NEW PRODUCT

I am very excited about this brand new product I am offering in my studio now.

It is a Collage Wall made out of several pictures from your photo session, covering up to four feet of wall for the largest one.

Right now I have 4 different set ups, available in Masonite, Acrylic and Aluminum finishes. Here is a small sample of two of my favourite. These collages come ready to hang and with installation instructions. They look stunning in any room of your house.

Total size - 3'x1.5'

Total size - 3'x1'

New found love

I am first and foremost a wedding and portrait photographer but recently I found that I really like food photography. Having more time to set up and chose better angles is a big plus. My wife MaryLisa runs the coffee shop located at Canadian City Mart, where we have our studio so I get to take photos of the food she creates to post on the mart's facebook page.
It's been a lot of fun and together we make a good team.
Here's one of today's creations:

French Vanilla French Toast and Ham

Family Portrait

What is a Family?

by: agentflorence

http://www.neopets.com/ntimes/index.phtml?section=529645&issue=522

The power of Social Media

I hear it all the time... social media is one of the best vehicles to get your art or photography exposed to potential buyers... it still has not worked for me in terms of sales. But I am not giving up!
In fact, a couple of days ago, I had another artist put a comment and share my image bellow on her facebook page and all of a sudden this image is my most viewed on Fine Art America and it has been getting a lot of exposure. So I still believe in the power of the social media, I just think it takes some time to reach the right market.

Here is the image, one of my favorites:

"Pier and Sailboat" by: Eduardo Tavares

Projected Background Portrait

There is a portrait technique where the photographer projects a slide or a video on the background, of images previously taken of the same subject in other poses. I think it is very cool concept and I have seen some fantastic images done that way. I will try it myself once I can get a projector.
For now though, I have created a similar concept using two images which I blended in photoshop. It is not the same thing but I like the way it turned out.
Feel free to comment on the image and, if you know the technique I described above, and you have any  samples of it, you can post a link to them.

Cheers...

Erin and Jon's Wedding

Last weekend, we had the privilege of photographing and being part of Erin and Jon's special day!
Although the weather did not co-operate, we were able to capture some wonderful images of this fun and classy couple.
Erin and Jon are amazing people an we wish them loads of happiness!

Hope everyone is having a great summer. By this time last year Lisa and I were in Los Angeles and then Las Vegas enjoying the hot temperatures and dry air. We had a very tight budget (that in itself is probably good content for another blog) because we were moving to Woodstock, Ontario, to start our photography business.
One year has passed and it has been really, really hard to say the least but we have also been working our butts off and finally have our studio at the new boutique mall "Canadian City Mart", which we also manage.
Our budget is still very limited but you have to start somewhere, right? We have our first wedding shoot this Saturday and can't wait to photograph the amazing couple, Erin and Jon. The wedding is going to be at their beautiful backyard.
For now, here are some snapshots of the studio:

Interesting Photo of the Day: Infinite Tunnel of Books – PictureCorrect

Cool stuff!!!

Interesting Photo of the Day: Infinite Tunnel of Books – PictureCorrect

Shooting on the tallest building in the world

Acrophobia (fear of heights)... is what I felt when watching this video, wow!!!!! Only Joe McNally.

Article by FStoppers

http://fstoppers.com/joe-mcnally-shoots-from-the-tallest-building-in-the-world

The Dangers of Using Docks for Wedding Photography – PictureCorrect

Well, I guess they can say this was a wedding they will never forget!!!


The Dangers of Using Docks for Wedding Photography – PictureCorrect

Photo of the Week!

One of the reasons I love photographing weddings is the challenging situations of light and the fast action. This weeks photo is a good example of those challenges and knowing how to use the manual settings in your camera pays off.

Prints of this image are available through my fine art website at: http://eduardo-tavares.artistwebsites.com/

Camera used: Canon 5D MKII
Lens: Canon 50mm f1.4
Shutter Speed: 1/60
Aperture: f/4.0
ISO: 3200

Post-Processing: Lightroom 4 and Photoshop CS6

Photo of the Week

"Walking For The Cure"

This is one of the most viewed images on my Fine Art website. It was taken in Edmonton a couple of years ago. I had just moved into a basement apartment and was tired from the move, so I decided sleep in only to be awaken by a roar of footsteps and many voices. I look through the window and see this sea of people and had no idea what was going on at the moment, but I went to grab my camera with a 70-200 mm lens and started snapping shots through the open window. I quickly learned that the people were walking/running for cancer. This is one of my favorite photos of the day.

"Walking for the Cure" (c) Eduardo Tavares

Latte Art

Check this out, it blew my mind!

http://kotaku.com/5960049/this-guys-geeky-latte-art-will-blow-your-mind/

A really talented guy!

Photo of the Week

This week's picture has particular significance to me because it relates a lot to the hurdles and flow of set backs that I have been going through, in the last few months but, I found the following quote and I love it:

“Life is at its best when everything has fallen out of place, and you decide that you're going to fight to get them right, not when everything is going your way and everyone is praising you.” 
― Thisuri Wanniarachchi

Here is the photo, it was taken on the street in Las Vegas Boulevard and I am amazed at how sharp it is as I was walking when I took the shot, so that meant that I only had one chance to take it.

Google Glass

Cool post on Google + by amazing HDR photographer Trey Ratcliff, about the new Google Glass camera. Here is a link to the post:

https://plus.google.com/105237212888595777019/posts/HaRJwLsuoNA

The test shots he has taken with Glass look very interesting.

Groom Trends for 2013

Found this very interesting article on Trends for Grooms in 2013, published by "Groom Stand":

http://www.groomstand.com/groom-trends-whats-hot-in-2013

Photo of the Week

I will be posting a weekly image that is either my favorite or I think has something that provokes a reaction and a feeling.
For this week I chose the following image, which is an abstract created from a bush photographed in the winter:

ET Photography's future home

Hello everyone!

MaryLisa and I are very exited with the opportunity to start our own photography studio here in Woodstock at an amazing location, the old "Juliana" bar and grill.

This building is being transformed into a unique concept market and will open in June under the name "Canadian City Mart". MaryLisa and I are the project managers for the owner of the building and are currently looking for upscale vendors.

MaryLisa was interviewed yesterday by the local radio station Heart FM 104.7 and they have also published the article on their website today, here is a link to the article:

http://1047.ca/local-news/57724

Featured Image

Found out today that one of my images is being featured in two Fine Art America Groups - "Square Format" and "Photography and Textures Make Fine Art", I am totally stoked. A big thank you to the administrators of the groups.

Here is the image:

This image and many others are available for sale on my Fine Art website at: http://eduardo-tavares.artistwebsites.com

There is a money back-guarantee and it ships in 3 to 4 days. Check it out!

Fine Art Photography

Some of you might know by now that besides people photography (wedding and portrait), I love doing Fine Art photography which involves a lot of creativity. Taking the photograph is only the beginning, all the work that is done after in post-processing using the computer and specialized software is the actual (fine art).

For my workflow I use Lightroom 4 (where I manage all my photo libraries and do my basic editing), Photoshop CS6 and NIK software complete collection.

I love taking a photo and transforming it into my vision and interpretation of the scene I see, that might involve blending pictures together or using textures.

Here is my most viewed image for sale:

Vintage Ford Car

Baby photo session Saturday

Lisa and I are very exited for the opportunity to photograph Avery this Saturday. Avery is Rick and Sherry's granddaughter and was born on the first week of February 2013. Congratulations to the grandparents and parents.

The photo session is going to be at their place, which we prefer since the baby will be more comfortable, and usually there are more options as far as props. Baby photos can be challenging and take a few hours but the results are beautiful memories that the family will treasure for life.

Capturing details is important and part of a baby's photo session,  here is a photo we love doing;

Looking forward to meet Avery and having fun photographing her. We will post photos the week after the shoot.

Dancing to music from Alem-Mar

Although this is a very rough edit I have decided to post it anyway. I had some issues with focusing some times and because I was very close to one of the speakers, the sound is  distorted in some spots. Well, next time I will bring the correct video equipment.
I would like to thank again the boys from Alem-Mar and hope to have more chances to photograph and video them.
If anyone would like to take a look at my Wedding and Portrait website here is a link: http://www.etphotography.ca

Imperio Sao Joao - Cambridge

Having a natural need to challenge myself often, makes difficult lighting situations in venues such as concerts and parties a great way to practice my photography skills in low light which in turn also apply to wedding photography.

Last Saturday, March 16th, Lisa and I went to the Portuguese Club in Cambridge, Ontario, for the second time and we convinced her dad to come along with his girlfriend. It was the first time for them at a portuguese party but they really enjoyed the food and had a blast dancing. 

The event was put on by the “Imperio de Sao Joao” and there was a small pageant show in the middle of the evening, showing off clothing supplied by “Le Chateau” and at the end of the show the “mordomos” crowned the new Queen and Princesses of the imperio.

The music was provided by the popular portuguese band from London, ON “Alem-Mar” which we had the pleasure to sit with at the same table. Three of the members, Tony, Henry and Kevin Medeiros are cousins of the members of the band 4+1 from Povoacao, in Sao Miguel. In the 80’s, my band “The Kids”, from Ponta Delgada and 4+1 played several gigs together.

Bellow are a couple of my favorite photos of the band Alem-Mar, on Saturday.