Colour Grading

As of 2016, I've decided to reconsider my colour grading.

It's a whole other world for visual artists to dig into, that is a challenging and sensitive process.

These days, I've been experimenting with a variety of yellow tones in order to enhance the emotional content. 

This is a photo from a recent shoot with Stella (Elite models). 

Stella was only 14 years old when we had the session, yet already had a strong artistic sense and quickly understood the process of creativity. I was totally impressed by her.

I hope she is going to be a super successful model in the near future :)

Please check out my gallery page for more photos ;)

Recent work

The other day, I worked with Caitlyn (Elite Models). She was only 16 and at the same time was very humble, modest and hardworking. I respect people like her who have a great work ethic and upbeat personality no matter what their age is.

Also, it was great to work with Ronnie at the first time. She was the most powerful and funny woman I've met these days. She created a nice mood and atmosphere.

Of course, always thanks to Michelle Davis for the awesome styling job.

Here's a photo from the session with Caitlyn (Elite Models)

Please check out my gallery page for more photos :)

Defined Edge

The other day, I had the opportunity to set up a men's fashion shoot with William (Elite Models). I usually focus on creating a soft lighting set up to complement the female models beautifully, so It was really enjoyable this time to be able to add some drama in the lighting. The harsh shadows pulled out his bold facial structure :)

Here's my favourite shot from the session. Please visit my gallery page to view the rest of the photos.

Model: William (Elite Models)

Stylist: Michelle Davis

HMUA: Romy Zack

Skin tone and depth

When it comes to my photography I've always tried to improve two things, skin tone and background depth.

I think it is really important to find out your own recipe for a unique skin tone to describe human beings. In regards to the background depth, I like feeling the space within the two dimensional realm of photography, while keeping the distortion of a model in balance. Unfortunately, I am limited with my studio space at this point in the game, but I'd like to keep that in mind until I can work in a larger space.

Here's a recent test shoot I did with talented Meghane (Elite Models), who was visiting Toronto from Switzerland :)

Model: Meghan (Elite Models)

HMUA: Sherlyn Torres

Stylist: Michelle Davis

Back to Toronto, Back to Business

I went back to Tokyo for a couple of weeks to reinstall my identity from where I grew up. It was interesting to feel my perspective slowly changing towards my country. Hopefully I can shoot some fine art photography when I go back there in the future.

This is a photo from our first session after a long break.

Please check my gallery page for more photos :)

Model: Charlotte (Elite Models)

HMUA: Rhia Amio

Stylist: Michelle Davis

3 months

It's been 3 months since I moved to Toronto. I've been trying to make myself busy in order to focus on improving my photography skills which includes post production and building up connections. Hope these efforts allow me to continue doing my passion in the future.

Here's a BTS shot and sneak peak of new work to come ;)

Nicole (Elite Models)

Windy Chiu (HMUA)

Michelle Davis (Stylist)

To the Tee Planning

Today we shot a story for publication.

Every team member had positive energy during the shoot and we created so many awesome looks today. I appreciate each individual's creativity a lot. Also. I am really glad at the fact that the shoot went well based on our pre visualization and spontaneity on set.

Hope I can show you the editorial sometime soon.

70mm f3.5

The setting 70mm f3.5 on my camera and lens is my personal favourite these days to use in the studio. 70mm creates enough depth between the background and subject that doesn't make the photo look too compressed with minimal distortion of the model. F3.5 creates a nice sharpness while still maintaining a soft edge :)

Here's a sneak peek photo from our recent studio shoot (70mm f3.5)

New life in Toronto

I've visited Toronto a couple of times before. I like how similar it is to Tokyo, where I grew up. It's a city of many options, and I am happy to restart my passion here.

This is a sneak peak from a photoshoot done in our new studio.

Thank you to the awesome makeup artist, Rhia Amio, model, Agnes (Elmer Olsen Models) and the stylist, Michelle Davis, for this shoot.

Happy New Year 2015

It seems these are going to be the last photos I can show this year. Here are some shots from a fashion test shoot I did a while ago. It was so much fun to edit all in black and white this time. It's a different kind of joy to edit, with your focus mainly being on controlling the brightness, darkness and sharpness.

This coming year, I hope to continue realizing new aspects of photography in order to deepen my style.

Hope you all have a great start to the year 2015!

Model: Casey (John Casablancas International), Stylist: Michelle Davis, HMUA: Katie Elwood