My Mom's New Kitchen

The title says it all. These cabinets were custom made to the layout she wanted. I wish I would have shot a before for the afters I have here. But you can all trust me that it's a million times better this way.

Love you mom!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I kept trying to think of a great idea for a Christmas card for everyone. So just like most of my shopping, I shot this on the eve of Christmas. Just in time. I did stay up pretty late testing my graphic design skills (don't judge me). This is what I came up with. I know a lot of people who haven't been in a Holiday mood. Hopefully this will change that for a few of you! Please comment on the photo. I never know who sees my blog!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

PS. Aliens do exist! Look up all you can on the Rothschild family and what will happen in 2012.

The Death of a Bryan

There's something really cool about dramatic lighting. I Never seem to do it very often with the stuff I usually shoot. I wanted play with my lights a bit at home and asked Bryan to sit in. He really doesn't mind since he gets a wicked facebook profile picture out of it. We got talking about a few series ideas and as morbid as it may seem, this is what we came up with.Keep your eye out for more like this, and once I feel the collection is done, I'll post them all together.

Sushi Time?

I haven't written a blog in a little while. Actually it has been since I got back from the NACO Tour. I took a little time to breath again as well as archiving and editing everything. I've been itching to shoot some food lately, but all I could come up with was an empty plate.Now don't get me wrong, I love my empty plate. but hopefully in a few days I'll be able to find the time to pick up some food to put in these plates.

I have been doing a lot of thinking lately. Possible shoot ideas and such. I think the next month or 2 will be a great time to focus on personal projects. I'll try to post some more soon.

Nearing the end.

So I'm in Winnipeg, and it's the last of the tour. I'll be home after midnight this Wednesday. I haven't done any shooting for myself as I am spread pretty thin with everything going on. A flight a day takes its toll. Everything seems like a blur. I really have to think of what happened in what city/provence. All the musicians on the tour are absolutely amazing at what they do. With their great mix of personalities and sense of humour, this is not what I imagined.With everything that's been happening, I'm glad I'm taking photos the whole time. Its not just the memories, but good memories. I'm able to see places that I would have never thought to see before. It's a pretty amazing feeling. Everyone on the tour probably feels like I do when I'm sad to see it be over, but it's an even greater feeling to go home to loved ones. Tonight is the last big reception. I figure I might as well write something now seeing as I probably wont be up to it in the morning. You may have noticed I started to do the tacky claim stamp on the images. Apparently someone likes my work so much they want to claim it as their own. To whom ever you are, Fack Off! To everyone else. Thanks for reading, I'll try to post again before I go home but don't count on it! Be home soon!

More more more.

I have been doing a ridiculous amount shooting. My most so far was in Edmonton. I shot 5 different events lasting 12 hours total for the NAC and I then went on to do my own shoot that night. Its no wonder My shot counter on the camera is nearing 35 000. The shoot I did to reward myself after my very hard day of work was more of a sexy shoot. More so than I have been anyway. Yesterday in Calgary I had 2 shoots planned for myself cuz it was suppose to be my day off. I was able to do one of them downtown in the afternoon, but then last minute I was called to duty. At 5pm I was driven an hour and a half to Banff to shoot a smaller concert. 1 hour for the concert, another hour for the reception, then the drive back to Calgary. I'd like to say I went to banff and it was absolutely gorgeous. But all I saw was a black sky. Couldn't even see the mountains in the distance. Quite unfortunate but I suppose it will give me all the more reason to go back and get the experience I feel I should have. For the rest of this trip it will be pretty much a flight a day. I will be going non stop. I've been fighting off a cold since the end of the first week so hopefully I'll be healthy when I finally land in ottawa. This shot is of Dori in downtown Calgary.

Kamloops = Amazing

When I'm not too busy being shy, I can meet some really great people. Emily Long, who blew me away with the way she aspires to live her life. I first saw her in a coffee shop and thought to myself, it would be great to take photos of someone like her. I kept on doing the touristy thing in downtown Kamloops. Not long after I happened to see this young lady again. I Had to ask. I was about a block and a half behind her, I was debating what would be less creepy, if I ran up, or walked. (both pretty creepy) I took my time and followed her to the water and looking up at the mountains and down at the water, I couldn't not ask. "excuse me, sorry to bother you. I'd really like to take your photo...."The conversation went on about music and experiences the entire time. After taking photos of the NAC Orchestra at the local theater, I met up with her again and met some other local musicians. The lot of us went back to her place to chill out, and to my surprise she put on Minus the Bear. Needless to say it brought back some amazing memories from home as well as made some pretty great new ones.

the bulk

Hey everyone, I'm not posting many photos of the actual tour cuz there's just too many. If you guys want to see what I've been shooting on a daily basis check out

http://www.nacotour.ca/en/gallery/
Its updated fairly regularly. Yesterday on Nov 1st, I was able to do a few little things for myself. After shooting Master Classes with members of the Orchestra, I went to get a little bit of a hair cut and had a great conversation with Gerard. He agreed to sit for a photo.

After shooting the concert at the Royal Theatre here in Victoria, I left the reception early to take photos of Kyla and Scott. A local couple who agreed to do some photos. This is a very busy trip, but so worth it.

I wanna ride on a WhiteHorse

Its really unfortunate that I didn't get to spend as much time in the Yukon as I would have liked. While the 80 of us on tour waited and just took in the fresh cold air. Looking off to the endless snow covered tarmac to the mountains that surrounded.
With a population of the entire Yukon only being about 35000, most of the people are in whitehorse. There was a lot of cute little shops near the
hotel that I was able to check out. Best of all, is the 50's diner that i stumbled upon. What a great place!

Only spending about 26 hours in the Yukon in total, We flew out in what the locals call an "ice fog" to set of for Victoria. The first night here, there wasn't a concert, but there was a party with the lieutenant-governor of British Colombia. Tons of great food and drinks-o-plenty! rich people sure know how to throw a party!
It's Halloween and a huge part of me wants to be home spending it with friends. It's almost like christmas to me. I've been jumping around from hotel to hotel and this tour is far from over. All of the musicians have taken a liking to me, which makes things easier. I still miss everyone from home like crazy! I'll be home soon!

Is a day off really a day off?

(I would like everyone to know that none of these are retouched in photoshop. I did fix them for colour and contrast when I turned them into small jpgs.)

Yesterday I had myself a day off to sigh see, to shop, and to shoot for myself. I didn't shop, but I did do a bit of sigh seeing while I met up with a model named Amanda-Lynn, and she was nice enough to drive me around to see a few things while we tried to do some stock photos. I was surprised to see so many people outside enjoying the weather. Most people were on cellphones, but still out none the less.

After Amanda and I parted ways, I was able to set up another last minute photoshoot with Laura. I figure if I have a hotel room paid for, I might as use it to my advantage. Got some wine, popcorn, and a laptop, that's all you need.

It happens often (pretty much every time I shoot) where I surprise myself. It's a really good feeling when I finish a shoot and I'm proud of what the outcome is. Especially when I look at them later on and see that the eyes are in focus!
Both of these shoots were so last minute. The first one I only had a reflector and the second was done with 2 flashes. One with an umbrella, and the other bouncing off the wall. All of the money I will be making off this trip is already spent on gear for the trip. Coming out even isn't bad but I'm still crossing my fingers that these collections will sell. I've got about 100 from Amanda and about 160 from Laura. Round of applause for the last minute models!

A lot of you might already know the story of what I'm doing for three weeks, but for those of you who don't, here it is.

It came out of nowhere, but it was a chance of a lifetime. Luckily, with last minute cancelations and no one else available, I was offered the job almost a week before this trip was scheduled to take place. Trevor Lush calls me up and says, "would you like to tour west coast Canada with the NAC Orchestra?" Unsure of what was to be expected of me, or if I even had all the right equipment, I willingly jumped to the opportunity.

Since I no longer have a fulltime job, there was nothing stopping me from taking off for three weeks. The only thing I had to do to get the gig was to prove my ability. Three days before we were to say "bon voyage!" I went to the NAC to take some test shots of the orchestra. I ended up showing Jane (the kind lady that hired me) the photos and all she said was "your hired." Needless to say my face lit up, as I thanked her and expressed my excitement.

So today, we set out on the adventure to share music. I am to capture most of the events we will be doing over the 20 days. Landing at 1pm Vancouver time, I settled into my hotel room, (with 2 beds all to myself...how will I choose which one to sleep in?) and took a walk to check out my surroundings. I ended up stumbling upon a wine store and treated myself to a nice sauvignon blanc. There is an Irish pub down the street, I'd be a fool not to check it out. Especially with the per diem they gave me in advance. Here's to you NAC! Cheers!

ThxGvn... Great food, Cute kids.

When I came home for Thanks Giving, I wasn't expecting to spend it with two different families. There's something about a quiet dirt road that just makes everything look good to me. I could not have asked for a better surrounding.

There's something amazing about the size of a childs eyes when they're happy. Almost makes me want to be around them more often. But then there's the way they act when hunger and boredom makes them cranky.

We ended the day with a few beers, and a sweet new cardigan photo.

Darlings of Chelsea

The Black Halos, Cheerleader, and even Robin Black are all components that make up the band. These guys are an incredible mix of talent and experience. They sounded like they had been playing together for years, but in reality only a few months. Without them ever playing a show together, I was lucky enough to be invited to take photos of them at practice.



I would almost call it a surreal experience to be around these guys. While Sean sang his heart out, Paul and Jay were ripping on guitar, Robby playing base, and Chris on drums, their unique sound came together seamlessly. After the jam, we hung out with them in the lounge area and I got a good idea of how much fun these guys have on a daily basis.



After the beer and pizza was done, we set out for Dakota Tavern. A small basement bar with a band with a country feel. The night finished off with great conversation and the enjoyment of finally hearing Robert Johnson's tracks playing at a bar.

The following morning, I really wanted to take some daylight photos of the guys. Overdone, yet timeless, I had the guys stand in a straight line in whatever area I found to be photogenic.





Later that evening, I met up with Kristen, a friend from High School. After catching up for a few hours (to update the 7 years of not seeing each other) we decided to have some drinks at her friends place before Nuit Blanche. For those of you who aren't familiar with the event. Imagine an entire downtown area with an art exhibit at every street corner (at least.) Only happens once a year from sunset, to sunrise. The group grew and shrank with passing of time, and once we had enough of the packed sidewalks and amazing art, myself and 3 others went for milkshakes and quite possibly the biggest and best mountain of nachos I've ever laid eyes on.



Every so often I get to be on these little adventures where I am overwhelmed with the outcome. When nothing really goes wrong, and I get some great images, It's not something I will soon forget.

Thanks everyone for the great times and generous hospitality.

Blogging Is The Thing To Do

I've decided to try blogging to be like all the other cool cats. I'll update this stuff as much as I can. It feels like this might be the start of a beautiful addiction.

Last night, my lovely friend Nadine and I went to be in a few photos for iStyle clothing company and on the way home we decided to stop for a little shoot. I just recently sent myself into more debt to get some speedlights and so far, it's been worth it!

American Apparel eat your heart out!