one dirty strobe & a rain dance

i shot at Grand Pre last nite in the rain and it was incredible. you could stand in one single spot there, turn 360 degrees abd use everything around you for amazing backdrops and scenes. only the torrential rain stopped us from shooting more.

i cannot wait to go back there. havent touched the images yet but this was the last frame of the nite.

Jen tore the roof off in that dress from Felicity Bridal. She also rocks a fine set up leopard print stilettos (I've never used the word stiletto before).

my beaches have barbed wire

i've been trying to work w Sara & Dave forever...rain kept holding us back.  we wanted sun for the beach shoot.

they're getting married....somewhere, sometime. it will be hot and sandy.

this was a very fun shoot. very fun.

here's but 3 for now. it's late.

they put the Rad in Seniors

my high school days flashed before my very eyes a few weeks ago when I shot an event for a group of seniors from Halifax Grammar School.

i'm really looking forward to doing more grade grad/senior work this year. All I have from my senior prom are a few goofy grad photos in a cape and a few more snap shots my parents took. 

i thought i was the cat's pajamas back then. cool as the wind. but I don't have the photos to prove it.

with the high school kids its more an effort to show who they are as opposed to what they look like in a graduation gown. 

i don't know the cliques at HGS but I am pretty sure these are the 'cool kids'.

baby in a box

Lola's been sick the last week or so. kinda thought it was teething but it was a double ear infection, ruptured ear drum and strepp throat. she was a pile of sickness and it sucked.

got us some penicillin from the awesome Dr Gallagher and later that nite Lola was up for a photo shoot.

check her out. she brings me to tears every time i edit images of her. she is rolls and rolls of awesome every single day.

l.

Sean & Lindsay in a rowboat

i love shooting in new locations. unknown locations. 

sean & lindsay invited me down to their family's place in Chester for a little pre wedding shoot. 

i knew they had a rowboat but nothing else.

it was a visual cornucopia of awesomeness.

cannot wait for the wedding and some fine, fine automobiles to work with.

preads

i always wait until the last minute to submit an ad to Duly Noted.

the very last minute.

since my design partner is imaginary 

i was forced to come up with something.

i knew the image i wanted and i knew the size it had to be.

2 combinations of RGB, a crop and  a logo. done.

there will be no ice awards here today.

i don't really talk about it

if you know me, you know how ironic it is that, on my Mom's last day of chemotherapy, Lisa Raitt is on the cover of the Chronicle Herald with her cancer comments in print. Fresh off the

Wifag OF370 coldset printing press.

unless asked, i don't really talk about it with anyone. 

not marse. 

not mom. 

not the boys. 

nobody.

it scared the shit out of me.

i feel comfortable behind the camera,

a silent observer of sorts.

so mom & i agreed that we'd shoot the last treatment. 

to celebrate it.

not to fear it.

we also told Lola that Nanna was going to be around for a long, long time.

her courage to let us post this slideshow says more than I can ever tell you about how strong she is.

you rock Mom.

xo

gillian & brendan

serendipity. 

the paper was right there, all alone in a huge corner of the train station. 

how could you not try it again?

one of my favorites from Gillian & Brendan's wedding.

erika & mark

 love it when an idea takes on a life of its own. in fact, i wish it was that way all the time.

i have always wanted to do a shoot at this tree. You know the tree.

erika & mark met me there around 6pm under mostly sunny skies and Simpson's clouds. 

 love me some Simpson's clouds.

Sunset was set for about 8.30pm.

Turns out that behind this tree was long green grass, thick brown mud and 360 degrees of awesome.

i had planned on shooting w a few strobes but the sky was great, the sun was getting lower and erika & mark had no problem w treking through mud and leaping small brooks for a few shots.

so we grabbed one camera, a few lenses and left the rest behind.

i'd love to take themback here for the wedding shots but we've got big plans for Truro.

they like to break stuff...

when i was a wee lad, probably 10 or so, I would hop on my bike and walk about 2 blocks to the playground near my house every single monday - friday in the summers. 

i don't think they offer the same thing to kids these days, but back then they had 'big kids' looking after us little kids. we would play games, swing on swings, teeter on teeter totters, have great snacks...it was a great way to spend the summer.

i don't remember the teetering or the tottering, the games of tag or purple kool-aid. i was there for one reason and one reason only.

Donna.

She was the playground leader and the only reason I never missed at day at that playground on Alexander St in Sydney. I got "King of the Playground" that year...not for sharing or sports or winning. it was because i never missed a second at that playground. if it was pouring rain and freezing I'd peer down the winding sidewalk of Alexander St to see if Donna was coming to work.

no wonder i was never really that good at team sports. i was a skirt chaser at 10.

why am I telling you this? because i hadn't thought about that time until 25 years later, Donna's brother, Darryl, calls me up to get some pics of his three boys as a surprise birthday present for their Mom. 

I asked him what they were into and he said, "What are they into? They love to break stuff!"

these 3 dudes came into the studio and were the most well behaved, polite, charismatic little fellas I've ever seen. Darryl told me that after the shoot one of the boys said, "Dad, Liam's more teenager than adult isn't he?". Success!

here's a few from the shoot.