Brien and I travelled to Edmonton to create an engagement set for an old friend, and someone new! Jordan used to work for me at my past media company – devbox, and I was thrilled to find out he wanted us to share in his special day in 2010.

We met on a crazy windy day on the Strathcona tram, which allowed us some great vintage photo opportunities. It was the final run of the day, so the conductor gave us access to the tram station for a few minutes – I think they resulting photos turned out great! Throughout the day we explored some graffiti on Whyte Avenue, and slowly made our way to Rutherford house via my old haunt; the Sugar Bowl.

It was great to see my old stomping grounds again, and I can’t wait to photograph their wedding in 2010. This one will be special, as we are getting our first commercial opportunity to use the video side of our new gear, as well as play with some great HD stabilization equipment.

This great couple drove in from the Brooks, Alberta area to create an engagement session that reflected their love for rural roots.

As luck would have it, behind my house is a set of old farm buildings and abandoned vehicles. Derek was adamant that we choose a “Chevy” truck for the background (hate for Fords run deep?), and the rusted carcass left in the field gave great visual texture for their set. We chased the sunset to grab the last remaining bit of light for the day, resulting in warm, backlight images. Stay tuned for more of this couple as we shoot their wedding in 2010.

Taryn came to me after seeing Steph & Brad’s wedding photos, what a great referral! Taryn and Jon wanted to include their dogs (which are like family) into their engagement set, so we got a few shots with their mix of doberman, rottweiler and chihuahua brood (who were very well behaved for the camera). Kudos to both of them as they braved the chill of a Lethbridge October evening to get some great shots. They are such a great looking couple, and naturals in front of the lens, they made my job easy.

I was approached by local stylist Tanya Yancie early in the planning stages and helped corral a portion of the 15 photographers who donated their time to document the day via the Alberta Strobist group. Brio salon is beautifully modern, family owned and operated. I was pleasantly surprised at how such a visually stimulating place could lay inside an unassuming retail storefront on one of the busiest streets in Lethbridge.

Rather than take portraits for the kids, I took a documentary approach so Brio could have an album to share their contribution with the community. 200 kids were affected by the movement this year, and were sent home with many grooming supplies donated from local businesses. I feel strongly that this will be an annual event, and I can’t wait to help out next Summer to help kids feel great about themselves, and give them a fresh start for the coming school year.

I joke that my specialty in photography is shooting “girls in dresses”. No matter what style of photography I try, I always seem to fall back into accentuating beauty and working with people. I’m a people-person and love the collaboration between model and photographer. I’ve been extremely fortunate this year to work with many talented models from around Canada and the United States – some of these frames highlight shoots from Boston, MA to Missoula, MT.

Enjoy!

We started the day with a formal session in the Prince of Wales hotel, where we were lucky enough to have the dining room all to ourselves. As you can see by the image with the chair, the weather outside was wind, rain and fog. Not so great for a bridal session.

Luckily, Torin and I had just returned from a lighting class in Missoula Montana, and were fresh with new ideas that helped recreate sunlight for the shoot. If you look carefully in some of these shots, you’ll notice it was raining the entire time – but Vicki and Nathan (our couple for the day) were troopers and pushed through it with grace and style!

My favourite frames from this shoot are the monotone images at Cameron Falls. We intentionally lit the falls much darker than our couple for a dramatic look. I think it looks more like a theatre backdrop than the typical “bride by the waterfall” tourist shot I’ve seen in other albums.

Now that this shot is over I joke with my brides to be that I bring along a “Plug-in Sun” just in case the weather turns.

As a warm-up to the Lethbridge Streetwheelers show, I had the opportunity to light and photograph a fantastic Ford street rod – a consistent winner for “best paint” in shows around the country.

Having teamed up with Brien Gehring as a lighting assist, I was eager to photograph it – as I hadn’t professionally lit a car before (let alone a black one, the hardest of all). The landscape scene in the door is intentional, and I lit this car as I would a portrait for a human subject.

Kudos to Brien for his work on securing the location at the old Galt Mine #8 after hours. It really fit this ride.

The idea started innocently enough as a group of fellow photographers began discussing a photo shoot done for a European triathalon team. What would it take to do something similar in Southern Alberta? Has anyone shot under water before? How do you light it? What are the challenges?

Then a few of us turned the idea into reality. Through luck, networking, and a bit of old fashioned elbow grease – we’ve received permission to use the diving windows this Sunday to coordinate what I belive will be Lethbridge’s largest photographer collaboration of the year. One of the photographers shoots fashion, and was able to have a local designer create two unique peices just for this event. My old business partner has his SCUBA certification, so we will be able to work at longer intervals.

The local paper is ready to cover it, I’m itching to post some of the early frames right from the shoot location. Now if only we could convince a recent bride to trash the dress in the pool!

Stay tuned, big things are coming, look for sample frames early next week.

Did I mention the food is phenomenal? Clean, modern, great service – and serves more than pizza…
[mappress]

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Ian & Amber, our couple for the day were certianly easy to work with, what a great looking couple! My job was to hang back and capture candids with the long lens (wedding paparazzi) which was a ton of fun. I started the day at St. Pat’s for the ceremony (beautiful setting, lots of stained glass and pale contrasting tones) and then off to Henderson Lake and the Galt Museum for wedding party photos.

This was the first wedding of 2009 for me, and was a great warmup for some of the solo couples I’ve booked through the year. Ian & Amber are off to Thailand for their honeymoon, for a well deserved break.

I hope to work with Tanya again in this capacity, it really was low stress, high quality results.

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