Monday, June 29, 2009

Green College in the woods.

The best thing I have found in following my passion is the diversity of images I am able to capture and the spaces I am able to visit.
In working with Green College out at UBC I found a mini 'green' oasis inside a bustling campus. Green College is working on new promotional material and trying to develop a presence at UBC. The grounds are spectacular, the students who reside there so diverse and the buildings are beautiful and old which I absolutely love. They have modern facilities as well, but I am generally intrigued by anything with history.
The standard building images were captured, but I love that they want to include more mood images in order to make people feel a connection to the space. We have a lot more work to do, but here are a few samples that I really like.
I wish I had known about Green College when I went to UBC. It is a hidden gem.




Thursday, June 25, 2009

Vancouver is a pretty cool and open-minded city!

On Monday I received a phone call asking for my services for a very intimate wedding the next day. Karen and Lisa had flown in from Australia the day before, saw how open and amazing Vancouver is for sex-same weddings and decided then to organize a ceremony for the next day. They managed to pick up a licence, find a marriage commissioner, find moi aka the photographer, pick out rings, make hair appts, and have bouquets made.
They left the next day to head down to San Fransisco where initially they had wanted to tie the knot, but of course were thwarted. A quick side trip to Vancouver to suss out the situation here was very rewarding.
I would just like to say for the record that these two beautiful women were a joy to photograph. I often felt as if they didn't even know I was there. I believe these nuptials were a long time coming for the two of them. They were so obviously in love and felt very comfortable in Vancouver. I asked them about their experience and commented that is not always a gay-friendly city. For them everyone went out of their way to help them set the details and thus my faith is restored.
I seem to have had a few faith restoring episodes in the last little while from all angles. I was very pleased that they found me and I wish them the best for the future.












Monday, June 22, 2009

To be humbled by the 'bump'.

Taking photos of those who are not that comfortable in front of the camera can be a most beautiful experience. I find that a true honesty comes through in the images I capture. I also find that if I am patient I can find the silliness or the pure beauty that each couple shares.
Maternity sessions rank very high in terms of moments of pure awe for me. I love capturing this very intimate time. I also see it as a last chance to catch the soul of a woman before she enters into motherhood. I know that is a little sexist, but the process of birthing a child changes women so completely. To be responsible for growing and then releasing a living being into the world is overwhelming, and I am speaking from personal experience and in my own opinion.
I am so grateful to be invited into the homes of those on the verge of parenthood. It is a touching and emotional experience for me. I very easily get caught up in the tender glances shown because I can just imagine what is going on in the minds of those behind my lens.







Thursday, June 18, 2009

Honour Queen for a day.

June is the month for the passing on of the Honour Queen as I learned this past weekend. The reigning young woman retired her crown, but not before we documented her in her regalia.
It was a lovely afternoon spent walking along a bike path for the most part which is not the easiest place to record images as I found out and yet I should have known. It was a fun shoot and I learned a lot. It is always a good thing to expand my mind.




Tuesday, June 16, 2009

I have a thing for feet


Now, let me just say that it is not a foot fetish that I have, but I do have quite the collection of feet images. I worked a golf tournament last week and I love to take photos of the golfers who go all out and dress the part. This year I didn't find as many, but I still managed to capture a few.
One day I will show my series on feet, bare feet that is, as I have been collecting images for over 10 years now.

Beautiful, yet tired feet of a vollunteer.


Thursday, June 11, 2009

CAR FREE DAY THIS WEEKEND

Just a reminder to all for the very exciting CAR FREE DAY across Vancouver on Sunday June 14th. I am hitting Main Street with the fam. Here is the website for any other information: http://www.carfreevancouver.org/

PICS FROM THE DAY:

The family spent a most fantastic afternoon walking down Main Street for Car Free Day. It was hard to choose between the Drive and Main Street, but I think we did very well. We rode our bikes over and took in the vendors, the amazing musicians and the performers.


I was very excited to hear Miss Emily Brown serenading us with her amazing voice. I didn't realize she was back from her adventure back East. Her voice is absolutely incredible. http://www.myspace.com/missemilybrown



My child, of course, finds the faerie in the crowd and follows her.

Another fascinating individual for the children to watch. We ended up picking up two hoola hoops and the 4 year old is already quite competent at it.

My youngest found the skateboarders entrancing and we spent quite a bit of time watching them. I was pleased to see both sexes represented. Is it wrong to desire your child to be a skater?






I wish I caught the name of this band. They played between Starbucks and JJ Bean and man, they were great.







Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Very elegant grads

I meant to post these photos last month,but time got away from me. I had a most amazing night photographing the graduating class of VST at the Christ Church Cathedral. It was so great on a few levels.
This was my first time being inside of the Christ Church Cathedral and WOW was it overwhelming. I was there early and the light filling the church from the stained glass windows was so delicate and beautiful.
The graduating speakers were so inspiring with their words. I am not a religious person, but I respect those who follow their faith. I remain a more earthbound individual and have had a few opinions on the insitution of churches (historically speaking), but listening to words spoken that night my faith was restored. I felt that if the open-mindedness and compassion of those graduating and going on to fulfill ministries was what the 'Church' had in its future, then perhaps I too could be more open in terms of the institution of religion.




The choir was breathtaking and made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I need to find out if they do concerts there as it truly was a soul-uplifting experience.