On April 22, 2010 at approximately 5:30am a fire broke out in the University of Waterloo plaza, destroying numerous businesses.
Photos shown here were taken around 5:30pm. A few of the affected businesses include Mel’s Diner, Sugar Mountain and Ceaser Martini’s.
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It was here for a few days, then it turned cold again. This weekend I hope to get out with a few photography friends. I expect the weather to be great!
Burlington Beach, Ontario – Summer 2009 A mid-morning photowalk with a couple Flickr/Twitter friends. We met up at an old church cemetery in North Waterloo. It was cold, like -15 degrees Celsius. I was only out shooting for half an hour when my toes starting going numb in my boots. Crazy! The other guys were there for an hour and by 9am, we decided to book it to Tim Hortons. The oldest headstone I saw was from the 1700s. Just amazing to see them still standing in this yard, somewhat legible. I definitely want to go back in the summer for a green grass contrast. I processed my photos with a cold tone and black & white; I think it suits the theme of these images. Click to view additional photos in my portfolio.
Having worked with the Waterloo Horitcultural society before on their Tour-a-Garden events, I was asked to shoot the making-of a new garden at the Waterloo Public Library. Watch for the article in the Waterloo Chronicle coming soon.
Last weekend I had the opportunity to take photos of a seminar for the Quantum to Cosmos Festival put on by the Perimeter Institute. Neat! I have to thank my friend Jenn for asking me if I would be interested. Saturday morning I arrived uptown Waterloo and walked over to the Princess Twin Cinema (after finding parking of course… sheesh!) Anyways, so I arrived, introduced myself, and got my volunteer shirt. The seminar I was shooting had around 50 people in attendance, with three panelists and one “gong man”. :-) I kept stepping on the squeakist part of the floor which was embarrassing, but as far as I could tell, no one but myself actually noticed! I stayed for all but the last ten minutes of the event, and although “The Art of Guesstimation” and dicussion of physics went completely over my head, it was quite interesting after all.
After the event I uploaded the photos I took to the Perimeter Institute’s Flickr photostream (viewable here), and one of my photos was featured on the website. I’m looking forward to covering more community events! This is exciting!
I’m finding so hard to believe that it’s already the middle of October, that the leaves are falling off the trees (let alone changing colours!) On Thursday I found out that I was going to receive a media pass for Oktoberfest this year. Awesome! This grants me access into (almost) all events in order to capture images that really say “this is Oktoberfest”. The first event I attended was the free family breakfast and barrel roll, uptown Waterloo. I’d just like to share with you one of the images… there are plenty more coming!
It goes without saying that I took this with my 10-20mm wide angle lens. And then, I downloaded a trial version of Adobe Lightroom. I used LR to edit this photo. I think I’m in love with Lightroom… In 2007 & 2008, I was invited as a photographer to join the Waterloo Horiticultural Society along on their “Tour a Garden” tour. Visiting gardens of four-five Waterloo residents each year, I had great joy capturing a few images of their hard work! I’m not much of a green thumb (don’t ask me what flower it is – I’ll tell you it’s a yellow one) but I love plants and flowers! The planning and execution of these private gardens is just amazing, and in every inch of each garden the artistry of the flora & fauna seems endless and seamless. I highly recommend the tour to anyone, and not just gardeners or photographers! Unfortunately, there wasn’t a Tour in 2009, but I have high hopes that a team will pull together for 2010 :) Please enjoy a few select images from the 2007 & 2008 Tours below!
Back in November (2008), I’d heard from a friend that Henry’s in Waterloo was going to be handing out gift certificates in denominations between $10 – $500 to first however many people were in line. Well, I arrived around 7:30am when the store was set to open at 9am. I was about 10th in line, sweet! It was an interesting morning, even though I’m trying to recall it now, I still remember one of my fellow GRIPS members was ahead of me in line, and this couple behind me who were lining up for their daughter, who they said was about my age. She was working and wasn’t able to make it out, so both her parents stood in line for her in hopes of winning the $500 ticket. To pass the time, we chatted about the different cameras (their daughter wanted the Canon Rebel XTi) and the father had recently purchased a Nikon. Then we discussed the new round-abouts in Kitchener-Waterloo and how ridiculous some of them are (like Union & Margaret Avenue, what was the city thinking?!) And on and on. Finally, after standing in the gorgeous morning sun and chilly air, Henry’s opened their doors and allowed only a handful of people in a time. Understandable. I was part of the second group to get in and when I selected my envelope… Score! $50. Not too shabby! I would’ve loved something a little higher than $50, but it’s free money. I was happy! While wandering around the store, the next group came in and the couple I’d been talking to each won $10. Then the next girl in line won the $500 envelope. She kept saying she had no idea what to get, either. (“GAH! I’ll trade you!!!”) I kept shopping. After an HOUR, I finally settled on a shoulder sling bag from Lowepro. It would fit everything I needed, and within reach!
I bought my first DSLR in August 2006, the Canon EOS 20D that came with an accessory kit (battery grip, extra battery and camera bag). Before that, all my photos had come from an HP Photosmart P&S, then I purchased the Canon A610 model. The rest is history! Getting back to the point of this post… my very first shoot I guess would be in November of that year, 2006. A friend of mine asked me to take their family portraits. I was stoked! It was my first paid job (almost embarrassing to say, it was less than 3 years ago that I’ve been doing this for money!) Before heading out for my first session, I prepared and printed a contract (even though these were friends, I still wanted to bring professionalism to the table – and anyone in business will tell you that you should always write up a contract when money is involved. I will write a post about contracts in the near future including legal experiences. I cleaned my equipment, formatted memory cards, folded up my tripod, and reviewed my notes. I was ready to go! Below are two of the photos from that family portrait session. Something I learned? Always watch for distractions in the background! :-)
The day began with glorious sunshine. By the time I met up with Krista & Greg to shoot their engagement photos, the rain was threatening. Clouds were just looming over us, which gave a soft glow on them! However, moments after I captured this image, the sky opened up! :-) Thankfully, Krista & Greg were in good spirits! Their wedding is only two months away (already!) and it’s hard to discourage either of them with anything. The happy couple, with whom I’ve been friends for a few years, got themselves engaged under a fireworks celebration last summer. Greg had purchased the ring right in front of Krista while touring Thailand, and she had no idea! That takes some serious skill for sure! We had a great time together dodging rain drops and working with the rain -and sunshine, when it decided to shine! It was definitely a challenge for me as I’ve never shot portraits in the rain before. This is a teaser photo! There are many more to come later this week!
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