Les Grands Ballets de Montreal. 2016-17 Company Shoot.




On my birthday back in August I got to create a group portrait of Les Grands Ballets de Montreal dancers for their 2016-17 program.
So far this is the largest group portrait I got to make.

Prepping for the shoot was a fun challenge: my assistant Pascale and I had to tape two 11' seamless backdrops side by side in order to give us enough width for 18 people group.

We shot a variety of moods from serious and glam to kind and fun. Final shots were to be in black and white (yes!) and the company went with the serious look.

Few layers and LOTS of masking later these final images were created.

Special thanks to Pascale MĂŠthot for assisting!
View more of my work here: www.kravetzphotographics.com

Equipment list:
Phase One DF with P30+ digital back
Schneider 80mm LS
2x Profoto 7A packs
Elinchrom Ranger RX
Elinchrom 7' EL OCTA

Continue reading for some behind the scenes stuff. 



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He plays clarinet...




I have images from quite few shoots just sitting on my drives and waiting. Some shoots I was just not happy with at the time, others just didn't know how to edit. And so they wait like unfinished paintings for me to dust them off and continue working on them again. 
Here're few images from one of those shoots back in 2014 with good friend and musician Gregorry Parra.


Photography: www.kravetzphotographics.com ©2014

More images: 

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"A Suivre". Dancers-Choreographers of Les Grands Ballets de Montreal.




I recently did portraits of Les Grands Ballets dancers for their upcoming show in Montreal called "A Suivre".

 Quote from press release about "A Suivre":

  "A space where experimentation and bold ideas are given free rein, Les Grands Ballets’ choreography workshop is an opportunity for the company’s dancers to explore the art of choreography and the various aspects of staging a show.
  Entirely conceived and created by the dancers of Les Grands Ballets, who for the occasion will be choreographers, technicians, publicists, and last but not least…dancers. "

Dancer's career can be really short and that's why it's so cool that they have the opportunity to try themselves in something different.  

 If you want to get more info about the shows and dates or support the guys, you can do it here: 
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/a-suivre--2#/. 
Here are portraits of all twelve choreographers as well as some behind the scenes images. We shot the guys in their ballet studio. Individual portraits were mostly lit with window light and only strobes were used for the group shots. 

Huge thanks to Mike Phang for helping out on this shoot.

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Tiago



I'm learning that there're many male models in Montreal anxious to get in front if the camera because most photographers prefer photographing girls (big surprise). So maybe there's a niche to be filled. :)

Here's another new face at Specs Models - Tiago.

Shot on Phase One P30+/DF camera with Schneider 80mm LS 2.8 and Mamiya 210mm 4.5 lenses

Photography: Sasha Onyshchenko / www.kravetzphotographics.com ©2016
Assistent: Mike Phang

More images from our test shoot:

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George Belliveau. Album Cover Shoot



Past summer I was working on a new album cover for NB country singer George Belliveau. We planned a studio portrait shoot for George alone and one shoot on location with his band.  While going over some location options, George mentioned he would prefer old pier or wharf. For no apparent reason. Just because it would look cool.

I knew of couple locations around Moncton which would fit the description. One of them is old wharf located in Belliveau Village. When I told George about it, I learned that that's where he grew up. And all of a sudden everything clicked. I knew we had to shoot there and nowhere else. It made perfect sense. It wasn't JUST cool place anymore. Now it had a story.


Photography/Postproduction: www.kravetzphotographics.com / ©2015 Sasha Onyshchenko
Assistent: Devon Rogers

Gear:
All images were shot on medium format Phase One P30+, DF body, Schneider 80mm LS, Mamiya 35mm and Mamiya 210mm.




You can see some behind the scenes in this short film by Atlas Films:



More images:

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Unretouched Portraits of Models


Models left to right: Brooke MacDonald, Shannon Marie Isaacs, Sam Kaminsky, Jamie Smith - represented by Scout Development Agency,
and Sophia Frigault 

I decided to leave these series of images unretouched and kind of raw as an attempt to get away from  the technical aspect of photography and to focus on my subjects and their personalities instead.  
Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that retouching is bad (cause this statement doesn't really come across in my work). It's just sometimes I want to make something simple and truthful. 

More images: 

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Airtime Fitness. Environmental Portraits



During my last visit to Moncton I had the opportunity of working with one of Airtime Fitness instructors Rob Brydges.

Rob wanted to create a hand full of fun and creative images to use on his website and improve his social media presence with professionally looking content.

The idea behind red couch images is this:  Rob's suit represents his past as a real estate agent. Coach stands for "working out at home" cause that's primarily what this online training program is about.

Rob was fascinating subject to photograph, to say the least. I was really impressed with his personality  and ability to go through so many different expressions in one shoot.



Photography: www.kravetzphotographics.com / ©2015 Sasha Onyshchenko

More images:

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Rheal Vienneau for Canadian Wildlife Magazine




 "Rheal Vienneau has reared thousands of monarch butterflies in his backyard. “I’m giving them a little boost,” he says. “My biggest goal, though, is to educate people about the plight of the monarchs.”

Here is an image from recent assignment for Canadian Wildlife Magazine and couple others not included in the issue. I got to say, I did learn a lot about monarch butterflies and that it takes one kind and passionate man to do this job right.

Assisted by Christopher Roxs.

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Sam

Working with experienced models sometimes means working with all photographers she or he shot with in the past and often it takes a lot of effort to make them fit my particular "molding".
That's why I really enjoy working with people who have little to no experience at all in front of the camera.
Sam was one of them. I approach every session as portrait session and focus mostly on personality  and I think that the less experience the subject has, the more genuine and intimate their portrait can be.

How it actually turned out is, as always, for viewer to decide.

Make-up by Joelle Martin
www.kravetzphotographics.com







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"Different" Portrait

I was recently contacted by one person, who wanted something different for his portrait. Every time I hear word "different", I feel like I hit jack pot. "Different" - is a magic word for me (just like for many other photographers) which makes me free to create what I like.

Roy Gould is a psychotherapist.
He came by the studio one day to meet and tell me about himself and his job. This helped a lot in understanding what kind of portrait I need to create. Roy deals with a lot of darkness in people and he wanted a portrait which would convey this story about him and his difficult job.

Hope you enjoy!

Sasha Onyshchenko
www.kravetzphotographics.com







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"Soldier". Fashion Editorial for The Storm Magazine




At the beginning of the year I traveled to Toronto with Denis Duquette. My initial goal for the trip was to network and make some connections (primarily in the architecture field).
I also planned to do two creatives while I'm there.  I'm super pumped that one of them featuring androgynous model Seth Atwell was just published in The Storm Magazine (www.thestormmagazine.com).

You can view the issue HERE. 
Creative Team Credits:

Story Title:  Soldier
Photographer - Sasha Onyshchenko / Kravetz Photographics / www.kravetzphotographics.com 
Fashion Stylist - Jay Mitchel.
Vintage clothing provided by Toronto store - “Kings of Kensington”
Make-up Artist/Hair Stylist - Hasina B
Model's Agency - Seth Atwell / Peggi Lepage (www.peggilepage.com) and Plutino Group    (www.plutinogroup.com)
Photographer’s Assistant:  Elijah Yutuc

 Click on the images to open full screen viewer.
Continue reading for Behind the Scenes.

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