Christmas is Coming!

Boy have we been busy. Shot a rugby game yesterday for the paper while on a quick break from installing flooring for a friend. I was actually disappointed it didn't rain hard as I wanted to get some wet shots with my new weather sealed gear. Oh well, in this climate plenty of opportunities will come up for that.

We have been busy delivering prints from past portrait shoots as well as booking some new ones in our new space in the Soul Sisters Dance Studio. They have a nice big space we can use until we find a permanent home for our gear and lighting setup. It will be nice not to have to shoot out of my home anymore as it was pretty disruptive. Adam and I both really love studio work for portraits and I think that if we could just leave everything setup we would get more shooting time.

I have a new photographer that I love. Every once in a while I come across some other photographer in my web surfing that I think is out of this world good. Check out Rodolphe Simeon's work here.

Been loving my new lens. It is a bit heavy so I've ordered a better neck strap and I'm toying with the idea of using a monopod for sports. I'll be trying that while shooting another kids hockey game today. Hockey continues to be the biggest sport we shoot, and the most challenging. I end up throwing away at least half of all shots I take which is a pretty bad ratio for sports in my opinion. Even though I have the fastest focusing camera on the market, I still lose plenty of shots due to blurriness. Part of my problem though is I get too excited when I see a good action sequence unfolding and I machine gun the camera. I have to slow it down.

BTW, my hockey is improving a little if I say so myself. At least I know where on the ice I'm supposed to be.

Christmas is coming. A time when we all drag out our cameras and take a few hundred family photos. Wouldn't it be nice if everyone did that year round? I know I enjoy seeing photos of my daughter at different times, even unimportant ones where she is just existing. If you have kids, don't just take photos this year of the present opening on Christmas day. Try going for tree decorating shots, Christmas dinner shots of the table before the carnage and if you are lucky enough to get snow and have a weather sealed camera (two cheaper options here and here) go outside and document that snowball fight!

Hockey Hockey Hockey

Been playing hockey a lot this year. It is great exercise, but I suck at it. My team, the Nanucks seems to be winning despite my help which is nice as we had a slow start to the season. Adams team the Haze is pretty good I think.

Anyway, we have also been doing a ton of hockey photography. I learned pretty quickly that I needed a different camera and lens setup as the local rinks are pretty dark for the most part. Shot for the paper at the last Clippers game which was nice. But now I have my new water sealed swd lens and I'm going out to try it at a kids hockey game tonight. This lens, along with my weather sealed camera ought to really help with outdoor work as now I can shoot rain or shine without having to bag my camera. Anyway, included one shot of the Clippers with my old lens. Lets see if they get better.

Scooped!

Well I went out and shot the Remembrance Day ceremonies for the News Bulletin. I pulled off a couple hundred photos, some of which I thought were really really great. But humbling as it is I was scooped for the first time with more space in the paper by another photographer, Dave Hamilton. I had no idea he was out there working for the same paper at the same time. He pulled of some really nice work. I've never met Dave, but I've seen some of his work and it is excellent. A phenomenal photographer new to Nanaimo. Now I'm going to have to try even harder (and believe me I hustled that day) to bring my game up. Aaaaa the spirit of competition. I get to photograph the Clippers and the VIU mens basketball team this Friday for the paper so that will be fun. Really wish I had a longer bright lens, but it isn't in the budget this week.

We have started shooting family portraits again. Adam and I rock at them, producing several dozen really nice keepers per session. I'm looking forward to seeing the final prints from our last weekend shoots. Two great families came to our studio.

We shot the MISTIC awards last week which was a lot of fun. Shooting large coporate events is really very different than anything else we've ever done but really enjoyable. Also had the chance to do some photography for Maple Tree Montessori preschool. That was fantastic. For so many small children to be so organized. The photo shoot was a snap and the kids were great.

Lastly, I went to a photographers wrapup party last night for the Canadian Bodypainting Championships. Adam and I earned a mention on their website which was nice. Looks like the event will continue to grow and I certainly hope to participate next year. They are planning on having it on Halloween night at Beban Park.

That's it for now. Been testing out my new Olympus E3 which I love. Great for sports. Being that it is weatherproof it is great for this climate. Now I just need to get a matching weatherproof lens.