The Garden

Just got back from spending 2 weeks in Hawaii.  Specifically the island of Kauai, known as the 'Garden Isle’ with a small population of 67,091.  While I was out shooting, i found myself attracted to the cars, trucks and vans of the people that live on the island.  Obviously, surfing is huge in Kauai and surfers need trucks, vans that they can drive up onto the beach with their boards.  A lot of trucks are old and beat up but they are beautiful, often modified to suit the rough roads and beaches of the island. To me, these vehicles represent a different set of priorities and values. something I find extremely refreshing. 

Another aspect I was drawn to is the lush tropical colour and quality of light on the island. There’s often a mist coming off the ocean which creates a soft and hazy feel, it’s just beautiful.  The graphic plant shots were shot in the gorgeous garden of the house we were staying at.

One of my goals on this trip was a bit of a digital detox, so I shot film and it was a wonderful experience.  Working without a light meter was a lot of fun.  It makes you really tune into what the light is doing in your shot and how you want it to be exposed.  I simply followed the F16 and Sunny rule.  I’d highly recommend this for anyone looking to get back to pure and simple photography.  There’s also something really nice about not being able to see the photo immediately after clicking the shutter.  I love the sense of anticipation & mystery when waiting to see the processed film.

Here are my favourite shots from the trip.  If you want to see more I’ll be posting all of the shots to my Tumblr page in the coming week.

Kekaha Beach.  Olympus OM-1 50mm.  Kodak Portra 400

Princeville.  Olympus OM-1 50mm.  Kodak Portra 400

Hanalei.  Contax T3   35mm Kodak Portra 400

Lumahai Beach.   Olympus OM-1 50mm. Kodak Portra 400

Abandoned resort contsruction site - Princeville.  Contax T3 35mm. Kodak Portra 400

Off Highway 56, North Shore.  Contax T3 35mm.  Kodak Portra 400.

Polihale State Park.  Olympus OM-1 50mm. Kodak Portra 400

Princeville.  Olympus OM-1 50mm.  Kodak Portra 400

Lumahai Beach.   Olympus OM-1 50mm. Kodak Portra 400

Waimea Canyon.  Olympus OM-1 50mm. Kodak Portra 400

Anini Beach.  Olympus OM-1 50mm. Kodak Portra 400

The Colour of Shadow

Newfoundland, 2008

At the beginning of last year I set out to create a book of my personal landscape work.  I’ve been working on this body of work for the past 12 years.  I’ve always wanted to do a book, so I felt it was time to put something together.  When i’m not shooting in the studio - my passion is to travel and shoot landscapes.  From the beginning of my photography career I’ve always shot landscapes as part of my personal work.  It’s actually been an integral part of the development of my commercial work. 

I’ve always loved the road trip and it’s my preferred way of shooting landscapes. It really just works for the type of shooting I do - passing through, getting lost, pulling over on a hunch - shooting and then moving on.  I tend not to linger too long when I shoot this work.  Working on feeling or intuition rather than analysis or thought.  For me, traveling and exploring new places always awakens the senses.  I think my most successful photographs, and certainly the ones I keep coming back to, are the ones that play with light and shadow, and evoke a subtle sense of mystery.

The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious - the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science.

- Albert Einstein

As a collection of my work from the past,  I wanted this to be a launching point for a new chapter in my personal work.  Due to the success of my studio, I hadn’t had time to travel and shoot landscapes and I felt it was time to refocus my energy on my personal work. I wanted this to be more than a simple ‘greatest hits’ book and I knew that editing this work would be a huge challenge for me because of how close I am with it.  So I teamed up with two incredibly talented and creative people.  I hired David Taylor of Awake Studio to handle the overall design of the book and Anne Maureen McKeating to help to curate the book.  My goal was a true collaboration so my direction was quite simple - let’s create something beautiful and let everything else flow from that.  

As a starting point, we went through all of my work together.  It was incredible to watch as certain themes were picked up on - some that I hadn’t ever noticed before, but were certainly there.  In the end, I asked both David and Anne Maureen to live with the photographs for a few weeks each.  For me it was important that they take this time to feel out the work and see what emerged.  

It was difficult for me to relinquish control over the photo selection.  At first there were several photographs that I felt should or shouldn’t be selected for the book, but I realized if I wanted to truly collaborate I needed to let go of my preconceived notions and to relinquish some control to allow for the creativity of my collaborators. What they came back with was amazing. 3 concepts were presented and in the end we decided to go with the colour story - The Colour of Shadow. 

The finished book.

The Colour of Shadow is  an inquiry into the landscape in half-light.  An exploration of the nuanced intersections of light and dark - a place where new details emerge and different ways of seeing can be experienced. This book shows that place narratives are not necessary to have a tactile/visceral experience of ‘a place’. 

I love to travel.  To play with shadow and light.  There is so much beauty in the shadows.

-Ryan Szulc

Instead of following any kind of chronological order or grouping by subject or location, we let the colour and tonal gradations tell the story.  This meant photographs from vastly different locations and shot years apart were grouped together.  This is a book that leaves a fair amount of mystery to the images.  We intentionally omitted the location and date of each shot, in the main body of the book except for an index at the back.  

Due to the nature of these landscapes, with their tonal gradations, we felt it was important the book be big enough to allow the colours and tones to sweep across the page. So we created this as a larger coffee table book.  The book is 11 x 14 inches  or 11 x 28 when spread open. Printed on a beautiful thick matte recycled stock.  The book is 92 pages with a  Debossed eco-friendly leather cover.  I printed this as a limited edition run of 100. There are still a few left and they are available for purchase online here.

The book spread open is 11"x28" giving the landscapes room to breathe.

The thick matte stock handles the subtle tones and colour gradations beautifully.

What we ended up with was completely unexpected, certainly it was something I wouldn’t have been able to produce on my own.   We set out to create something beautiful and I think we’ve succeeded, so let’s see where we take it from here. 

Here are a few spreads from the book.

Appalachian Mountains, Virginia. 2007

Introduction by Anne Maureen McKeating

Cannon Beach, Oregon. 2010 & Labrador 2012

Catheys Valley, California.  2012

Washington State, 2010

White Sands National Monument, New Mexico.  2008

Skagen, Denmark. 2012 & Vangsa, Denmark 2012

Banff National Park, Alberta.  2010

Flin Flon, Manitoba.  2008 & Nevada 2011

Appalachian Mountains, North Carolina.  2007

Labrador, 2012 

The image index at the back of the book.

Looking back on wandering

It’s always nice to take some time at the start of a new year to look back and reflect on the previous year - and oh what a year it was.

Last year I got back to wandering with my camera - shooting nothing in particular, just always bringing the camera with me and capturing whatever catches my eye.  Often it was light casting a certain tone, transforming a setting or scene i’ve passed many times before.  Other times it’s just a feeling or sensation that’s hard to express.

"If you want to know where your heart is, look to where you mind goes when it wanders."

All of these photos were shot with either the Fuji XT-1 or the X100T.  Both small, beautifully designed cameras - perfect for carrying around at all times.

So, that being said, here are my top ten shots from my wanderings in 2015.

You can follow my personal work here.

Beneath the Bloor Subway line at Royal York.  This was shot during my meanderings along the Mimico Creek.

Another one from along the Mimico Creek. This is further north, under the the 427 highway.

Lakeshore West - Mimico.  These low rise buildings stretch out along the lake throughout Mimico.  At first glance they all seem to be the same, but getting in closer and poking around, they each have their own little unique bit of flare.  It's pretty cool.

High Park - Probably my favourite place in Toronto.  I pass through this big, beautiful park every day on my way to the studio.  This spot in particular always blows me away. 

Riding my bike along Lake Ontario every day - you can't help but notice the play of light between the sky and reflections on the lake.  How different the same scene can appear from day to day is incredible.

Another one from High Park.  Love the tones in this shot.

Another one of the low rise buildings in my neighbourhood.  This was shot on election night coming home from voting.  Love the play of colour here - warm vs cool.

Sunset at Grenadier Pond.  I pass by this spot every day.  Sunsets are often unbelievable here.

Washrooms in High Park.  I love the way the diffused glass windows make this little building glow at dusk.

The Gardiner Expressway.  Every day I pass under this busy highway and think how glad I am I don't have to deal with that beast :)

Make Ahead Meals

The new Michael Smith cookbook ‘Make Ahead Meals’ is out now.  We shot this book last November here in the studio over 10 days.

The focus this time around is on prepping or cooking ahead to create time-saving recipes.

Here are a few of my favourite shots from the book.

Prop Styling:  Madeleine Johari

Food Styling:  Noah Witenoff

Bacon Salsa Quesadillas

Really Good Focaccia

Slow Split Pea Soup

Prosciutto Lemon Wrapped Chicken

Chocolate Bark

Korean Short Ribs

Monkey Bread

Buttery Butterscotch Popcorn

Brown Sugar Glazed Ham with Raisin Drippings

Baked Reuben Chowder

Roasted Cauliflower with Romesco Sauce

Outtake from the shoot