Felix Renaud is a Montreal, Canada based photographer specialized in portraits and narrative imagery. Felix loves to capture the essence of fictional and real-life characters. He was attracted by cartoons & movies and he is more passionate about colors, contrast, and composition to tell stories.
In his words about lighting “It’s hard to explain my lightning because it changes from a shoot to another. I work mostly with strobes. Every shoot is different, sometimes I can use one light and sometimes ten.”
Thanks, Felix for accepting our invitation. Please read on…
Could you please introduce yourself?
I am a Montreal-based photographer specialized in portraits and narrative imagery. Capturing the essence of fictional and real-life characters is what I love most. I always work on my photos to make them look like they’re from of a movie or similar to a painting.
I’ve always been attracted by beautiful images, mostly cartoons, and movies. That’s why I’m so passionate about using colours, contrast, and composition to tell stories.
How did Photography happen to Felix?
My younger brother had a new camera at the time. I was a bit jealous and curious about taking pictures. So I bought my own, while I was studying at film school. I thought I wanted to be a DOP. As life would have it, I started working as a camera assistant and quickly realized it wasn’t for me, so I started to assist a few photographers here and there and before I knew it, I was honing my photography skills and building a solid client base.
Your photographs are very creative and inspiring; can you please explain your lighting and studio setups?
It’s hard to explain my lightning because it changes from a shoot to another. I work mostly with strobes. Every shoot is different, sometimes I can use one light and sometimes ten.
Before you start a shoot, how will you prepare yourself?
I think a lot before a shooting. Whether for a client or for a personal project, I act in the same way, I like to be prepared. I inspire myself first by looking at pictures, movies or by listening to music. I put on paper my ideas, I draw lighting plans and prepare a list of equipment that I will need. After that, anything can happen!
How do you inspire yourself?
Once I have a project in mind, I think about it all the time. Not only when I’m at the studio or at the office, all the time. I find inspiration or ideas around me in connection with upcoming projects. It can be the way the sun lights someone outside, or the way the concierge walks from a grocery store. Most of the time, I look at the things or pictures that catch my attention and I ask myself this simple question, why do I like that? We rarely take the time to ask ourselves a simple question like this.
What type of camera, lenses and lighting equipment do you use?
- Camera body: Canon 5DIII and Canon 5DS
- Lens: The new primes from Sigma Art 24mm, 35mm, 50mm, 85mm and Canon 100mm, 135mm and 200mm
- Filters: Rarely I use filters but sometimes a polarizer or an ND.
- Flash: Speedotron packs and Alienbees
- Photoflex softboxes, Matthews gripping gear, and Manfrotto tripods.
- Outex case for my underwater work
If you could go on assignment anywhere in the world to shoot whatever you wanted; where and what would it be, and why?
Go to New Orleans to photograph real bluesman. To be able to be part of such a rich musical community. To photograph this in my own way, documentary photos with a touch of fiction.
If not a Photographer, what would you have been?
Hard one! I think I would be a graphic designer or an illustrator.
What is the best compliment do you ever had?
That I had my own photographic signature.
Which photographers have inspired you?
Chris Buck, Tim Tadder, Yan Rabanier and Joey L, just to name a few.
Who are you, besides being a photographer?
Parent of two beautiful beings, Pablo and Luna. And I’m engaged to the most wonderful and powerful women, Manuela. Otherwise, I am passionate about water. I practice swimming and freediving in my spare time to rejuvenate myself.
Copyrights:
All the pictures in this post are copyrighted to Felix Renaud. Their reproduction, even in part, is forbidden without the explicit approval of the rightful owners.
