I was shooting again for the Canadian Cancer Society last Friday, along with the lovely ladies of The Brides’ Project. In the heart of downtown Toronto! And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Gary ~ the only groom in the group, complete in a sharp looking tuxedo.

Above: Shooting in the hot 28C sun and speaking with the media and the public about The Relay for Life was hard work for the ladies in wedding gowns. The dresses are heavy and it’s easy to work up a sweat in a matter of minutes. One “bride” rests in the shelter of some shade.

The premise of the shoot was “Giving Cancer the Boot!” And it served two purposes: first as a media – awareness event. CTV did a piece for the evening news. It also landed in three or four of the daily newspapers. Second, to create marketing images for The Canadian Cancer Society.

As a photographer, this shoot had its challenges: crowds, more crowds, bright sunshine and an uncontrolled lighting environment with MANY white wedding gowns, location permits, accommodating the press, etc. But I love the challenge and enjoy thinking on my feet.

Above: Join the biggest cancer fundraising event to make the biggest difference: The Canadian Cancer Society’s Relay for Life.

Toronto hosts four Relay for Life events: Central Toronto (Forest Hill), Etobicoke, North York and Scarborough. I’m scheduled to shoot at least the Toronto event, so if you’re attending, come look for me and please say “Hello”.

By the way, the top image “The Brides’ Ballet” is beautiful. The girls look radiant. The juxtaposition of an army of brides against the backdrop of the Hard Rock Cafe and the Eaton Centre is something one rarely, if ever, will see. Click on the image to view a larger version. Contact the studio to inquire about owning a print.

Click here for more information on The Relay for Life events in Toronto Canada.

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If you haven’t heard of Brad Pattison, you may want to check out his TV Series airing on Canada’s Slice TV called At the End of My Leash. It also airs in the USA under the name In The Dog House on Discovery Animal Planet.

ABOVE: Tails were wagging at the Canadian Cancer Society when renowned dog trainer, TV host and author, Brad Pattison arrived to kick-off Bark For Life, a new canine event to fight cancer. Bark For Life will take place in Toronto on July 3 at Allan Gardens.

Luckily I was available as I received a phone call with less than 48 hours advance notice. Sometimes these events come together quickly; that’s the nature of the biz. The Society is launching a really fun fundraising event called Bark for Life in downtown Toronto. If you’re a dog owner or walker you can participate. All you need to do is drum up a minimum of $150 in donations by July 3rd, the date of the event.

ABOVE: Though not yet confirmed, it is suspected that this happy terrier is the culprit who piddled on photographer Dean Oros’ jacket during the media and book launch event for The Canadian Cancer Society and Brad Pattison.

The event and book launch took place in a boardroom. So you can imagine when I walked in and was greeted by a bunch of tail-wagging pooches happily playing amongst a room full of executives, laptops, and promotional “Bark for Life” signage. Fun stuff! I think beagles may have a camera-gene in their DNA because one particular beagle wanted to jump up on the boardroom table to get up close and personal with my camera gear.

When Brad walked in and said something about masturbating dogs I almost lost my focus, but managed to keep shooting. I won’t even mention the amount of dog humping that was going on. Funny guy that Brad Pattison. Well, that’s all I’m going to say about that!

ABOVE: TV Host, renowned dog trainer and author Brad Pattison becomes acquainted with a happy beagle during The Canadian Cancer Society’s canine media event “Bark for Life”.

Photographing rambunctious dogs meant I needed to get down to their level, so for a good part of the shoot I was rolling around on the floor with them. Everyone got a kick out of that, especially when I commented I was getting a good ab workout when shooting in mid sit-up. Kindly enough, the Society offered to pay for my dry cleaning bill. Haha. Which is too funny because after I had completed the shoot I realized that a pooch had piddled on my jacket. Note to self: Don’t hang jacket over back of chair when photographing canines.

ABOVE: Unleashed: A Dog’s Eye View of Life with Humans, the new book by Brad Pattison.

The shoot went well. Brad was great with the dogs. I got the shots I needed. Two hours afterwards a press release was sent out complete with a photograph by yours truly.

For those of you interested in participating in Bark for Life, it’s taking place July 3rd at Allan Gardens in Toronto. Here’s a map to help you out. And this link will take you to Bark for Life registration information.

You may also want to read:

1. An Army of Brides: Giving Cancer the Boot in Downtown Toronto… a behind the scenes peek. Above: “The Brides’ Ballet”. After the shoot for The Canadian...
2. Canadian Cancer Society: Relay for Life: Scarborough Friday, June 19th I’ll be photographing again for the Canadian...
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I was in a breakfast meeting the other day when someone said to the group: “Whenever Dean talks about photography his eyes shine!”. Unexpectedly, I was suddenly the focus of attention, and I prayed there weren’t any scrambled egg morsels hanging off my lips. They were tasty eggs. Hat off to the chef.

It is true. My enthusiasm can rub off on people. I’ve never had anyone tell me they disliked being photographed by me. Which is a good thing! It means I’m doing my job, because not everyone likes being in front of a camera – at least initially, until I’m their photographer! I enjoy working with people.

No matter what I’m photographing, I’m working to tell a story with the images I create. That story is in the details. If I’m doing an editorial / corporate shoot I sit with my clients to chat about what are they trying to say with the images I’m going to create. Same goes for my documentary wedding and family images. My wedding clients entrust me to interpret and document their special day (or days in some cases) to create an intimate document that is also a piece of art. I love that. Photographs like the one above become part of a fine-art wedding album: a heirloom for generations to come (click here if you can’t see the image).

My corporate clients also have a story to tell. They’ve worked hard to grow their businesses. They want to project an image that best tells the story they want to tell. I love being a part of the team that makes that happen. Currently I’m working with an established business that has been in the family for three generations. The original images I create will be part of their re-branding: their overall image and story. And because they’re original images, they won’t be seen anywhere else which can happen when attempting to only use stock imagery. Don’t get me wrong, a carefully selected stock photo can work (that’s why we offer stock), but using only stock will end up costing the company more money down the road in terms of time, lack of continuity, story-telling etc.

Bye for now.

Want to see more of our images?:

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Any photographer who produces stock photography knows that the stock world has experienced a massive shift. What was typically a resource of high end images has how shifted to a goulash of mixed quality. One would suppose that may give a new meaning to the expression “The media is the message”? But I digress.

Microstock agencies offer royalty free images for a few dollars. Even big agencies such as Getty now sell some pictures for $10. For photographers who specialized in producing stock only, they’ve had to adapt and change to this new reality.

We started offering self-managed stock photography over a year ago when we partnered with Photoshelter to power our Image Archive and Client Area. If some agencies are offering royalty-free pictures for a few dollars which thousands of buyers can purchase, there are just as many buyers, who want to have exclusive rights to pictures in their territory. They don’t want their marketing message watered down by other users using the same image. There is something to be said to having an original image that no else can use. This is why companies want exclusive rights and / or hire us to create original images for them.

By offering our own images, it allows us to keep control of their usage by offering them via managed-rights to users who need them. We offer competitive licence fees, and as we don’t pay commissions to agencies, we can generate more revenue to put into the studio. Our main business is still creating lifestyle imagery, specializing in industrial, corporate, portraits and fine art wedding / family journalism. But as a photographer I’m often able to create images that can sell as stock, including my recent working vacation to photograph Kona, Hawaii.

So, as I was going through our image database I came across some conceptual images I’d created a couple of years ago that hadn’t yet been made available and could be used for a variety of purposes. Surprisingly, when I looked up the definition of “conceptual”, I discovered its meaning wasn’t a simple one to define. There are many variations of the definition, and so just as many potential uses (yes, I do enjoy reading the dictionary).

Windows. There’s a concept. Or is it an object? Obviously it can be both. “Eyes are the windows to the soul”.  ”Large bay windows let in so much natural light”.

conceptual |kənˈsep ch oōəl|
adjective
of, relating to, or based on mental concepts : philosophy deals with conceptual difficulties.
ORIGIN mid 17th cent.: from medieval Latin conceptualis, from Latin concept- ‘conceived,’ from the verb concipere (see concept ).

concept
For other uses, see Concept (disambiguation).
There are two prevailing theories in contemporary philosophy which attempt to explain the nature of concepts (abstract term: conception). The representational theory of mind proposes that concepts are mental representations, while the semantic theory of concepts (originating with Frege’s distinction between concept and object) holds that they are abstract objects.[1] Ideas are taken to be concepts, although abstract concepts do not necessarily appear to the mind as images as some ideas do.[2] Many philosophers consider concepts to be a fundamental ontological category of being.

A concept is a cognitive unit of meaning— an abstract idea or a mental symbol sometimes defined as a “unit of knowledge,” built from other units which act as a concept’s characteristics. A concept is typically associated with a corresponding representation in a language or symbology[citation needed] such as a single meaning of a term.

The meaning of “concept” is explored in mainstream cognitive science, metaphysics, and philosophy of mind. The term “concept” is traced back to 1554–60 (l. conceptum – something conceived),[citation needed] but what is today termed “the classical theory of concepts” is the theory of Aristotle on the definition of terms.

If you’re reading our blog via an RSS reader that doesn’t allow embedding of pictures, click the following links to view the images in this post:

Dean Oros Photo + Design: Kona Hawaii

Dean Oros Photo + Design: Conceptual Window Images

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Local Magazine is available in the Beaches and Leslieville neighbourhoods of Toronto. Editor Sarah Dann is the brains behind it, and I think it’s great.

I contributed one of my Winter Series Beaches neighbourhood images to the current “Early Spring” issue as my little way of supporting local business (no pun intended!). Beaches butcher The Chopping Block (featured in Toronto Life Magazine) can be seen at the top of Willow Avenue.

Winter scene in the Beaches, Toronto Canada.

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These images focus more on the holiday resort aspect of Kona, volcanic rock, and a pretty rare look at an abandoned energy turbine farm in the southern most tip of the USA. Keep an eye out for the cow. Enjoy.

More images to come. Click here to view all the images to date.

A display of nature's perfect symmetry.

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For those that follow this blog regularly, you’ve already seen a larger selection of Hawaii Images.

Click here to view the full Big Island Archive with images that document different aspects of the Big Island, AND with larger versions than available on this blog. (Pssst, more images will be added on an ongoing basis, so check in regularly if you’d like to view additional photos).

All images are available for personal and commercial use.

Click here if you can’t see the following five images. Enjoy!

Tree branches posing as snakes in Kona, Hawaii

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Click here to view all my Hawaii images, and to learn more about this amazing oasis.

Sun sets over lava rock in Kona Hawaii.

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If you’re unable to see these images, click here to view them on our Image Archive.

ABOVE: A view of Mahana Bay showing the steep climb down the cove to reach the Green Sand Beach and Ocean.

ABOVE: Richly coloured sand of reds and browns surrounded by lava rock is part of the view as one walks the 3 miles to Mahana Bay.

ABOVE: Layers of hardened molten lava and volcanic rock formed the cove surrounding the beach of Mahana Bay. We can see where people have attempted to carve letters into the rock.

Mahuna Bay, Hawaii

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I hope you enjoy them. There is a lot more to come, so stay tuned. If you can’t see the images for some reason, click here to view them. Thank you.

ABOVE: Sulpher dioxide gases from Halemaumau Crater are emitted into the air at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park on the island of Hawaii.

ABOVE: The sun sets behind a silhouetted, waterfront tree at the Waikoloa Resort, Kohala Coast, Hawaii.

ABOVE: Sky reflecting off water in the Waikoloa Anchialine Ponds Preservation Area, Kohala Coast, Hawaii.

ABOVE: Hawaiian palm trees, nestled on the beach at the Waikoloa Resort, Kohala Coast, Hawaii.

ABOVE LEFT: Hawaiian palm trees, shrubs and lava rock live side by side in Kona.
ABOVE RIGHT: A young male diver leaps off a cliff into the ocean at Ka Lae, Hawaii. This was captured in the southern-most tip of the USA.

ABOVE: Palm trees stand next to a parking lot with reserved parking and wheelchair access signs in Waikoloa, Hawaii.

ABOVE: The waterfront at the Waikoloa Resort, Kohala Coast, Hawaii. This mini-dam regulates the ocean’s waterflow to and from a manmade pond where fish are bred in a mix of salt and fresh water.

ABOVE: Dusk in Kona Hawaii brings spectacular colours with its sunsets.

ABOVE: The southern-most tip of the USA, Ka Lae, on the island of Hawaii. The road ends here.

ABOVE: A variety of flowers, trees and shrubs, inlcuding this ohia lehua, manage to blossom out of lava on the Kilauea Iki Trail, at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, island of Hawaii.

ABOVE: Hawaii has a wide variety of beautiful flowers in bloom year round.

Kona, Hawaii

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