AEMMA Spring Pas D' Armes

I had the pleasure of attending the AEMMA Spring Pas D'Armes at FAC Toronto. It is a Full armor combat tournament, hosted by the Academy of European Medival Martial Arts. It was a wonderful event, seeing combatants from Ottawa, Muskoka, and Toronto. They were dressed in "full harness" which means a full suit of armor. No easy feat to fight with an additional 60-75 lbs! They had their choice to fight in pole axe, spear, Longsword, Dagger and combinations thereof. It was an thrilling event to watch. Each combatant was accompanied by their squire, in some cases, fathers and sons. It was so sweet to watch the sons help their dads dress in their armor.  I marvel at the Fighting Arts Collective and the wonderful community of sportsmanship and respect they have built. They train with dedication, study the history, the manuscripts of old, and study the Art. They are truly scholars and Gentlemen. Heads up Ladies, Knights in armor do indeed still exist!
I have photographed several AEMMA events, and find capturing the flashes of steel and quick moving bodies an interesting challenge. This last shoot was by far my favorite, here are some photos, I hope you enjoy!

Adventures with Gabby

My most recent shoot was with the lovely Gabby. She is a great friend and a natural model. She becomes a veritable chameleon in front of the lens, able to transform into a myriad of characters. I had the inspiration for the shoot the day before, as Beau and I walked through the ravine. We are still leering on the precipice of spring in Toronto, and the starkness of the landscape was inspiring. I thought it made a great contrast to the high fashion look we were going for.  I had Gabby climbing up trees, and rocks, she's such a great sport! We had to be careful too, as she could not get any scratches and cuts on her face or hands. She's applying for a passport which requires 3 D imaging of said parts, and here we are, crashing through the bushes, lol. One of the hardest things was deciding on the post processing, to get just the right tones and atmosphere. I ended up with several versions of some shots, trying to decide which I love best of all. It's very difficult to develop a good editing eye- to pick the good from the bad, and finding the pictures within pictures. Knowing when to crop, and when you are being overly self critical. It is an ultimatley rewarding process though.

Here are some favorites, I hope you enjoy!

My other Links

I thought I'd share some links to my other virtual homes.
You can find me on facebook here :
and on Flickr here.

Welcome to my new blog!

Hello, and welcome to my brand spanking new blog! I'm a blog virgin, so go easy on me, ok? ;)
This is a great way for me to post updates and photos for my latest shoots. Right now I am immensely focused on stretching my creative limbs and pursuing my dreams. I have let so much needlessly hold me back- so much fear, so much old baggage. Now I am in a place in my life where I am wide open, and left with no excuses. So I let it all go, and hit the ground running. This is what I was meant to do. After many false starts, compromises and hard lessons learned, I am ready. I intend to take life as it is- a marvelous, wacky and oft bittersweet adventure.