Ontario

2021: Where do we go from here?

Woah! A blog? … a new blog post?! what is happening?

hahahah I know, I forgot about this, not going to lie, just be real with all of you about this. With all that has been going on in the world with this Covid-19 stuff photography, blogging, leaving the house has really taken a dump. So you might be asking yourself, just like I am.. what now? what happens with Kevin Vyse Photography? what happens with photography in General? to be honest with you… I’m not sure.
2020 was a rough year, we lost the entire Festival season in music, Lost the ability to meet with people over the summer and book shoots, all the good weather passed and we ended up in Fall, things opened up a bit but sadly I did not receive any bookings.. and seeing as how I told you I was going to be 100% transparent, I didn’t mind.. it was nice having a break, no stress just shooting things I wanted to shoot for myself. Most photographers want to book a year a head to ensure they have the income to make ends meet… but things are much different now.. will we be able to book? or if we book will we be able to shoot? it’s very very stressful booking then having to reschedule everything. I have one wedding on the books for Sept.. that one wedding is all i’m taking in regards to weddings because I don’t do them anymore ( this is a very good friends weddings that’s why I said yes to it), but is it going to happen? can it happen? as of right now, no!

What will Kevin Vyse be doing for 2021? …. honestly, 2021 is up in the air. As of right now i’m not taking anything on.. simply because I can’t and I don’t want to put myself into the stressful situation of taking bookings this far ahead for the summer months then our Government saying it can’t happen and me having to contact all those people who booked and try to answer their questions on rescheduling and what the rules are, trying to rebook with my busy full time job schedule which is pretty much everyday but Sunday so then everyone is fighting to try and book for a Sunday… it’s a head ache, so for now.. I’m not booking.

Where is Kevin Vyse’s mindset on shoots for 2021? : 2021 is going to be a lot different… over the years I’ve shot many different things, weddings, products, landscapes, portraits, bands, live music etc…. Over all these years and many different shoots I’ve learnt what I love to shoot, what I can shoot, and what I don’t want to shoot. 2021 will be filled with what makes me happy, sounds selfish I know… but let me put it this way… If I shoot what makes me happy, stuff I really think is awesome to shoot, stuff I have fun shooting, I feel comfortable shooting, then the people I book get the best and most creative work I can put forward with the level of skills I have in my back pocket at this time. Concerts, definitely… along with concerts comes Bands portraits, Single release images, band album artwork, and live shots… 100% top of my list.. this is where i started in photography and my love for it never stopped. Portraits to some extent will also be a go.. headshots, environmental portraits… that’s something I’ve always loved and what I consider to be my “niche” .. the lighting aspect is right up my alley… biggest issue is not having a studio but it can all be done in your home, maybe my new apartment once it’s built or even outdoors on location…. Landscapes is 100% no doubt in my mind happening.. this is maybe my second biggest love to concerts… you’re just out there in nature seeing what you see and capturing it the best way you know how.. no posing, no stress/pressure, no judgement.. just pure freedom… only issue is, for me… travel is required… I’m not stimulated by Ontario… don’t get me wrong.. it’s nice, the North is beauty but once I went out west ( BC and Alberta) and I went to Iceland… Ontario is pretty dry to my eye. Right now we can’t travel.. or shouldn’t and with 14 day quarantine involved that eats up my vacation time from work and therefore wrecks that aspect of things.

What has Kevin Vyse been up to seeing as how he can’t photograph the usual stufff?: DRONING!!!!! Yes, that’s right… for a few years I’ve had the Mavic Air and I never used it…. hahah why would I spend that much money on something and never use it… simple answer… I was afraid to fly the damn thing… it’s a lot of money to throw up into the air and try not to crash. Over the last couple months I’ve had time to get out there, get comfortable with flying it and after educating myself on the best ways to set up the cameras and how to get the best RAW shots out of it I’ve been using it quite a bit to get some new perspective kind of shots and I love it! the top down perspective of it all adds a whole new world to photography which I’m in love with right now. I’ve changed my Instagram Grid up with these shots.. working on my “Winter Grid” right now obviously as we’re in Winter.. lots of blues, whites with hints of some other small colours. Mavic Air will be worked into my Instagram Grid from now on trying to focus on seasonal colours and influences.

So hope this helps explain some things.. more of a central love of photography for this year.. taking on clients work that I feel i’d love to shoot, turning down others and I will try to direct those clients to Other photographers who I know specialize in what they are looking for and who I believe will give them the best results which also helps out my other photography friends!

Hope everyone stays safe, healthy and happy! wash your hands, wear your masks.. get the vaccine if you want… lets get everything back to normal so we can all continue on our lives, not sitting here wasting it away one day at a time. <3

For now.. here’s some of the new’er images I’ve been creating:

KELSI MAYNE - AS I GO VIDEO SHOOT

Some of you may know over the past 2 years I have been working with country music artist KELSI MAYNE. We met in my home town of Woodstock Ontario where Kelsi and her band were performing at the annual Woodstock Truck Show. Kelsi approached me as I was handing out business cards to other artists so they could see the shots I had taken that day. After sending the images off to Kelsi when she emailed me, she loved the shots and the rest was history.
A text message came through, it was Kelsi “ Hey Kev! how are ya… we are filming a new music video, for a new song in Aylmer Ontario, you should come out and shoot some behind the scene’s work for the video it’s going to be amazing, lots of explosions, fire, dirtbikes doing tricks and jacked up trucks ! “ … ok A. That sounds incredible.. that in itself I can’t miss seeing and B. being on set of a music video with Kelsi and the band having fun and creating… hell yes I’m going!

Call time was for 8am, on the outskirts of Aylmer, it was a bit chilly but really not that bad for winter, and as always, I was the first one there because I’m always worried about being late. Soon after everyone else started showing up…… oh and I forgot to mention, I was upgraded to one of the camera men filming the video, Kelsi’s brother, Cory was directing and filming as he is in the film industry. Here’s the kicker.. I don’t know much of anything when it comes to video, so of course I was a little panicked but hey… this is a HUGE learning opportunity, so I googled as much as I could about video and set my cameras up according, learnt some of the lingo and was ready to go!

“ AS I GO “ Is the name of Kelsi’s new song/video and let me tell you… incredible song and this video is going to be equally incredible. Fire, explosions, shotguns, Jacked up Trucks, Dirt Bikes, ATV’s, Fireworks and of course the band.. there is so much action in this video, it is going to be so stimulating to watch. Not only is the band ( Kelsi, Cory, Ciaran, Ryan and Annette ) so down to earth and amazing individuals, but everyone on set involved with this production were too. Cory, Kelsi’s brother, great guy with a clear vision of where this video was going, a hard worker definitely putting the time in. Eric, the guy who provided the location for the shoot, the daredevil driver, fire starter, wild man… such a nice dude who pretty much acted as the producer for this, getting everyone together, throwing some pretty cool ideas for the video. Kelsi’s Mom and Dad, who came out nice and early to lend a hand and show support, they are phenomenal parents and people, so kind, brought out all kinds of food so everyone on set had something to eat, brought all kinds of gear we needed to make this happen… loved them. Last but definitely not least…. all of Eric’s friends that came out with their trucks, dirt bikes and ATV’s who also starred in the video as the riders, stunt drivers and extra’s around the fire… these people had never met us before and were so welcoming and kind, couldn’t have asked for better people to work with.

All in all, this was a long day, 13hrs or so… and definitely worth every minute! The band was dead on with their performance, they looked incredible and this video is going to be insane! Keep an EAR out as Kelsi’s new song “ AS I GO “ Will be released Jan 31st, I believe and also Keep an eye out because this video is scheduled to be released Feb 21st! You definitely will NOT want to miss these!

HUGE thank you goes out to Kelsi and the band for including me, yet again, in another one of their endeavours and always staying true to bringing me out, can’t wait for more this summer. Also a HUGE thank you to Cory (Kelsi’s brother) for working with me and teaching me some new techniques, it was a pleasure. One last HUGE thank you to everyone else involved for being kind and opening up themselves, their “toys” and their time…. it was a lot of fun and such an amazing experience… hope to see you at some shows this summer.

Cheer
Kevin Vyse | Photographer

Here’s some Behind The Scene’s images I managed to snap in between Filming:

KELSI MAYNE - “ AS I GO “
Video Shoot - Aylmer Ontario.
📸: Kevin Vyse

KELSI MAYNE

You have all seen her at the mercy of my camera before, usually on stage with her fire red phoenix hair blowing in the wind as she gracefully sings out her country jams in the summer sun. Who am I talking about? .. well who else.. the incredible KELSI MAYNE.
Kelsi hit me up with a message on a Thursday saying she needed new images shot for some summer festival announcements and some other releases through out 2019. This shoot was last minute, we only had a few days to find a location to shoot in and get the images edited and out within.. I think it was 4 days. Game On!
We reached out to some people and ended up having a mutual friend (Scott), who was willing to let us use his beautiful home on the following Saturday and so the one-on-one photo session was born.

Kelsi is a very hard working woman. She is a Nurse, a Country music artists, an Actress and was a Nationally Ranked Hurdler! We first met in my home town Woodstock Ontario, where she was performing at the Woodstock Truck Show put on annually by our friend Scott Verbruggen, all proceeds from this event goes to the local Special Olympics. Kelsi saw me handing out business cards to the other bands that were performing after each set and she came up to ask if she could have one to see the pics afterwards, we got to talking and a new friendship was born! Since then I have photographed Kelsi at the Emerging Artists Showcase at the CMAO’s in London Ontario, as well as in Dresden Ontario at their Kinstock Festival, where she opened the show along with Kansas Stone, Andrew Hywatt and The Reklaws.

The ‘Mayne’ image we shot was being used to release Kelsi’s artist announcement for this summers Big Valley Jamboree in Camrose, Alberta where Kelsi will be sharing the ‘Mayne’ stage with acts such as: Toby Keith, Old Dominion, Kane Brown, Lindsay Elle, Meghan Patrick, Billy Ray Cyrus, Brooks & Dunn and many more. Kelsi will also be performing in Havelock Ontario at the Havelock Country Jamboree in August.

Also Keep an eye out for the release of Stephen King’s short story (movie) WILLA because, yep.. you guessed it, Kelsi is in the movie.. not only is she in it but has a Title Role… does Kelsi look familiar to you? .. well that’s probably because you’ve seen her as the lead female in another country music artists video.. if you have seen her in this you will know her as ‘CHERRY BOMB’. River Town Saints brought Kelsi in as the lead role in their video for Cherry Bomb where she did an amazing job.

Can’t wait to see where Kelsi goes in 2019, all I know is that it will be up.. she is on a roll and shows no signs of slowing down. It was an honour and pleasure to work with Kelsi and get to know her band over the last year, they are all amazing people and I’m pumped every time I get to run into them at shows.

For now I can only release two images that we shot from our shoot as we want to keep them under wraps until Kelsi gets to release them through out the year.

Photography: Kevin Vyse Photography
Graphic Design: BVJ

CMAOntario's New Faces Showcase

They came, The Played, They conquered! 

Incredible weekend last weekend at the CMAOntario's in London Ontario. During the New Faces Showcase performers who are building in the country music scene had the chance to show everyone what they have during a free show on an outdoor stage. I won't lie.. every single act who performed was incredible in their own way. 

Of course.. with every concert you need to have head liners.. Headlining the CMAOntario's New Faces Showcase were two Canadian heavy hitters.. 

THE REKLAWS
and
MEGHAN PATRICK 

I will put their images at the end of this post so people will scroll through the New Faces Showcase performers .. we want to get them out there and get people interested. 

Performers: 

This woman and her band.... Phenomenal! With Kelsi's phoenix fire hair, beautiful smile thats always glowing up on stage and her powerful vocals, your attention quickly focuses on the stage. Great sound great stage presence with catchy songs and they are also great people to talk to. If you get the chance, make sure you check them out.. they are based out of Toronto On. 
 

Based out of Hamilton Ontario, The Redhill Valleys are definitely a band to keep your eyes on. With their amazing harmonies your foot can't stop tapping along with their original sound, great stage presence too.  

Josh David Band.. first off.. this guys voice! amazing voice with some nice grit, and some rocking country sound. These guys put on a great show, Josh is always moving and interacting with band members on stage which is always fun to watch. 

phenomenal sound coming from these guys, very catchy songs with awesome harmony vocals and some killer guitar solo's/leads, their song 'Minnedosa' is one of my favs. 

Brad Battle - web-13.jpg

Brads song 'Crazy Beautiful' definitely gets stuck in your head, very full sound, catchy, nice guitar solo's, stage presence is well done.. he does a really awesome cover of A Great Big World's - Say Something.. definitely a band to check out. 

HEADLINERS 

THE REKLAWS

If your into country music and you don't know this Brother and Sister duo... then you need to immediately stop reading this blog and head on over to their website, spotify, facebook, instagram... I don't care where.. but go check them out. The Recklaws are blowing up.. their song Long Live The Night is now the Thursday night Football theme song! stage presence is huge with these two always moving around the stage, Jenna is always dancing up a storm and getting the crowd pumped up and rowdy. If you see these two on any concert bill, just know you are in for an incredible show! 

MEGHAN PATRICK

You know Meghan Patrick.. you have to... if you don't, then your Canadian Country game is weak. This power house female country artist is outstanding! Powerful vocals, amazing songs.. phenomenal to watch on stage with her high knees and leg kicks.. swinging those golden locks all over it all comes together for an impressive show. Meghan cleaned up this year at the CMAOntario's Winning 3 awards: 

  • FEMALE ARTIST OF THE YEAR
  • MUSIC VIDEO OF THE YEAR - ' Country Music Made Me do It ' 
  • FAN'S CHOICE

In my opinion.. every one of these is much deserved, I love watching this woman perform! Congrats on the wins Meghan!

Maddy & Diesel: A Girl and her Pup!

Maddy and Diesel were something a little different for me as I haven't really photographed portraits for someone and their dog, but it was a lot of fun! We were originally going to do this shoot back in the fall with all the leaves on the trees, but due to unforeseen circumstances, we had to change the date which led us into winter .... pre-snow winter. 

This time of year the "lake" where I live gets drained out, not completely but quite a bit gets sucked out through the damn which leaves a nice, sandy beach look. Later in the day as the sun set we headed on down to utilize the park area and of course out on to the sand. Diesel was having a ton of fun running around and finding sticks to bring a long for the walk, which ended up in a few of the shots because getting that stick away was near impossible lol. Over all, with the sun set, the beach vibe, the lake and a great person and dog, it was a fantastic shoot! 

- Shutter Click.   

A Night With Colin James

Colin Freakin' James! 

Colin was brought to Woodstock last year for the Cowapalooza Festival in Woodstock Ontario, Canada, but sadly.. he never made it on stage because mother nature decided to flood the park with a torrential down pour. Summer 2017, Colin James was asked to come back and come back he did! With clear skies, a beauty summers night, stars out and all, Colin hit the stage with powerful guitar solos, deep bass lines, technical drumming, some outstanding keyboard work and of course some powerful, strong vocals that blew me away. 

With no media pass (which wasn't required anyways because it was a FREE, yes.. FREE concert in a public park ) I had to shoot from the crowd which was fine at first.. but pretty much after the first song everyone moved up and it got tight quick. Bobbing around peoples melons Colin made it pretty easy to get the shots using up all areas of the stage to put on an amazing performance. If you haven't seen Colin James, haven't heard of him even.. get out to a show, you won't be disappointed at all. - Shutter Click. 

Colin James
Cowapalooza Festival 2017
Woodstock On, Canada.

A GIRL & HER HORSE

When my sister-in-law said she wanted to do a shoot with my niece, Madyson and her horse Claire, I was all in.. I had not done a shoot involving a horse yet so I saw some potential for something new and challenging! 

Let me tell you..... you take a horse that never gets to eat grass and you take it out on to grass to do a shoot... that horse will do whatever it takes to eat some of that sweet sweet green gold! Claire was grass hungry and we had to give her a little bit of time to chomp down some green goodness before she would even think about lifting her head up for some shots lol. Once Claire's belly had some green goodness in it she was ready to be a star. 
We were on location at White Willow Equestrian Centre in Thamesford Ontario, a great facility if you're looking to learn some horseback riding, I believe they do English riding and Western Riding. It was a great place, clean, very friendly and accommodating staff, an outdoor arena as well as an indoor and a lot of grazing space for the horses. They also have a spitting Lama (keep your distance or get wet ) and a free roaming goat who likes to head butt your butt for attention.. I think her name was Lilly ... maybe.. 

Madyson was a natural.. she has this very model-esque look to her with a straight gaze that works perfectly for this kind of shoot, and if you've shot with me I like my clients to be themselves.. I don't tell you to smile (usually) I let you do your thing because thats.. well.. you! so in these pics you will see Madyson doesn't smile, but it works soooooo well for this. Claire and Madyson have a bond so we were able to get them with their heads together for a few shots and in most of them we just let Claire graze because thats what she does so we just roll with it. We used the driveway into the facility as it's lined with trees, some grassy area's off to the sides and did some silhouette work using the stable, which really looked nice. I was hoping for more of that golden light, but with the time of year the sun doesn't quite set until around 8pm and we didn't have the time as there were classes going on, cars going in and out and we were there at 6pm so we worked with the light as best we could.. I think it worked out well.  

White Willow Equestrian Centre
©Kevin Vyse Photography 2017

Lorraine & Rachel: Engagement session

Lorraine & Rachel, these two are so much fun, so laid back and so in love! 
    Due to a slim window for shooting and scheduling we split their session over two Sundays to accommodate two separate locations that had significant meaning in their relationship. Session 1 : Goderich Ontario beach! Honestly, I had only been to Goderich once before on a photo drive with another photographer, it was winter so I missed all of it's beauty. Goderich is Beautiful! The town is small and built around an massive round about which I thought was brilliant, the people are friendly and the beach is beautiful sitting on Lake Huron. 
     We started out at the far end of the beach doing some beach walking shots, close to the water, holding hands and kissing. Time of day was not ideal, the sun was high, shadows deep but I'm use to shooting in those conditions so we just rolled with it. After a bit the sun started to disappear behind some clouds and the "good light" was allowing me some great shots. There were a set of rocks where Lorraine had proposed to Rachel so we definitely wanted to incorporate that into the session. With the wind blowing we had to make sure we were watching the water because at times it was splashing so hard on the rocks there was a high chance of getting soaked... did they get soaked... wellllllllll .... lol.. not soaked but there was one good splash that landed a few drops on their backs. 
    While walking along the board walk, we found another little gem spot where the trees opened up there was some sand and a tree that had fallen over, it honestly looked like we were in Mexico or the Dominican, so we had to get some shots there. Light was a bit tough as this spot was all shade, but the water and sky was bright so balancing was a bit rough... OH.. and the unexpected rouge wave that came in out of no where and soaked Lorraine and Rachel lol... honestly.. we didn't even see it coming in. 

Location 2: St.Mary's Ontario. 

The second Sunday we were off to St.Mary's Ontario at 8am.. the sky was a bit iffy, cloudy.. a bit chilly to start.. we wern't sure how this was going to go as they were calling for rain, but we lucked out and it held off for us. No rain, but there was bridge construction on one of the bridges St.Mary's has to offer and that meant they needed to drain some of the water out of the river. Usually there is water rushing over the dam in the middle of the river but on this day.. no such luck.. water levels were low.. so, change of plans.. no splashing and waterfall shots but, with the low water levels we could take advantage of getting out further into the water. St.Mary's is a beautiful town, small, and very old with a ton of history. Buildings were stone and looked like castles almost, it was very clean and quaint, I like that place. Over all the shoots were fantastic, these two are great clients, up for anything, so bubbly and cuddly with one another, they made my job very easy as I don't even need to pose them, they just cuddle up as soon as raise the camera. Can't wait to shoot their wedding in September. 

  

Goderich Ontario
© Kevin Vyse Photography 2017

St. Mary's Ontario
© Kevin Vyse Photography 2017

Cody & Carly | Maternity

   With a nice little waterfall, a small river and a park in the woods, Cody & Carly's session was fantastic! As with all things photography, the shoot was based around light... evening sunlight but as the shoot began  the clouds rolled in putting a damper on the original plan. Was this something to worry about? not at all. Very rarely do things go to plan in the photography world, so what do you do? roll with the punches and thats exactly how we did this. 

   Off to the waterfall we went for our first bit of the session. These two are pretty natural when it comes to posing, ask them to stand near one another and the cuddling begins naturally. With a glowing mom to be and an excited father to be this shoot was the bees knees. 
   We had some pretty nice filtered light from the clouds, great locations to play with and create a personal collection. Once the waterfall was looking amazing with these two we then went back over to the open space near the river to take advantage of the grassy space and the river backdrop. I'm not going to lie.. the water was very sulpherous (is that a word? it is now ) ... but we had to put up with the amazing smell of eggs lol.. it was doable though and these two handled it perfectly! 
   We then decided to head on over to a last minute locations that Cody had just thought of, the park. It was pretty neat to see this park kind of hidden in a forest.. there was a ball diamond, swimming pool, small splash pad and long walking bridge over the water to get there and some walking trails. Mosquito's were in full force in the woods, of course, and boy did they get a feast out of us... lets just say the wooded are was a quick portion... very quick shots because none of us could stay still for to long. On the way out of the woods we came across a Ginseng field.. you know, those ones with the black mesh tent over the field.. at this point the sun was setting. Colour in the sky and the lines of the field and tent made me stop in my tracks, just knowing there was a shot there. 

Over all this shoot was fantastic, couldn't have asked for a better day/evening, it was warm out and Cody & Carly were very easy to work with. Thank you two for being awesome and I can't wait to meet the little one! 

-Shutter Click. 

Great Lakes International Air Show 2016

   Helicopters, Fighter Jets, Vintage Airplanes, Paratroopers, Gliders and vendors, the 2016 Great Lakes International Air Show was fantastic! With a clear sky, a scorching sun and a very small breeze, the Snowbirds took to the skies to open the show. Screaming in from the left, right, front and back, not knowing where they will be coming from next or how many of them there will be, the snowbirds never disappoint! As an air show veteran, it was nice to see a few new maneuvers in their routine. 
   This year there was everything from a transport truck that had a jet engine on the back of it shooting a gigantic flame out the back and making large clouds of smoke, to a glider. A C-130 Hercules flew in from 8 Wing Trenton Airforce Base, made a few passes, dropped some WDI ( Wind Direction Indicators ) then two SAR Techs  leaped out the back, with parachutes of course. Once on the ground the C-130 made a pass, landed to show how quick it can stop, turned around and picked up the SAR Techs, then took off to show how little room it needs to take off. They were on duty so, so they could not stick around, but when they left they did one more high speed pass before they left the air space.
   Another crazy display, which I've never seen before at an air show was the car drop... Yep, I said car drop! A helicopter came out with a long cable hanging from the bottom of it and on the end of that cable was a white car. The announcers played it up like it was a car that parked in a no parking zone so the OPP came up with a way to get it out of the way... thats when they brought it out. Once nice and high in the air, they decided to "put the car down " ... and put it down they did. The cable cut loose and the car fell for what seemed like quite a while until BOOOM!!!!! a big cloud of smoke and bits and piece of car went flying! 
   Two favourites at the show were the F-18, Of course, and Pete Mcleod, A Red Bull Racer/stunt pilot who is the youngest race pilot in the history of racing ( I believe ). The F-18 Demo Jet ripped the skies hitting 1000km per hour just screaming by, you could feel it in your chest. With it's high altitude capabilities, it's quick high G turns, rolls, flips it's always an amazing sight.. My fav by far. 
Pete Mcleod, wow... this guy is insane! The things he does with this plane are mind blowing. Flips and rolls like nothing else.. things that make the plane look like it should just fall apart, or things a plane should never do. Climbing so high the engine stalls out, the tumbling uncontrollably back down to earth, Pete then regains control, powers full throttle using the earths gravity and the power of the engine, he gathers up a ton of speed to push him through the next series of flips and turns. 

Over all, it was an amazing day! The heat was intense 34ºC, no clouds and barely a breeze.. people were passing out, the EMT's had their hands full. Did I get burnt.. Oh yeah, I suffered heat stroke.. did I drink a ton of water.. sure did... did people have an amazing time.. you bet.. was it worth it.. HELL YES!!!! always is. Next up is the London Air Show in London Ontario, Canada.. cannot wait for that in September.. This year the F-22 Raptor will be there.. my dream plane. 
- Shutter Click.   

ANTHONY & ELLIE

These two love birds are at it again! 

Anthony & Ellie have to be two of the most loving, laid back couples I know! With a new location just 10 mins outside of town (which was brought to my attention by Anthony ), we drove down to begin a couples session. 

Conditions were perfect for this shoot. Overcast skies, warm.. spring is finally here and we are loving it. With two giant ponds, lots of room, rocky cliffs and giant sandy mountains, this location is screaming summer shoots not to mention summer days swimming and soaking up the sun.  

© Kevin Vyse Photography
All Rights Reserved 2016

© Kevin Vyse Photography
All Rights Reserved 2016

© Kevin Vyse Photography
All Rights Reserved 2016

© Kevin Vyse Photography
All Rights Reserved 2016

© Kevin Vyse Photography
All Rights Reserved 2016

© Kevin Vyse Photography
All Rights Reserved 2016

© Kevin Vyse Photography
All Rights Reserved 2016

© Kevin Vyse Photography
All Rights Reserved 2016

© Kevin Vyse Photography
All Rights Reserved 2016

Highway of Hero's: John Gallagher's Journey Home.

Canadian Flags dancing in the chilling November air, the crowed gathered, more and more flooding in on the over pass blocking traffic from passing. 
John Gallagher, 32 years old from the Chatham-Kent area of Ontario, served 3 years in the Canadian Military. When his contract was up he decided resigning was not what he wanted to do as he was told that he would be pushing papers. Shortly after his decision not to stay with the military Afghanistan happened. 

Volunteering, and putting his life on the line, John Gallagher headed into to Syria to battle ISIS with the Kurdish Forces. Sadly, John lost his life to an ISIS suicide bomber. After watching a video from Maclean's, it was apparent that John had complete faith that we would defeat ISIS and now, in his honour and for all of our lives, the need to irraticate ISIS is extremely apparent. 
John Robert Gallagher is a true, Canadian Hero who deserved every bit of respect that he had coming down the Highway of Hero's. To be quite honest with you, I personally believe John deserved MORE than what I witness on the Highway Of Hero's. 
What do I mean by more? The highway was not shut down, there wasn't really a police escort, other traffic did not pull over to make way for him, some of the more ignorant drivers were passing around them and cutting in front of the motorcade. With that said, the out pour of people who came out and lined the bridges over the 401 from Toronto to Blenheim Ontario was outstanding! Thousands of people filling up every bridge to pay respects to John and his family was a very emotional sight.  

Leading the way of John Gallagher's Journey home down the Highway of Hero's was a Motorcycle club known for their military support, The North Wall Riders paved the way for John and hearing those motorcycle engines Rawr down the highway was fitting. 
Due to the highway not being properly closed for John's Journey home, the motorcade was moving at a high rate of speed and with ignorant drivers cutting in and around them.. there really weren't to many images I could capture but I did manage to get a few. 

R.I.P John Robert Gallaher. Gone to soon, but never forgotten. You are a true Canadian Hero.
- Shutter Click.

Motorcade Approaches on the Highway Of Hero's - Woodstock Ontario, Dodge Line Bridge.

Shadows Fall on the Highway Of Hero's, Showing the crowd's support with waving Canadian Flags and Signs that read " WE LOVE YOU " & "THANK YOU" as John Gallagher Passes down the Highway of Hero's.

R.I.P John Gallagher. Gone to soon, But Never Forgotten... you are a true Canadian Hero

Family and Friends, Support. 

The Crowd Gathers to pay respects to John Gallagher as he passes in Woodstock Ontario at the Dodge Line bridge. A lot more people showed up, including Beachville Fire.. this was about 2 hours before he arrived.

Support & Canadian Pride. Flags blowing in the Cold November air.


FASHIONEEEEESTAS!

     Fashion photograph has always been something I've found to be drawn to, oddly enough, I've never really shot it? 
     This Past weekend, my friend & Hair stylist, Cassidy, had asked to get together and do a shoot with her and one of her friends in London Ontario. We didn't really have a game plan, I honestly hate planning shoots out.. they never seem to follow the plan I make anyways so we decided to make it kind of a lifestyle/fashion shoot. With the weather getting all rainy and cold we decided to keep it in doors and lucky for us Cassandra ( Cassidy's friend and co-worker) had a great location for us to shoot in.. her house! 

From fashion, to punk/grunge this shoot went very well. We used 3 different spaces and a bunch of different wardrobe choices to create some awesome images that I am proud to have in my portfolio. 

A big thank you goes out to Cassidy & Cassandra for their involvement and always providing me with some models to work with. - Shutter Click~

Hair, Make up & Wardrobe: Cassidy & Cassandra
Models: Cassidy & Cassandra
Photographer: Kevin Vyse Photography. 
 

© Kevin Vyse Photography
All Rights Reserved 2015

© Kevin Vyse Photography
All Rights Reserved 2015

© Kevin Vyse Photography
All Rights Reserved 2015

© Kevin Vyse Photography
All Rights Reserved 2015

© Kevin Vyse Photography
All Rights Reserved 2015

© Kevin Vyse Photography
All Rights Reserved 2015

© Kevin Vyse Photography
All Rights Reserved 2015

© Kevin Vyse Photography
All Rights Reserved 2015

BOHEMIAN PICNIC

She's the kind of woman who loves life, nature, travel and experiences life to the fullest while being thankful for her experiences.

Flower crows, nick nacks, dresses, jewelry... this was the back bone of our shoot. Bohemian Picnic was the theme and our location was in a big backyard which was set up as the bohemian picnic. Cassidy is a good friend of mine and a fantastic Hair Stylist, we have worked with each other for all kinds of different shoots as I'm sure you've seen before in past blog posts. 
Not only is Cassidy a wiz with hair, but she was the one who set up this fantastic set to photograph on with all of her own personal Nick Nacks. Weather wise, we were a little worried as it was pretty cloudy and the forecast called for rain, but that wasn't going to stop us. Lucky enough for us it started to clear up and the sun was diffused through the clouds, giving us some nice soft even light. 

With music blaring, some wine flowing and the creative juices fired up we started off with the shoot. I wasn't to sure if I was going to use lighting or not, but after snapping a few shots and seeing that the sun was out enough to cause some tough shadows, the lights came out. We wanted to get a bunch of "Hippy-Flower Child" images as well as some creative portfolio work that I had in my back pocket ( The bike shot with the crazy chunky cloud sky). 

We had a ton of fun on this shoot along with Cassidy's sister who was on set to help out and watch the shoot go down and see how it's done because she is thinking about doing a shoot of her own in the near future. This shoot lasted about 4-5 hours, it was more of a hang out and shoot kind of thing, just having some fun, getting great shots and experimenting with lighting and different techniques. Hope you enjoy the images from this shoot - Shutter Click. 
 

BOHEMIAN BEAUTY
© Kevin Vyse Photography 2015 

BOHEMIAN WOODS 
© Kevin Vyse Photography 2015

IN GOOD LIGHT 
© Kevin Vyse Photography 2015

NIGHT RIDE
© Kevin Vyse Photography 2015

BOHEMIAN BIKE RIDE
© Kevin Vyse Photography 2015

FLOWER CHILD
© Kevin Vyse Photography 2015

BOHEMIAN LIFE
© Kevin Vyse Photography 2015

PORCELAIN QUEEN
© Kevin Vyse Photography 2015

Pittsburgh For The Win!

Ever feel like you just need to get away? you're sick of being in the same place all the time and working and feel bored on weekends? 

I get like this from time to time and once it all builds up over a couple weeks, I need an escape. An opportunity presented itself to me through my good friend JMAC, who was going to be taking off to Pittsburgh Pennsylvania to meet up with a friend of his who is a Marine, to open up a new branch of his Charity PTSD Battle Cry. JMAC asked me if I'd want to go with him and see Pittsburgh for the first time, how could I resist an adventure? a chance to photograph a new place I've never been before? ... exactly! I couldn't. 

We hit the road, bags packed, camera gear all charged up and ready to shoot. Scott ( JMACS friend) put us up of the two nights we were there and was also our Tour Guide lol. Scott is a stand up guy who showed us all Pittsburgh has to offer, introduced us to a lot of amazing people who were so welcoming and friendly, took us to some world famous places to eat and of course, helped spread the word about PTSD Battle Cry (www.ptsdbattlecry.org).

Once it Pittsburgh we got right to it, hit up the city for some sight seeing and some food + beer.. lots and lots of beer haha. 7pm we had tickets (thanks to Scott) to head on over to PNC Park to see the Pirates take on the Cardinals, which was a huge treat for me as I've never been to a baseball game before. To my surprise, I was actually allowed to bring in my camera with me 70-200mm lens (big zoom lens), which would NEVER happen here in Canada. I shot a bunch of images of the game, we ate some food, had some more drinks and out of no where, who do we see? Geno's Malkin (Evgeni Malkin - Pittsburgh Penguins hockey player's dad).. so of course JMAC and Scott had me take their picture with him, which you will see in the images below. 

 

Day 2: Was all about tourism. We took to the streets yet again, all different areas of the city to experience and shoot as much as we could. We hit up Pamala's for some world renowned Pancakes, even President Obama eats there.. there was a signed picture of him on the wall, and let me tell you.. those pancakes are something special! We hit everything from a huge candy store to a Pittsburgh Pirates gift shop, to some little pubs/bars for drinks to a Bottle Shop and bar named Hal's which was amazing, my favourite place, we went there a few times. One of the best sites was Mt.Washington.. riding the trolly up the mountain side was fun, but the view at the top was breath taking. You could see all of Pittsburgh, the yellow bridges, the city, Point Park, and the split in the river.. amazing... but enough talk about it, I will let you experience it yourself through my images. Enjoy - Shutter Click.  
 

Pittsburgh from on top of Mt. Washington. 

Pittsburgh from the Mt. Washington look out.

out front of PNC PARK - Pittsburgh

While inside PNC PARK during the game with down town Pittsburgh as the backdrop.

Cardinals in PNC PARK - Pittsburgh

Alvarez up to bat.

Pirates up to bat

Above the Field VIP deck area.

Heinz Field home of the Steelelrs. 

JMAC & Scott, Opening of the PTSD BATTLECRY USA!

Scott & Sam PTSD BATTLECRY USA!

Scott and JMAC with Geno's Malkin ( Evgeni Malkin's Dad )


Afghanistan War Memorial Unveiling

158 Flags snapping around, dancing in the cool wind of April 11th 2015. A crowed gathered around the Cenotaph in Woodstock ON. to pay respects and await the unveiling of a piece of history. 

158 Soldiers paid the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom in Afghanistan. One of these soldiers struck close to home; Pte. Tyler W. Todd from Bright Ontario, Canada lost his life while on foot patrol due to a road side bomb 5 years ago today (April 11th 2010). This Afghanistan War Monument, which is a soldiers Rifle, boots and helmet also known as the Battle Cross, was put in place in Woodstock, not only in Memory of Pte. Tyler W. Todd, but for all the soldiers who lost their lives in Afghanistan. 

It was pleasure to be brought in to photograph this ceremony by the good fellows from THE EVENING OF HONOUR; 3 fellows: Jeremy Mac Knott, Kevin DeClark and Stephen Smith who decided one day that the veteran's of the Afghanistan War needed to be commemorated as this war was Canada's longest conflict, so they put together THE EVENING OF HONOUR, which is an event to raise money which can be put towards things like this War Memorial to commemorate the fallen. So much was happening: The colour party marching in, Wreaths being laid, Politicians speaking, Veteran motorcycle clubs riding in, 158 Flags stood at attention, each with the names of the fallen printed on the flag sticks and even a fly over by a WWII Harvard aircraft. It was a cold day due to the high winds but the skies were pretty clear and blue, the sun was out and the crowd was large, what more could we ask for. To see a community come together to honour our military personnel, Past, Present and future was amazing. - Shutter Click.
 

Evening Of Honour Members: Kevin DeClark, Jeremy Mac Knott (JMAC) and Stephen Smith Standing with Matt, who was in Afghanistan with Pte.Tyler W. Todd.

The Devils Regimen Salute the Cenotaph after laying down a wreath. 

Afghanistan War Monument a.k.a THE BATTLE CROSS Sits Proud alongside the Woodstock ON. Cenotaph. 158 Canadian Flags dance in the wind, each with a fallen soldiers name on the wooden shaft. 

3 Military men march out after placing a wreath at the Cenotaph. 

Saluting the Cenotaph after placing the wreath 

Jeremy and Kevin show a father of one of the fallen, his sons flag which was placed directly behind the Battle Cross. 

Base of the Afghanistan Monument.

Cadets March In. 

Colour Party Marches In.

Dave MacKenzie Speech.

Ernie Hardeman Speech.

Woodstock Ontario's Mayor: Trevor Birtch, Speech.

Fellas from THE EVENING OF HONOUR at the podium.

Jeremy doing an interview with CTV.

Kevin doing an interview with CTV.

Jeremy, Kevin, Stephen and Matt unveiling the Afghanistan War Memorial: Battle Cross.

Kevin standing up at the Cenotaph.

The Minute Of Silence. 

A few Military men hanging out as they get ready to start the ceremony. 

Silver Cross Mothers Presenting the Silver Cross to the Cenotaph.

Silver Cross Mothers receiving roses.

Soldiers presenting a wreath to lay at the Cenotaph.

The Devils Regiment arrives.

Members of the Woodstock Police Department Stand amongst the 158 Flags.

Pte. Tyler W. Todd's Mother reaches out to touch the Battle Cross in memory of her son while holding onto her grand daughter. 

New Style in my bag

HELLO everyone! Finally, it seems like winter has been defeated and spring weather is making it's way into South-Western Ontario! it's +7 out there right now, snow is quickly melting, the air is fresh, the sun is shining, I couldn't ask for more. So, with this new weather, here's some new imagery. 

One picture, just to show you whats coming! I'm excited to announce my animated still images also known as  Cinemagraphs. These are still images that have a moving component in them, which really adds some creativity. Unfortunately, these kinds of images cannot be printed and can only be used on certain internet forums. So, from this point on, any Cinemagraphs I make will be posted on my webpage/blog as Flickr and Facebook do not seem to support them. I will, however, post links to my blogs and/or Cinemagraph section of my website, once it has been created. That portion of my site will be created once I get some really creative Cinemagraphs made. I just wanted to post a quick one (wish some bad editing, as you can see hahaha) so you all have an idea of whats to come... i'm sure you can see the potential these have for creativity! 

- Shutter Click!  

FAKEOGRAPHERS

Just wanted to throw this out there, as i've seen it floating around social media quite a bit lately: " HOW MUCH WILL A PHOTOGRAPHER COST FOR A WEDDING?: this can be answered with another question " WHAT ARE YOU WILLING TO PAY AND DO YOU WANT DECENT PICS?" .... there are people out there offering to shoot your wedding for $500 .... these people are what I like to call "FAKEOGRAPHERS " ... don't be surprised if they show up to your wedding with nothing but an iPhone or a point and shoot camera. They are seeing an opportunity to make some quick cash and handing you over crap images which are either unedited or horribly edited.. buyer beware! In photography the old saying " YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR " is VERY true.... If you're going to go the $500 route... do yourself a favour, go out and buy enough of those disposable film cameras for all your guests, hand them out at your wedding and let your guests fire off all the pics then take the rolls of film to walmart, shoppers, staples and have them developed, because this is about the same quality of images you're going to get but at least this way your guests got to have some fun with it and it makes them more apart of your wedding rather than paying some random to show up. 

If you want great images, shot with a photographic eye, edited by someone who has spent years with photoshop, countless hours and money learning photoshop through tutorials, knows some photographic theory... then you're going to have to spend the money for quality. A decent photographer is going to have a portfolio to show you: either online, on an iPad, a Blog or a hard copy that they will show you, and it will have sharp images, fully edited, there will be some sort of style to them. They will have a DSLR some lighting, reflectors, umbrellas... keep in mind not all photographers use flash.. some shoot natural light only, but they will still have a DLSR camera and reflectors. They will schedule a meet and greet session with you, they will have a website and be able to supply you with some positive references from past clients... you will even hear about them on social media. As for a price range... it varies.. there are some really good photographers out there who don't quite have the experience with weddings and are just getting started with them so they have great imagery but charge a little less to compensate for their lack of experience in the wedding field.... they will charge somewhere around the $1200-2500 mark. Then you have your experienced wedding photographers who will charge you $2500+ .... Usually, there will be packages to choose from.. these packages will include 3 levels or more .... each level will have different coverage time, a certain amount of images, either a CD of your images or Prints. Keep in mind, photographers are a business..... they are calculating their packages on their lives... they need to pay bills, pay for equipment ( which is no where near cheep... one umbrella is $200... for a damn UMBRELLA!!!! ), gas for their travels to your shoots, their time shooting and editing, photographers spend countless hours editing your images... it's not just about taking pictures.. we go home load your images.. we have to catalog them, transfer them onto 3-4 hard drives so if one crashes we still have back ups of your sessions, then we have to go through and pick out all the good, usable, edit worthy ones, load them into an editing program, then edit.. it can take an hour per image sometimes depending on what they are doing with your images.. if your package says you get 500 images... well.. you do the math at how long they are going to spend in front of a computer, day and night editing. They have to pay for their cell phones, which is how you contact them to book, internet for email and websites and business cards, accountants, lawyers for contracts, computers and editing software...... so expect to pay for the service... you wouldn't walk into a clothing store expecting to walk out with a $500 leather jacket for free would you? 

So please.... if you're picking a wedding photographer, and you want someone who can provide you with great images expect to pay $2500+ at least... or $1200 for someone who has a great portfolio and is new to the wedding world... anything under $1200 you're shooting yourself in the foot.... lets get rid of these "FAKEOGRAPHERS " who are constantly degrading the quality of photography, stealing work from actual photographers who love the art form and are actually passionate about getting you, the client, what you want. 

Kevin Vyse Photography 
Photographer. 
www.kevinvysephotographs.com

Fitness Calendar For A Cause

They work hard, eat right, are devoted and disciplined as well as love what they do! 

   Bodybuilders and strong men united with Tornado City Boxing in Woodstock Ontario Canada, to put together a fitness calendar raising money and support for support " Daso " a.k.a. Domestic Abuse Service Oxford.

   I was asked to come in as one of the photographers to get some awesome work out shots of Thomas, a local up and coming bodybuilder who is going to be lethal to the bodybuilding world. The thought process was very fast for me as I only had one day (2 hours to shoot), and one day to edit the pics and have them sent out for print. I wanted this to be lit well and in a way that would make Thomas muscles pop but also allow him to be out of shadow so you could see who it was. 
    This calendar is geared towards women so there had to be a sexy appeal to it, which wasn't to hard as Thomas is pretty ripped, so my job was easy and I'm sure the ladies are going to be vary pleased. 

    Since we were there to shoot and I banged out the shots pretty quick, we decided to just keep shooting and see what we could get as this was Thomas' first ever photoshoot. Finally, I was able to sit down and edit some more of the images from our session at Tornado City Boxing. I went with cool tones in the image as thats kind of the feeling I get when I think of metal weights, gyms, hard work, ripped people, so with the cool tones I set the mood. I also wanted to have a lighting set up in which you'd see some of the lights, to give it that "behind the scenes" kind of look to the shoot - Shutter Click.