Announcing the engagement of Alanna and Les

Just wanted to take a quick minute and post some photos from an engagement shoot I did last week. As the Christmas song says "Oh the weather outside was frightful" -4 Celsius and these two kept laughing and playing right up till dark.





I thought it a nice touch given the cold to have a little nose kiss with the love heart in the Christmas tree

Nose kisses were the order of the day








These two show the love they have for each other in every smile. Such a perfect couple.








Thank you Alanna and Les for allowing me to share in this special day and I look forward to the wedding in just a few short weeks

A Question of Perspective

Photographs can be very subjective. I slight change in crop, or a tilt of the camera can take the same subject and change the entire emotional feel of a photograph. Read this week's blog for some examples of this very thing.

A photo is the creation of an incredible moment. That moment might be happy, sad, thought provoking, or any other emotion you as the photographer would like to convey. But how exactly do you convey that message. It's all a question of perspective.







 Take for example the photo here. I feel like I'm being drawn in wanting to see what's around that little jog in the path. What wonders will I find in this overgrown greenery?











Now these two are interesting, the same model, and the same location two very different emotions. On the right the model is looking at something to his right. We don't know what it is but he is obviously curious about it. This opens up the viewer's mind to wonder what is interesting just out of view. Similar to the path above but no longer in the first person.




The photo below gives the feeling of sadness and depression. By shooting just above the subject and removing any reference of greenery, and focusing on the graffiti, we now have a sad depressed individual who we worry about.

There it is in a nut shell. A question of perspective. 3 photos, two of the same location and subject, but with entirely different emotions, feeling, and interpretations.





Let me know what you see and feel in the comment section below. I'm sure your perspective will be different than mine.

Photography, Down and Dirty

Get your mind out of the gutter! The down and dirty of photography is really all about how we photographers kneel, crawl, hike, climb, and really get into all sorts of nasty positions just for that one great shot.

We see photos everyday that are taken at the same old boring run-of-the-mill position. Subject standing, probably a little sideways to the camera, Photographer standing at eye level with the subject. Boring!

How about doing something a little different, like getting above your subject?

Take a look at these two examples and see how dramatically the mood changes just with viewpoint alone. The photo to the left (a straight-on shot) is just your average snap shot, but the photo to the right (taken from above, as my sore and craning neck will gladly tell you) relays more emotion and energy.

That's above, but why not also try tackling a subject from below?


This baby portrait shot was taken with me flat on my back while the child was flown over me by an uncle. Great family memory.

Finally here's a shot one of my bemused family members snapped of me while I was setting up to shoot an exhibit at Hell's Gate. It's not an attractive view of me but that's why I'm a photographer and not a model. More importantly, I got exactly the shot I was looking for, and it's probably not one that the thousands of other visitors took away from the same exhibit.

The result was great -- although it's worth noting that I was only able to, ahem, spread out because I was there early in the day. I encourage you to to take up any weird position necessary to get a shot, but make sure you're not a nuisance to any one else trying to see the same sights!


There is more to shooting pictures than standing and firing off hundreds of frames. You need to be ready to get down and dirty with your photography. Seize the moment, and don't worry about looking like an idiot. You'll have the last laugh when everyone wishes they thought to take the photo you were sweating for.