Spring Fever

Leaves are showing up on the apple tree outside my office which signals that spring is ready to rock.  +25 this weekend in Edmonton is the forecast.  I am loving it and cannot wait to go outside and shoot pictures.  I have some Grad shoots coming up this month and a few next month.  Then a few weddings this summer.  But I do have a lot of openings to shoot, so if you would like to go outside and get some portraits then let me know.  Contact me on my website: www.randypond.ca

Happy Wednesday!! :) I will leave you with some edits of Breanne from a spring shoot we just did. :)
-Randy

~ What a Weekend ~

This weekend was quite the weekend.  It had the news of MCA's death and with that came a lot of sad feelings.  What is crazy is I had just started to get back in to their music.  I had just downloaded the Hot Sauce album off itunes and was loving it.  Then MCA passes and it just kind of hit me that the Beastie Boys sound would never be the same now.  Maybe realizing I am old too hit me and that life is fragile so what we do here and now is so important.  The things we say and do, the love we put out in to the world.  In the style of music of the Beastie Boys, so many rappers have HUGE egos and it's all about the violence, hoes and showing off bling.  The Beastie Boys were just so unique and to me they were true artists.

Jenn and I went to Edmonton and saw the new Avengers movie at a new VIP Theater (18+) and we were totally impressed.  No annoying teens being loud and stupid.  No wall to wall people and just a fun time, HUGE seats, lots of space, also it was a pretty amazing flick.

Then I also moved a computer down to my man cave, so when Diablo 3 drops I will be able to chill in the basement.  Then right at the end of the night I got an email from adobe informing me my CS6 was ready for download.  :)  So now my CS6 is fully operational!!

Well, I will end the blog with some Olivia edits.

RIP MCA
-Randy

~ May the 4th be with you ~

May the 4th be with you!!

A fun time of the year for Star Wars fans to express their nerd love of Star Wars!!! :)  I am going to make sure to watch an episode today!!! In honor of my fave series of movies and culture. :)

Thanks Lucas for making Star Wars an awesome franchise!!

Should be a star wars edit, but too tired, maybe later today I will do one....but here is Kelsey!! :)
Happy FRIDAY!!!!
-Randy

~ New Edits, CS6 ~

CS6

So the new photoshop drops May 7th and I made my pre-order on mine yesterday.  I have been using the beta and loving it.  There are some really cool new features which I am in love with.  The new blur filters are great, the tilt shift one is by far my fave.  They created the look to mesh better with lightroom, blacks and greys, it just looks great.  Colour images pop out awesome when I am working on them.  It also will allow me to edit video, although I have not tried that yet.  I used my teacher cred to get the educational discount....so I am excited to use this program to create this summer.

New Edits

Here are a few new edits of Susan and Tatiana edited this week.....have a good finish to the week everyone.
-Randy

~ Some late night rambles ~

Some Late Night Rambles

I should be sleeping but wanted to ramble about photography and some of the trends I am seeing lately.  I shoot a lot of portraits and have worked with quite a few models.  Some range from new models to really experienced models.  One thing I have noticed not just in my own photography but just in general is that most of the styles and looks of models/photographers I like are mostly located in Europe.  North American photography seems all about just showing "sex" and not really beauty.  Some photographers and models in North America seem to consider this to be artistic and beautiful.

So many models go for this look in North America

There is nothing wrong with the whole Goth/Pinup stuff, I don't mind shooting it but it's not really my thing.  I really like shooting more natural stuff, natural light.  I prefer a model with no facial piercings and she does not need a ton of ink all over her body. This is the kind of photography I LOVE and I see very little of it over in North America.  I am hoping to take my own photography in this direction as soon as I can.  I realize I need to go full frame to get this style so I may have to wait a bit before I can get the look I want to go for.  But I already sense from using a 5DMII that I can achieve this look with enough practice with a full frame.  I just hope I can find the right models to work with to get this look.  I really want to take my photography more in this direction.  Which does not mean I only wanna shoot this forever and ever, I just need a break from the usual stuff I have been shooting and try and challenge myself to do something different.  These photographers have work I just LOVE.

Ann by Grimafust Ubaovin

Dasha by Artur Saribekyan