MikeLastPhoto | Toronto, Ontario | Action, Adventure, Travel, Wedding Photographer

Lower Chedoke Falls | Hamilton, ON

MikeLastPhoto — Mon, 07 May 2012 11:16:43 +0000

Continuing on with the quest to shoot Hamilton’s waterfalls, we took a trip to Chedoke Falls. Upon arriving and discovering the top of the falls were not easily accessible, we traveled down the escarpment to work our way up from the bottom. Walked through a golf course, jumped over a broken fence and we were in to a nice gorge. A short 10 minute hike up some precarious rocks and we made it to Lower Chedoke Falls which presented some fine photo opportunities. However, plenty of shitty graffiti and empty Vex bottles strewn about ruined some of the angles. As it turns out, following the gorge up to Lower Chedoke will not allow you to get up to the main Chedoke Falls, so we had to save that one for another day on account of light and Cinqo de Mayo obligations (cold cervezas).

And a quick photo of the setup.

Hand Crafted Paddles in Elmira

MikeLastPhoto — Tue, 01 May 2012 00:28:29 +0000

Over the weekend we travelled to Elmira, ON for a canoe paddle making workshop with Bruce Smith, a retired school teacher and master canoe and paddle maker. The workshop runs out of Bruce’s personal workshop under a barn. Hundreds of paddles in all shapes and sizes line the walls, featuring some of the most surreal wood types and grains. Birdseye Maple is a personal favourite. This was my first time working with hand tools and wood. The power of a sharp spokeshave slicing through wood is incredible. The paddle awaits some coats of linseed oil, and this post will see an update.

All photos were shot with the Nikon D800 and 50mm f1.8

Broncolor Seminar with Urs Recher Video

MikeLastPhoto — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 15:58:35 +0000

First video I shot with the Nikon D800. A promo piece for Broncolor Canada from the Urs Recher Lighting Seminar held at S1 Studios.

Thanks to all of the sponsors who made it an enjoyable event in Toronto.
- Headshots Rentals
- Manfrotto Canada
- Gitzo Canada
- Kata Bags
- Broncolor Canada

Lenses used were the Tokina 12-24mm, Nikon 28-70mm f2.8, Nikon 85mm f1.4 Ais and Nikon 70-200mm f2.8.

Nikon D800 Quick Tests

MikeLastPhoto — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 14:19:46 +0000

Nothing scientific about this test. Set D800 to RAW, shoot photos, bring into LR4, turn off sharpening, and crop a ridiculous portion of the frame. When they enhance the images on CSI, I might just believe them if it was shot on a D800.

First photo is the only one with curves applied. It was shot with the older 28-70mm f2.8 AFs, everything else was an older 300mm f2.8 AF-s v1.

Some quick points:
- A 14-bit RAW file is between 48-52 megs.
- A 16 GB card shows 200 available photos.
- The viewfinder is all kinds of awesome.
- Dynamic range from highlights to shadows is stellar.
- Button spacing for the DoF Preview and Func. button is much closer, and therefore much better than the D700.
- The bracketing button is back on the top which was a pain with the D700.
- The AF selector switch has a push button + cycle with rear menu to go from AF-S to AF-C. The D700 had all 3 points in one switch. Seems like an odd choice.
- That same selector is used to choose between 3D Tracking, 51 point, 21 point, and so on. Actually had to read the manual for that. I guess Nikon had to make room for the liveview switch.

Will hopefully have it in the studio against an H4D-40 later this week.

Protected: Quiksilver Downlow 2012

MikeLastPhoto — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 01:35:13 +0000

Mountain Dew Do Awesome Jib Park | Snowboard | Toronto, ON

MikeLastPhoto — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 16:03:30 +0000

A Warm Christmas | Travel | Sandy, UT

MikeLastPhoto — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 04:58:34 +0000

Just got back from 14 days in my second home, Utah. Great times with family, but I won’t bore you with photos of turkeys, martinis or family opening presents. Actually, most of the trip was spent snowboarding and toying around with my GoPros for some POV footage. Ended up with 40gigs of that to deal with. I took a day off from all that to try and get some nice landscapes. There’s a spot called Rocky Mouth Falls that I covered in a previous post just up the road from our house. It’s closed to the public in the winter, but that little chain-link fence wasn’t enough to keep me away. Climbed up to the waterfall, shot some photos, then climbed above the falls for some panoramas of the Oquirrh Mountains behind Salt Lake. I got kind of bored as the sun was setting, and the clouds had moved in to where it was going to set. I was 15 minutes into the walk down when the sky showed a lot of pink behind the mountains. Shit. Rookie mistake. I ran back up the mountain, not quite getting to my original spot, but enough to make a couple decent photos.

A good reminder to always stick it out ’til the end.

Camp Ahmek | Travel | Algonquin Park, ON

MikeLastPhoto — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 02:42:27 +0000

A compilation from a few trips over the last three years to one of my favourite places in Algonquin Park, the Taylor Statten Camps. Founded in 1921 and 1924 respectively, Camp Ahmek for boys and Camp Wapomeo for girls have run every summer on the shores of Canoe Lake, just inside the West Gate of Algonquin Park.

I was introduced to the camp at the ripe age of 8. My dad had been a camper there for 6 or 7 summers in the late 60s into the early 70s and hyped it up big time around our house. Tall tales of canoe trips and pirate ships were tough for any guy to pass on. After seeing brochures and old photos, it wasn’t a tough sell.

I went to Ahmek as a camper from 1994 to 2001 working my way up from the Bantam section to the Senior section. My sister quickly followed in my footsteps, attending Wapomeo from 1998 until 2006.

I hope to make it back to Ahmek in the heart of summer some day. The waterfront full of those orange and black canoes numbering in the hundreds has always been a site to behold. Until then, enjoy this collection of fall photos taken between 2009 to 2011.

Panthers vs. Titans | Mississauga Football League PeeWee Championships | Mississauga, ON

MikeLastPhoto — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 04:23:57 +0000

After having a pile of fun shooting the semi-final game last weekend, I was back out to Mississauga to shoot the PeeWee finals for the Mississauga Football League.

Parents interested in purchase any photos of the game (including photos not posted here), they can be found in the store. Click Here.

Panthers vs. Wildcats | Mississauga Football League | Mississauga, ON

MikeLastPhoto — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 02:55:21 +0000

Went out to Paul Gilbert field in the Mississauga Valleys to see my cousin’s son play his first playoff game of the season. Certainly brought back memories of playing in the Mississauga Football League. Some amazing talent out on that field for the peewee division.

Parents interested in purchase any photos of the game (including photos not posted here), they can be found in the store. Click Here.