Five Alarm 2012

First of all: a huge thank you to everyone who made it out this weekend to the Five Alarm Photography Show at Grande Prairie’s Centre for Creative Arts. I think I can speak for the five photographers involved when I say that it was very, very cool to see people checking out and enjoying our work.

In brief, Five Alarm challenges five local photographers to interpret the same five conceptual categories with a single image. Organized by Prairie Ranger Photography‘s Sean Trostem, and now in it’s third year, the “competition” aims to push everyone involved towards trying things they might not otherwise and to raise the bar of their own work. Judging by the images displayed, this was a definite success. It was a pleasure to share wall space with Al Gervais, Chris Fox, Nicky Hemingson, and Doreen Altman. Also, a huge thanks to Watson’s Foto Source for donating the prints for the show and supporting the photographic arts in Grande Prairie.

I can say without a doubt that the toughest part of the whole thing for me was deciding which single image to choose from each of the five shoots. Now that the show is open, I can take the pressure off a bit by sharing some of my other favourites from the sessions. I couldn’t have made any of these images alone, so I want to thank everyone involved (especially my models, Laura, and David K. Fast for assisting). There are more detailed credits below for each category. I’ve also included some setup shots for anyone who wants to deconstruct the lighting setups a bit.

If you haven’t already, please get your buns down to the Centre and check out all of the pieces. It’s the only way to see all of the work in one place. They will be up for another week, and admission is free.

Five Alarm aims to open itself to all new participating photographers each year, so if you are interested in applying for the selection process, speak to Sean Trostem. If you are an aspiring photographer, I can’t think of a better way to push your work into new areas.

Enjoy the images.

Cheers,
Chris

1. Formerly, a forest.

Category: Scenic Portrait
Photographer: Chris Beauchamp / Beauchamp Photography
Model: Ashlee Nicol-Kelly
Assistant: Laura Beauchamp

Additional shots from this session:

2. Sending Bat Signals

Category: Romance
Photographer: Chris Beauchamp / Beauchamp Photography
Model: Jessica Johnson
Assistant: Laura Beauchamp

Just one behind-the-scenes:

3. The Battle of Hogwarts

Category: Scene from a Movie
Photographer: Chris Beauchamp / Beauchamp Photography
Model: Deena Cloutier
Assistants / Death Eaters: David K. Fast, Laura Beauchamp
He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named: You Know Who

Additional shots from this session:

4. “Don’t look back. Don’t look back.”

Category: Horror
Photographer: Chris Beauchamp / Beauchamp Photography
Model: Amy Ray
MUA: Renee Sigurdson
Assistants: Laura Beauchamp, Tara Ashby

Additional shots from this session (The light was too nice out at the corn maze not to do a few nice portraits of Amy, even though they weren’t on-theme):