Conga drummers hands

I play conga drums. You might spot me playing with Salsa Picante where I am, generally speaking,  "hanging on for dear life" with some of Halifax's finest musicians.

This time of year when the air is dry my fingers split open when I play even a little. OUCH! This is not a cut but a split. The skin just busts open and it hurts! Don't be squeezing any limes with those fingers.

Quality of light

Its all about the quality of light. Delicate in this case. These two girls from Strut Agency had a great look too. Not my usual stuff but I enjoyed working out the lighting for these. Used my new Profoto Compacts and a few softboxes. Classic clamshell lighting.

Me in the middle or 'Action Ace Airways'

These old photos are hilarious!

Firefighter

I love this firefighter shot. It was a tough assignment from Readers Digest to shoot a firefighters school. The same assignment went out across the country. I was told, 'we're short on flames so if you can get some good flame shots you could have a shot at the cover.' Of course the school is inside a big brick bldg where fires are started and students go in and put them out. Its as dark as night in there and you can't go in without full safety gear. I was able to have the instructor light a fire for me outside just as it was getting dark. I almost got no pictures at all but did manage to get this one and a few more. And yes I got the cover!

Used an innovatronix battery powered strobe with umbrella. Camera: canon 1Ds mark11 and 70-200mm zoom lens.  The few good shots I did get took all of 5 or 10 minutes.

Bridge walk 1980's

Here's another photo of me working at the Halifax Herald. Covering the first 'bridge walk'. The first time I actually made the front page, literally!  Click on the image for a closer look.

Canoscan 4400f or 'cool cat lodge'

I needed to scan a recent Readers Digest cover for my portfolio and decided I might as well buy a cheap scanner. Got a Canoscan 4400f for $99 and it scans film too!! I've been having fun going through old b&w negatives. Check these out!

1981?

Holy mackerel!! My early days at the Chronicle Herald. 

Could that be Trevor Berbick landing a punch? That's my co-worker Kerry Delory with the old Nikons across the mat. And that is me, above, on Birmingham St. leaning on the company Honda. We worked 10 days on and 4 off at a very low wage. On weekends we were on call 48 hrs. and had no pager let alone cell phone.  Notice the cigarette and the top of an old wet cell potato masher flash sticking out of the camera bag on the hood of the car. Wowzer! Were those the days or what?

Tell No One - go see this movie!

This is a really really good film. See here for nytimes review.

Tips for young photographers

CLICK HERE for Tips for young photographers

Havana & The Bank of Nova Scotia

First snow last night. Horizontal snow - yippee! Makes me think of Havana. What a town. Bet you didn't know there was a Bank of Nova Scotia in Old Havana. Last time I was there the Cubans were restoring it.

If you haven't been there I'd suggest going soon, what with Fidel on his way out and Obama in the USA, things are bound to change in Cuba. Forget the resorts. Who wants to go all that way to spend time with drunk Canadians? Instead go to Havana! Stay with my friend Orlando at www.taniamiguel.com  Its cheap, safe and centrally located in a tourist free neighborhood within walking distance to all the interesting places like Old Havana, the Melecon, the Capitol and the cigar factories.