Beach Family Photo Session in Whitby

It’s always a win to hit golden hour for family photos on the beach in Whitby. Parents often come to me after not having done family photos for years because the kids – teens and young adults – were just not into it.

As the acceptance letters for University come in and they move into their new residences we love to help capture the family as it is before that big milestone. This session was mainly for the three girls, but as you will see Mom and Cubbie also got into it and as you can see Cubbie stole the show

Each family is different but I do warn people that I am a hug, hand holding, large laughter and emotion based photographer. I want to see your hands, your dogs, the relationship you have with your siblings.

These three sisters are close and you can feel their energy in the session. The emotions as your sister and mom tease you. The smiles as Cubbie runs me over for his treat. It is a joy to capture this family of which two are runners who we know through Durham Dragons.

Connect with us for your family session this summer, we would love to capture the experience for your and your family.

Kirsten McGoey | Visual Storyteller

Theatre Photography : Mamma Mia

Join us as we show you how a professional theatre production can be captured in Dress Rehearsals to support your production later in the week. Henry Street High School has a long standing tradition of great theatre and they delivered a great production of Mamma Mia! this year. Here we go again!

I am looking for the big emotional and physical moments in a play. This is infinitely made harder as I have rarely seen the play and sometimes notes about what to look for are not given. I watch to see where I can see the shots I want to make and often take a series of twenty to just get the right smile, eyes open and touch of nose or sassy look. Practice for them also applies to theatre photography, the more you do the more you know what to look for.

What I loved about the play this year was this black light sequence. It was so seamlessly blended into the story and the choreography was just amazing. It allows more of the ensemble to show off the depth talent at Henry. It was a great storytelling technique for the dream sequence and I was delighted I got some good frames as it’s the definition of “low light”.

When photographing theatre you will be faced with light changes, sometimes from moment to moment, sometimes one side is a different scene than the other. It’s always worth mentioning it to the tech team, sometimes the lights are like in Mamma Mia full of colour and capturing that is on point.

Every now and then a part is so perfect you could not imagine anyone else playing it. Meet Stella who plays Rosie in the production and nailed this part. Her physical comedy is spot on and I laughed, clapped and cheered her on in her pursuit of Bill. Bravo! A dash of her work is below:

I mean with ABBA as the soundtrack and a strong plot there is just not much you can say about this play that would be negative. The performances were amazing, the leads for performance 1 and 2 changed for 3 and 4 so we have tried to show you both casts as much as we could.

Stage Director : Skylar is rarely in front of the camera or on the stage but without her and the team there would be no performance. She guides the performance (her 6th with Henry) with skill and confidence – always smiling and ready to make it happen. We will miss you as you are moving on to post secondary.

Kirsten McGoey | Visual Storyteller

The Business Photography of the Community Concert Band of Whitby

by Kirsten McGoey | Apr 3, 2024 | Ajax, Bowmanville, Brooklin, Business Content, Durham Region, Modern, Oshawa, photographer, Photography, Port Perry, Portraits, Scarborough, Storytelling, Trinity Design, Uxbridge, Whitby

The successful business photography we created for The Community Concert Band of Whitby was created to bring to life a story of people of all ages, skin tones and different instruments. They come together to create stories for their own audiences with the blend of flutes, saxes, trumpets, clarinets and oboes, percussion and drums, french horns, the basoon and the tuba.

“The Community Concert Band of Whitby (CCBW) is a community-oriented organization with a mission to create a thriving social and musical space for amateur musicians to share their musical interests and skills with the public and with one another.”

To create the images we took an evening to capture one of the bands while they practiced in their normal music room location. As the band warmed up and played I captured the natural chemistry between members, focused on the instruments each band members played and had the privilege to meet each section, their members and their instruments. I have a complicated relationship with my 3 years as a clarinet player before art captured my soul and my storytelling moved in a vastly different direction.

“Embrace the experience, and let the music unfold in harmony alongside your love for music.”

With a full website refresh on the horizon we broke down each group and photographed them together in the music room so you can see the people behind the music. Simple portraits that showcase the teams of instruments that make the whole “band” is now for viewing on their website.

Preparing for each concert is a team effort. Conductor Lisa works with the sections to weave together music magic. I have to admit as I was creating images I was often taken by the music – which has always been transformative for me – singing to a song from Les Miserable or other well known melodies.

For conductor Lisa we paired with our Business Package a headshot session at our studio. We chose the teal blue paper to compliment the overall blue in the band’s logo and created a strong modern portrait without and (shown) with the baton. In studio we can up the quality of the image and control light to ensure a strong, professional portrait reflective of the leader of the band and the strong community Lisa conducts. In the image below I paired her headshot with an image from the rehearsal shoot to give a strong sense of her purpose in this social media share.

Behind the Baton

Conductor, Lisa Puccia, BME hails from the “East Coast. (-) Lisa’s musical journey began with a childhood steeped in piano, clarinet, and saxophone studies. From lively community theatre performances to various band ensembles, her passion for music became evident early on. Lisa pursued her musical education at the University of Prince Edward Island, earning a degree in the Bachelor of Music Program.

Afterward, Lisa ventured to the close-knit community of Piccadilly, NL, where she shared her love for music and English as an educator. Since 2005, she has been a dedicated teacher within the Durham Catholic District School Board, leaving an indelible mark on her students through the transformative power of music.”

To book us to tell your story: https://trinitydesign.ca/connect-2/

To learn more about the band: https://whitbyband.com/

Kirsten McGoey | Visual Storyteller

The Business Photography of V Specs

How It Started

When Mark came to ask me to create images for his new business I was so excited. I had already worked with his wife on her massage business. So we got to work finding a spot to shoot, gathering models and creating content for his website and social media campaign which is managed by RainSpark Media Group Inc..

We knew right away that a clean, modern look would suit his brand and showcase the business which trains technical reps in skills that will elevate their effectiveness. Effective training starts with a skilled staff at V Specs which work with you to create training that aligns with your goals, portfolio, determine product market jurisdiction fits; all to align with your sales goals and targets. The content we made is designed to be used in a larger plan that stays on brand and on message throughout V Specs entire social media and online precense.

How It Went

Images were captured in Ajax at the The Work Hub is a standard white room, with brand focused items to add that clean and modern look to all the images we created. We also had use of an adjacent lounge area which we used for some of the additional training options to give some extra looks for the brand.

A clean slate room was perfect for us to offset the red, black and white of the brand. The client came very prepared with items in brand colours, mockups with the new branding and a series of staff and models to allow us to build scenes that showed how working with them would feel.

How It’s Going

Mark’s business is hitting all the right buttons for a new business, his social media images combine with his brand to create a cohesive experience on all touch points. It was a delight working with him and the team.

To connect about your story: CONNECT FORM

Kirsten McGoey | Visual Storyteller

Headshot Session in Whitby: Kiron

Needing a newly refreshed headshot was top of mind when I was first approached about this headshot session in my studio in Whitby. Kiron came to me he was job hunting and needed a refresh not only for the search but for his Linked In Profile and all social media image touch points.

Headshot sessions start with the key question we ask on all our business cards:

What story do you want to tell?

We spent some time reviewing how the images would be used – mainly for social media touch points such as Linked In. Picked a solid blue backdrop so his portraits are modern and kept away from mottled backgrounds which shout Sears Portrait studio from the turn of the century and my own childhood portraits.

Kiron is tall, over 6 feet, so posing is key to showcase his height. We even pushed the rules aside to allow him to mix patterns with a favourite shirt and his checked suit. No need for a tie for that one – I like that it shows his personality in balance with more corporate styling in the other two images.

Our studio carries some dress shirts in sizes M to 3XL but we always suggest bringing in a few options for suits, sports jackets and casual wear when attending a headshot session. As Kiron shows one suit can do it all but we are happy to help you figure out which choices will highlight you best from a wider range of wardrobe selections. There is no right way but your session fee includes our consultation so feel free to send us options.

Are you looking to refresh your headshot in 2024? The investment is essential in this post pandemic world as we continue to Zoom, frequent social media and connect often in digital form before we get to meet in person.

What story would YOU like to tell? Connect to us using our CONNECT form to start the process: Connect Form

Kirsten McGoey | Visual Storyteller

Event Photography: Rivalry Week – Henry Vs Anderson

by Kirsten McGoey | Mar 9, 2024 | Ajax, Bowmanville, Brooklin, Durham Region, Events, Markham, Oshawa, Port Perry, Scarborough, Sports Photography, Storytelling, Whitby

Event photography when it involves capturing images of Rivalry Week for Henry Street High School. What is Rivalry Week? It is a friendly, yearly competition that goes back to the early eighties according to some sources and others early 1990s. I was in high school back in the eighties in a nearby town and it’s so fun as an adult so many year later to be hired to take photos of the events.

The week starts on Monday with a pep rally at each school where they hand out t-shirts to the students lucky enough to get one of the 200 seats for the Basketball and Volleyball games. Basketball is typically played Tuesday and the Volleyball Wednesday, then the seating expands for the Hockey Game at Iroquois Park Sports Centre. Seats on one side are filled with Henry and Anderson students and on the opposite side stands reflect those schools with feeder schools and loved ones from each community.