The Cey Family
Melanie and Ryan welcomed their son Alistair into the world seven months ago. And with his personality really starting to come out they thought it was a great time to get some photographs of him. I love doing these types of shoots in the family’s home so I can create images of them in a natural setting where everyone can just be themselves.
It has become a normal thing for me to take my wife along as an assistant when the shoot involves a youngster. She proves to be invaluable in getting the kid’s attention, and has no qualms about dancing or making funny faces. We headed to their downtown Saskatoon loft on a Saturday morning which proved to be an awesome space for the shoot. A big window provided all the natural light we needed.
Alistair was a pleasure to photograph, and I just loved this crazy breakdancing wave thing he did with his arms when he started getting tired. We were able to get a good hour of shooting in before Alistair was fed up with a camera in his face. But that was long enough to get some great shots.
We ended the morning with an delicious brunch that Melanie and Ryan were kind enough to make for all of us. That was pretty awesome of them. Here are some of my favourite photographs from the morning, and be sure to also check out the high definition slideshow to see even more images of this great family.
Note: for the best quality make sure HD is set to on along the right side of the video player. Scaling should be set to off.
The Cey Family from Hemant J. Naidu on Vimeo.
The Cey Family Teaser
Alistair just turned seven months old, and his parents thought it would be a great time to capture some photographs of the three of them just hanging out at home. Here’s a teaser image that I captured that Saturday morning. Make sure to check back soon to see more shots of this great family.
Mandy & Kevin
Mandy and Kevin have been married for five years. It was not their anniversary, or any other special occasion, but the idea of having some photos taken of themselves having a great time seemed like a good idea. The three of us managed to find an evening this past summer (where it was not raining) to spend some time in downtown Saskatoon and take some fun shots.
It may not have been raining that night, but it had most definitely rained the day before. I remember that evening being particularly more humid than Saskatoon usually gets which created a very hazy sky. And with that rain came an army of mosquitoes that swarmed us when we made our way to the river bank. Between all of the swatting of mosquitoes, and scratching of new bites, I was able to get some awesome shots of Mandy and Kevin. The two of them were absolute troopers amongst the crazy mosquitoes.
We probably could have shot a little longer, but in the end the mosquitoes won the battle. Here are some of my favourite photos from the shoot. Be sure to also check out the high definition slideshow to see even more images of this great husband and wife.
Note: for the best quality make sure HD is set to on along the right side of the video player. Scaling should be set to off.
Mandy and Kevin from Hemant J. Naidu on Vimeo.
Help Portrait Saskatoon 2010
December 4th was Help Portrait day around the world, and Saskatoon was not going to miss the opportunity to participate. Help Portrait is, “a global movement of photographers using their time, gear and expertise to give back to those in need.” A group of seven photographers and ten volunteers spent that last few weeks planning Help Portrait Saskatoon. Check out this short videos to get a better idea of what this awesome movement is all about.
We set up our two studios in the downtown Salvation Army and planned to shoot between 10:30am and 4pm. Since this was the first year for Help Portrait Saskatoon we had no idea how many people we’d get that wanted their portraits taken. The morning started off with a nice steady flow of people, and as the day progressed our waiting area became jam packed with people excited to have their individual, couple, and family portraits taken. And as a bonus, none of them laughed at my ridiculous shooting stance. The Help Portrait team was not so forgiving.
The experience was incredible and it wouldn’t have been possible without a great team of volunteers. Very few of us knew each other outside of Twitter and Facebook, but being strangers didn’t stop us from pushing to make this great cause a success. By the end of the day we had taken photographs of 105 fantastic people, most of whom were in family portraits. And as an early holiday gift, each person will be able to pick up their prints at the Salvation Army next weekend.
This is only the second year since Help Portrait started, but judging by the incredible participation of cities around the world and the extensive media coverage, it’s only going to get bigger each year. We’ve already started talking about Help Portrait Saskatoon 2011, and we’d love to see more photographers, make-up artists, and volunteers join us next year. Help us get the word out. This is an fabulous cause and we need all the help we can get.
And if you’re interested in more information about the origins of Help Portrait, here’s a short video by the founder Jeremy Cowart.
Kelly & Byron are Married
When I met Kelly and Byron in April I knew that I wanted to shoot their wedding. After only chatting with them for about thirty minutes I knew that they were genuinely nice people who truly loved each other. I got to know them a little better that summer when we spent an evening creating some awesome engagement photos. Even though their wedding was still a few months away the three of us knew that time would fly by, and the big day would be upon us.
As October 9th approached the unpredictable Saskatchewan weather kept everybody guessing. A couple hot days here, and a few chilly days there. Fortunately for the wedding day the weather was fabulous. Even though everything was looking like it was going to perfect there was one thing that was making me nervous. It had nothing to actually do with the wedding, but had everything to do with my personal life. If you follow me on any social network you know that my wife and I recently had a baby – a baby that was due on October 9th. I knew the chance of the baby actually arriving on this day was slim, and the fact that I was only covering about three hours of the wedding day made it even slimmer. It didn’t matter. I was still nervous.
I was scheduled to arrive at the University of Saskatchewan Faculty Club in Saskatoon about an hour before the ceremony to capture some shots of the bride and groom. I felt a lot calmer knowing that my wife hadn’t yet gone into labour when I left the house. At that point I was pretty confident that it was not going to be that day, allowing me to just focus on the wedding.
About seventy guests came to see Kelly and Byron tie the knot. The ceremony went exactly as planned and before we knew it they were married. Right after the ceremony the three of us went out around the university to capture some of the first photographs of them as man and wife. Even though we only had an hour to get the shots we wanted we didn’t feel rushed at all. We all just relaxed and had a good time together creating some photographs to document their first day as a married couple.
Here are some of my favourite photos from the the day. Be sure to also check out the high definition slideshow to see even more images from the wedding.
Note: for the best quality make sure HD is set to on along the right side of the video player. Scaling should be set to off.
Kelly and Byron Wedding from Hemant J. Naidu on Vimeo.
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