Roderik

I was thinking of my friend Roderik the other day. He lives in Zomba Malawi and I was privileged to meet and get to know him when I was doing a project in Malawi last year. He's a really ingenious guy who has an amazing outlook on life. He's HIV positive and has a whole array of income streams that give him, by local standards, a pretty good life. His main thing is that he runs a solar powered cell phone charging station. There is no electricity in the region, so all the people from the surrounding villages who have cell phones come by in the early morning and drop them off to Roderik and then return at the end of the work day to pick up their charged phones so they can talk at night. He also tends to crops, repairs bicycles, operates a local well and councils the village men on the challenges of living with HIV. He also cycles 30K to the district hospital 4 days a week (on a 3 speed mtn bike!) where he volunteers in the HIV clinic. He is one of the most calm and humble people you could ever meet. His family treated me like their own.
We spent one night experiencing the most epic lightening storm ever imaginable to where he was certain his clay house would collapse during the night. The next day I lent him my ipod and he listened to Bob Marley for 6 hours non-stop.

Duncan's September

We just posted up Duncan's Sept gallery here. http://www.duncanthedog.com/ I was a bad doggie dad and photo taker this month..busy with other life stuff, but hopefully the D. still got to have some adventures. I think he must get tired of having his photo taken. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Time

Sometimes the best thing about doing photography is the quirky and interesting jobs that come up. One of my favourite clients, Cottage Life magazine asked me to photograph some pumpkins for this Fall's issue (out now!) Vicki and Kim are always awesome to work for because they allow a wide berth in terms of creativity and being able to just shoot stuff how you see it. In this case we shot pumpkins in a bunch of places. We also have a pumpkin plant growing in our backyard now because I left one out too long last year and it composted itself. I feel pumpkin pie coming on. Happy Thanksgiving all!

Almost here!!!

The new website is almost up. Will post more later..but like the way it's looking. It's nice to go back into the archives and revisit images and shoots. Sometimes some distance provides some perspective and also some appreciation for what you didn't see the first time. Likewise, it is also easy to look at shots that you once loved and think "god, what was I thinking?"....this one above I like..taken on World Aids Day in Africa; this woman was a local official and she really did not want her portrait taken. We convinced her she looked great and that it would be fun..I think she still didn't buy it...but alas I think she does look great..and she did have fun.

More Twins

Photographed another set of twins a few weeks back. Micky and Mark Mcdonald. We had a hillarious time and they are two super interesting guys with a very keen sense of wit.  It was a nice chance to work with some really good grounded people.

Jesse Bond

Did some recent photos with the enigmatic Jesse Bond. We've known each other for years and have done photos for some different projects. Besides having a shared love of obscure Beastie Boys songs and all things Creemore, he's an awesome actor and a prolific adventurer. Here's a few outtakes.

More Prairie and Pavement

Were editing a few more shots for our project Prairie and Pavement and found a few new places this time around. It rained again. You'll notice from the previous post that my assistant and stand in model (and security guard) is often a giant black dog. Not just any dog mind you. this dog. the greatest dog that ever exsisted. At least we think so!

July Duncan

We're keeping summer hours here and just loaded up Duncan's July 2011 gallery. Check it out here at www.duncanthedog.com  Here's a few from his adventures; in this case some urban exploring in Detroit. I imagine he's the real life dog to the movie version of "I am Legend" with Will Smith. Abandoned and post apocalyptic. (those brown apartment towers are totally abandoned)

Going back to the D.

Were heading back to the 313 this weekend to do some more photos for our project on Detroit . Have some friends to see and make our quarterly shop at Trader Joe's. Were hoping to have the project wrapped up by beginning of the new year. This time round there are a few new spots to explore. Mostly, there is no game plan with this stuff, just lots of driving around (mostly in the rain) and seeing what reveals itself. It is refreshing to just be organic and find the photos instead of planning and setting up shots all the time. It is good to remind yourself what you love about something and why you got into in the first place.

accu

Angela Wharburton is a magical person living in Toronto. She studied Eastern Medicine and has a fascinating life story. She is also one wicked acupuncturist. We did some photos for her promotional stuff and also recently for some publication work. These are a few of the outtakes and I like the portrait we did outside. I'm a big believer in not intruding in people's spaces when being asked to make pictures. It's important to respect people's ideas and make sure they can trust what you do. I think this is a learned thing, but being genuine and curious about your subjects is something that always allows for the circumstances to produce a good, honest and intimate portrait.

VLB

Meggs and Jess are hilarious writers who have a awesome blog and compendium of funny and killer retail stories. Check it out viciouslittlebitches We had a funny shoot and did some guerrilla style pics in weird locations.

D+D

Did some photos recently with the Progosh sisters, Daisy and Dorothy. Awesome and a great creative family all around. We had some funny laughs about using their twin power to fake people out.

Our buddy

Duncan is our 7 year old Bernese Mountain Dog. For those of you that don't already know, we've been taking photos of him his whole life. We try every day, but that's not always totally possible, so it's more about a collection every month of what he does and where he goes. You can see his site here at www.duncanthedog.com : we just posted his June gallery. The first few years of his life are being rescanned and revamped..but otherwise all 7 years of his adventures are up on the web to see. Enjoy!

Cottage Life

We have some stuff in this month's issue of "Cottage Life" magazine. A portrait of Telfer Carpenter that accompanies a hillarious article that she wrote. These are a few that didn't make it into the magazine.

George PapaD

Did some photos with George last week. He's the coolest dude ever with an awesome wardrobe; not many people can rock the blue jacket and pull it off. Clooney and T. Soprano all rolled into one. This image is for an ongoing series.

More 313.

working printing only. More to come, just trying to get through the edit. We shot a lot of material this time around. Hoping to have the project completed by end of the year and get things underway for publishing and then exhibiting the work around.

rockbottom city

Just got back from some more photos in the D. My brain was sore after spending only a few days in Detroit. It's hard to understand the depth and breadth of the situation there unless you really go. I actually enjoy it there because there is something very raw about the city. It's almost like driving in the country; open, desolate and lawless. I never really think of it this way but a great dude at the lab I use sometimes coined the phrase "rockbottom city" and I suppose it's true. Still, it is sad to realize that beyond the visual stimuli and the decay, people still have to live there everyday. It's a tough place and I think many people would like to see Detroit really persevere and rise up again. We'll see.

I'll post some outtake shots and some video soon.

Guitar Hero!

Pat Wright, from Winnipeg is a guitar master! Great dude and cool to work with. We shot some editorial stuff and I liked these two images.

been awhile

Haven't kept up on things and posted in awhile. Back from some mini-trips and from a long winter of being sick. So, will be back posting more regularly now!..Spring is here.

Wet SF

We've been in San San Francisco the last few days and the weather has been wet and cold. Feels like bladerunner; except with awesome food and nicer views and surfing.

Emilie Claire

Just did some new shots with Emile Claire Barlow. Em is an amazing singer who was just nominated for another Juno award for best Jazz record. We always have fun anytime we take pictures and I've been fortunate to work with her a few times for some different shoots and record covers. Check her stuff out here:

http://emilieclairebarlow.com/

Brandon Firla

Had a hilarious shoot with funnyman Brandon Firla. He's in Los Angeles developing some projects. He can also be seen on CBC's "Little Mosque" and had lots of new dad advice to give, namely never drive across the country in a small car with your wife and dog and 5 month old baby and most of your belongings and think it will be fun.

Mrs. Lobban

TOFINO

Awesome! Like Jurassic Park meets the Pacific Ocean. Storm season is even more beautiful than summer.

Good stay

This is Chris Sewell who runs an awesome refurbed motel in Santa Barbara, CA. You can check it out here http://thepresidiomotel.com/  Besides a pretty chill vibe, they also have great taste in music and give out cool mixed cd's for people's continued travels.