I haven’t posted in a while. It’s been a long time. It was just a few days ago that the fireworks happening in all parts of the world as we all collectively rung in the new year of 2022… and with a new year comes new opportunities. As I sat down and looked at some of my old photos and old posts from a while ago, I thought to myself that it was finally time to start to come back again and turn back on the pilot light that was my photography passion. You see, COVID really put a damper on that.
How do you even begin to encapsulate a year? It’s 365 days of living and being and breathing and it all goes by so fast. As a photographer, the photos I take are not only momentos of the little moments that went by but also memory place holders that let me look back and recall a time in my life: the smells, the sights and even the sounds.
I wrote this post originally in 2010 and don't recall if I ever published it. I'm putting it up here on my blog as a reminder of her and her impact on my life BUT also to recollect a time when I used to write without photographs. It also serves as a personal reminder for me that there are bigger things in life than all the minutiae and Angry Bird high scores and other distractions in our lives. Sometimes we just have to sit, reflect and be still… and write.
Recently I was telling a group of photographers at the ARC Conference that “you are not a ‘photographer’, you are more than that.” I really believe this to be true. While we are passionate about our photography work (weddings, family photographs, long-term projects), we are so much more than just a camera person who takes these photos. We are human beings: artists who create with our cameras. And sometimes, this creating leads us to explore other areas other than those that we would normally do in our line of work.
Believe it or not, photography is a lot like sports exercise. If you leave it for too long, your muscles get flabby and you have to recondition them to get back into peak performance once again.
I try to keep my photographic skills well-practiced so that when it's time to roll for an assignment, I am in peak form and able to deliver. How do I do this, you ask?
Last year, as part of going on vacation in the beautiful place known as Seaside, Oregon, my wife and I decided on trying a photoshoot that involved a vintage dress and getting it utterly wet. Yup, we took this very beautiful dress and tossed her with it out to sea.
Kidding. Well, not really. See, we had this inspiration from an article we had read about a vintage find of some amazing photographs…
In early 2016, a few friends, my wife and I went adventuring around Lighthouse Park and Horseshoe Bay area. Despite it being pouring rain, I took my Leica out and proceeded to take photographs of our hike. Thankfully the trees around us blocked most of the rain but it was still a bit slippery (wearing shoes with little grip = bad idea) and very moist. Through it all, I felt like I was able to get some neat photographs of an area that is normally not captured in black and white.
Taking a bit of a break from blogging weddings (for now but... more to follow). I just thought I'd share a few images I took in 2015 while on the way to Whistler on the Sea to Sky Highway.
Whenever I get a chance to walk around Vancouver, I'm always amazed at all the little surprises we have. Continuing from my last post, here's a few more photographs from January 2014 of last year, when the sun was out but the heat was not (it was cold...). Ah well, that's Vancouver :)
I like to spend my time walking. Outside. Even when it's cold.
The January before last (that is, January 2014) proved to be an especially cold January. Brisk winter air was sharp on the skin but it was still strangely sunny. I took this opportunity to take some photos and, on this rainy February day in 2016, I thought I'd share a few.
