A New Year!

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you had a great time over the recent holidays.

 A breakwall for the ferries and boats headed into Nantucket, MA

Since I decided last year to change the type of things I post on the blog to show mainly my storytelling portraits, activity here was down (a lot) in 2011. I am still shooting, but a lot of what I shoot I don't blog any more. I hope that I can get out to meet and photograph some more interesting people in 2012, and share those experiences here!

Busker Kate Mior as windup doll Coppelia during the inaugural St. Catharines Buskerfest.

In this post are a few images I made in 2011. Though 3/4 of these photos didn't make it to the blog, I do post them on places like google plus, twitter, or the Cimagery facebook page, so drop by there occasionally to see me at one of those spots!

"The New Farmers" I had the opportunity of photographing during 2011

A fountain in Boston I came across on a vacation.

I hope that you have a fine 2012! See you around :)

Niagara People: The New Farmers - Ryan and Amanda at Creek Shore Farms

In August of last year I posted about a gentleman who had an amazing garden in his backyard, and made the observation that this sort of thing is dying out, due to lack of interest from younger generations. Well, not completely...

Enter the new farmers – Ryan and Amanda operate Creek Shore Farms in Jordan, Ontario. Husband and wife, both are 20-somethings and really enjoy farming. Its second year in operation, Creek Shore Farms is well on its way. Currently, the farms main focus is sustainably grown vegetables, sold at local markets and through a CSA, or community supported agriculture, program. Any interested individuals can purchase a CSA share at the beginning of the growing season and then, every week over the course of 23 weeks from mid May to October, receive a box of freshly harvested vegetables. By purchasing a CSA share, you are becoming a member of the farm (without the hard work that goes along with farming!).

The CSA allows for you to experience what it means to eat locally and sustainably. The farm is pesticide free and all natural. Along with the vegetables, the farm raises chickens (who produce eggs), Newfoundland Sheep (for meat and wool), Muscovy ducks and White Embden geese. These different animals work together and provide their own help around the farm. The sheep produce manure to fertilize the vegetables, eliminating the need for chemical fertilizers; the Muscovy ducks eat the flies that would flourish in an environment with only sheep.

At one point during our shoot I asked Ryan to pick up a sheep. He happily obliged, grabbed a sheep, and said, now what? I told him to do whatever it is you do when you pick up a sheep. According to Ryan, you don't normally pick up sheep! Ugh, a city slicker visits the farm... :)

 

 If you're interested in becoming part of the CSA or would just like to find out more about Creek Shore Farms, visit their home on the web at creekshorefarms.ca.

Help-Portrait: Epilogue

The photos have been taken, they've been delivered. 

Working in conjunction with Community Care of St. Catharines and with a generous donation from PenFinancial Credit Union, 52 families/154 people had their portraits made on December 4th. Each family was provided with an 8x10 of the family photo and a CD of the rest of their images, free of charge. One family I photographed had never had a family portrait done before; another gentleman noted that he had never had a picture taken with his wife.

Ideally, when someone comes to a Help-Portrait event they have hair and makeup completed (if they'd like), as well as receive their print on-site. Because of the small contingent of Help-Portrait Niagara volunteers (4 photographers) prints had to be delivered two weeks after the actual photo shoot date. This is all fine and good - but next year we'd like to make it bigger! If you would be interested in helping, shoot me an email! We'll be looking for hair stylists, makeup artists, digitechs (to offload images, edit and print) and anyone else who wants to participate, no matter your skill! Even if you just want to lend a helping hand any way you can, chat with the people in for portraits, etc. it's all good! If helping out directly isn't for you, cash donations are also a big help - this year our major expenditure was for the rental of equipment - not all participating photographers have studio equipment hanging around.

This year, with only 4 photographers, 154 people were provided with a portrait in time for the holidays, that they could share with their family and friends - a portrait that they otherwise may not have been able to have done. Just think how many could be sent home next year with smiles on their faces and portraits in their hands, with your help! Tell your family, tell your friends, tell everyone :)

Photo: Marty Mako

Help-Portrait: A Picture is Worth

I just wanted to make a quick post about Help-Portrait, a world-wide event occurring (in most places) on December 4, 2010. Help-Portrait is about photographers giving back to the community that they live in, by following some simple steps:

- Find someone in need

- Take their picture

- Print their picture

- Deliver the picture to the subject.

I strongly encourage you to visit the Help-Portrait website and see if there is an event taking place in your community. Even if you aren't a photographer you can help - Hair stylists, makeup artists, and anyone else are welcomed to help out in any way that they can. Check out the video below to get a feel for what the event is about.

Interesting people: Roger Wood, the Mad Klockmaker

Back in late October I had the pleasure of visiting Roger Wood at his shop to make a few portraits as part of my interesting people series. Stepping into Roger's workshop where the creations that he dreams up and sells under the banner Klockwerks are made is like falling through the rabbit hole into some whimsical second dimension. The workspace is hard to accurately describe, with finished pieces filling the front window, a whole wall of clock faces to be considered in future projects, antique light bulbs and fixtures, boxes and containers of springs and other things you would never imagine to be associated with a clock of any kind (externally at least) spread throughout. A tour of the area turns up new wonders essentially everywhere, and a few steps through a woodshop leads to a washroom decorated (and still in the process, Roger tells me) in a steam punk aesthetic. Stepping through the back office brings you to the ‘hall of the greats’ – a large display of art decorating the stairwell. Step out the back door, again you experience another transformation – this time from extremely bustling Hamilton, Ontario street to peaceful garden. Some of the whimsical elements still apply here as well – there’s an old typewriter sitting to the right – it’s clearly been hit hard by age and the elements, but it doesn’t look out of place.

Hit the jump to keep reading, and for more images.

Come visit me during the Pelham Art Tour!

At the end of November (27th and 28th) I'll be taking part in the Pelham Art Tour - it would be great to meet you! 

What is the Pelham Art Tour? Essentially it is a self-guided 'tour' wherein you stop by the houses of some local artists' who have opened up for the two days. You can visit as many or as few locations as you'd like. I'll be the guest artist at another photographer's house, Divino Mucciante, out in Fenwick.

If you'd like to check out the flyer for the tour to see who else is participating, as well as see the map of the locations, you can download a .pdf right here! 

I'll have a few portraits from the interesting people project on display, as well as some other miscellaneous photos. It would be great to see you there!

What's new?

It's been a long time since I've made a blog post - it's true. Just thought I'd give an update on what I've been up to.

 First up, I spent a week driving across the Niagara Region taking photos of places and things that are associated with certain cities within the region, for a new website that a local company is creating. The images that are scattered throughout this post are a small part of the result.

Second, I'd like to announce here that I am going to be taking part in a local artists' studio tour as a guest artist at another photographer's house. The tour is a self guided one, meaning you grab a map and go to as many or as few stops as you'd like. It takes place on November 27th and 28th, from 10:00am to 5:00pm both days. I'll be showing some of my environmental portraiture/interesting people, as well as some other photography. It would be great if you'd stop by to say hello. The stop I will be at is located in Fenwick, Ontario. I'll make a separate post closer to the date with the address, etc.

Finally, I had a great time yesterday shooting another portrait for my interesting people series. If you follow me on twitter or check in on facebook you'll already have heard a bit about this shoot and saw at least one location photo. I'll have a separate post for this shoot as well, in the normal interesting people style - some portraits interspersed with a bit of a story about the person, as well as some lighting details at the end for those interested.

So, that's what I've been up to - sorry for the long silence. Keep checking in though, there is always more to come...