My most favorite lens in my bag is the Canon 70-200 f2.8L.

This lens is a gem. It has been in my bag since day one of my photography birth and will always be in the bag. The focal length makes it perfect to get close to subject. It also allows me to compress the subject and background to make them stand out even more. I have opted for the non IS version since I can hand hold the lens at 1/60 pretty much 90% of the time. The non IS version is also sharper in test then the IS version. I am quite fanatic about my sharpness :P

There is a Sigma counterpart that I get asked about often and I can only say, the Auto focus is about 50% slower and not as precise. The decision is up to you but I would not want to sacrifice image quality and getting the shot over 300-400$.

I use this lens to photograph subjects without them knowing to get the real emotions and reactions of people.

What filters do you use?

I am use to carrying a DSLR around with big lenses so I do not have any clear filters on my lenses. I would strongly recommend someone starting in photography to use clear filters since they will be bumping the lens here and there. I would not trust any other manufacturer other then B&W. The use non distorting glass and also non image quality affecting glass.

I only use 1 filter in my bag. I use a B&W Circular polarizer filter to stop down a little bit of light in sunny days. Play with my contrast and remove reflections off of glass and water. Fortunately, my lenses all use 77mm filters :P

How did you learn about photography?

I am a self taught photographer. I have read lots of books, lots of internet posts and more about photography. The most powerful learning tool is to shoot images and look at the result. I usually shoot about 3000-5000 personal images a month just to keep the skills sharp, have fun and also learn some more.

I will let you know that lighting a photograph is an art and that I was lucky enough to work for some photographers that taught me how to light a scene. Even if I mostly shoot natural light, learning how to light with a Canon 580EXII was key for my photography. For this teaching, I need to thank World known wedding photographer Dennis Reggie. I need to thank Carl Durocher for teach me some basic studio lighting technique and also Yanick Dery for sharing some of is lighting techniques on a purchasable DVD.

How do you get client's?

I mostly get clients via my website or word to mouth referrals. I have designed a basic website to show my work. I have no knowledge about web design so it's very basic but follows a simple rule. Never make people click more the two times to see your images. I am like most people and when websites are to complicated or not going straight to the point, I simply close it and get to the next one.

I have never worked for free. Yes I did exchange services or done it for good cause like the Alzheimer society. Just to give you an Idea, the least expensive wedding I have done was 1000$ plus taxes for a 3h coverage. People need to learn to sale themselves and charge a reasonable price for their services!

I also get client's because I always talk about photography and that I am always looking for opportunity to showcase my talent. I learned how t o sale my services very easily and quickly and that has paid off so much! I could not stress enough this issue if you want to become a photographer. The world will not come to your door if they do not know you exist!

Can I be your assistant?

I already have a great wedding assistant in Sébastien Lavallée. I would like to let everyone know that I will never accept free assistant. I may not be able to pay lot's sometimes but I acknowledge people who have respects for themselves and value their work.

Sébastien's business is also growing and one day will probably need to be replaced but till now, I have no plan in changing him since our bond is great. I first look at personality before portfolio. I had a great talk and some fun before I decided to pick Sébastien in the process. ( I had gotten 11 replies for the offer) 8 of the were for free work so they were eliminated on the spot. Others did not talk about salary but I did not find a great bond or personality behind them. Sébastien's portfolio was basic and at a starting point. Today, I feel he has grown into a great photographer and also a great friend!

What is your next learning curve?

I am trying to learn more about video. I am lucky enough to be working with Canon's 5D MarkII. I am trying to setup a small clip about my clients, about me and about life in general. I just love shooting so much and I have discovered a new way of communicating through video. I am far from being a videographer but I want to learn and become a Director of photography on some movie or sets.

Why are you so passionate about photography?

I have a passion fro beyond most people about photography since I love to relive the memories, moments and emotions through the images. Their is nothing like getting the shot, nailing it with the real smile, the real moment. I cannot stand fake emotions and fake pictures. I love showing the great personality of my clients in their pictures! I have grown my love for photography by becoming a photographer.

Keep them coming...

Sébastien D'Amour - International wedding and lifestyle photographic artist

The "Big Free Trend'

2009-07-05T01:35:00.003-04:00

I have been reading lots of advertisement on local sale website or service offering website about photographers working for very low fares or people looking for "student" or photographers looking to build their portfolios.

I find this pretty funny how so many people have no respect what so ever either for themselves or for the photography profession. I have always had one way of thinking. Never work for free since your bill needs to be paid! I understand that new photographers need to build their portfolios but this is not the way!

Why? When you book for a low commission (see losing money when all is accounted for) or for free, how are you going to justify your rate increase to the referred client?

I have always refused free wedding assistant's or second shooters. Why? I value people that respect themselves enough and also know the value of their work! I am trying to give them the opportunity to learn, grow and make a business on their own. I feel a lot of pride when my assistant tells me that I need to find a replacement since he has a wedding on his own!

I am lucky enough to be working for clients that respect my profession, my filed and me to pay a reasonable amount for my services! These clients value Art and authenticity.

I just felt like thanking all my client's of have made my dream possible. To my future clients, I say, Thank you for respecting me and my art!

Keep on shooting!

Sébastien D'Amour - International Wedding and lifestyle photographic artist

Some random images from Cuba

2009-06-30T00:05:00.004-04:00

So I got sometime in tonight for editing some random images from Cuba.

Here they are: (click on them to see it in 1024 pixel)

Sébastien D'Amour - International wedding and lifestyle photographic artist

Amélie and David’s Wedding...

2009-06-22T01:59:00.012-04:00

I met Amélie through a photographer friend’s request. She was looking for a destination wedding photographer and my friend was already booked. She gave me the opportunity to answer their request for a photography service. I met Amélie at a local Montreal Tim Horton. We bounded in the hour we spent talking about life, their relationship and my Younique photography service. I went on this trip with a little hesitation since I was being thrown into a group of 18 friends and family.

I set out to travel to Cuba on the 14th of June 2009 for my first destination wedding of my young career. To add to the stress, I had never met the future groom yet! I got an amazing reception once I showed up at the Hotel one day after their arrival since I had a wedding on the 13th of June 2009. The following week, I got to meet some incredible people. I found out quickly that the groom and bride were great people because they were surrounded by awesome family members and friends. The weather was perfect all week. They exchanged their vows on the beach next to the Atlantic Ocean! Not only was I living my first destination wedding but I was also living my first trash the dress photoshoot. Amélie had purchased a beautiful white dress for this occasion. David was all excited about this occasion and I was super motivated by their love and also their openness to any idea’s I could throw at them.

I am currently on my flight back home and I realize how much this wedding was an awesome event. I am a lucky man for having such great client’s and also be able to live AMAZING Wedding like this one. I wanted to thank Amélie and David for this Younique experience and hopefully this is the road to a great frienship!

Sébastien D’Amour - Wedding and lifestyle photographic artist.

Mel and Jon...What a blast!

2009-06-14T10:44:00.008-04:00

I shoot this wedding last night.

Here is a preview of some of the shots.

ENJOY! cause I sure did.

Sébastien D'Amour - wedding and lifestyle photographic artist.

Varadero here I come!

2009-06-12T08:58:00.002-04:00

I'll be leaving for Varadero this sunday for a destination wedding. This is my first one and hopefully for many to come. I have another wedding that I am hired for on the 13th of june in Embrun, Ontario, Canada.

I can't wait to shoot both weddings. I enjoy shooting weddings so much!

On this I wish you all a great 2 weeks and see you soon!

Sébastien D'Amour - wedding and lifestyle photographic artist

Fanny

2009-06-10T23:33:00.005-04:00

I just wanted to share some images and a small video done during a shooting 2 days ago. I was getting filmed by my brother for a television program that will be talking about artist in the photography and video field.

here is a link to the video

http://www.vimeo.com/5104889

here are 3 images:

Sébastien D'Amour - Wedding and lifestyle photographic artist

Afghan war video from Danfung

2009-06-03T06:59:00.002-04:00

This is a small war video shot with the 5DII about the war in afghanistan. I sincerely just love it!

http://vimeo.com/4642425

Sébastien D'Amour - wedding and lifestyle photographic artist

new life reality

2009-05-28T17:45:00.003-04:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2a8TRSgzZY&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Efacebook%2Ecom%2Fhome%2Ephp%3Fref%3Dhome&feature=player_embedded

some shots from today....

2009-05-21T21:57:00.003-04:00

Hi,

Here are some shots from today. The model never showed up so me and my friends decided to play around! I hope you will enjoy the couple of images...

Sébastien D'Amour - Wedding and lifestyle photographic artist

Big project coming up!

2009-05-20T08:32:00.002-04:00

Hi,

I have a big project coming up with a friend Christian Theus. We are shooting some concepts for sports ad. These will be up before the end of July. You will be able to see some of the shots in a video clip that will be made about me in an interview also for a TV show.

keep coming for updates...

Sébastien D'Amour - Wedding and lifestyle photographic artist

Shoes and Champagne 2009 images.

2009-05-15T17:07:00.011-04:00

I just wanted to share some images from the event that I covered in Ottawa that was called" Shoes and champagne". This charity event was held on may 8th and 9th 2009. I was official photographer of the event. The event was well organized and all the guest seemed to be enjoying themselves. Their were numerous shoe designers from all around the world present at the event.

Sébastien D'Amour - Wedding and lifestyle photographic artist

Shoes and champagne 2009

2009-05-14T08:10:00.002-04:00

I was honored to be the photographer of a charity event called "Shoes and Champagne".

The event was held on Ottawa, Ontario on friday may 8th 2009. It gave the opportunity to many people to see different types of shoes and meet different shoe designer from the entire world.

Here is a little video of the event:

http://www.vimeo.com/4645208

Enjoy,

Sébastien D'Amour - Wedding and lifestyle photographic artist.

a little of photography at 7am...

2009-05-05T21:53:00.005-04:00

Here are a couple of shots that I took this morning while doing some "repérage" for a futur project coming soon.

Sébastien D'Amour - wedding and lifestyle photographic artist

TSE-90mm

2009-04-20T00:02:00.005-04:00

So I had the opportunity to play with the Canon TSE-90mm over the w-e

Here are some shots from the Gatineau National Archives.

The lens is fully manual. I also learned from this experience that the f2.8 stop is not the best opening for this lens. Since the DOF is slim and akward. I find that my shots that were taken at f5 are the best.

Sébastien D'Amour - wedding and lifestyle photographic artist

An old passion!

2009-04-16T16:29:00.004-04:00

Cars used to be one of the biggest passion of my life until I got into a serious car accident on a race track. The passion still resides inside me. I have so much fun driving fun cars and enjoy the freedom they bring!

Anyway, here is a picture I took of a BMW with the Canon 5DII and Canon 85mm 1.8 at 1.8.

Enjoy,

Sébastien D'Amour - Wedding and lifestyle photographic artist.

A walk around town

2009-04-16T14:49:00.002-04:00

Just a basic video to show the capabilities of the Canon 5DII in low light. All of the video is hand held with 85mm 1.8

Enjoy

http://www.vimeo.com/4180458

Sébastien D'Amour - Wedding and lifestyle photographic artist

Jay and Natasha 12-04-2009

2009-04-14T23:06:00.003-04:00

Here are some results from the wedding I covered on april 12th 2009.

Thank you for looking,

Sébastien D'Amour - Wedding and lifestyle photographic artist

It's a start...

2009-04-13T07:34:00.003-04:00

My wedding season has officially begun yesterday on Easter. Natasha and Jay organized their wedding of about 40-50 people in an amazing restaurant. Everything worked out perfectly and they sure had a blast! So did I. Once again, my client's were amazing, radiant, happy and fun. I cannot be happier about the clients that I have!

At the same time. I have discovered an amazing restaurant which uses lots of local products from the Ottawa area for their meals.

http://www.murraystreet.ca/

I highly recommend this restaurant for a great evening of food, discussion and pleasure!

I hope your wedding season is starting soon and will be great!

new video

2009-04-01T00:43:00.002-04:00

I am still learning this video world...pretty hard but I will get the hang of it!

http://www.vimeo.com/3951135

Sébastien D'Amour - Wedding and lifestyle photographic artist

A little poker game...Action

2009-03-30T21:22:00.003-04:00

Just a basic video for practice. I shot these video's on saturday while we were moving my friend into his new home. We decided to play a little poker game so I decided to shoot 2 angles to make a little movie of the fun we had.

I have no knowledge of video editing or the rules about this art.

I know some basic mistakes have been made since some editing looks like jump cuts but I only shot images in 2 angles for the purpose. This is real life action, no planning, no rehearsal.

Enjoy:

http://vimeo.com/3931615

Sébastien D'Amour - wedding and lifestyle photographic artist

Dynamic lighting with one flash

2009-03-30T10:01:00.009-04:00

I wanted to share how I have achieve this image with only one single Canon 580EXII.

Here is the story:

We are moving my friend into his new house in Aylmer. The house is unbelievably gorgeous. The windows are perfectly place to achieve some remarkable natural lighting shots. So we setup the appliances and the furniture around their home. We place the dining table and I see the father of my friend sitting at the end of the table. I just had a flash of the godfather movie (except he was not dressed for the shot). I saw that the "sandwich lighting" was just at a perfect intensity that I just needed to had fill flash to properly exposed the face and front of the subject.

I decided to mount my Canon 580EXII on my Canon 5D MarkII and bounce the flash of the ceiling to achieve the desired look. All this took a big 15 seconds to plan, react and fire my test shot.

I then proceeded to ask the subject to stand in this position to achieve the desired look.

Here is the image:

Canon 5D MarkII

Canon 70-200mm f2.8L

Canon 580 EXII

1/640s, ISO 2500, 70mm, flash E-TTL.

Here are some more images from this awesome day:

Thank you and I hoped you have enjoyed,

A video of the poker game will follow once I am properly trained on video editing.

Sébastien D'Amour - Wedding and lifestyle photographic artist.

Mounting possibilities with Canon 5DMKII and a succion cup

2009-03-26T08:41:00.004-04:00

Hi,

I just wanted to show you a little video made in bad light to demonstrate the possibilities of mounting such a small HD Camera.

I used a Suction cup car mount for attaching the camera to the rear window of the car.

Sorry the clip is not edited since I have yet to purchased a software for editing. I am still in the early learning stages. The decision is not firm on investing in video equipment.

http://www.vimeo.com/3864511

Sébastien D'Amour - Wedding and lifestyle photographic artist

A little walk around the city with my friend...

2009-03-23T14:56:00.007-04:00

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to show you images that I have taken while walking and talking with Sébastien Lavallée.

Here are some Teachers on strike from L'UQAM.

Some people in the Metro.

La grande bibliothèque

Thank you for looking and please feel free to discuss...

Sébastien D'Amour - Wedding and lifestyle photographic artist.

My first little video

2009-03-19T08:30:00.003-04:00

I everyone,

Here is a link the a first little clip that I shot straight out of the Canon 5D MarkII.

http://www.vimeo.com/3760437

There is lots of digital noise since the lighting was horrible. I only had 1/100s at ISO 25600 at f1.8

I just wanted to show the quality of the video even in low low light.

More to come...

Sébastien D'Amour- Wedding and lifestyle photographic artist

Stéphane and Mélanie

2009-03-17T16:10:00.005-04:00

I had the immense pleasure of living a photoshoot with my good friends Stéphane and Mélanie that are expecting a little boy in about 7-8 weeks.

They are so lively, so happy, honest and good people. These photoshoots remind me why I am in this business. The joy of creating images for people. The respect that people give us.

I also love how you can simply show the image to them and they go: "WOW that is better then I imagined."

Here are some shots from that sunday afternoon that was supposed to be 2 hours that turned into 5 hours with friends and fun!

Thank you once again for allowing me to live such happy and special moments.

Stéphane just goofing off!

Sébastien D'Amour - Wedding and lifestyle photographic artist.

Finaly...

2009-03-17T07:21:00.002-04:00

I am all setup in my apartment in Montreal.

I now have a great looking office for my photography work.

I have now my setup to start my stock photography.

I want to have at least 2500 shots in my portfolio on Istock by the end of the year.

I will be working with various people in various subjects.

Keep looking for some sample images and tutorials on lighting!

Sébastien D'Amour - Wedding and lifestyle photographic artist

Lock-out at Journal de Montréal still on going...

2009-02-25T08:30:00.004-05:00

Early Saturday morning January 24th 2009, management at the Journal de Montréal locked out 253 of its employees, mere minutes after an agreement with the union not to launch a labour dispute had ended. The lockout apparently came during the night, late enough that workers would still contribute work to the paper, but early enough that management could sneak in a note to readers about the labour disruption.

Both sides, naturally, blame the other for failing to negotiate. In reality, both sides have held firm on their demands since the contract expired on Dec. 31, and a lockout has been all but inevitable.

Journal management plan to continue publishing during the lockout. The union is also planning a publication called Rue Frontenac.

In what has become the norm for journalist labour disruptions ever since the Journal de Québec’s incredibly successful MédiaMatinQuébec, the union built ruefrontenac.com, a website which they will use to continue working as journalists. Unlike MMQ, there are no plans for a print version of the paper. Right now the website contains a video with black-and-white pictures of locked-out employees.

This lockout dispute are the result of management demands for changes to the existing contract that the union has refused to consider. They include:

Increasing the work week from 30 hours (4 days) to 37.5 hours (5 days), with no extra pay
Laying off 75 employees
25% pay cut for classified employees
20% reduction in benefits for all
Clauses that would give new hires fewer rights than existing employees
Flexibility to reassign workers to do multimedia work for the website

Workers that are in lockout declare outright that anyone who does their work (24 Heures employees, Journal de Québec employees, or those of mysterious fly-by-night news agencies) are scabs, and they call on advertisers and readers to boycott the paper.

This last issue is creating a big problem in the world of press photography. 24h as since lost an employee. My friend got hired to become the spare photographer. Since, I have seen a lot of people talking bad about him. His only trying to feed is 2 kids and pay for is apartment.

What would you do?

Source: Fagstein blog

Sébastien D'Amour - wedding and lifestyle photography artist.

It's official...

2009-02-11T19:16:00.003-05:00

I am moving to Montreal, Qc.

I am leaving the Ottawa area to pursue the market in Montreal and also to pursue a little lady that I cherish.

I will still offer my services in Ottawa-Gatineau area at no extra cost.

I will miss all my friends from this amazing area.

Best of luck,

Sébastien D'Amour - Wedding and Lifestyle photographic artist

Snowboarding at Massif, Qc

2009-02-10T11:31:00.005-05:00

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to give you some news. I went snowboarding with 3 friends this week-end.

We went to the Massif near Quebec city, Qc, Canada. We had a blast.

We stayed at the cousin's place of my friends. We got there late friday but then relaxed with some Wii and beer. Saturday, we went skiing all afternoon. I suggest that if you go to the Massif, that you get there early to spend the full day. The chairlift ride is about 10 minutes but you can go down for about 20-30 minutes.

The view from the slopes is amazing. I can only imagine if we would have gotten so better weather!

Here are some images of the day.

Sébastien D'Amour - Wedding and lifestyle photographic artist.

If you love african animals...WOW

2009-02-05T09:46:00.001-05:00

I found this website about African animals photography.

I did not know this guy and I can tell you that he provoke a lot of emotions with his photography.

http://www.nickbrandt.com/

Sébastien D'Amour - Wedding and lifestyle photographic artist

tiltshiftmaker.com

2009-02-05T09:01:00.009-05:00

Hi everyone,

I wanted to share a cool find on the web. With the craze of tiltshifting lens going on right now. I was thinking about purchasing a TSE-90mm f2.8 for my Canon 5D MarkII. I was doing some research about the lens when I found this on a photography forum.

http://tiltshiftmaker.com/

Here are some results that I have done with some of my pictures. It's not perfectly the look I am going for but I could get use to using this tool instead of purchasing a 1600$ can lens.

Of course, you cannot use this effect for every shot. You need a shot looking down on the subject to properly create the effect. Photos that capture details of an overall scene usually work better than those of a single subject.

Cheers,

Sébastien D'Amour - Wedding and lifestyle photographic artist

Original

Processed

I will not post the original images of the other trials since you can see them on this blog in other section.

Classy girl post

Michelle

Cynthia

Sometimes we just have fun!

2009-02-02T21:29:00.007-05:00

How is everyone?

I am great. I have been reading up on marketing and other business related subject!

I will let you know about my findings pretty soon.

I just wanted to share a little moment that I lived before my trip to Mexico. This is the last shoot that I did for stock before leaving for Riviera Maya.

We had done about 90 minutes of business and lawyer related images since the model is a law student at Ottawa U. We finished the shoot with some great fun images.

I just wanted to share some of those while reminding everyone to shoot for fun and enjoy what they shoot. This way your passion will shine through even more.

I always find a way to get the fun out of every wedding or photosession that I have.

Sébastien D'Amour - wedding and lifestyle photographic artist

A little course on lighting with Marie Claude Hamel and Patrick Cormier.

2009-02-02T11:57:00.006-05:00

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to share some quick images from the day that I spent with Marie CLaude Hamel and Patrick Cormier on various studio lighting possibilities.

We made 6-7 different lighting situation in studio from some reference images.

Patrick and Marie Claude are very knowledgeable about studio lighting.

I have learned various basic lighting and more advanced lighting techniques during this day!

This is a basic 2 light setup. It's the "sandwhich" technique as I like to call it. One light to camera left and One light to camera right!

This is a more complexe litghing setup. You need at least 5 lights for this setup. 2 lights behind the model at 45 degree angle, 2 lights in front of model at 45 degree angle and 1 ring flash in front. You can add a 6th light behind the subject to create a light halo on the background.

Enjoy and Have a great day,

Sébastien D'Amour - wedding and lifestyle photographic artist.

I present: Cynthia

2009-01-30T00:34:00.007-05:00

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!

2009-01-29T23:05:00.010-05:00

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

2009-01-21T09:33:00.006-05:00

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.

2009-01-19T12:37:00.006-05:00

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...

2009-01-14T21:01:00.006-05:00

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...

2009-01-12T23:13:00.005-05:00

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.

2009-01-08T22:00:00.009-05:00

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...

2009-01-06T23:02:00.003-05:00

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!

2009-01-06T14:47:00.001-05:00

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

2009-01-06T11:12:00.009-05:00

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.

some friends...(co-workers)

2009-01-05T21:53:00.003-05:00

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to show you some pictures from my co workers at Oalcom.com

My mentor has put up is blog....

2009-01-05T21:02:00.002-05:00

Carl Durocher created is blog in the last couple of days.

This Artist is the one mentoring me with my photography.

I invite you to learn more about him and about is work.

Carl Durocher's blog

Went for a winter walk

2009-01-03T12:03:00.003-05:00

Hi everyone,

Yesterday I went for a walk with a friend. We went snowshoeing in the backwoods of her cottage.

It was a blast. I love going outdoors for long walks and long talks.

Anyway here is one image. It's OOF but it was just to show the adventure.

So the weather man was wrong...

2008-12-30T23:37:00.003-05:00

I do not know where he got the idea that it would be +7 degrees celsius today...

It sure felt like -30 with the windchill.

I had planned to go location hunting with my Assistant, Sébastien Lavallée. I wanted to shoot various ideas that have been wrote down for a warmer weather.

Anyhow, here are some various shots from today...

What's in the Bag? - Sébastien Lavallée

2008-12-30T17:45:00.003-05:00

Équipement:

Canon 30D with a Canon BG-E2n grip

Canon 17-40

Canon 70-200 f4

Canon 430EX

Ebay wireless triggers

Pc/Pc cord

Rechargeable batteries

Lithium batteries AA

Canon 30D with grip:

Canon's 30D is equipped with a 8.2 MP sensor that creates nice tones and colours.

The ISO range 100-1600 with a possibility of 3200 ISO.

The price was a major factor when he chose the camera body. the second biggest factor was the acceptable level of noise even at the high ISO. The Canon 30D is a great value body for it's price. The 2.5 inch screen is really a great thing to have to properly view the images for focus and other details.

The grip allows for 2 batteries. Sebastien purchased it after shooting with a gripless Canon 30D and a Canon 70-200 f2.8L lens. He found that the weight of the lens was too much to comfortably hold in balance. With the added weight of the grip, the lenses feel more balanced with the camera body. The grip allows for easy and comfortable vertical shooting.

Canon 17-40L

Purchased not too long ago, Sebastien wanted a sharper lens but he wanted to keep the 17mm wide angle possibility that he was use to with the Canon 17-85 IS lens. The 17-40L lens is a remarkable lens especially for it's price value. The lens reacts very well to flares, CA and is sharp wide open at f4. The 17mm is considered 27mm in Full frame equivalent. The focal length of this particular lens is usefull for landscape, portrait and event photography.

Canon 70-200 f4L

This lens was selected for it's focal length, natural looking portrait capabilities and for the lighter weight compared to the Canon 70-200mm f2.8L lens. This lens sharpness is very surprising. It's one of the sharpest in the 70-200mm Canon family. It's lower weight makes it a dream lens for shooting adventure sports and travel. It's construction is perfect and what is expected in L series lenses. He did not chose the Is version of this lens since in the most situation that he would needed IS, Sebastien opts for using a flash.

Canon 430ex flash

Sebastien chose this flash that went well with his budget. He found that the Canon 430Ex was offering enough power for is needs. He finds that this flash does not restrict his creativity. He doesn't like the locking ring of the flash since he cannot install it fast enough.

Vivitar 285 HV

This second flash is only use off-camera as a main light for outdoor shooting (with the Canon 430 as second light source). This flash is really slow while recycling and can't be set à 1/8 power but it works fine when triggered wirelessly.

Ebay wireless triggers / PC cord

These triggers are only used for off-camera lighting with the 285 HV and the Canon 430. They are inexpensive but also not reliable if the flashes are too far. In these occasion, Sebastien will prefer the long PC cord to trigger that far away flash!

Rechargeable and Lithium AA batteries

Use mainly for the flashes, the rechargeable batteries are a must in every photographer's bag! Sebastien have about 16 of them in his bag. He also use AA Lithium Batteries as a reliabla power back up and for long days of shooting with his Canon 430 EX. These batteries allows about three times the life span and without power drop until the end (although this is not the more ecological way!)

I'm back!

2008-12-29T16:07:00.002-05:00

Hi everyone,

So I decided to take 3 days off from the camera. (26-29 of december)

I went to Montreal to see my brother and some friends. I love that City! The energy, the vibe, the people, the night life and more...

I enjoyed my stay in Montreal with my friends and brother so much that I am thinking once more to move there.

I will go shooting tomorrow with a subject in mind.

What have you shoot over the holidays?

Sébastien

I wish you a merry X-MAS

2008-12-24T09:02:00.002-05:00

Hi everyone,

I am taking a little time to wish you a merry Christmas and happy holidays.

Please be responsible and take the time to love one another, laugh with one another, cry with one another. Of course, take lots of pictures and learn something new about a photography technique.

I'll try to shoot everything with my 15mm fisheye. Let go at it and have fun! What are you going to try?

Sébastien

What's in the bag? - Sébastien D'Amour

2008-12-23T09:18:00.005-05:00

Hi everyone,

Hope you are having a marvelous morning on this December morning. It's a cold morning in Ottawa with a -23 degree celsius temperature. I had some fun shooting in the studio yesterday and then going for a hot chocolate with a friend and some shopping since I had ripped my pants while shooting in the day...hahahahahaha

Anyway, I will be making some "What's in the Bag?" posts since I get a lot of question about equipment, what I carry for portrait and wedding session and more.

I will start with my bag. I will explain why I have each piece of equipment also!

I use a Lowepro mini trekker AW. I love this bag. Perfect size for all my gear and price is reasonable. I would have loved to go with Kata bags since they are better design in my eyes and comfort level but they are way more expensive.

I carry:

Canon 5d MarkII

Canon 15mm fisheye 2.8

Canon 85mm 1.8

Canon 24-70mm f2.8L

Canon 70-200mm f2.8L

Canon 580 EXII

1 B&W Circular Polarizer

3 Pocket wizards

30 Sony cybernergy batteries.

1 Canon LP-E6 battery pack.

48 GB of memory. (1-16GB, 3-8GB, 2-4GB) more to come since Raw files form Canon 5d MarkII take lots of memory.

1 Rayflash ringflash.

I chose the Canon 5D MarkII since I need lots of resolution for my stock photography work and I was tired of the heavy weight of the Canon 1Ds MarkII. It has 21.1 MP, High definition video, autoclean sensor, 3 inch 920K pixel screen, same quality build and system that I expect from Canon.

I purchased the Canon 15mm f2.8 fisheye when I went to New York for the Photo EXPO Plus. I wanted a specialty lens to give some of my images a more unique look.

Sébastien D'Amour, Canon 1Ds MarkII + Canon 15mm f2.8 fisheye.

I have chose to purchase the Canon 85mm 1.8 instead of the 85 1.2LII because of weight and price. Both lens suffer from fringing in high contrast area. I love this focal length for natural looking portraits. I also find the focus to be faster on this lens version of the lens. The optical quality of this lens is superbe and bokeh also. I find that this lens is the best bang for buck portrait lens offered by Canon.

Sébastien D'Amour, Canon 5d MarkII + Canon 85mm f1.2LII(which was rented)

I chose to pack the 24-70 f2.8L lens in my bag because this focal length is very useful for weddings, portraits, landscape or photojournalism work on a Full frame Camera like my Canon 5d MarkII. The lens is big, heavy and fast. Focus is fast and with a maximum aperture of 2.8, control of Depth of field in unbelievably easy. This lens allows me to shoot in low light because of it's maximum aperture value. It suffers some barrel distortion in the short focal length and some Chromatic aberration under certain circumstances. You have to know that when you zoom the 24-70mm f2.8L lens that the barrel extends.

Sébastien D'Amour Canon 1Ds MarkII + Canon 24-70mm f2.8L

The first series lens I have purchased is about 2.5 years ago. It his the Canon 70-200 f2.8L lens.

This lens is my baby. I would say that I take about 60% of my images with this lens. This focal length is perfect on any sensor size. I love it since you can take a head shot and a half body shot in 2 seconds. The maximum aperture gives with control over the depth-of-field. You can easily eliminate distracting backgrounds by selecting 2.8 aperture and zooming in all the way to 200 mm. The focus is fast, accurate and quiet. The build and image quality it perfect! I have chose the non IS version since I have found in my testing that this version is faster to focus and sharper. I would maybe chose the IS version today since it would have allowed me to create shots that are not possible without IS. You have to be cautious since this lens is heavy for most users.

Sébastien D'Amour, Canon 1Ds MarkII + Canon 70-200mm f2.8L

I use a Canon 580ExII flash because I find it gives better light, more light and recycles faster then the other Canon flashes. It also sports a Pc connection that allows me to connect it easily with my Pocket wizards.

I use Pocket Wizards because the work above 30 feet in distance. I needed lots of reach since I love to shoot with flashes that are far from my camera. I also find them reliable and easy to use.

My memory cards are either Sandisk Extreme III or Lexar UDMA Professional (300X).

Thank you for reading I hope that the information will be helpful.

Have a marvelous day and got out shooting :D

Sébastien

Results from Isabelle and Joel wedding (20-21 of december wedding)

2008-12-21T23:26:00.008-05:00

These are images taken from this w-e at the wedding of a friend. I had such a blast with them!

If all my clients are like this in the future, I will be one happy photographer :P

Thank you again for this amazing opportunity and week-end.

Please feel free to comment!

Last one of 2008.

2008-12-21T00:43:00.004-05:00

This is my last wedding in Ottawa for the 2008 year!

What a blast. I had so much fun with the bride and groom. They are so positive, big smile, load of laugh and energy. This is refreshing and reminded me why I love to shoot wedding's. It's the first time that I shoot a wedding in which the bride is pregnant. they always see that pregnant woman look great. They also have an aura around them.

So we started with some couple pictures in their suite form the Hilton at Lac Leamy hotel. We then went down stairs in the lobby for some more images. After that we went to freeze for about 15 minutes outside in the cold. BRRRRrrrr I am still shivering from it!

The wedding was very relaxed, casual and You-nique.

The ceremony was held in the bride's granfather's basement. The family was lots of fun and everybody enjoyed the day and evening.

We went to a restaurant name Mama Theresa in Ottawa. WOW! what a discovery. Everything was first class form the food, reception, wine and service!

More text to come and pictures also!

My top 5 2008 Wedding shots!

2008-12-19T17:47:00.011-05:00

Hi,

Following this paragraph are what I consider my top 5 images from the 2008 Wedding season. They have been taken either in Ottawa, Montreal or Toronto.

They are not in any particular order...What do you think of them?

To be noted is that only the last one is posed in all of these images.

Thank you for your input! and keep it coming!

Stock photography (Oh NO!)

2008-12-19T16:34:00.004-05:00

Hi,

Just to let you know about my stock photography experience and what I have learned.

I have started shooting stock photography in June 2008 for a Stock agency.

At the beginning, I had no clue what was required to make a good stock image or a sell. I was fortunate enough to learn from various people like Yuri Arcurs, Lise Gagné, Chase Jarvis, Elena Elisseeva, Andres rodriguez and more...

When I speak with amateur photographers about stock photography, the same debate is always coming up. I will not be debating this here.

You can take the decision to be against stock or making a revenue from stock photography.

I have chosen to make a revenue from it. Beware since Stock photography is not for everyone since it takes time, passion, hard work and good knowledge of every aspects of photography.

Here are my top five tips:

- Think of a concept and exploit it from all angle and think in marketability terms.

- Only shoot good looking people and take your time.

- Keep it simple.

- Take alot of photographs and keep only the best 100% sharp images.

- Do not confuse quantity with quality.

I have read numerous sites, blogs, books about stock photography. I have even attended some seminars about it.

I have switched my equipment around to insure that I have sufficient resolution for the high stock demand. I am reading and still learning about lighting, retouching and the biggest hurdle of them all, KEYWORDING.

If you have a stock photography experience or question, feel free to share it!

Have a good day,

Sébastien D'Amour

Michele

2008-12-19T12:49:00.000-05:00

I love going to shoot at this spot!

I am a natural light lover. I find this spot allows me to shoot some amazing portraits in natural light in all conditions.

This bridge can be found in Wakefield, Qc, Canada near the city of Ottawa.

The only issue with this spot is that the light reflect on the doors that are in the opening and create a red rim light...

I will be going to shoot some stock images over there on the w-e. If you want to join the fun feel free to do so!

I should be there at around 2 pm unless weather is really scrap like the 40 cm of snow that is predicted...

Here's is the story of this shot:

Michele and I met at her place to grab her stuff and drive 30 minutes to the spot. This allowed us to bond and talk so comfort was of no issue! I will never stress this bond/relationship enough. It needs to be there we your client's, model's or art director's.

Anyway, we get to the spot and realize how much colder it's at the bridge. The result above is my first shot. We did some images for about 45 minutes before the nose and ears became red (which is no good for pictures).

I came back with some 50 shots of her. We looked at them and picked a top 3. I edited these 3 images in DPP since LR2 did not support the Canon 5D mark II raw files and then proceeded in LR2 with the jpegs. These are non commercial shots but just some testing of the Canon 5D mark II.

What do you think of this shot?

2009 coming up!

2008-12-19T10:39:00.003-05:00

Picture: Sébastien Lavallée(www.untrentieme.com)

Hi everyone,

My name is Sébastien D'Amour and yes I am french. It's also my real name...Lucky ME!

I am a professional wedding, portrait and event photographer in Ottawa. I have been at this passion of mine for a big part of my life and I have been in business for 14 months now!

I just wanted to take some time to talk about 2009 that is coming up. I cannot believe the pace that my life is taking right now. I am shooting at Ola interactive agency on Mondays, Tuesday's and Thursday's. I still shoot form my personnal client's on wednesday's, friday's, saturday's (YAY wedding days!I love them) and sunday's! I hope that 2008 was my worst year ever since I want to grow and touch people with me photography! I am learning on a daily basis and I will post what I have learned everyday here!

Today, I am making special letters for my Ottawa weddings that I have shot in 2008! I will post an image of them a little later in the day to show you.

I wanted to wish everyone a Happy new year and lots of terrific photograph's and memories that last a life time!

I also wanted to invit you to ask question's about photography, lighting, living from a passion or any other interest you have!

I will take the time to answer you.

I would like to learn about more about you.

Here is a little about me.

I love photography.

I love wedding photography.

I love portrait photography.

I love sports especially hockey.

I love my family and friends.

I love my city, Ottawa and Gatineau!

I love to travel, going in Mexico in Januray.

I love to eat good food and cook!

I love to spend quality time with my friends! I am so blessed to have them.

I love the human body, the human mind! I was always interested by the human! I can also say that it's my favorite photography subject.

I love honesty, trust, joy, romance, determination and like most people would say, I love to have fun!

Did I mention that I love wedding photography?

So what do you love?