Yannick Beauvalet

Ottawa - War Memorial

2014-11-24T08:54:00.001-05:00

The 'Lumbersexual"

2014-11-14T06:49:00.000-05:00

Unless trees give you wood or you are having sex with timber, I suggest this title is just as just as dumb as when men who could actually shave and match their shoes with their belts were accused of being turned on by subway cars.

http://gearjunkie.com/the-rise-of-the-lumbersexual

It has nothing to do with sexuality or ones sexual orientation and thus the term is just plain dumb. Just as 'metrosexual' was a few years ago.

In my mind opinion, this current trend has more to do with men reclaiming a certain masculinity. Don't mistake this for a more casual, laid back, "I don't care" fashion statement, that it certainly is not.

Getting this look right takes a lot of work. The right brands, the long beard and that casual confidence all require significant effort.

I'm just glad guys are giving a shit about how they look.

What is annoying is people having to link it to sexuality in one way or another and again having to put labels on everything instead of just letting people be who they want and develop their own personal sense of style and fashion.

One last thing, and this goes for both the ladies and the gents, if you see someone who's style you like, feel free to give them a compliment. It's free and it goes a long way!

Ottawa

2014-10-23T07:35:00.001-04:00

Good morning ‪#‎ottawa‬.

While we can't forget yesterday's tragic events it's important that we all support each other as we strive to return to normal.

Extremists, like many other negative influencers, will continue to pray on the weak, the lonely, the disenfranchised and the mentally ill so let's be a little more open, a little kinder, a little more supportive of each other and make sure none of our friends, neighbours, co-workers or family members fall through the cracks.

Nothing goes further than a little peace, love and understanding.

‪#‎myottawa‬ ‪#‎ottawasome‬

Style Wednesday - The Big Scarf Edition

2014-10-22T07:33:00.000-04:00

Style Wednesdays - The "Sweater Weather" Edition

2014-10-15T07:27:00.001-04:00

Life is funny

2014-10-09T09:27:00.001-04:00

This morning on my way to pick up the mail I was thinking to myself that it's rare, now that I am self employed, that a check just shows up in the mail out of the blue.

In my former life as a public servant we used to occasionally get random checks in the mail for salary adjustments, reimbursements, or just to fix the mistakes regularly made by the "pay people".

These random checks were always nice to get. Who doesn't like random, unexpected cash.

Well, as life would have it, one of these random government checks was waiting for me in my mail box this morning.

Life is just funny like that sometimes. So I giggled to myself and felt just a little gratitude.

Style Wednesdays - The "Rainy Day" Edition

2014-10-08T07:45:00.002-04:00

Humility

2014-10-06T22:07:00.001-04:00

I used to regularly claim, half jokingly, that I was the most humble person I know.

It was funny at the time. Now it really resonates with where I am in life.

I strive in life to be the best possible human I can and be as good as I can at everything I do. I have no issue with that other than that it's exhausting to never settle.

The challenge now is to keep striving for excellence while staying focused on being "the most humblest" person I know.

I've often been told that I can be selfish and egotistical. Not exactly what I'm aiming for.

From a very young age I've wanted to be excellent at something. To be known as the best at something - anything.

Is that egotistical? Is that wrong? Does that make me selfish or self centred?

I don't know.

What I do know is that I don't want to be any of those things.

Patience

2014-10-02T09:36:00.001-04:00

Most of my patience issues are self-induced and that's a good a good thing.

Right now, I'm sitting in traffic feeling annoyed and impatient because I tried to squeeze to many to-dos into too little time. My bad.

I spend a great deal of my waking hours trying to lay out the most efficient plan.

This feels like both a blessing and a curse. When it all comes together as planned I can get a lot of things done in a very short amount of time. When it doesn't I can get very impatient and frustrated. Not exactly the desired effect.

The good news is that I'm becoming increasingly aware of this pattern and am slowly becoming more flexible around it.

This morning for example instead of being stressed about making it to a new yoga studio, I rearranged my schedule, modified the plan and ended up in a coffee shop where I relaxed for a few minutes, wrote this post and felt generally grateful about having a life that allows me such luxuries.

The bottom line, like in most things, is that once we are aware of a pattern, a habit or a behaviour we can start to change it.

I don't think I'll ever stop trying to be Mr. Super-Efficient but instead of ploughing through a plan regardless of my immediate context, I can change, adapt and rearrange in order to reduce my stress.

That to me is the best exercise for my patience muscle.

Beauty at -25

2012-01-15T09:58:00.000-05:00

It's cold and beautiful.

Ottawa Sunset

2011-09-30T13:06:00.000-04:00

South Shore Wedding

2011-08-01T20:34:00.000-04:00

I had the pleasure a few weeks ago of shooting a beautiful wedding on Montreal's south shore.

Gorgeous venue, beautiful people and a nice hot summer day.

A few clouds would have helped but I really can't complain. It really was a glorious day!

Thanks for letting me share your special day.

Update - Product Shot

2011-07-11T23:07:00.000-04:00

On May 7 I blogged about a product shot I did for my good friend, and great designer, Gontran.

Well he won the design award for the brochure category!! See it here: Applied Arts Magazine.

Congrats G!

Soccer Kids

2011-06-28T22:50:00.000-04:00

I've been shooting my kids soccer team for the last two years. What a treat!

Not only does it take me out of my photography comfort zone, it creates great memories for the kids and their families and forces me to get creative week after week with the same subject.

It's also just a just a nice way to share smiles.

One Hundred Foot Line

2011-06-04T09:00:00.000-04:00

Roxy Paine's sculpture at Nepean Point behind the National Art Gallery.

One Hundred Foot Line

Ottawa Walk - Hintonburg

2011-06-03T22:34:00.001-04:00

Sculpture - Hintonburg

Wooly - Hintonburg

'nough said - Hintonburg

Elmdale - Hintonburg

Sculpture 2 - Hintonburg

Sun vs Flash

2011-05-22T07:25:00.000-04:00

This is the type of photo I like to challenge myself with.

How do I shoot directly into the sun, now blow out the sky and present a properly exposed subject.

By using the high speed sync and off camera flash available with the Nikon CLS system, I can under-expose the sky and deliver enough light to my main subject through the strobe, in this case a Nikon SB-600 with a Gary Fong LightSphere, to balance out the exposure and create an interesting image.

Original out of the camera.

In post production I adjusted the exposure slightly, adjusted the whites and blacks through the Curves function and added a faded warming layer to give the image a little extra glow.

The photo in itself is not spectacular but it is a good example, I think, of combining a number of different techniques to create an image that otherwise would be impossible to capture.

If you want more information on this type of technique the best source I've found is Grand Master Flash himself, Joe McNally. His books and blog are just a wealth of great, simple information and inspiration.

Now get out there and just shoot.

Ottawa Post Card

2011-05-21T20:40:00.000-04:00

Guess that Building

2011-05-20T19:47:00.000-04:00

This, in my opinion, is a great Ottawa building. I know it is not an opinion shared by many but so be it.

Can you name it??

iPaddiction

2011-05-15T21:05:00.000-04:00

No comment!

The Beauty is in the Details

2011-05-08T19:10:00.000-04:00

Product Shot - Pamphlet

2011-05-07T14:16:00.000-04:00

I had the pleasure earlier this week of shooting my good friend Gontran Blais' winning entry in Communication Arts magazine.

This was a great opportunity for me to do a little studio product shot, not something I do very often.

Set up was pretty simple: two Alien Bee B800 and one Nikon SB-800 with a Honl Speed Grid.

I set up the product on a grey seamless and then used the big lights to create nice even light coverage - no shadows.

I then used the SB-800 with the Speed Grid to create a hot spot right in the middle of the product set up.

I really like the end result as it really makes the product stand out from the background and gives the bright color a really nice pop.

Gontran also wanted to make sure the silver binding of the pamphlet was highlighted so I used a similar set up and shot a wide variety of close ups.

Gontran and I have successfully collaborated in the past winning a prize in Grafika magazine for a piece called Paper Lover and being published in the 2005 Communication Arts Design Annual.

I don't usually do a lot of this type of product shot but I must admit it's really nice to have an inanimate object as a model. You can take all the time in the world to get the shot right and not ever have to worry about it getting bored or tired.

Looking forward to shooting a bunch more.

Garden, Rain, Strobe

2011-04-23T19:27:00.000-04:00

Nothing like a quick exploration through the garden after the rain with a camera, a strobe and small softbox. Me loves strobes!

Boys of Summer

2011-04-12T21:39:00.000-04:00

Took the Alien Bees B 800 out for a little competition against the late afternoon sun today.

The Bees won.

This was shot with the Nikon D7000 using a 17-35mm f2.3 lens at f11.0, 1/200 sec, ISO 100.

I really like this type of shot where the lighting is both very present and invisible at the same time.

I hope to get out and make a lot more of these types of portraits throughout the upcoming summer.

C'mon!!!

2011-04-12T17:02:00.002-04:00