Flashback Friday: Hotel Le Germain at Maple Leaf Square Room Artwork

In 2010, we approached the Hotel Le Germain in Toronto to see if we might be able to help out with some of the imagery on their website.  National Marketing Director, Catherine Verdone confessed they were already working with a photographer they were happy with.  But she was so impressed with our presentation that she revealed they were building a new hotel in Toronto at Maple Leaf Square, in conjunction with MLSE, owners of the Leafs, Raptors and Toronto FC franchises, and invited us to submit a proposal for the artwork for each room of the hotel.  Then she then gave us an exciting bit of information - we would have access to the athletes.

Mike Komisarek for Hotel Le Germain at Maple Leaf Square

We got to work, and based on Matthew’s beautiful photography of pilates instructors for Merrithew Health & Fitness, Sylvia came up with the concept of working with the MLSE athletes as figure studies, with limited props, showing the “engine under the hood” - close-ups of the finely tuned bodies of each type of athlete.  We hired a very fit model for some concept testing, and a few weeks later met at the hotel with Christiane Germain, Co-President and CEO of Germain Hotels. “This is very sensual” she said, thinking about how her guests would experience the work. Then quickly added, “But we must never use that word when we meet with MLSE.”

DeMar DeRozan for Hotel Le Germain at Maple Leaf Square

Luke Shen for Hotel Le Germain at Maple Leaf Square

Dan Gargan for Hotel Le Germain at Maple Leaf Square

We were commissioned to produce large scale artwork for each of the 184 rooms. The first shoot was was in August, with defencemen Mike Komisarek and Luke Shen of the Leafs. The second day of shooting featured Toronto FC defenders Adrian Cann and Dan Gargan and Raptors DeMar DeRozan and Sonny Weems. Though challenging, (access does not necessarily mean a lot of time), the shoots were a lot of fun- have a look at the candids after the video.

Matthew photographing Sonny Weems

Sonny Weems on set

DeMar DeRozan breaking up on set

Here are selected images of the artwork in the rooms.

Time-Lapse Video: Moving the Burke House at Sherbourne and Bloor

Over the years, Plexman Photography has done a variety of interesting shoots for our long time client, Concert Properties. One of the previous projects we worked on (in conjunction with design firm The Idea Partner consisted of architectural and lifestyle imagery to support the sales efforts of 4 luxury penthouse suites at Concert’s 88 Scott development.

The crew from Laurie McCulloch Building Moving and Mechanical

This summer, we had the opportunity to work on something totally different - a new project called BURKE located near the corner of Sherbourne and Bloor. Named after the architect who designed the original houses on the site in 1875, Edmund Burke, who famously went on to design the Hudson’s Bay store at Queen and Yonge, Osgood Hall and the Bloor Street Viaduct; Concert wisely decided to preserve these long neglected houses rather than take the easy route and bulldoze them.

Sky Lounge at 88 Scott, panoramic view composited from 5 different images

The process of moving the house to the back of the property, then back to its original location, was carefully orchestrated and each move, months apart, took days to complete. The move was necessary in order to excavate and create caisson foundations for the house as well as the 5 storey underground parking garage excavation. Plexman Studio was contracted to do time lapse photography, drone footage and stills of the painstaking move. Cedric Swaneck, our long-time friend and associate, did an amazing job shooting drone aerial footage then used his considerable editing talents to combine our time-lapse and still images with the drone footage to produce a compelling video for use in Concert’s social media. 

We’re currently working on the follow up piece showcasing the return move.  Stay tuned for the sequel!  If you’d like to talk to us about working on one of your projects, we’d love to hear from you!

Goodbye and Best Wishes Seth!

Six years and a few months ago, Seth joined us as a summer intern between his third and fourth year of the photography program at Sheridan College. He worked hard, learned a lot, and made a big impression on me. When he finished his internship, I asked him if he would come back and work with us when he graduated, which he did. Over the years, he learned a whole lot more and pushed the boundaries of how we do almost everything here- streamlining, automating and finessing. And I started learning a whole lot from him.

Seth is setting up his own studio in Vancouver, and already has enough work and clients to keep him busy. We hope that he’s not too busy to help us out now and again. And of course, we wish him all the best!

Thanks for everything Seth. It’s been a great run.

Wistful Summer Porch Portraits

It was a strange time for me last summer.  Plexman Studios couldn’t do any business until Toronto went into the so-called “Stage Two” of re-opening.  So I busied myself with organizing the studio, digitizing old family slides and doing a bit of marketing.  I was itching to do something a bit more creative- and help others at the same time.  Long time friends came to the rescue and asked me to refresh the family portrait that I had done years ago.  The only way to do it safely (and legally) while still in lockdown, was to shoot outside. Despite this, I wanted to get a sense of the warmth of their house so I decided to shoot at night when the lights inside the house would add a warm glow to the image.  I went and hung out in their backyard for a couple of hours one evening to determine where I would set up my camera and lights, where I’d place the 5 subjects to keep the ones not living in the house distanced, and what the magic hour would be for the shot. After gathering the information and having a socially distant beer on the deck with my friend, I checked the weather forecast and we set a date and time.

On the appointed day, Sylvia (my wife and business partner) and I arrived at 6:30 to unload and start setting up equipment. I did my first test shot at 7:30 while everyone else was fussing with what to place on the table and where to position the plants that were on the deck.  The main shot was captured at 8:30 when it was completely dark- the lights from the house really looked great with a long exposure.  With a bit of luck I captured the family cat in the dining room window in one of the shots and popped it into the final image. I made sure to capture images with masks, which are surreal, but will become an interesting historical record of these times.

A rather surreal look…

The final shot was so well received and so much fun to shoot that I decided to do it again- with other families.  All were shot after dark, lit with portable strobes and a warm glow from the house.  My crazy expensive camera system allows me to record everything from the deepest shadows to the brightest lights so that I’m able to maintain incredible control over the final look of the images.

We Play Well with Others

Last month we were asked to shoot a couple of portraits for a relatively new company out of Montréal called Strigo. You may ask what is Strigo?  It’s a unique, new mobile communications system that uses geo-stationary satellite and ground technologies to extend Canada’s mobile coverage into remote regions (check out on their website)!  A division of TerreStar Solutions Inc., the company is growing and had two new people in Toronto who needed to be photographed to match several that were going to be captured in Montréal the following week. I was put in touch with photographer Benoit Levac (who had recommended me- thanks Benoit!) so that he could give me the specifics of lighting, styling (grey shirts!) and posing to insure that our images would match his.  He included a few images previously done by another photographer to ensure consistency.  The fun part was the digital post production styling, which required the background and clothing of each person to be shifted to a specific grey or green.  The resulting team page on the Strigo site is quite refreshingly unique. You wouldn’t know that three photographers in two different cities were involved.

I appreciate that Benoit recommended us.  We frequently reach out to our trusted associate photographers in other cities to help us service our international law firm and financial services clients, part of our “Global Photo Service” where we provide lighting diagrams and instructions, and they provide equal calibre expertise and professionalism. It’s nice when that is reversed- I get a chance to see how other photographers approach a challenge and I have the opportunity to learn.

Here are the images I took, retouched by Benoit.  I’ve also included a test shot taken while my associate Seth Stevenson and I were testing the lighting.  My dog Bennie couldn’t resist a cuddle, and Seth was quick enough to capture the love.

Photographing Bill Chapman for Remembrance Day

We had a wonderful time photographing WWII RAF veteran Bill Chapman for Tapestry, a division of Concert Properties.

The opportunity to meet new people and hear their stories is the most gratifying part of our job. We do our utmost to honour their spirit in the photographs we take.

We salute our veterans as Remembrance Day approaches, but should cherish their sacrifices always.