My Wrinkles "Dictionary"

I'm 32. I'm starting to notice how my wrinkle slowly appear. They're barely there but I'm aware of their presence. I'm not worried at all. I'm actually feeling proud!

This is how I see it. Make a different approach to how you see your wrinkles and it will change everything about how you see yourself. You are not "rotting" with age but "ripping" in maturity, remember that.

Wrinkles are accumulations of lifetime experiences; the good experiences I must add. In my humble opinion, this is what they mean:

- Eye Wrinkles: Laughing wrinkles, attentive wrinkles, focus wrinkles

- Mouth wrinkles: Smiling wrinkles

- Lip wrinkles: Kissing wrinkles

- Forehead wrinkles: Surprise! wrinkles, awesome adventures wrinkles

- Cheek wrinkles: The it's-so-funny-it-hurts laugh wrinkles

And I'll throw a bonus one:

- Grey hair: Silver hair. Awards of wisdom

Happy Friday everyone!!

A Podcast Headshot

I was very happy to be called by Phyllis Valois last year to do the headshots for her promotional banner. Firstly, because Paul Spenard had referred me to her (how awesome is that? I'm still thanking the guy) and secondly because I found the concept exciting.

I had to match certain requirements from the web radio site so they could work with the image. Basically what they do is crop the person from the background and design the banner around it. So I had to be sure lightning would be the proper one so both graphic design work and photo wouldn't clash or become a hiccup for each other.

I like using natural light mostly because of it smooth and subtle effects on the subject, creating the perfect volume and shadow/highlight ratio. So I chose this option as best for this case.

I setup at her house with a big window on one side, a light bouncer on the other and a white background. She got "beautified" by Stephanie Tran from Luxe Artistry and we were ready to go. She was comfortable right away in front of the camera and was amazing at following instructions; I just had to shoot! 

 By the end we got some time to get some quick photos with her precious child (by quick I mean, the time he allowed us to do it; had to shoot fast!).

Image sent to the Graphic Design Department at Voice America

Final Image

In Phyllis' words: "I absolutely love that photograph. Thank you for capturing the person I see inside and the way that I truly see myself".

7 Photo Oriented Gift Ideas for Christmas

Photography is known for it's versatility and endless use. Why not take advantage of this for your Christmas gifts this year? Hear are some ideas that will help you check out that list and take advantage of all the services your photographer can provide. Check also "7 Tips To Choose The Right Photographer".

1. Family Session: Perfect for Grandmas. Either with them or without them, they'll love to have these images as keepsakes for years to come. Have a family photo session with as much family as you want and gift her a beautiful family album (I personally prefer outdoors than studio sessions; it gives your album that extra "humph" of special). Your photographer can design the perfect album for her, UV protected and customized with all the best images from your session. You can create the title or leave it all to your photographer.

2. Gift Certificate: Ideal all those friends and family members who are picky. Your photographer can customize a gift certificate for you, from value to sessions. You just have to ask!

3. Beauty Session: is the perfect gift for her. Why? Because she will be pampered and beautified from head to toes and on top of that she'll be photographed looking hot! It's the ideal gift to show her how beautiful she is (we as women need reassurance from our significant other, believe me, is always a mood lifter to hear it from you!), empower her and help her be more self confident. 

4. Boudoir session (Which also works as a great Valentine's gift). It's a win-win for both of you. YOU get to wear beautiful lingerie (great excuse to go shopping for yourself!) and HE gets a private keepsake of sexy you for his eyes only. He'll feel very flattered that you did it for him and well, he might want to see that new lingerie piece worn live. Your photographer will make you feel comfortable and can design a beautiful mini album with a sober flat colour cover to hide what's inside, already packed to give.

5. Model Experience: Perfect for children of all ages. Girls will like to feel like models for a day and boys will enjoy a session tailored to what they like doing (or want to be). These staged-fashion editorial kind of session will make them feel special, empower them in their uniqueness and have a blast while play pretending, no matter the age (and let's be honest, what teenager would't like super awesome photos of themselves to show to friends?).

6. Maternity or newborn sessions: When pregnant the mind gets busy with all kinds of planning/nesting/financial projects and when the baby is born, all mommy wants to do is rest and be with him/her. Among all these is easy for her to forget about the importance of immortalizing these precious milestones through photos. A maternity and newborn session is a perfect gift for her that will last for generations. Your photographer can create a bundle of these two (which most of the time will save you money) and if you want to go a notch higher, you can add an album to the package and/or a canvas print for baby's room. Mommy will be forever grateful!

7. Photography art: It can be a DIY or bought from your favourite photographer. Best if it's a big format and already framed, mounted, canvased or even printed on metal. Most photographers (including your family photographer) have artistic images they do in their own time. You can ask to view these to choose one and he/she will get it ready or you can commission something specific. Do consider your photographer's style to account for what you might expect from them. You can always ask for referrals or browse for a photographer to find the right fit for what you're looking for.

As you can see, there's many options for gifting through photography and best of all, these are gifts that will last forever. Each one has album option, cards, frames, magnets and all other kinds of presentations that your photographer can help you with. All you have to do is ask :)

Bye for now!

FELA

7 Tips For Choosing The Right Photographer

We all love looking at photos and/or taking photos. There's a reason why all photography related apps and devices are among the favourites at all ages. Some can take amazing photos and some others think they do. Being creative is an amazing and fun activity to exercise the mind, and photography is the first choice because the result is immediate without much time consumption; though a professional fine art photographer can take hours up to days creating amazing images that surpass your imagination.

But what happens when you want state of the art images of yourself and/or family? That's when you hire a professional. The Photographer.

As you may have noticed, if you google photographers in your area, a very extensive list will appear and believe it or not, the best ones are not always the ones on top of that list; the ones with good SEO knowledge are. So how do you find the right photographer for you?

1. Browse: Yes, browsing can be exhausting but it does work better the more precise you are; you still need to invest time on this. Also consider, most photographer don't place their pricing online so you'll have to call them or email them. Most of the time, the photographer will take less than 24hrs to answer back and email or even less than 2 hours! (the beauty of small business mix with technology).

Instead of searching for "Calgary Photographer", search instead for example "beauty photographer in Calgary" or "Children photographer in Calgary". Be precise about the type of photography you're looking for and the location for it.

2. Referral: Nothing works like a charm than asking friends and family for photographers they know, or the one who took their photos. It works wonderfully if you DO like their style. This is very important. You will be investing money on this so you want to be sure you get what you want. What would the point be then if the photographer is the nicest person you've ever met but you are not keen of their style? Choose wisely and be sure you'll be completely satisfied by service and final product.

3. Style: What kind of style are you looking for? Each photographer has it's own perspective of beauty and composition and this affects the final result. If you found a portrait photographer with an amazing style but with no family gallery photos, chances are he/she will still deliver your family photos with the plus of the style you liked. All you have to do is ask. Also consider consistency and chronology in their style. Galleries are usually organized from newest to oldest; do you see improvement in their style from their first to their newest? or does it look more like some of the photos came out good by chance? 

4. Price: We all like good deals on photographers, and websites like Kijiji or Deals websites like Living Social can provide you with such things. I've seen photographers on Kijiji looking to work for free or pennies to build their portfolio and I've had many people approaching me with complains about them. The problem ladies and gentleman, is not the photographer. You can be surprised to see that one of these can actually be a good photographer that honestly wants to build their portfolio and needs subjects, but these are like a needle in the hay stack or like winning the lottery--mere chance. The problem resides in lack of research. Don't jump right on it because it's free or cheap. Always consider their style (as mentioned above). Something else to consider is that if you pay good money for your photos, you will be able to hold the photographer accountable for what they deliver and you can avoid hiccups on the way because it's a PAID service, specially if your photographer is the famous "Uncle Bob" were you also put at risk your relationship with him/her if all goes wrong. ALWAYS RESEARCH. If they are building their portfolio chances are they must have at least 3-5 images that will give you an idea of what they can deliver.

5. Time: Time is of essence for everybody. Consider when do you want your photos done. Is there a special occasion you need them for? Even if the date is still far, don't hesitate on booking asap the photographer. Spring/Summer get filled fast for family sessions and weddings and Fall/Winter get filled fast for Holiday themed sessions and weddings as well. So keep this into account depending on what the photographer specializes in so that you can have your session done close to the date you want. 

Also consider what is the delivery time frame. Photographers can take from 1 week up to months to deliver the final product after your session. This can be caused by many reasons: the amount of postproduction work for your session (usually weddings take a long time vs. family sessions), high/low season for your photographer or plain disorganization (always hoping is not the latter). When contacting a photographer, ask if they can do your session at a specific date and how long will it take him/her to deliver the final product. This is planning ahead. 

6. Safety: Going back to number 4 above (See Price) for the case of the randomly picked/unknown and inexperienced photographer looking to build their portfolio, if they insist they have nothing to show you of their previous work then ask yourself why. I prefer to err on the side of prevention and walk away from it, SPECIALLY if you're looking for Boudoir /risqué photos. If they haven't done at least a photo of a friend or family member to build their work or practice then is someone I wouldn't want to go with. Better safe than sorry but if you're still going for it, bring someone with you. 

7. Meet them first: If it's the first time you'll work with your chosen photographer, is best to meet with them first at a public place to get to know them. This also makes a big difference on the final result of your photos because you'll know them by the session date, they can suggest ideas or tips for best results and you'll feel more comfortable with her/him which reflects in the final image.

Feel free to share in the comments any other tips I might have missed or experiences good or bad that you have had and how any of these tips would have helped.

Bye for now!

FELA

Cityscapes

Last weekend I was walking around downtown with my camera, my eyes fixated on the ground looking for those little things that are invisible for the normal eye; an interesting shape, a pattern, an object that would tell me a story... During my walk I stopped for a moment in the realization that I had no clue where I was, simply because I wasn't paying attention. I know the city's downtown well so I was sure to find my location right away but the fact that I had my mind completely drifted away into my own personal oblivion, alert me that I should pay attention to what my body was doing; to where my feet had taken me so far.


When I finally raised my head I found myself across the river and out of downtown, in front of a beautiful sight of it all. My feet had brought me here on a beautiful sunny day; a place surrounded by peace and calm accompanied by an accordion playing some amazing french tunes in the distance and ducks and geese floating on the river right in front of me. 


I had to sit down, stop my weekend's quest and let it all sink in. I took this photo and I could have taken many more but as a photographer, you have to remind yourself that sometimes not everything has to be captured with your camera but with your heart and mind only, and leave it there, just for yourself, to appreciate the vastness of it's beauty with all your senses and not only your eyes. I stayed there for hours contemplating it all, grateful for the sight I was given by surprise and enjoying the silent company of strangers who were as deep in thought of it all as I was.


It was indeed, a beautiful day.

Making Sense of these Piles

Photo by Fela Photography

I can say I'm an organized person. Give me a messy room and you'll be impress with what happens after. My methodology is piling everything by "category" while throwing away the useless trash; then I proceed to place each group in the right spot organized by size, color or alphabetically and finally if necessary, I'll tag the the storage box or drawer. Yes, I am very good at it and it makes me feel good to see the final result after all that work. Is not a huge life achievement but is the achievement of the hour and I celebrate it with my own not-seen-by-other-eyes happy dance.


But I'm bad at keeping the personal and intangible tidy. It is always said to make a list of your short, mid and long term goals; create plans for your life. I have tried all these by going by the book and guess how many have gone exactly as planned... none. And then I find myself buried in piles of worry, frustration and fight for what I wrote down vs. what's really happening. Nothing makes sense and it becomes this big mess in my head which I cannot understand plus the shame of not being at the level of society's "aspirations" even though I DO try. 


But I also have clarity moments when my mind is able to pile them in categories and trash the useless thoughts and behaviors. Then the incredible happens: I'm able to make art out these piles; shape them and transform them into beautiful creations I make tangible for people to see, for people to connect with thanks to my photography, and that just feels amazing! Then everything makes sense and I know it be alright. Yes, everything WILL be alright.

The Pebble Analogy

I Alef Seladi am feeling today like a pebble on the shore. So many of us hopefully waiting for the hand that will find us and throw us into the river where amazing travels and adventures begin; where dreams come true and we are useful. But if you're on one of the bottom layers of pebbles, the chances of being chosen are lowered. I feel as one of those bottom pebbles; with lots of promise and talent to be the perfect fit for that hand that's looking for me but yet the hand gives up after searching on the surface and conforms with one of the top pebbles even if it's not that great, but "it'll do". 


I have been living in this new city for almost 2 months now; yes, it's a short time but I'm yet to have a job as a photographer. I'm full of determination, imagination and creativity; it literally floods my mind everyday to a point I have to write it or draw it down. Not to brag but I AM talented. Years of studies and practice in theory, arts, inspiration, aesthetics were not in vain. Years of exercising my eyes every day to learn to REALLY see the world are not to be taken lightly; I literally have a trained eye for beauty.


The competition is vast but they're not all good which is sad. I feel frustrated by the concept of beauty this city has. Where is it anyway? It's as if the hand looking for a perfect flat and shiny pebble chooses a roundish one that looks more like it came out of an animal and believe, actually believe, it will work to bounce on the water. I have met amazing photographers in this small time and they all suffer with the same situation. How can art boost in a city that does not have the eye to choose among the best? I have seen it happening not only in photography but all kinds of art. Well, I think dance it's an exception. But it seems more like a popularity contest rather than a talent show; believe me, the best ones never win popularity contests.


We, the professional, passionate and dedicated photographers are here, looking for you, waiting for you. But the first step is yours to take; to choose us, to trust us. To really dig your hand into that pile of pebbles to find the one you wished for. We do our best to yell, stretch our hands, jump and shake to get to the surface but it won't matter if you don't train your eyes as well. Hope I get found. I've been screaming but no results yet and my savings are slowly disappearing... I'll have to make drastic changes if I want to stay in this city. I HAVE to stay in this city; I sacrificed everything for it. This has to work because I can't simply go back.