Airport

Pearson International Airport, on the way to Gate 173. If I had had more guts I would have tried more shots of the crowds at the airport but I was worried I'd get wrangled by security. This one turned out alright though.

Princess Cafe I love you

I spend a lot of time at the Princess Cafe in UpTown Waterloo drinking double long espressos and meeting up with friends. Sometime last week I had a hair-brained idea, what if I volunteered to take some pics of the Cafe and staff for their website? It would be a great chance for me to practice my photography and to give this great establishment some free material for their promo. So I threw the idea at them and they were keen. I was incredibly nervous about the whole thing. I knew it would be a huge challenge for me to motivate my subjects, to keep them happy and engaged, while at the same time focusing on getting my vision for each photo to work. I got there at 9:45am and the cafe staff had all dressed up, they were looking fabulous and they all got into it. I don’t think it could have gone any better than it did. Here are a few of the photos. If you want to see the entire album check out:

https://picasaweb.google.com/109659506949083227061/PrincessCafePhotoshoot

Thanks to Marc, Celene, Jill, Donavyn, Jess, Sarah, Jory, and Ryan for being so photogenic and making this photo shoot so much fun!

Ruby, a White German Shepard

Michele, a dear friend who lives in Thunder Bay, Ontario, has had two white German Shepards over the past decade and I have had the pleasure of being able to take countless walks in the boreal forest with both these dogs. The first Shepard, Peat was her name, passed away a couple of years ago, that’s when Ruby entered Michele’s life. I fell for Ruby immediately. She’s a wonderfully curious and so so sweet dog. Here are some photos of Ruby, now two years old, from a couple of weeks ago. She is very photogenic but like most dogs is hard to keep still. I spent most of my time chasing her around and tempting her with treats. The black dog barking is my rowdy dog, Tegan.

ProFusion 2011 in Toronto

This past weekend I spent hours in workshops and walking the exhibition floor at Vistek’s ProFusion event (big industry event featuring camera and video technology/companies and pros). I was pissing myself the whole time wishing I could afford even a fraction of the gear on display, but I kept my wallet in a quiet and lonely place. It blows my mind how much one could spend on gear!

The workshops were a highlight. I took one with pro photographer Seth Resnick. Very cool guy who tells it like it is. Though he gave a somewhat depressing look at the business of photography he was realistic, didn’t shy away from telling us that it’s almost impossible to be successful in the trade, it’s competitive, etc. etc. One thing that stuck with me was his story about his favorite assistant. She passed all his ‘tests’ but during the interview she confessed she had no photography experience, just graduate with an MBA and wanted to study with Seth cause she loved his work. He took her on for six years and she was the best assistant he had. That gave me a glimmer of hope. Me, with no formal training, have a little more hope that I am on the right path because I’m following my heart.

Here are some pics I took at a workshop on flash photography with Mark Cleghorn from the UK. First time I got to use a flash trigger and a beautiful professional model (Joanne Blouin).

Soul searching- First post!

It was a couple of months ago, just before my 30th birthday, when I lost it. I mean, I have been working my way up in the not-for-profit world, the environmental and social justice world, the professional activist world, for the last 5 years solid. Now I'm giving that all up. No more campaigns, public education, or petitions. It might seem like the most fulfilling kind of work anyone could do, however, I have seen too much to believe that the not-for-profit industry is actually effective. But this isn't the place for those theories, this blog is the space I need to dive into my new path: photography. Well, I have always loved

(Leah and baby Rosalie, 2009) making art and taking pictures. I have always wanted to learn more about lighting, exposure, and the techniques of quality photography but I never let myself get into it because I was busy playing with all my activist friends trying to make social change and with all that self-righteous 'I wanna change the world' shit.

I turned 30 and decided I was going to make this happen. You only live once and you've got to make it count. I have been too stressed working in front of a computer, organizing people for various causes, trying to always do the right thing for someone else to even notice that I was not doing the work that excited me or made me happy. I will spend the next year learning as much as I can through online courses, workshops, and I will practice, practice, practice. My goal is to become an assistant to a pro photographer (or cinematographer*) in a year. I am going to build my portfolio and I'm going to learn as much as I can about the techniques of good photography, and I don't mean retouching everything in Photoshop but actually taking natural, visually stunning pictures that capture the soul of the moment. (Erin, shot on new Canon Rebel T2i April 2010, Kitchener)

I totally respect the things people do to images on the computer, but that's just not my thing. I am fascinated by the beautiful and curious things people do and somehow I will work to capture those moment through my pictures.

I am so new to this. I am learning everyday. I don't expect that every photo I post on here will be amazing, but I am trying to pick the best ones that: a) tell a story; b) expose a reality about a person(s) or a place; c) will make you/me feel; d) are pleasing to your/my eyes.

(Anchor on a ferry, Greece, 2009)

*So why cinematography? Though video/film technology and equipment are different creatures from those used in photography, film is my long-lost love. I made student films when I was young, played with a video camera whenever I could, made a short doc on HD a couple of years ago about young Afghan-Canadians, and a Super 8 music video called ‘Vampirella’. A couple of months ago I produced a feature film with a good friend of mine. The project, a no-budget independent film, was my first real film work but I slipped into the producer/manager role real easy, I guess I get it from all the campaigns, events, and projects I’ve had to manage over the years. My real dream in film is to be behind the camera, hence the desire to work with a cinematographer.