The 99Th Grey Cup.

Working for the Canadian Football League at the 99Th Grey Cup in Vancouver BC. You can see me doing my job on the left side of each screen grab at the top of the page. Not that I need proof that I was at the game working but I've had friends sending pictures and phoning to say "I saw you at the game".
It was a great game ( BC won the Championship) and a great experience working for the CFL.

The British Columbia Lions of the CFL played their last home game at the storied Empire Stadium in Vancouver BC on September 10TH, 2011.
I knew that going to the game meant the end of an era for the city if Vancouver.
As a kid one of my first jobs was selling peanuts, Cracker Jacks and pop corn in the stands of Empire Stadium and the Pacific Coliseum. This is the same stadium where John Landy and Roger Bannister battled it out to break the first four minute mile in track and field.
To do this image I used a Canon DSLR and a Sigma 10-20mm lens and took 5 shots across the field and then stitched the images together to make this one huge image.
The stadium is now gone and has been replaced with a park and fields for the public to enjoy.

Minister Ed Fast.

Another screen grab from Minister Ed Fast giving a speech at the Vancouver Board of Trade luncheon.
Minister Fast has the ability to know he is being photographed and at the same time carry on with his speeches, interviews and meetings. This sounds easy but when you have photographers sticking their cameras in your face all day long you soon find it can be a little challenging.
Shot with a Canon 70-200 2.8 is lens.

Government work

This is a screen grab from Flickr.  The Canadian Gov. Minister of Trade, Ed Fast on his way to China on an official visit for Canada.
I have worked with Minister Fast many times and he is a joy to work with.

A day spent with Molsons

Recently I spent the day with the Molson Brothers in Vancouver to celebrate their 225TH year in business in Canada.
The Molson family which owns Molson-Coors Breweries also owns the Montreal Canadians as well as brews Coors in Canada.
The brothers were great to work with and the full day ended at a pub in Vancouver. The only bad part of the day is Molson  bought free beer for the whole pub but because I was working and had an hours drive ahead of me to go home I could not enjoy a few!
Next time I guess, maybe on their 250TH. :-)

Two Canadian Gov. jobs

Screen captures of the two Canadian Government jobs I did last month.

Gov. Jobs

              Screen shot of the Canadian Gov. website image that I did in Vancouver.

BDC Magazine

Just a quick image from the BDC magazine. Have to celebrate even the small ones!

 

Images in the video are from the shoot I did with Arnold at his offices.Images 0:01, 0:24, 1:00, 1:15, and 1:20.

Wedding photography future?

I've been thinking about this topic for quite a while. I've talked to many other photographers and heard stories of other photographers around the Vancouver market over the past 4 or 5 years and every time I can't really believe it's true. But it is!

Digital cameras and digital photography have killed the wedding photography business for the average photographer.

I know what you're saying, "Not so!" Well, how is it that most, and I mean 80% of the photographers that I talk to, are saying the same thing. And I will tell you what they are saying to me.  Couples are telling them that "My brother (or friend) has a digital camera and they can take some pictures." They hear "Grandpa  has a digital Rebel and he can take some pictures."

What people who do this don't realize is that their friends really don't care if they miss the best moments or have the experience to create an image that they will want to look at for more than a few minutes or put up on their wall. An image that really brings out the best of the couple.

And then they tell  the photographer later on, sometimes years later when they run into the photographer, that they made a huge mistake not hiring him or her, because the pictures they have are crap. Too late!

When I do a wedding I sit down with the couple and go over all the photographic possibilities, times, locations, weather concerns and many other things that will go into their wedding day. Does the friend or Grandpa do that? During a full day wedding I will take almost 1000 images. Again, your buddy with the Rebel might take 30 to 50 images.

Yes, I know pro photographers cost money. It's a concern in these days of tightening the purse strings. But do you really want that special moment of you in your dress or the love of your life in his tux ( maybe for the only time ever :-) trusted to the family member with his or her point and shoot?

Digital cameras have made many people into amateur wedding photographers, news photographers, nature and portrait photographers. And most of it not great photography.

Am I the best wedding photographer out there? Certainly not. But I have been shooting weddings for over 20 years and I know how important the day is to the couple. I see wedding images on the web that truly inspire me and I'm always learning new ways to be a better photographer.

I know this day is too important to leave to Grandpa and his new digital camera. Remember that you are hiring a photographer that you feel comfortable with for his or her vision with a camera. Everyone has a camera these days, this does not make them a professional photographer.

Michael

New posts in Flickr.

Check out my rock and roll posts in Flickr. Some new artists and some old.
As well as some new images of Vancouver's Chinatown.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/21348093@N04/

Shooting for Bank of Montreal

Had a great two days working for The Bank of Montreal in Vancouver.
Both of the jobs ended up on Marketwire that provide images across Canada for distribution to papers, web pages, magazines and company's across North America.

As well as these two images BMO had a print donation at the  The Bill Reid Gallery  the night before.