around school.

things are really starting to settle in at school. Lots of papers to write, exams to study for, and books to read from. Its a lot of fun, but also lots of work. One thing i am trying this year that i did not last year is the photography club. So far we have had one meeting, and there is a bit of a competition, to take the best pictures around the campus. I have some good ideas but only took a few pictures the other night, i need to go out again sometime and shoot. I liked all the lines on this one.

Volley Ball

Its been a while, school is getting busy, lots of reading, papers, and midterms. After studying all day yesterday i finally got out of the books and went to the home opener volley ball game last night. Pretty fun, although the girls lost, the guys won. Volley ball is not really the type thing i like to shoot, there really a photo journalistic type style photography to it. You cant ask the subject to move where you want, or just redo that last move. Usually you just let whats going on continue to go on without interfering and try to just record the events...not really my style. I see myself as a perfectionist and like to go for a picture i REALLY like. any how. heres my favorite from last night.

XDR- TB

James Nachtwey, a journalist who has been working amidst conflict for the past 20 some years. Here are some moving pictures, of people with XDR- TB, a new strain of tuberculosis which has no known cure.

everything.

finally i think i am getting used to everything being back to "normal". School is defiantly alot of work this year, but last night i did manage to get out. It was our youth groups kick off and one of the guys in my small group plays in a rock band called Jacob's Ladder. For high school guys they are really good... for any band they are really good. They are extremely tight, and really know how to play their instruments. I had alot of fun at the concert, especially trying some differant stuff photography wise than i normally would.

World Civilization

Sitting in class. This is the third lecture in this class this semester, and we have not even talked about specific historical events, we talk about how we see history, Check out the eyes on this butterfly, imagine how it would see things. This "world veiw" or like how you see things is a really cool part of being a photographer. Your job, is to capture images, how you or others want to see them, and remember them. it is an interesting position in society, you stop time, and store it forever. Old pictures are always fun to look at, see how society functioned a while ago. I think that is some of the draw to film photography for me, its just how it used to be done, you take a step back into history. Just a few thoughts.

.

wow its been a while. I am back in school which creates one little problem. Time.  A) Carrie and i are both back in school (and she just got a new job) so when we have free time we try to hang out lots. B) Due to this, i havnt gotten out to take many pics this week. C) Reading... I have had alot of it in my first week. So much that i think I may have to turn into an old boring man sitting in the basement and reading all day. For a picture for this post, its kinda getting back into routine, winter, haha, i just liked the picture.

Tank.

This morning i was thinking i should go to the driving range with my youth pastor. He called me later in the day and he was going to come over and pick me up... i then realized my clubs were still at Carries. We headed to her house and tried to get in the back door. Tank came and said hi, then saw Barron and bolted. Hes a funny dog, petrified of strangers but so loving to the people he likes. Seems tough on his side of the fence but is a complete baby anywhere else. He loves to round people up, he is partially blue heeler or something, and has some sheep dog in him ( i know nothing about dog breeds) and loves nip you in the butt. Funny little dog, actually hes not little. he is probably almost 100 pounds.

stuff.

I always kinda found it hard to portray the fun of mountain biking in images. Usually  only the BIG stuff gets shot, like a gnarly downhill section, or a big drop or jumps. The fact is i know so many people who just love ripping down a single track with their buddies or hanging out at a skate park trying some different stuff. If you look at a larger version of this shot (on my flickr if you like) , you can see that ben has a huge smile on his face, even though i made him ride through the puddle a second time to get this shot. There something about being totally secluded, just your buddies chilling out. Being able to scream and laugh and just do whatever you want.. no real rules, that is I think where the true fun of most extreme sports comes in, doing things that usually would not be done, taking things to the edge, or just chilling out with your buddies. Same goes for life i think, often times you can completely forget a day, within a week... even though we got rained out and walking back up moose totally sucked, i realized how much fun it was, to just be hanging out with my friends, and just having a good time. 

Moose.

Last night i got a call... it was andre " we are going to moose tomorrow! come shoot!". So i got up and we met up with tim and ben and then we drove out to moose mountain. Because i still cant ride, i ended up hiking down the hill, which took some time, and we stopped at a few places. Took a few pictures then it started to rain, and rain pretty hard. So andre and i packed up our gear, and started going back up the hill. The guys on bikes said that we were probably half way down, and then had to walk back up to the van. It pretty much sucked... but was fun to be with the guys. All my gear got soaked, don't think it is wrecked. Fun, but tiring day.

Layla.

About 46% Husky and 64% wolf, Layla cant bark, she only howls. (I am not sure about the numbers. just an estimate). Layla is the big snob. She loves to burry bones, and Smiles (bears her teeth and growls when she is happy) . She has the one chair that is hers, even though Aunty Cathy thinks they share it. Layla is a cool dog. This was taken on my rolleiflex, i like all the lines. 

Film...2

my post got me thinking. i should shoot more film. Today i looked in the phone book, found a used photography store and went and picked up some more darkroom supplies. i am stoked, now i dont have to worry about a HUGE pile of film stacking up while i wait to get it developed.  This was my first picture EVER on my rolleiflex, and pretty much my first film shot ever... besides snapshots on some little 35mm cams my family used to own. I actually really like this shot except for the detail lost in the shadow under the bush. I didnt take a long time in post, so who know, it could be recoverable. 

Film.

In the old days (before i was into photography, or born) people shot film, obviously. Then when digital came out people transfered over and lots of them now shoot digital. I did it backwards, i started digital, then i went out and got a film camera. Shooting film is different, for me right now it is almost intimidating. Having to meter everything yourself, and every shot costs money. It has been a good learning experience, even though i have only shot two and a half rolls, of Medium Format and a few 35 MM. Right now because school is just starting and i need to buy books and what not, i am holding back, developing costs and what not can get a bit expensive. This is my favorite film shot i have taken, it was off my very first roll of Medium Format, shot on my Rollei. 

george and thora.

Carries Grandparents went back to South Africa this week. It was pretty sad for me, i cant imagine how it was for for carries family. The three months i spent with George and Thora were great, they are aweso

me people. One day after going to the post office we did a photo-shoot in the basement. These shots were my favorite. George loved to go get the mail, and fix things that needed to be fixed. Thora always helped out around the house and baked great goods. They are being missed here. 

Routine

being in university, we get a long summer. really long. And because i had surgery about a month before school was over, i missed, about a month. so i have been off for about.. 5 months. Due to the surgery, i couldnt work much, so its been a very long long summer for me. After registering for school and stuff. i realize it might be hard to get back into the routine, carrie has gone back to school and not seeing her as much has already messed up my summer anti-routine routine. Even though i am exited for school, i am not too sure what i am wanting to do with my life, so  choosing which courses, and even which school has been a challenge, i decided to go back to ambrose and give this semester a try.  This was one of the shots i took last school year, it was on stephen ave. one day i took a walk after school and just shot a bit. even though the sky is kinda blown out, i think the composition is interesting.

why canon? why?

wow, new releases, again...nikon OWNS canon. Carries grandparents leave. Ole is Sick. Jeep is Smashed.... kinda a repeat of last night... NOT A GOOD WEEK

late.

wow, its been a crazy week. car crash, camping, torn up kitchen, sick dog, grandparents leave. Just been a crazy week hence no posts. With all of the trials and tough things that are happening, i realized how thankful i am for what i have. Thankful that nobody died when we crashed, and that we can just live like we do. Ole is still pretty sick, maybe pneumonia, he got put on antibiotics, i have an antibiotic buddy now i guess. heres a shot of mine.

snow.

it was the source sale today, and i picked up new boots and coat. Pretty exited for this season...if i can ride. I am exited to be out in the mountains, and now that most of the members of carries family are snowboarding, i am sure i will be getting out more. i am going camping this weekend, hence tomorrows post will not be existing.

passions.

sometimes I take things for granted, actually most of the time. Not only people, but activities that i love to do. It is interesting, the things that you love to do can sometimes become mundane and not fun. But then something reminds you, or you just have a great idea to go out and do what you love.  It is an interesting cycle.

school.

 back to school it is for me. I went and visited the new campus, and got all my classes sorted out. I guess they have a nice cafeteria which will be awesome, and i will spend alot of money at. I am pretty busy on two days but then the other three school days i only have one class. maybe some time to work will be in there. to top of this post, i will post a picture of a pie. it was dessert at the wedding, just a fun photo, that reminds me of food, which reminds me of the new cafeteria.

Ninjas

Last night a photography buddy sent me a shot of him as a ninja. I said, cool, i want to try. I suggested we have a contest, half hour to take the coolest ninja shot, He politely said "no". So i decided who needs a comp? i will just take one for fun. Ninjas are cool, after watching a good jackie chan movie i think everybody wishes they could do some flips and tricks. Well, i think if i were a ninja i would look somthing like this...

more from the wedding.

So i was planning a photo shoot for my sister, i wanted to get them during sunset out by the lake/river where they got married. Because they had already had formals done, this was not their main concern (they just got married and wanted to party!). So by the time i finally got them outside, the sun had already gone down behind the mountains. So i had to be shooting at 500 ISO , and a shutter speed of about 1/50th gave a decent look to the ambient light. I had my 430 EX shot through a white umbrella to their right (cameras left) and to fill the shadows i had a FL 36 shot through another umbrella from below the camera on the right. The lighting looked alright (though i wish we could have gotten out and incorporated the setting sun into some shots. Overall i think we did decent considering we had like five minutes to set up and shoot before we had to get back the party for their first dance. And because i was in the wedding party i had to be with them like most of the time, but whatever, i got a few good shots so its all good.

Wedding.

They got married. after a lot of planning. So my formals i was exited for were alright. It was kind of annoying because the photos were squeezed in in-between the program, so by the time we got out there, the sun had gone down and i had to push the iso to get some ambient. Here is my favorite shot i got of them in the session. The whole family is over so sorry for the brief post.

finally.

Tonight has turned to tommorow. So i guess today my sister gets married. The past few days have been crazy, with making sure tuxes fit, and rehearsal and driving to kananaskis and back a few times. The day has come and we are all exited! I need to be up at 8, i am doing "coverage" of the Salon, (probably because my girlfriend works there). So i will be taking pictures of the wedding party getting their hair done. Then a "professional" takes over while i am doing my thang up in the wedding party. Then at sunset, in the mountains. i plan to do a shoot with the bride and groom. Hopefully it will turn out! I am doing this post tonight, because i know when 8 o clock rolls around i wont be feeling up to blogging, and then i am busy all day. For the picture on this post... Hmm. Alright this one was taken at the location of the wedding, that lake and mountain will be the backdrop for the formals i am doing technically tonight (even though it feels like tomorrow night).  P.S. after posting this i realized it says it was posted at 11:02, the clock is wrong... it is really 12:02

Stock.

Stock photography. I am not quite sure how i feel about it. On the one hand getting paid for images that would usually just sit on your hard drive is nice, but on the other hand the impersonal and almost degrading relations and prices between photographers and clients is abysmal (i know... big word). But i have decided at this point in my life, stock works. It is an easy way to test out the industry (at least advertising) to see what types of images, and what standards they are looking for. And i guess that making a couple of cents a picture is better than none right? And i can truly say it is not all about money. When i was working at the photo shop and i heard about stock, i signed up and gave it a try... ALL my stuff got rejected. I was really disappointed. I guess it was just feeling i wasn't good enough, even though i though my work was really good. After submitting this time, most of my stuff got accepted, and the ones that did not were because of specific artistic ideas i had put into the picture, which wont work for stock or selling these images for advertising. Well there is my rant. Heres the one shot that got rejected. This shot was rejected because the background was "blown out", which means there is little to no detail in the background. When i took this shot i planned it to be like this. My rule for shooting at the zoo is try to make it like the animals are not in captivity. Doing this gave it almost an african hot day feel i thought. Everything is dusty and just really hot. I still really like this shot, and would consider it one of my favorites of an elephant i have taken!

Night.

Last night i stayed up later than usual. The clouds in front of the moon were being lit up, and the lighting was cool. I set up my camera on a tripod and controlled it from my laptop, so i could do very long exposures without touching the camera, hence it moving. Although none of those shots turned out very good i found this one quite interesting. I like how you can see some detail on the moon, on the left hand side of it. I though that was kind of cool. And it may not be "great photography" but i think it is a interesting part of the moon, that i have not seen in any shots taken on an SLR. 

ZOO

    If you have been reading this blog you will have realized that my house is kinda crazy right now. My sister gets married this weekend and we are trying to get the house ready for people to come over for the gift opening. You could almost say my house is like a zoo. Ok bad segway, i will admit but the ZOO!  This summer I have absolutely enjoyed myself at the zoo (minus the dinosaur part.. no real animals) I defiantly have a few favorites. Today i will highlight two. I loved these little monkeys (don't know the scientific name) but they are soo funny. Always biting at each other and i think because they are soo small they make me laugh. My other favorite are the elephants. I think i like them because i like the pictures i took of them. Next time I go i defiantly want to focus on the gorillas, and get some shots of them. But for now, it will be these small monkeys and elephants. 

Snow

August, then comes september, then october, then NOVEMBER. November is usually when the snow comes and we can all go sliding. Whether it is skis or boards i think pretty much ALL my friends enjoy a good ride. I was going to go shoot some biking last night but plans kinda fell through so for my post today i will post a snowboard picture. This picture was and still is probably one of my favorites I have taken. Andre and i went out in April and decided to do some last minute riding. Andre told me about this rock drop in tuscany that he wanted to give a try. At first he was timid, and started small, and because i had just gotten some new gear, the first few shots were alright...but not good. We went home that night happy with what we had done, but not extremely impressed. After getting home and looking over the pictures, I figured out how i could make the picture better and andre decided he had some more guts. I slept at his house and the next night we went out again and re shot... and it was worth it. He jumped off the highest point of the drop (multiple times) and i think we ended up with a good shot.  

Cake Bake and Make

My sister is getting married to Steve this saturday, and she didn't want to have a really fancy gross cake, so she convinced my mom to make her famous moist chocolate cake, and then andrea and her made of honor were going to decorate it. So they started pretty late lastnight (not realizing how much work it would be) and ended up having to stay up quite late to finish it. It kind of turned into an entire family thing (besides tyler who was in kelowna). Even though dad said he would not help, he ended up putting his engineering degree to work, Mom had baked the cake and ran around town for supplies, ole well, he just enjoyed and ate some icing, andrea, carrie and jenny made the icing and iced the cake, and i was assigned photographic duties... as always. Its fine i really love to photograph. When i decided i wanted an almost studio look when the cake was finished we had a problem. Not only is andrea getting married this week but my dad decided to redo the kitchen. We needed more cupboards for some reason and my dad being the handy guy he is ripped out most of the cupboards, so the entire time i was avoiding the ugly site of unpainted drywall and half assembled cupboards. I ended up taking my big reflector, on the black side and using it as a backdrop for the last picture of andrea and jenny together, it turned out alright, considering it was almost midnight and i rally didn't feel like getting ALL my stuff set up for the picture.  Although it took a long time i am quite happy andrea decided to make her own cake, because it will taste AMAZING and it doesn't look half bad. P.S. The layers on the cake will be separated by some device that my dad made for the wedding, just to be decorated it was easier to keep it together as one piece.

Storms

I am not too sure why, but there has been alot of strange weather in calgary the past few months. Crazy hail and more recently intense Thundershowers. Some may say this is due to global warming but i am not too sure. Anyhow here is a shot from last night, the lightning was CRAZY!