I am the first person to admit I love cars, especially luxury sports cars. You would be hard pressed to find a more luxurious sports car then a Lamborghini. A few days ago Lamborghini Calgary hosted a little get together as part of their summer, Lamborghini night at the Cars & Coffee’s meet up which takes place at Cardel Place in southeast Calgary.
With over 30 Lamborghini’s in attendance it was a car lover’s dream. From the original 1963 350GT, a 1970 Miura. Not one but two Countaches all the way up to the latest Lamborghini Aventador SV. Whether your into the classics or the modern supercar there was something for everyone that night. And thankfully the Calgary weather gave is the perfect night for it.
A BIG thank you to Lamborghini Calgary for hosting the event, I can’t wait for the next one.
As a wedding photographer, engagement photos are some of my favorite things to do with my clients. Not only do I get a chance to spend an afternoon or evening with my couples one on one but it also allows us a chance to just go out and have fun without the pressures that are just a natural part of the wedding day. And living in Calgary summer engagement sessions are even more fun. The longer day and warmer nights gives us opportunity’s that we just don’t get other times in the year. Let’s face it, once the snow hits and we all know that Winter is coming it makes things just a little more difficult.
The summer lets us explore places and do things we might not think to try. Another huge benefit to an engagement session, which not many photographers talk about is that they give us the opportunity to try things we just can’t do on a wedding day. The reason why professional wedding photographers are as good as we are is because we constantly push ourselves to do better, be more creative. That means trying things which might not work. We fail a lot, but with each failure we learn something and become better photographers because of it. If we try something and it doesn’t work nothings been lost, we didn’t miss any important moments. But if it does work then we have one more trick that we can bring to the wedding day to make it that much better.
Whether its summer or winter I run my engagement sessions the same. We don’t just go out to take pretty pictures. We go out to do something! Something that connects with the couples and talks about their relationship. And in the end we do get some really pretty pictures, which is what we wanted anyhow. Some couples just want to go for a walk along the river, Other we go window shopping or sightseeing. Whatever it is as long it means something to the couple. It’s about making that connection with the couple and the photographer. I want my couples to forget that I am even there and just focus on each other. Which in the end is just want we want. A moment captured between them that last.
Music festival season is well under way. One would have to be living under a rock not to at least recognize names like Coachella, Bonnaroo, Sasquatch and the original music festival Lollapalooza. You don’t have to go far to find yourself in the middle of a summer music festival. Calgary is no different. Folk Fest, X-Fest and Sled Island which celebrated its 10th year this summer.
Photographing live music and concerts is one of coolest things you can do as a photographer. It can also be one of the most frustrating. Starting out almost every photographer thinks that shooting concerts is cool. Don’t get me wrong. It is, but it’s definitely not easy. It’s also almost always one of your first jobs as a photographer. At least it was for me back when I first started out in university photographing for the Student Newspaper the Meliorist.
It’s a little bit like trial by fire. Photographers that get it and can wrap their heads around the situation absolutely love it. While the rest stay as far away as humanly possible.Photographing concerts and live shows over the years has taught me a lot. It has pushed my abilities not just to find a photograph but to get it right in camera. Getting your settings dialed in is probably one of the hardest if not the hardest part of shooting concerts. The other is to find the little moments that happen at every show. I’ve had the amazing fortune to photograph band like Spirit of the West, Live and The Watchmen and even a big arena show by U2. I still go back to small local club shows as some of the most enjoyable and the hardest to do.
Last year I was part of the amazing team of photographers who were there to capture all the antics of Sled Island. It was a fantastic few day of absolutely amazing performances from some incredible artists. I was even able to photograph the very last show preformed at the legendary Calgary nightclub The Republic. Who was on stage that night, but the amazing Daniel Lanois. Definitely a career highlight for me.
