Snapshots from my kitchen

Got a Lumix GF1 point and shoot and I LOVE IT!

Went shad fishing with some bonefish flies and caught a mess of trout - and fiddleheads are in season. Fiddleheads have twice the antioxidants as blueberries and are high in omega-3 fatty acids, according to research scientists in NS. They're good with a striploin too. I like to coat them in olive oil, salt and pepper and throw them into a cast iron pan. Leave some crunch please!

A graduation celebration at my house

Tell me they're not having fun!

The Catholic Church

A job for Canadian Lawyer Magazine.

With a little help from Hugh Reynolds and my Profoto 600B.

My photo chosen for EXPO 2010 SHANGHAI exhibit!

From the Canadian Heritage press release:
The visual arts category brings together original pieces by more than 40 artists in an exhibition of Canadian contemporary art that will be held at the Canada Pavilion. This exhibition was developed around Canada's theme at Expo 2010: "The Living City: inclusive, sustainable, and creative."

I'm one of 40 visual artists chosen for exhibit. I didn't even submit! Cool. Cirque du Soleil put the exhibit together. I think I'll celebrate with a nice bowl of spicy Dan Dan noodle soup, yumm.

Magnum photos pre-earthquake Haiti

This photo essay from Magnum photographers of Haiti before the earthquake is fantastic. The combination of music and these fantastic photos is incredible.

click here: http://inmotion.magnumphotos.com/essay/haiti

Giovanni Hidalgo, master conga player

Me and Giovanni in the studio

I had the great pleasure of spending the day with the best conga player in the world, Giovanni Hildago, here in Halifax. He was shooting a new educational dvd set. Should be a 3 hour, 2 dvd set when complete, covering beginner, intermediate to advanced. I spent the best part of the day with Giovanni, his manager Jhean Paul, talented director John Walker and the rest of the crew. They were shooting at the beautiful St Ceclia studio's in Purcell's Cove, just outside Halifax. Great people all around and Giovanni was one of the coolest dudes I've ever met. Completely down to earth. He invited me to visit him in Florida. What can I say?

John Walker and Giovanni at St. Cecilia studio's

the whole crew

Portfolio books?

Portfolio books - anyone use them any more? Here are some pages from mine - in need of an update!

DAYS INN or A Room without a view

To be fair there actually was a view of an apt. bldg. parking lot.

Many hotels in the area were full so I stayed at the DAYS INN.

THE ROOM: fine, except it was 1/2 kilometer from the front desk, there was no elevator and I was on the 3rd floor. 3 heavy camera bags - some welcome exercise after a long drive. The bed was a king so I also had plenty of room to jog in my sleep. All in all not too bad.

THE FOOD: there was a $2 fee for room service but you had to go get it yourself!! I suppose they had to call a courier to pick up the empty plates next day. A good greek salad and an OK pork dinner with mashed and veg. Breakfast buffet - flashback to 1980's Cuban all inclusive. Eggs tasted terrible, powdered for sure. I made a joke to the waitress about the 3 oz juice glass and she returned with a normal size glass and in a good-natured way grabbed the little glass from my hand, poured the juice into the larger glass, then walked over to the juice table and topped it up for me.

COST: $171.04 with food and tax.

Would I stay there again? - sure, I've stayed in worse places.

Below is a photo from the job.

Ringflash

Playing with ringflash as a fill light. I think I like it!!

Light kit

My Profoto kit housed in an Airport Addicted case.

My ringflash and softlight reflector live in a much larger place. Its the case I originally bought for my Profoto Acute 2 kit. The Airport is a better home for the Acute2 and the Acute600b has its own teeny weeny little case. Love that kit!

The ringflash with beauty dish takes up too much space!