Shichi-Go-San (7-5-3) is a traditional Japanese rite of passage celebration for 3 & 7 year old girls and 3 & 5 year old boys. It is to celebrate the passage of children into middle childhood and their healthy growth. Girls will be dressed in a Kimono and Obi, along with the traditional Zori sandals and Tobi socks. Traditionally, once dressed and coiffed, they visit the shrines. A more modern practice (and given that we have no shrines in Montreal) is to photograph them. That’s where I come into this.

My model was a 7 year old girl, daughter of a corporate client I have photographed several times before. The shoot was planned several weeks in advance, and included a indoor studio session and outdoor session as well. She spent over 2 hours at the beauty salon getting her hair and makeup done, along with the preparation of the kimono and obi. Once in my studio, I photographed her for close to an hour, making sure to capture all the details, as well as some family portraits. As you can imagine, it was very difficult for this little girl to walk around in the 3″ Zori sandals. She even fell over at one point, simply not able to balance herself in these high-rise platform sandals! (Not to worry, no children were injured in the making of these photos!)

Once the studio session was done, we went off for our outdoor session, but due to rain, were forced to find a suitable indoor location. I chose to use the Montreal World Trade Center. It’s just like being outdoors, but with all the comforts of a warm (and dry) indoor spot. We spent close to another hour shooting.

All told, this little girl spent close to 4 hrs all tied up in her kimono, being asked to smile and behave. She never faltered. Not once.

What a pleasure!

Thanks for tuning in.

mcm

I flew out of St-Hubert with my pilot (Philippe Landes) in a Hughes 300 CBi helicopter. The cockpit is very small – imagine the front of a compact car, minus the dash board, and the glass in front going all the way to your feet. A great view! I had originally been told that they would remove my whole door so that I could take my photos. I have to admit, that freaked me out a little, so I was very relieved to find out that, instead of this, my door featured a large zippered window which allowed me pretty much full access from which to shoot. 

After a 10 minute safety briefing from my pilot, which included emergency procedures that I would need to complete if ever he was indisposed (huh?!!?), we took off and flew into Montreal via the Jacques Cartier Bridge. Airspace is very controlled. We were either under control from the St-Hubert or Dorval control towers. We arrived at our first shooting location, only to be told a few minutes later that we needed to clear the airspace for a while.  They sent us to the north end of the mountain, and allowed us to return about 10 minutes later. We circled each location several times at the minimum 1000′ altitude, flying at approx 30 knots, allowing me to capture many images as we went around the sites. The best (scariest) part was when I told my pilot that I needed a direct overhead view of the site. He completely caught me off guard when he tipped the helicopter onto its side, allowing me to shoot almost straight down!

All in all, we were flying for about an hour. It seemed like only a few minutes! What a blast. I highly recommend trying it one day if you get the opportunity.

Taking Off from Mario C Melillo on Vimeo.

mcm

I got a call from a longtime client in need of my services.  A little different this time…it involved renting a helicopter and taking photos over downtown Montreal.

What a blast! I highly recommend it if you get the chance!

Here are some of the outakes from the shoot.

Thanks for tuning in.

mcm

This shoot was alot of fun. The house was a pleasure to photograph because of all the intetesting angles and perspectives it offered. It also had the most properly colour balanced lighting I’ve ever seen. A pleasure to work with. If only they were all like this!

A full day shoot, from early in the morning until well into the evening hours, yielded so many amazing images. I’m sure my editor had a hard time narrowing it down to the final images.

One interesting note: this shoot took place in the cold and snowy month of January. When we all showed up at the address we were given, we couldn’t believe our eyes… The house was unfinished, and almost completely wrapped in plastic! We were sure it couldn’t possibly be the place! Reluctantly, we rang at the door, and much to our surprise, the interior of the house was not only completely finished, but absolutely AMAZING!

… more pics after the jump.

Thanks for tuning in.

mcm

www.mcmphoto.net

If you want to know a little more about its creation…

After a few weeks (months?) of searching for the best LR web engine, I finally settled on one that is almost perfect for me: Filmstrip WSPP from the wonderful people at Photographer’s Toolbox (creators of LR Enfuse).

Almost completely created in Adobe Lightroom (my favorite software of all time!), it allows me to create as many galleries as I want, and with a little knowledge of  HTML (thanks to the interweb), allows me to create just the look I wanted: clean and simple with easy and consistent navigation. The BEST thing of all is the way it displays the images: BIG and scalable to the size of screen that is viewing the site.

Because it doesn’t rely on Flash, it is also fully compatible with iPhones and iPads! Finally, because it is completely run from LR, updating and adding/removing images is a breeze.

Like I said, pretty much perfect for me!

Please take a moment to check it out and let me know what you think! I’d love to get some feedback.

Thanks for tuning in.

mcm

Unlike my last site, this one will feature nice big images. I can’t wait!

A new blog AND a new website? Oh well, I’ll sleep next year…

Anyhow, soon…so thanks for tuning in!

mcm

I still can’t believe I get paid to do stuff like this!

Singing of the National Anthem…just like in the real NHL games!

Opening face-off

View from the Habs bench

Centering pass

A little action behind the net

Even though I didn’t get to tie into the Bell Centre’s built-in strobes, there was lots of light to help me capture the action.

Note to any of my clients: ANYTIME…I’m there!

Thanks for tuning-in!

mcm