CHILD ACTOR GOING PLACES!

10 year old Ellie O'Brien hails from Scotland , where she has already attained a measure of success on
Television and Radio. Some of her credits are;
TELEVISION;
Played the main role in the  "Give me Cycle Space "  national safety campaign commercial for Cycle Scotland 2011/2012
Played the character Theresa, in the ITV drama adaptation of Ian Rankin's novel "Doors Open" , alongside such luminaries as Stephen Fry, Dougie Hensall, Brian McArdie and Rab Affleck (United Kingdom 2012)
RADIO;
National radio commercial for cycle safety Scotland 2012

I really enjoyed photographing Ellie for her new headshot. She was a real pro, totally at ease in front of the camera and totally adept at calling forth a range of emotions, so we captured a variety of moods. Her versatility ,  her natural, relaxed attitude  made her  a  pleasure to work with and I had no trouble capturing her personality (the real purpose of an actor headshot session.)---while also having fun.
Here are the results;

                                                                             
                                                                           

  While the first shot is serious, the second one provides a good contrast, showing  her sunny disposition. For this, I decided to use a white border, keeping the shot light and airy.
  Though patterns and prints are not usually a good idea, rules were made to be broken, they say, and I love breaking rules --when it works.  Ellie's  magnetic personality, her direct gaze captures and holds  the attention of the viewer and all else is secondary.  It is all about the mood.
Wish you much luck Ellie, --I should have asked for an autograph, --it may be worth lots some day!

I JUST LOVE EVENT PHOTOGRAPHY.

Last night, I had the privilege of covering a prestigious event , at the Ed Mirvish Theatre. Known as Toronto PFLAG. It is the annual awards gala, celebrating diversity. The Emcee was Mike Chalut,  --a good friend who has his own show on 103.9FM (The Mike Chalut Show. )
The show kicked off with REVERSE, singing "Glad to meet you"  Other notable acts were by ; Dora Award winner John Alcorn, Lisa Horner, Danielle Wade.
ALLY award recipient , actress Sharon Gless ( of Queer as Folk and Cagney and Lacey  fame, ) was introduced by .......Rosie O'Donnell.  The fast-paced , upbeat show, concluded with a raffle prize draw.
Lots of money was raised, for a great cause.
Here are some memorable scenes from the event:

The theatre where event was held. (Notice the rainbow!)

Mike Chalut , doing a great job emceeing. He is so personable--and soooo funny!

Police chief Bill Blair giving a speech, while...

                                           Sharon Gless and Rosie O'Donnell listen intently.

                                                                               

Rosie, vocal as ever. But not as much as......(singer below)

By her own admission, after being away from the public eye for a while, Rosie clearly enjoyed the limelight.

Sharon's speech was touching. 

The raffle;  Mike draws a lucky number. 

"Oh my God!  I won!!!" she says. 

All too soon though, the evening came to a close  and we dispersed into the night. 

One word of advice to aspiring event photographers; 

Take your tripod ! Don't leave home without it. Often, the use of flash is not permitted. In that case, 

a sturdy tripod will keep your camera steady for the those long exposures.Tripod  or even monopod not 

allowed in either? Try resting camera on something e.g. the back of a headrest, (of an empty seat , in front of you. ---while holding your breath of course! )  Who said event photography was easy?