I got a call in February from my good friend and accomplished Lifestyle Photographer Randy Lincks.  Randy has done quite a bit of work for sailboat charter companies in the past, and every year or two he makes a trip to an exotic place to shoot some Sailing Promotion photography.

Either after years of bugging him to take ma along, or out of a  genuine need for a bit of a hand based on the size of the project I was invited along to do some shooting, image management, and some general helping out.

Hooray!  Off to the BVI!

We spend 5 1/2 days shooting all around the British Virgin Islands, and the schedule was pretty intense.  We had a crew of 16, some professional models from Florida and England to represent the clients demographics, and a flotilla of 7 38-56 foot luxury yachts.  The shot list was long and varied.

Although it’s hard to complain, we worked A LOT.  Up early, and going pretty much non-stop all day.  But given the subjects, the location and the weather, no matter how hard we were working we couldn’t help but have a good time.  I am very fortunate that I have associates like Randy, and that I get the opportunity to work for incredible clients, and even occasionally in exotic locations.  I am even luckier that throughout the busy schedule we still found time for an occasional dip in the ocean, and a cool rum cocktail after the daily wrap.  I count my blessings!

Here is some of the work from the project.  Some images are mine, others are Randy’s.  When we work together we make a pretty good team.

    About a year ago I got a call from the local TV station.  One of their reporters saw a small gallery show I put on locally and asked if would do an interview for their focus on locals segment called “The Express”.  Never one to turn down a bit of free publicity, I said yes.  When the day came to shoot the segment, it was cold, overcast and raining.  One of the things they wanted to do was film me shooting some personal work, and then include a few shots from the actual day in the segment.  The weather was miserable, YUCK!

Still I did not want to disappoint, so on a day when I would not have even considered taking a camera outside, I forced myself to find something to shoot.  Here are a few of the results.

 Is this my best or favourite personal work ever?  Not particularly, but I managed to do something creative on a day when I would have otherwise stayed home and stared at a computer screen.  I think the takeaway is simple: Doing something is always better than doing nothing.  You can take interesting and creative photos in the rain, or snow, or at night, or in whatever circumstances.  Just go out and do something creative.

If you would like to see the finished  local TV piece, it’s after the jump

A few years ago I decided to take my dog and my camera for a walk in the forest, and partially by accident came home with this shot.

My first ‘Living Forest’ image

I am always impressed and relaxed by the forest, and I wanted to capture more than just a static shot.  I wanted to communicate the life and energy I feel in the forest.  I was pleased with the results (This image now hangs as a 2×3 foot canvas print on our bedroom wall) and wanted to explore the idea a bit more.  I played with the in camera technique a bit more, and started creating images that I become memorized by.  I can look into them and get lost in the forest.  Here are some of my favourites…

I have some of these prints hanging in my home, and I have sold a few. It’s something I came up with when I took a break because I was burned out.  I still use this technique to create new forest images when I am traveling or I see interesting trees.  I continue to refine the technique and try to create original but predictable results.  Forcing myself to go out and shoot for pleasure has given me a niche photo hobby within my photo experience that I can play with and enjoy for pure pleasure.  If other people like the images great.  If not, that’s fine too.  For me it’s an exciting experiment, and it takes my mind off the everyday drudgery of office work.  And, that’s what personal work is supposed to be, Photography for the pure joy of it.

   Every year I am lucky enough  to spend a bit of time with my friends up at TLH Heliskiing.  Fortunately this year was no exception.  I get a chance to rack up an impressive amount of vertical, while hanging out with great, fun people.  And those circumstances usually conspire to create the opportunity to set up some great ski action photos.  Here is a selection of some of my favourites from my last ski day of the season in the South Chilcotins.

I just got the call I wait for every new year! For the past 9 years I have worked with TLH Heliskiing shooting advertising images, and take home memories for their guests.  TLH operates out of  Tyax Resort in the South Chilcotin Mountains of British Columbia, a place I have come to love winter and summer.  I will make the 5 hour drive on windy mountain back-roads many times in the next few months.  It’s an arduous task getting there, but the reward at the end of the road is so worth it!

Over the years I found that how quickly time passes depends on what you are remembering.  A vacation can seem like it’s lasting forever, until you start thinking about how few days you have left before you head back to your daily grind. 2011 was a long and short year for me some things flew by, others dragged out. But I’m not looking back!

No new years resolutions for me this year. I’m not going to make a specific promise like eat healthier, or exercise more. Instead of living in the past or even worse, the future (hey it’s 2012 the world might end any day now!)   I have decided to live better now.  I am adopting a philosophy that I will try to apply to everything I do and each decision that I make.

In 2012 I promise to:

• live better
• work smarter
• dream bigger
• laugh louder
•  love stronger

Than I have in the past.

What’s your New Years Revolution?

About 30 hours of shooting, and a similar amount of editing went into producing the video.  and LOTS of running.  Well, probably not that much for Kriste because that’s what she does, but lots for me, and sprinting backwards on a single track in the forest with a steady cam is NOT easy!

We experimented a lot, steady cam shots, under water shots, slider dolly shots, painters pole shots, and UAV aerial footage with a quadrocopter, and a GoPro Hero HD  (fun Toys!)  I have a whole new respect for film makers, and especially editors, and I am looking forward to growing my motion experience into a product that I can include in my product offerings.

One of the great things about living in a time of such amazing technological change (especially in the photo/film industry) is being able to try new things, step outside of your comfort zone and experiment and create.  Go out and try to make something, anything.  no matter the outcome, it will be inspirational and a learning opportunity!

We were responsible for shooting the time lapse sequence that runs in the background of the Bing concert commercial, plus a few of the concert shots in the “Photosynth” section of the ad.   More about how the shoot came together

In what turned out to be a fairly epic endeavour, we went from first discussion of licensing This time lapse clip of mine from the Sasquatch Music Festival 2009, to a new shooting concept, to production in less than a week.  Thanks to the organization of the creative geniuses at JWT in New York we were able to co-ordinate my 5 person local team, A Vancouver Producer and assistants, rental gear from the four corners of the continent, co-operation with brand.LIVE the concert promoters in just four days to pull together a grueling 56 hour non-stop shoot.  The two Nikon D3X’s ran continuously from 5:00am on Saturday morning until 1:00pm on Monday, shooting 5 – 24 megapixel frames every 15 seconds.  My on site team checked the cameras constantly to ensure operation, and swapped memory cards every few hours. We had an 8 core 12GB computer system renaming, archiving and backing up files continuously in the “Production RV” (our awesome little VW Euro-van parked on site for the whole festival).  Post production, time lapse assembly, and colour grading was (awesomely) performed by BlueRock in New York (much to my relief, we shot over 113,000 frames at 24MP each!)

Art Buyer Sara Levi and Creative Director Scott Bassen from JWT flew from NY (via Timbuktu I think due to last minute bookings) on Friday to be on-site for the shoot.  Most of us got only a couple of hours sleep the entire weekend, Sara & Scott had to head back out first thing Monday, and the rest of the local crew were aching for their beds after an exhausting but awesome weekend of photography, music, all-nighters and even a bit of fun!

5:00am setting the cameras by the security lights

Techie how we did it stuff….

• co-ordination with the venue was key, we had to co-operate with the right people to sort out access, camera positions, an on site production location, press access, and parking.
• We built two scaffold towers each 5 meters high, and anchored them to 1200 kilo concrete blocks with heavy duty tie down straps.  Each tower was surrounded by a 6 foot high fence so that the towers would not be disturbed by the fans.
• Very heavy duty tripods were then strapped down to the towers.
• A Nikon D3X was perched on each tripod. Once the camera positions were set, the cameras had to stay in position throughout the shoot.  If we moved them, the frames for the time lapse would not be aligned, causing a nightmare for post production. We had to be prepared for all weather eventualities, September in the Coast Mountains is not always sunny!
• Each D3X was adorned with a Kendrick Astro Firefly lens heater, and neoprene Camera Cozy to prevent dew from forming on the lens and the cameras during the cold nights.  The cameras were then bagged with a good ol ziploc in case of rain.
• Each D3X and the Lens Heater was wired to run from one 12 volt deep cycle marine battery that would provide enough power to last throughout the entire shoot without having to change the power source.  The batteries were placed at the bottom of the towers, with long power leads running up the scaffolding.
• Each camera was also connected to a video out cable that ran down to the bottom of the scaffold and was connected to a 4 inch LCD screen.  This allowed us to monitor the progress of the photography from the ground frequently without having to climb the scaffold and risk shaking the cameras.
• The Nikons were set using the built in intervalometer to shoot a bracketed sequence of 5 photos every 15 seconds during the day, and every 5 seconds during the evening concerts.
• During the day when the available light overpowered the stage lighting the camera were set to shoot on aperture priority, but in the evening when the highly varied stage lighting overpowered the dusk we manually adjusted the shutter speeds every few minutes using a third D3X as a chimp meter light meter.  Once the sky was dark the settings were changed to manual to carry on throughout the night.

the two camera positions as seen from the stage

• All of the images from each of the two camera angles were carefully renamed, archived to a hard drive for the client, and backed up onto a third drive for safekeeping.  One drive was handed to the clients to take back to New York, another was couriered the next day, and a third copy kept on file at my office, just in case.

JWT has created a great concept for Bing.  I love the way the final ad looks, and how prominently it features my beautiful and amazing home town of Squamish, BC Canada.  Great thanks to everyone that made it all come together.

By the way, the Live at Squamish Festival was fantastic, they did everything right.  It was “Happy Times in a Big Field with Great Music” in the mountains.  Hope to see you there next year!