1826 & Lighting Design Innovations

UPDATE!!! - Centre Street Bridge lighting design receives City of Calgary Lion award!

Congratulations to Paul and Kim Mercier and their recent (and well deserved) achievement.  Here is an excerpt from their own press release.


"Lighting Design Innovations is pleased to announce that the lighting design for the Centre Street Bridge was recognized with a New Construction Lion Award in the City of Calgary's Heritage Authority 2012 Lion Awards Program.  The owner of the bridge - The City of Calgary - accepted the award on Wednesday, August 1, at a ceremony and reception at the new Calgary Board of Education Headquarters Building in the Centre City.
The Calgary Heritage Authority Lion Awards recognize citizens and groups who have undertaken initiatives, of any scale, in support of heritage preservation in Calgary.  The awards are presented every two years and recipients are selected by a jury of distinguished community members and board members of the Calgary Heritage Authority."

Centre Street Bridge, Calgary Alberta

Mike's career as an architectural photographer has been highlighted along the way by working with
Paul & Kim Mercier of Lighting Design Innovations.  Their creative use of light and attention to detail is simply unparalleled.  This reputation helped Paul and Kim become selected to re-light the iconic Centre Street Bridge in Calgary.  Recently Calgary had another bridge make headlines (insert controversy here) so to say the treatment of one of the city's most famous landmarks was delicate to say the least.

It was a welcome privilege to photograph the bridge and show off the beautiful final results.  The bridge is gently bathed with soft LED lights allowing the shape of it's original architecture to steal the show instead of an "in-your-face" "look at me" approach seen elsewhere.  

The lion sculptures are said to be reminiscent of a Chinese legend in which they come alive at night to guard the city.  Paul and Kim helped convey this legend by surrounding the lions with tightly focused spot lights revealing the amazing detail not seen before with conventional lighting.

Enjoy!

1826 & ATCO Blue Flame Kitchen

Studio 1826 once again had the opportunity to work with ATCO Blue Flame Kitchen for their 2012 Holiday Cookbook and trust us when we say... It'll be worth the wait!

Working with the ever talented food stylist Sue Spicer we shot a wide variety of food and (of course) we got a chance to 'sample' everything that came in front of the lens. Needless to say everything was delicious! We shot on location at the great Blue Flame Kitchen facility and this time we also had the privilege of hosting everyone in our studio.

Keep an eye out for the cookbook coming this fall.  If you want to have a look at what we've done in the past, swing by the ATCO Blue Flame Kitchen in downtown Calgary and take a peek at their amazing collection of cookbooks or have a look at our portfolio online.

First day: Getting set up.

The best quiche on the planet.

Day three: Our turn to be the hosts.

CAPIC Speed Portfolio

Last night the CAPIC Praire Chapter hosted a great get together of photographers, creative directors, art directors and the like in a new take on speed dating which they called: Speed Portfolio.

Each photographer received 6(ish) minutes with a creative mind to showcase and pitch their work then rotated to the next. Eleven creatives in total from agencies such as WAX, MacLaren McCann, Trigger, Foundry, Venture and more.

Very intense.

It was an absolute blast and we met tons of great people. Looking forward to collaborating with a lot of them in the future.

Have look and see if you recognize anyone.

Quietus

qui·e·tus  /ˈkwīətəs/

Noun:

Death or something that causes death, regarded as a release from life. archaic something that has a calming or soothing effect.

That's about all you're going to find out about Olaf's next short film. Currently in pre-production for the end of August. Stay tuned for more details.


In the meantime, have a look at these great concept boards from artist  Ben Rankel

The Slate

Here's the first video from the Mosaic Mirage project with Brookfield Homes.

Just like we promised.

Amazing music provide by our good friend Marius Masalar

1826 & Brookfield Homes

Studio 1826 recently worked with Brookfield Homes, shooting still & motion for one of their latest developments: Mosaic Mirage in McKenzie Towne.

Brookfield Homes is active in seven vibrant new home markets in Canada and the United States, including Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, and Washington D.C. Brookfield Homes offers exceptional quality residences for every buyer, from first-time purchasers to the move-up market.

Speaking of first-time purchasers, Olaf (and his fiancé, Steph) just bought one. They're that good.

Stay tuned for a look at the first video from the project.

In the mean time, here are some of the shots from the shoot and it just so happens to be of the unit they bought: The Olive.

1826 & TAG

Ever laugh so hard you pee'd your pants? Even just a little?

Well that's the concept behind the Hotel Blackfoot Laugh Shop campaign by Art Director Andrew Colvin over at TAG.

Shot on location at Hotel Blackfoot. Special thanks to the Model-Who-Shall-Remain-Nameless for allowing us... complete access. Needless to say, there were some awkward moments.

Enjoy.

Hotel Blackfoot Laugh Shop

It's Alive!

Okay, live is more accurate.

Studio1826.ca is up and ready to blow minds with it's imagery of awesomeness. Home to the work of photographers Mike Heywood & Olaf Blomerus.

Have a look, check it out and pass it along.

Oh, and we're also on the Twitter. Not much right now, but that'll change.

A History Lesson

Long before the first public announcements of photographic processes in 1839, Joseph Nicéphore Niépce, a scientifically-minded gentleman living on his country estate near Chalon-sur-Saône, France, began experimenting with photography. Fascinated with the craze for the newly-invented art of lithography which swept over France in 1813, he began his initial experiments by 1816. Unable to draw well, Niépce first placed engravings, made transparent, onto engraving stones or glass plates coated with a light-sensitive varnish of his own composition. These experiments, together with his application of the then-popular optical instrument, the camera obscura, would eventually lead him to the invention of the new medium. 

In 1824 Niépce met with some degree of success in copying engravings, but it would be two years later before he had success utilizing pewter plates as the support medium for the process. By the summer of that year, 1826 (DING DING), Niépce was ready. In the window of his upper-story workroom at his Saint-Loup-de-Varennes country house, Le Gras, he set up a camera obscura, placed within it a polished pewter plate coated with bitumen of Judea (an asphalt derivative of petroleum), and uncapped the lens. After at least a day-long exposure of eight hours, the plate was removed and the latent image of the view from the window was rendered visible by washing it with a mixture of oil of lavender and white petroleum which dissolved away the parts of the bitumen which had not been hardened by light. The result was the permanent direct positive picture you see here—a one-of-a-kind photograph on pewter. It renders a view of the outbuildings, courtyard, trees and landscape as seen from that upstairs window

(Source: http://www.hrc.utexas.edu/exhibitions/permanent/wfp/).

Okay. So there you have it. The myth and the mystery to the name.

And now, for your viewing pleasure.

The First Photograph.

Joseph Nicéphore Niépce's First Photograph