Hillside Inside Review

Last weekend the Sleeman Center in Guelph was once again greened and gleened in an attempt to bring a little of the Hillside magic indoors. Rachel Thompson, Sam Baijal and team once again collected a group of Canada's best. In its sophomore year, Hillside Inside is slowly becoming another important part of Guelph's ever fruitful cultural scene and sitting comfortably in Canada's musical front seat.
Always a difficult feeding ground for the mega-festivals that are so popular South of the 49th, Hillside's summer edition has sold out for a number of years running with thousands dancing, chilling, swimming and dining and learning in a setting as idyllic a chunk of land can get on the fringes of North Guelph. That being said, it is 25 years young and its humble beginnings are well documented. To take a stab at a winter festival in Canada is an even more brave and risky maneuver, than attempting the logistics behind a summer event with the risk of bad weather and bumping up against Canadian's hibernating habits. That being said, if there was a group of people to do it it is those at Hillside. They not only have there feet grounded... no emmersed... in the ever growing Earth movement, they have their fingers on the pulse of Canadian Music in the sense that Superfly Productions has on a massive scale with their powerhouse Bonnaroo festival, held in Tennessee. They are able to grab several bands that are simmering just below the surface (and some deeper gems) and bring them in front of a crowd of truly appreciative music lovers that appreciate new sounds and music for music's sake. Throw in a drawing headliner, or 2 (this year's double header was Sam Roberts and Stars, last year Xavier Rudd/Dallas Green) and the festival experience is solidly there. The winter installment lacks the location, the wealth of workshops, the children's programming (which makes the Guelph Island event a truly age-free experience), the exquisitely balanced food booths (although the Inside edition has a micro-version of the summer spread), the sunshine and the showers, and is a one day event only. That being said, it is these lackings that separate Hillside Inside from his older sister, and makes it a success in its own right. Taking bands as diverse as Belle Orchestre and K'Naan, as smooth as Great Lakes Swimmers and as outright mind-blowing as That One Guy, the heart is indeed strong and the life blood that keeps the entity as a whole moving, swaying and jumping is pure Hillside. It is just a younger, individual, rebellious teen looking to etch out its own space, and it's a good space to be:-)

Fashion Forward Attitudes

As part of Lucid Musings move to becoming a unique, driven and exciting portrait specialist, fashion inquiries have begun to become more common place and I recently had another day out with a fashion industry hopeful, wanting to enter the world of lifestyle modeling. Kendall's desire to enter the youth advertising market was something I thoroughly enjoyed having the opportunity to have a hand in.
The first challenge in working with someone like Kendall is to simply break the ice and make this a fun experience and introduce a comfort level that helps bring out a liveliness and energy that makes the pictures "jump". The natural "what should I do"//"where should I look" feeling that anybody not accustomed to professional photo sessions has needs to be tossed aside and a personal interaction and closeness developed between the model and photographer. Only now can the photos start to happen, the rest is left to vision (and a little CS4 magic), and the end result is completely reflective upon this.
After getting over the initial jitters (and shivers) Kendall played the part perfectly and with good interaction, the photos paint a confident, fun and refreshingly real portrait of a young girl with fashionable aspirations.
If you are interested in having a portfolio with Lucid Musings fashion forward "look", have a look at more samples on my main website portrait page, and call me at 519-284-0858/1-866-680-0858 to book a portfolio session. If you are in the Stratford/London area, consider Elegance Modeling http://www.esimodels.ca/esimodels/ for your agency needs.