The Toilet of Irony

A man runs out of toilet paper in a bathroom constructed of toilet paper rolls...

There's inevitably going to be down time in your life as a working artist. Down time is actually a real blessing in disguise; its an opportunity to push your envelope without fear of reprisal from clients.

Its also a great chance to hook up with some young up and coming agency creatives and produce some spec ideas with them. If they love what you've done, there's a fighting chance on their next job you could be on their list of bidding photographers.

A lot of my favorite work and a good chunk of the work that has got me hired, is the stuff i did on my own in 'down time.' 

RYU shoot

 

Just before Christmas I shot Transmission's new MMA clothing line called 'RYU'. It was a fairly simple shoot and we based the look of it on my Yoga Fight Club series which they really liked. We shot with a trained fighter named Darcy and it was a lot of fun, he was a total pro. Stylistically, it was similar to the way I've been shooting lately, with dramatic rim lighting but this time round we used a bare head and reflector from a high key position as opposed to a beauty dish or soft box. 

The site has launched, check it out at www.theryu.com 

also, I'm going to be signing with Transmission and they'll rep me as a commercial photographer and director, so I'm looking forward to a bunch of cool projects with these guys in the near future.

Melissa Leo - Best actress nominee, Critics choice awards

Melissa stars in "Frozen River" which won best film at the Sundance Film Festival. We spent a few hours on some editorial photography and it was great getting to know this accomplished actress.

Raw Canvas

For the best coffee in town check out Raw Canvas on Hamilton street (1046) in Yaletown. Run by my awesome friends Steve Merkley (pictured), Paige Faraci and Colby Spencer, this place is amazing. Not only can you get a great Americano but you can purchase a canvas and paint your heart out in the back. Its got a great atmosphere, hip furniture and they're working on their liquor license. 

If i'm not back from India by the summer, I'm gonna have my birthday there.

Dinner with Joe

I had the distinct pleasure of talking shop over dinner and a few glasses of Liberty School cabernet sav with photo legend, Joe McNally. We hit up Chill Winston's in historic Gastown and talked about the state of the industry and what it takes to make it these days. Joe's got a wealth of experience and though we didn't discuss anything too technical it was great to hear his philosophies on life and photography. 

We both agreed, being people shooters, that the essence of a good photograph rests not so much in anything overtly technical but rather in finding and maintaining an emotional connection with our subjects. I love to photograph people and I have found that by far, my best work has come when I've made an emotional connection with my subject; whether it be through humor, reminiscing about past experiences, fantasizing about the future or silent present moment awareness.

You have to be in love with your subject I think, in some way. You have to love who they are, what they've done and most importantly you have to search for yourself in that person. You can never be detached.

Thanks for a great one on one Joe, it was indeed a pleasure!

new work this fall

Its been a crazy fall and I've had a total blast. here's a quick blitz...click on the links to get more indepth coverage.

The summer ended with another amazing, eye opening, spiritually re-vitalizing, trip down to Burning Man, and though the dust was horrendous and I didn't shoot as much as I wanted (I did bring a gennie and strobes down), I did manage to get a shot of my beautiful fiance in the desert. I love the juxtaposition of the harsh desert setting, the cracked dry earth and the softness of Tonia's body. This was all natural lighting and definitely one of my favorite shots.

In september I held my first Big Lights Far Away workshops and it was such a great experience for everyone involved. Click here to read more!

After that it was down to LA for some sun and shooting. I teamed up with my tribe from the Self Centered Tour www.getselfcentered.com and we shot some editorial as well shot for Malik's new album (in stores soon) and also for the great and eccentric surfer and raw organic Chef of the People, Nathan Donahoe.

My friend Vanessa Fors has a cool fashion blog/site, we shot for it earlier this fall. Check out some photos here

Check out my buddy Jesse's band Scatterheart.

I photographed them for an upcoming album, see photos here

After that it was New York with my buddies Wade Morrisette and Corwin (Red Wagon management). This was a fun trip and involved alot of me shooting from the hip, literally. 

and so now here comes christmas, I'm looking forward to spending time with family and friends and drafting up some New years intention...I'm sure I'll write about them soon, lol.

Calming the monkey mind

A wise one once said: "The mind is like a drunken monkey stung by a bee..."

I couldn't agree more. I sometimes find it so tedious and difficult to focus on one thing. My mind jumps around at the slightest distraction, overreacting, judgmental, worried and anxious. 

I took this photo of Max to describe what we all go through sometimes. But you see that dude in the middle? The one who's just sitting there, calmly, peacefully? He's the one who saves my ass...

If it wasn't for a meditation and yoga practice I think I would have gone insane years ago. We can learn to calm the monkey mind through the practice of meditation, which is really just learning 'present moment' awareness. A good place to start is with the breath; close your eyes and just focus on the in and out points of your breath.

Its amazing what starts to happen; the calming of the mind, the breaking of the incessant streams of thought can yield an emptiness from which true creativity can arise. I definitely credit my meditation practice with the success I've had in photography.

20 minutes in the morning, 20 minutes before bed. Try it. Its free.

Next Door Style shoot

My good friend Vanessa Fors runs a fashion blog, sort of like a hub for designers to meet. check it out here.

We shot on a fairly gloomy overcast day in Vancouver, but personally i like shooting gloomy and overcast. A few of these shots are lit with a single strobe and a few i use a key light on a boom and two rims. I always remember to bring along a few flags when rim lighting because you can get some nasty flare.

Scatterheart shoot

Scatterheart is my friend Jesse's band. Great bunch a guys and we had lots of fun. Thanks to Jesse, Doug, Wes and Mike for a great shoot day!

The setup was very basic and consisted of a black backdrop and a single strobe with beauty dish up high on a boom

New York, NY

I couldn't help but hum the Sinatra down 5th Ave, or through Central park, or while eating out in Little Italy.

NYC is so full on, so alive, all the time. The streets are like rivers and the skyscrapers tower above you like the walls of a gaping canyon. New Yorkers are fast, direct, to the point and polite. The subways are a trip, oozing with a subterranean life of their own; dirty, edgy and ultimately efficient. The bars and restaurants are packed and the art galleries and museums full of great and sometimes downright shitty, art. 

Wade had a few Kirtan shows going on so Corwin and I tagged along, bundled up in our hats, scarves and gloves. It was cold, like hit you in the face with a brick, cold. Tonia was visiting with Clara in Queens so we hooked up for dinner and some dancing and i asked her to marry me and she said yes and then we drank champagne and then drank some more wine and i'm not using any punctuation because thats what a whirlwind it all was. Anyway, I can't wait to go back but I'm going to have to really make as the world's most successful photographer because that city is freakin' expensive.

anyway, here are some photos.

The Self Centered Tour

One of the great, inspiring connections of my life has been with Max Simon, founder and Chief Enlightenment Officer of the Self Centered Tour. What is the SCT you ask? Well, quite simply, it is a passionate and committed tribe dedicated to bringing about peace and raising consciousness through the practice of meditation.

The SCT has at its core the goal of inspiring over 1,000,000 people to meditate. I have had the opportunity to spend some time with Max, doing the teacher training and just plain hanging out. We did the above photo as a representation of what a day in the life of an 'unmeditated' mind can look like.

for more info and becoming a new school leader of consciousness, check out the site 

Chef Of The People

While down in LA this fall, I shot some editorial for an eccentric but utterly cool dude, Nathan Donahoe. Nathan is an organic raw food chef and avid surfer, which is not hard to conceive seeing that he lives right on Venice Beach. We had a great time and shot some funky, quirked out stuff. He's also and author and works as a chef in an LA rehabilitation center. 

headshots

I do my best to bring the whole of my conscious and spirit into a shoot, no matter what the job. Headshots may, on the surface, seem to be a run of the mill sort of bread and butter aspect of the job, but its really a fantastic opportunity to meet other artistic folks.

here's a few of my favorites from the fall; Linda Kee, Matt Pegues (blue shirt) and Nathan Duric. All three are up and coming actors and writers in Vancouver and it was great being able to connect with them.