Kevin Thom - Hamilton, Toronto, Ontario Photographer

A portrait doesn't always have to be fancy, but it should always capture the character and personality of its subject. I took this portrait in England, without any of my lighting equipment. We just found a spot near a window, and started shooting.

To see more portraits, check out the Portraits section in my full portfolio.

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.

I took this photo in mid-February, 2005, in the south of Thailand, on a beach that had been hit hard by the tsunami just two months before. The destruction left by the giant wave had been largely repaired, and the beach was looking cleaner and better than it had in a decade, according to the locals. However, the tourists, upon whom the community relies for its survival, were staying away. For the local hospitality workers, there was nothing to do but to play soccer on the beach, which they did with great joy. It was inspiring to watch these people live in the moment and work through the tragedy one second at a time.

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

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.

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.

After an autumn rainstorm, I saw this golden leaf lying in the parking lot. To me, it looked like it was trying to blend into its unnatural surroundings. Do we often try to do the same thing?

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

I took this photo while relaxing at a friend's cottage up north, in Magnetawan, Ontario. I was inspired by Chinese brush paintings of birds, which are so soft, yet so precise. These little creatures provided hours of entertainment as they fluttered, fought, scolded and sang all day long.

You can see more of my nature photography in the Nature section of my full portfolio.

This is the stunning National Grand Theater in Beijing, China. Its nickname is "The Egg" for obvious reasons. Its futuristic design made it appear like an interstellar spacecraft, so that's how I attempted to make it look in my capture of it.

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

This one always gets a reaction. I took it as a Valentine's Day image in 2005. I usually like to have some contrasting concepts in my artistic photography. Beautiful vs. Ugly, Hot vs. Cold, Good vs. Evil: the classic matchups. The pig's heart, lovingly positioned on top of a refreshing martini-glass full of ice seemed to say exactly what I wanted to say at that moment.

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