Complicated

December 23, 2022

I’ve known Mia Ines for years, she’s a talented dancer and choreographer, and a few months ago I reached out to her about working on a creative together and thankfully she was game. After pitching her my idea for what kind of lighting and set I wanted to play with, we had less than a week to put together choreography and the rest of the team.

The video ended up being set to “Complicated” by Chris Oday, and the slow, sexy rhythmic track was perfect for the mood we were trying to achieve. We lit the cyclorama using Arri fresnels with coloured gels to create the coloured gradient, flagging off certain parts of the wall to control spill. A small LED COB light with a spotlight attachment and gel was used as our key, and an Aputure 300D with a large softbox and grid acted as a fill. We shot on a Sony A7Siii with Sony primes, adding a 1/4 black pro mist and star eight filter to get that ethereal glowy effect and crosshatching on the rhinestones when they caught the light of our key.

Huge thanks to everyone for lending their time and creativity.

Photography by Erin Leydon

Cinematographer / Editor: Natasha Zimin

Choreographer / Dancer: Mia Ines

Gaffer: Hayley Wong

Stylist: Billie Manon

Makeup Artist: Jordan Giang

PA: Brittany McGirr

Studio: Mild Studios

Track: Complicated by Chris Oday

A Trip Down Memory Lane

May 18, 2022

A pandemic and a few months ago I went on my first and only (to date) solo road trip. I started in San Francisco and I drove south along the California Coast, taking Highway 1 all the way to Los Angeles. It took me just over 12 hours, quite a few exploratory stops, and the worst burger I’ve ever consumed - but I made it in one piece. I also wasn’t blessed with the best weather but the drive was still beautiful, and for the most part I had the entire road to myself. I decided to document it on my Canon A-1 with Kodak Porta 400 film, and later scan and develop the film myself.

It was an exercise in solitude, from start to finish, and although at the time I did this for me I want to finally share some of my favourite photos from the trip. I’m an amateur film photographer/developer/scanner at best, but these photos bring me a lot of joy. I hope you enjoy them too.

PS: the video below was taken while desperately waiting for the rain to die down at the Bixby Canyon Bridge (iykyk)

Reclaiming the Selfie as an Art Form

January 29, 2021

My love for shooting started simply - by taking selfies.

POV: It’s 2005. Youtube had just been invented, Vince Vaughn was still relevant, and I had been gifted my first ever digital camera. It was a cute little silver thing that opened up my world and transformed my mirror into a blank canvas.

Selfies became a form of escapism and self expression from that moment on, until the end of high school in 2010. Usually in my bedroom, always on my own, the act of taking selfies slowly evolved into ‘self portraits’. It was a means of catharsis.