Caps To Ya Dome

Meet Nathan Dueck of Oldhat. He makes beautiful, quality hats for a living in Winnipeg, MB. Here he wears the Cadet hat which looks right at home on his dome.

Will carefully selects the right Cadet hat of his choice before sitting for his Oldhat portrait.

The one and only Will Belford, wearing the Cadet hat. Just right.

Lisa in the Cadet hat. I miss this ding-dong especially now that she has moved to Nelson, BC. So close, so far. 

Nathan sits for his Oldhat portrait shot by Natalie Baird (also wearing the Cadet hat while sitting on the Quality Builders drafting stool made by my Grandpa Frank KK).

Beautiful Natalie soaking up the October rays. Mid-shoot cold one for this gal.

Will cracking up the ladies as per usual.

Nat works at ease while shooting a portrait on her Hasselblad for Oldhat! Makeshift dark throw: my flannel housedress.

Iain dons the Cycle Cap with grace.

A beautiful soul called Chloe wearing the Conductor hat (my kind of hat).

Classic Lisa King right here folks. She wears the Schoolyard hat with sass.

Reason number one million and seventeen why I love this dingaling. 

Margot Pollo for Oldhat: contrast / candid edition

On a warm day in mid October, a few friends gathered on mine and Iain's back deck for a shoot to showcase the latest work of Winnipeg hat maker Nathan Dueck. Regular, wacky folk wearing five different styles of handmade, quality Oldhats: the Schoolyard, the Cadet, the Conductor, the Cycle Cap and the 5-Panel (sadly not pictured on this roll). Natalie Baird and I co-shot the lookbook (taking turns shooting portraits on her delicious Hasselblad) which was a delightful experience. I shot all of the contrast photos in the series above. It was a really interesting experiment to share the Directress of Photography reins with another photographer whom I admire deeply. We took turns at the camera and it turned into a really fun and intuitive dance. I really appreciated Natalie letting me learn to navigate her Hasselblad. What a beautiful camera to operate. The Hasselblad offered such a different composition experience compared to looking through the barrel of my Kiev! The experience slowed me down, made me second guess the decisive moments where I would naturally blast. And let me tell you, that was not a bad thing at all! It is good to slow down composition once in a while.

While taking in the color lookbook for the first time, I could hardly tell whom shot what. I'm taking that as a good sign Nat! Looking forward to seeing those portraits make their way onto the Oldhat site. CLICK to scope Nathan's current shop selection. I have the Conductor and wear it to death. Sturdy and slick all at once. My kind of hat!

Margot Pollo presents: a funny behind-the-scenes look at the 2015 shoot for Oldhat! Thank you to Lisa King, Natalie Baird, Nathan Dueck, Chloe Bishop Dueck, Iain Petkau and Will Belford for graciously modelling.

Kiev 60 / Delta 400