Long Overdue Wedding Shots

I've been lucky to tag along as a second shooter for a couple of weddings this summer. Both photographers were kind enough to give me the files for my shots from the days. So I figured I should share a few of my favorites.

As a bridesmaid in my friend Amanda's wedding, I didn't have my camera on the day, but I brought it along when we set up the hall for the reception. Instead of a seating chart, Amanda made little chairs with all the guest's names on them, along with their table number.

It was cute and crafty.

Her centerpieces were home grown, and carefully maintained by her father (his trimming method involved a shop vac!).

I tagged along with Shane Deringer (<- link!) to shoot Natalie and Rob's wedding on Thetis Island. It was absolutely beautiful out there, and so was the wedding!

The groom and his men making their entrance.

These two couldn't stop gazing at each other, they were so happy, and you could feel the love.

Thanks Shane, I had a great day.

I spent the day second shooting for Lisa Louise at Lindsey and James' wedding at a private residence in Metchosin. Another beautiful day, in another beautiful location.

The rocky shore line, and coastal wind made for a very dramatic backdrop.

One of the beautiful bridesmaids.

Thanks for bringing me along Lisa.

No kidding we have fire warnings!

So my camera was feeling lonely today, so I decided to take him on an adventure. We visited the little park at the end of our street. It was awash with this golden wheat looking grass. So me and my 50mm lens got to work playing with it's amazing depth of field.

Sometimes we tend to focus too much on focus, and forget about the amazing things we can do with motion. Yes, you can capture motion with a still camera, and in my opinion, it can be pretty cool.

Yes?

I love the pastel colours created by these seed pods, and the bokeh behind them. Very "painterly" one might say.

The only down side of this beautiful little park, is that it was hopping with my nemeses.

I faced my fear to try and capture this guy (although it was at this point, my battery started to die... whoops).

The colour of these flowers always gets my attention.

I took a bike ride to the beach the other day. Just wanted to include Apollo here!

Pet Time

I just got back from a trip back home to Alberta. Every time I go back, I end up spending a large portion of my time visiting my friends' pets. I love animals, and I rarely meet one who doesn't like me. And so I also enjoy photographing them. Plus, pet people ALWAYS appreciate a good photo of their 'fur baby.'

This is my 'sister in law's' dog Riley, and like most labradors his nose is bigger then his stomach. This is his you want to share your pizza with me, even if you don't know it face. Pizza is his most favorite of the MANY, MANY foods that he loves.

This is his I didn't get any pizza face.

This is one of Amanda's cats Weechee. He has a habit of appearing suddenly and creepily staring at you, but he is probably the sweetest cat I have ever met.

I couldn't get enough of his beautiful blue eyes, even if they are two different sizes!

And this is Amanda's other cat Penny, she is huge! And her hobbies include eating Amanda's plants, and beating up Weechee.

This is Wilfred, and well, he's a pug, and very puggy he is!

Long Exposures - June 2010

Once again while my parents were in town, my Dad and I went looking for some photo nerding opportunities. This opportunity came in the form of "Niagara Falls"; A large (though nowhere near as large as the real Niagara) waterfall in Goldstream Provincial Park. We were pretty surprised (and pleasantly so, considering the tripods and gear we had with us) with how close the falls were to the highway. Anyway, everybody loves a good waterfall shot, you know the ones where the water looks all fluffy. Well these are done by stopping down the shutter, so it lets less light in, and lengthening the shutter speed (aka. exposure time). By doing so, anything that is not moving remains sharp, and anything moving (the water) becomes blurred.

This is just the top part of the falls.

Some little mini falls.

This is another use for long exposures. In low light conditions, with the use of a tripod, you can recover details, and colour that would otherwise just be dark. In this case I used the technique to capture the tunnel, which is used for both hikers, and water to get under the Malahat Highway which crosses through Goldstream Provincial Park.

Lake Cowichan - June 2010

While my parents were visiting this past June, we took a drive up to Cowichan Lake. I had to feel sorry for my Mum, as my Dad and I nerded out with our cameras all day. There are so many amazing patterns in the forest, and we were getting into the details that day.

While I was focusing in on this fern, I came up with a great bokeh, due to the sunlight filtering through the leaves, and reflecting off of the near by water.

Those ferns were casting some great shadows too!

These ones remind me of bicycle spokes.

Using a polarized filter, can really make the sky look amazing.

Bikes, Beers, Beaches - June 2010

One night in early June, some of the ladies and I decided to have an evening of bikes, beers, and beaches. We biked down to Willows Beach. Being from Alberta originally, sitting on a beach and watching the sunset, while enjoying a nice cool bevy, is a luxury I'm not so used to. But I sure do enjoy it.

It's pretty lovely to take off your shoes, and burry your toes in the sand too.

I had fun playing with the silhouette of the trees against the brilliant colours of the sunset.

Mount Finlayson - May 2010

My friend Nick and I went hiking on Mount Finlayson one weekend in May. It's in beautiful Goldstream Provincial Park just outside of Victoria. After driving around in confusion for a while we parked on the back side of the mountain and hiked the short, but steep trail. It was cloudy and overcast the whole way up, and extremely windy at the top. But of course, the moment we left the top the sun appeared through the trees. We saw lots of slugs along the way.

These black ones (known as black arion) always fascinate me, with their beautiful deep black colouring.

I brought my sturdy (ie. 8 or 9 lbs) Manfrotto tripod along - which Nick pretty much lugged the entire way - and only ended up using it for one shot. So I figured I should probably include that shot.

Oh, and it was one of my favorites from the day! I just love the lush, mossy, green, of the rain forests on the island.