Victorian Rose | Gidget Gravedigger

Posted on 8th June 2017 in fashion

Gidget Gravedigger (fb, ig, podcast) is a fascinating human. Her and her sister have a podcast where they talk all things horror films; clearly by her name, she’s a horror themed human. Sometimes when I talk to Gidget, she says she’s doing something like practicing her ‘horror makeup application…’ she has tarot reading nights, and she likes her bourbon sours.

I always reflect (maybe wince a bit) on whether or not I let people be their true selves when I’m shooting them. I really am trying to stay away from telling them to do things like: “Be a hipster,” “Wear those casual pants there,” or even: “Just do natural makeup,” when they’re clearly not a casual type of person. Some people are, which is totally awesome (cause that’s the way I lean), but some people just don’t get to excited about being casual.

Fortunately for me, Ms. Gravedigger also likes Victorian themed photoshoots in rose gardens – I think it was her who actually suggested we try and do something spooky in the rose gardens of Stanley Park, Vancouver while they were all just thorns, and not blooming. I’ll let you comment down below to approve if we nailed the spooky part, but we definitely got the look down.

tech specs // sony a7 / Super Takumar 55mm f1.8 / Helios 44-2 58mm / Jupiter 11A 135mm f4

Gidget Gravedigger victorian rose - Ned Tobin

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Jet | Audrey Hipturn

Posted on 17th October 2016 in fashion, lifestyle, portraits & headshots

Every time Audrey Hipturn (fb, instagram) and I brainstorm a shoot, it’s a dream. She’s got creative ideas and great suggestions and does the extra little bit to make the shoot magic. It’s always such a pleasure to work with her, and it makes me a bit sad that her and her partner have moved to the UK to pursue studies at school. Smart woman.

I had a friend of a friend’s apartment for a few days that was nearly empty and all white, and was able to jam pack it with humans to photograph for a few days, Audrey being one of them. Living on the island these days, it’s like a magical mystery tour for me when I book shoots in Vancouver. Late night conversations, shooting till I’m exhausted, and I usually make my way to Foundation for some delicious vegan food to loud old school rap – all a big blur of commotion.

Audrey had an idea to shoot with nachos, which I was totally on board for, but I always like to plan shoots with a few different styles to maximize the amount of photographs that I can use without it feeling like too much of the same person in the same clothes. Ah hah! His tricks.

tech specs // sony a7 / super takumar 55mm f1.8

Audrey Hipturn in Black by Ned Tobin Click here to read more.. »

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Audrey Hepburn’s Not Dead

Posted on 28th March 2016 in fashion, lifestyle, portraits & headshots

Her stage name is Audrey Hipturn (fb), cause she’s fancy like that. I’ve been lucky enough to photograph her a few times now that she’s relocated to Vancouver. I don’t think there’s anybody else I shoot who comes as close to shooting pinup as shooting with Audrey does. The last shoot we did I had to pause halfway through it and get on her case for trying to make me shoot such a thing!

Most of the stuff we shoot together leans more to the boudoir side of things, so it’s not posted on this site (see here), but this one sure was!

If it’s not immediately evident, this shoot was based on Audrey Hepburn’s role in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, from 1961.

It was funny. The hair was all done, the dress was on, and we pulled out the cigarette holder and then we both looked at each other: “Did you bring a cigarette?!” Luckily, when I ran downstairs I found a lovely couple who, before I managed to explain the full concept of the shoot – both of their jaws hanging slightly ajar – pulled out a cigarette and handed it to me.

Hair was done by Kristi Farr of the East Vanity Parlour (fb) (see the EVP hair shoot I did with them here, and other shoots EVP has helped me on).

Dress was supplied by Amy Meraki.

Audrey Hipturn as Audrey Hipturn based on Breakfast at Tiffany's movie Click here to read more.. »

Melancholic | Bunny Sumthin

Posted on 1st November 2015 in fashion

I met Bunny (instagram, fb) in the burlesque community. She’s a member of the Lost Girls Burlesque troupe (previous posts, fb) who are turning heads and raising hell throughout this fine land. She is also a member of the Screaming Chickens, and is currently studying to become a fashion designer. When Bunny came to me about doing this shoot she started talking about a lost soul looking out into the sea of darkness as if sad… so naturally we picked the word ‘melancholic’ to represent this shoot; turns out we’re both dramatic human beings!

As a location photographer I love the challenge of using any kind of daylight possible. Don’t get me wrong, the night presents a whole new level of play by throwing light around. On one hand, you lose all the beautiful natural backgrounds of location shooting, but on the other hand, it enables me to illuminate exactly how I want to, and create some of those dramatic contrasts I so do like. However, when our lights turned down low, things got a little NSFW, so those photographs wont be posted here.

We decided to head out to Porteau Cove along the Sea to Sky highway to do this shoot. I always like picking places that aren’t the usual spots. Actually, my first choice was another rare selection of beach along the highway, but as we pulled up I realized that I hadn’t looked at the tide schedule and we had timed it perfectly for high tide! Oh boy. Porteau Cove is nice because it has a big man made dock and supporting infrastructure, so we had lots of fun west coast rugged to shoot in, the only trick was timing it properly to avoid all the tourists that also stop at the exact same lookout.

This shoot was done using my Sony a7 and a Helios 44-2 58mm lens with a Fotodiox m42->e-mount adapter. This begins my journey into the world of manual (read: well made) lenses. If you’ll remember, my previous post was done with Amanda Swan and I had the domestic Sony Zeiss glass. That Zeiss glass is sure beautiful, but I’m looking for something just a little bit different. Shooting manual means shooting without any focus point indicators… without that little auto function of the lens. Sure does seem like a waste with 117 of them on the a7, but thems ams the breaks. It also means my f-stop is adjusted on the lens, not the camera body.

Without further delay, let the fun begin!

 

Bunny Sumthin - deneot foto - melancholic ocean Click here to read more.. »

Vanity | Amanda Swan

Posted on 26th October 2015 in fashion

When Amanda Swan (MM) and I started talking about this shoot, she mentioned that she had a great backyard and a vanity to use. If you know me, you know I’m a sucker for location shoots. When I arrived to shoot, she had pumpkins growing in the front yard and a molding Charlie Chaplin framed poster in her back yard. Immediately I thought all things magic.

Officially, this is my first full frame camera photoshoot. I’ll be doing a full review of the camera shortly, but needless to say, the Sony Alpha7 is one hell of a camera. I had the full frame 55mm f1.8 Carl Zeiss lens on the a7, which did an absolutely crystal clear job of the whole thing. The legend of the Zeiss glass is no myth; these things are sharp. Also trying to utilize the 117 focus points was kind bizarre coming from the 9 focus points on my Canon T1i! It is definitely something I’ll have to practice to get faster at.

Now, Vanity.

 

Amanda CookieCraven Swan - Ned Tobin - Vanity

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