Kevin Thom - Hamilton, Toronto, Ontario Photographer

To me it's not enough to just take a pretty picture. There are lots of pretty pictures out there. I want my photos to speak to the viewer, to say something more than what appears on the surface. I want you to feel rewarded looking at my photos if you're willing to dig through some subtext.

That being said, I don't shy away from trying to make the photo as beautiful as I know how.

You can see more photos like this one in the glamour section of my full portfolio.

I shot this joyful photo for Christine's modeling portfolio. She's new to modeling, and needed some eye-catching photos to get her started as she shopped around with the agencies. I think it's great to show a model's special skills or talents, and dancing is definitely one of Christine's. We shot this in my studio, which I've equipped to deal with many different kinds of photos, including ones in which the model defies gravity!

To see more, check out my page about starting a modeling portfolio.

Whenever I shoot architecture, I try to find the critical angle and point of view that defines the structure. This is Montreal's Olympic Stadium. I hope I managed to capture it in a way that emphasizes its space-age look. Shot late at night, this was a challenging shot. The lighting was dim in some areas, and brilliantly bright in others. I had to use my hands to shield some parts of the composition while I did the long exposure necessary to get this image just right.

This image is a collaboration with Hamilton artist Laura Hollick. It's part of a series of "Masterpiece" photos inspired by iconic images from the world of art. All of them will include elements of Laura's own art. This one is based on Boticelli's famous painting, The Birth of Venus.

All of my promotional photos are collaborations. I love working with inspired people to create photos that express who they really are. To see more, please see my gallery of promo photos.

This is one of my favorite images. It's another one of my Femme Elemental series, which focuses on the essence of femininity.

I've got more artistic and conceptual photography in my full portfolio.

A good deal of my time is spent creating headshots for actors and business people. An actor's headshot is like a business card. But more than that, it must instantly convey that actor's personality and character. It must seize the viewer's attention.

At the same time, it can not deviate too far from the standard headshot composition that is designed to show the basics of someone's appearance. For this reason, it's always my goal to create headshots that are like visual resumes: they should convey a person's extraordinary attributes as succinctly as possible.

To learn more about acting headshots and corporate headshots, see my headshot page.

I took this photo in the summer of 2006. I spent about a week in Paris, soaking in the life of the city. The courtyard of the Louvre held a special attraction to me, with its balance and ageless beauty. The glass pyramid in the centre of the courtyard is controversial to some, because of its apparent clash with the classical beauty of the surrounding structure. Personally, I found it to be a beautiful bridge from the city's storied past to its vibrant present. As night descended on the courtyard, the pyramid offered some wonderful opportunities for photography.

You can see more of my travel photography in the People and Places section of my full portfolio.

Working with musicians is always a special treat for me. Photography and music are just two different dialects of the language of art, and translating from one to the other is a challenge I love to face.

In this case, the artist is Kae Sun, whose hip hop music includes guitars and other traditional instrumentation. I wanted to reproduce a kind of smoky jazz-club feel to go along with his stylish threads and fusion sounds.

To see more examples of my band photography and photos of other performers, see the performers gallery in my full portfolio.

I've been many places, shooting many wonderful things, but sometimes you don't have to go very far to find beauty. This is the new facade for the Art Gallery of Hamilton, in my very own hometown, Hamilton, Ontario. The AGH sign has since broken off and fallen into the street, so I'm glad I got it while it was still in place. I'm also glad I wasn't there when it happened!

I've spent quite a lot of time taking photos in Hamilton. If you want to see more Hamilton, Ontario photography, check out the Hamilton gallery in my full portfolio.