Happy Anniversary Baby-Too bad I had to go and drop you!

One year this week! Yes, it's been a year since I visited Don's photo and Ron sold me my first digital camera, the Canon 40 D. I still remember unwrapping it and gingerly placing it on the softest surface I could find-didn't want to scratch it!  It's kind like the purchase of a new car-New rules apply- Park far away from the rest of the cars in a parking lot (don't want dents!) And I'm sure the "no food in the car" rule is effect for at least the first 3 months after purchase. I don't know what it is but as time goes on little changes begin to happen, eventually the fast food becomes acceptable when driving and dents-well, they just add "character". So too I think it is with the purchase of a camera. I don't know how it happens but as a photographer, I started to develop a kind of friendly familiarity with my gear. My first camera, the Canon EOS Rebel(film) I still have to today. It's 18 years old, but we've shared many a vacation together, photographed many family events and was always reliable for me. I still wouldn't think of selling it. It's family! So too it is with my Canon 40 D. We've been through over 24,000 images together this year! 

This week I let her down! During a shoot, the sync cord I was using got wrapped on my leg and my attached camera, that I so gingerly placed on a ledge, came crashing down about 4 ft. onto concrete! I heard the crash and turned around in time to see it bounce up off the concrete and go crashing down yet again. Slow motion would be an understatement! I'm surprised I had the calmness to walk over to it a casually pick it up -when all I really wanted to do is scream-NO! NOT MT BABY!

It looked okay- Monitors seemed to work-I took a couple of shots-looked okay. I finished the photo shoot and afterwards spent a little more time inspecting it. I noticed some scraping by the top of the pop up flash and thought I'd try the flash. ERROR 4, Obstacle, (or something to that effect popped up on my monitor.) UHHHHH!!! Shear terror grabbed my heart! Who could tell me what to do. I spied Ross in the Studio and thought he would know what to do. I'm sure Ross saw the terror in my eyes, the sense of bewilderment and shock. He took it from me and within minutes had used pliers to pry the pop up flash open to get it to open and closed again.

I was sooooo relieved! (You can see the damage above the "C" in the above picture). 

 The next day  I spent some time talking to Ross and he told me a number of stories of how other photographer's and himself had had accidents with their gear, and Paolo,  a friend and fellow classmate, told me I was now considered a "Pro" because I had gone through this experience. (Some form of initiation that was!) Talking about it lessened the pain a little. I still couldn't look at it for a day. I think I was a little to traumatized, maybe a little scared I would discover something else was wrong. It was the next evening that I was ready to deal with the truth. Was the Camera really okay? I happened upon a garden tour that evening in the neighborhood  and thought it would be perfect opportunity to see if it still could take a good picture. It was very therapeutic evening -I think we're going to be alright-A little more "characterized" and definitely looking forward to year two together!

Something worth Blogging about...

Any time a collection of people come together to raise funds for a worthy cause, like feeding children in Kenya, Africa, its a praise worthy event! This past Thursday evening  just over 125 people from the North Kildonan Mennonite Brethren Church met together at Birds Hill Park for a Bike-a-thon in Support of Arvid Loewen and his Tour for Life. Arvid for the past couple of weeks has been attempting to cycle 457 km./day  northeast of Winnipeg for a total of 23 consecutive days. His goal to pay for food for 2013 children for 1 year through financial contributions to Mully Children's Family Charitable Foundation.

Each rider was asked to get pledges that would go towards a goal of raising $10,000 that evening to go towards this cause. I'm happy to announce that over $20,000 was raised in that evening! The fundraiser has taken on an even greater air of urgency as Kenya is experiencing a drought. The Thika river in Ndalani, a main source of water for everything has dried up resulting in food costs tripling. Arvid will continue cycling until July 26th. If you wish to know more about the Tour for Life or the Mully Foundation you can visit their site at http://www.spokeimpact.com/ .

I don't actually know who's bike this was, but I'm guessing someone a little smaller?? The evenings festivities included a kids bike course, bike decorating, face painting and games. Adults could ride their bike, walk, jog, or rollerblade around Bird's Hill Park on an 11+ Km course.

Some serious biker's , some just having fun!

CHVN Radio was out to cover the event.

 

The Party's over- Or is it?

Red River Ex 09

Okay, it's time to start talking about it, it's been officially one month now since graduation from Prairie View School of Photography.  People have been prompting me to change my header on the blog and talk about the fact that -yes, I did survive school for a year, I did graduate with a diploma in photography and a little about what I'm doing now. My header did state that I was embarking on a one year photography course that could change my life- so has it-how? 

I entered the school last May for the first time. I called the school that morning, to discover that the school was holding an open house that very evening. I knew I liked photography, but my confidence about gadgets and gizmos , math and computers had held me back from pursuing a career in it. My husband, upon hearing the fact there was an open house, literally threw me in the car and drove me down there and walked me in. I think he did all the talking, I was to stunned by the fact that I was actually standing in a photography school- those lights, studios and Macs looked so intimidating- but the people were friendly. 

Next thing I knew I was enrolled in a Saturday course with the school to see if I really did love it, (and could I tolerate an entire year of it). I was hooked. I did have to go to an interview with Ross and hand in a portfolio. Portfolio, Tee Hee Hee,  I had a few shots I had taken on vacation. In the interview all Ross kept saying was "good composition". I left there wondering what the heck that meant! Ross also had left me with a question I needed to answer, after 19 years of being a wife and a mother, spending invested time in someone else, could I actually allow myself the time and energy to attend school, to invest in me. Could I allow myself the change from organized family focus to chaos, abandonment of control over my family's life, what they eat, wear and how clean was the house. 

I'm an "A" type, a "Red" I need control, I like"safe".  Safe is good. "Safe" is expected and satisfying. I left the interview uncommitted. I told Ross I need to take some time to discuss this with my Friends and Family. Would they be willing to make sacrifices along with me. Would they be okay with the change, the unknown, the unexpected, (yes, and McDonalds a little more often in our diet.) I did go back after a week for another interview in which I declared I was ready and had the family and friends support behind me. And so the year kicked off last September and ended on June 18th of this year. 

It wasn't an easy year, it had it's stresses, (Like my husband losing his job of 25 years on my first day of school), dealing with a computer learning curve that seemed impossible, and 12 hour days of school, homework, and then the chores at home on top of it all. It felt like being on a Merry-go-Round that just wouldn't stop.  German's have a great saying- I'll say it in English-"What doesn't kill you , makes you stronger." I think This year has made me a much more resilient, trusting and relaxed individual. 

I realized that if the housework doesn't get done-it's not the end of the world -there will always will be housework. Organization is key to not"losing it",  however "losing it" once in a while is quite expected and can actually feel good when "spewed" out.  My boys have become a lot more independent - cooking and cleaning have now become a normal routine in our home. And most importantly I'm using my brain again- not that I didn't before- just now it's in a more creative and academic way. I have also noticed that the everyday items, and events in life have seemed to take on a whole new meaning -like I'm seeing them for the very first time. Even my sons will drop comments every now and again like "Wow mom, did I ever see a good photo opportunity today..." or " That was a sight to photograph!".  Would I have noticed before how insanely Alien these little green drinking bottles , back lit, standing in the window at the Ex would be? 

Life has returned to a somewhat normal pattern, the house a little tidier, the food a little more nutritious. I realized about 1 1/2 month's before school ended that I really had a passion for learning more about Studio work and lighting. I also knew I wanted to work with people. 

I realized I still needed to learn more after June. That's when I approached Cory at Studio 448 to consider taking me on as his apprentice. Some of you may be giggling/snickering now, if you recall my April 12th blog (See Archives) where I called him an "evil step father ", "dragon", and "white knight" in a photoshop stupor. (Probably not a wise thing to do in hindsight).  I think he had the last laugh though as he had me do photoshop editing the entire first week of "being on the job". I swear I was dreaming Gaussian Blur! I think it may have been a test to see just how serious I was. I kept showing up every morning and it's now been 4 weeks. So far, so good. 

 
I'm learning a lot more about photographic gear, dockets, labels, editing, lighting, etc., than I would have ever dreamed of. Best of all I'm getting to do what I love to do the most, photographing families, individual and children's portraits! Stay tuned for a lot more blogs from some of the shoots.

Red River EX Butterfly house

Fawn memories

Meet Lucky the Fawn. A real life "Bambi".  I guess I should start the tale at the beginning... I travelled out to the Lake on Friday with a couple of friends and their children, to my parents cottage for the day. We heard the most intriguing tale of a rescued fawn. Apparently, The fawn was stuck in the mud of a creek and left abandoned by his mother who couldn't get the baby unstuck. An acquaintance of my mother's found the little guy and pulled him out. He now resides in their barn and is bottle fed, really tame for being in captivity for 3 weeks . He even responds to his name "Lucky", as he was aptly named, (he is lucky to be alive). We just had to see for ourselves this little miracle and really, how many of us actually get to touch or see a fawn up close! So, for the second time within 3 days, I found myself on a farm, camera in hand, children in tow, for what would probably be a once in a life time experience. He was soooooo cute. I must say, however, this was the hardest subject I ever had to photograph. Light was very low, and the pen was really small to be shooting with a 50mm lens ( I was using it because it was my lowest f-stop at 1.8) I ended up trying to use an on camera flash and even that was difficult to stop motion with. Lucky was always moving and usually right for the camera. I think he thought it was a bottle ( The above shot was him getting ready to lick my lens) It was kind of funny, as he had me pinned up against the pen wall, with his face in my camera lens. It was a really great learning lesson on deer for everyone! I don't know what the plans for Lucky are, he is a male and will probably leave the farm at some point. For now he enjoys the farm and has a number of horses to keep him company.

Friends posing with Lucky in his stall.


Saying goodbye to Lucky- I'm sure he won't look the same the next time we see him!

Have Camera-Will Travel...to Farms?!

This past Wednesday turned out to be something totally unexpected. I promised my mom that I would take her to the hospital in the morning for day surgery (She's doing fine, thanks). Before leaving the house I grabbed my camera bag without much thought. I think I'm still wired or trained to bring my camera with me everyday (a lesson driven home from school). I dragged it through the hospital as I dropped her off and back in again as I picked her up. I soon discovered in her medicated state that she was not to drive for the next 24 hours. (The pre-op letter stated she wouldn't be able to drive home but hadn't said anything about 24 hours- a huge bone of contention with my mother as she needed to get back to the Lake.) So I offered to take her to the Lake and she then told me that she needed to make a stop at Esther's house. I've heard a lot about this lady who lives on a farm and has quite the green thumb and the most beautiful garden.

 Being from the city I must say this was quite the adventure. It was a farm! The most quaint farm! I remember when I was around 10 years old and we use to go to visit friends that lived on a dairy farm, we would drink fresh milk still warm from the cow and play with wild kittens up in the hay loft (till we got so scratched up we couldn't take it any more) and chase chickens around the yard. All those great memories came flooding back to me as I stepped out of the van! AND I HAD MY CAMERA!!! Esther was great about letting my snap off some photos. We even went to the back pen and visited with the cows, calves, donkeys, chickens, yes, and even a Lama. And then I was able to visit her amazingly huge garden full of blooming flowers. Here are some of the photos captured in about 1/2 hour time period.

 
Esther does some incredible crafts. She had these wheat bundles out on a picnic table drying. Below, washbasin's against the barn wall.

 

These two guys didn't know what to make of me and the Camera. I didn't get to close to them! The Lama, however, seen below, was quite inquisitive. He was checking me and my camera out and also what we were looking at or what I was taking pictures of.

This guy was so sweet! His mother kept urging him on to come see us. He eventually warmed up to us.

This calf was also a little curious.

Below are shots from the Garden. It was a very rustic vision of perennials in all colours, Irisis, Peonies, Violets, Pansies, etc. It was the kind of garden you need to spend time in to appreciate all it's little hidden treasures. I'll have to go back again!