Patrick Gilbert - Cinematography & Photography

Music Video - The METTAphors "My OwnFist"

2012-01-27T14:47:00.002-05:00

This month has been a pretty busy one and a few weeks ago, in the middle of it all, I had the chance to film a local group (the METTAphors) as they did their thing. With limited time and resources, we had to keep things nice and simple. So, with that in mind, I put together a rough little storyboard, we got a great location thanks to Bex McG, and off we went!

If you haven't seen the METTAphors play live yet, add it on your to-do list... until then, check out a few still shots, the storyboard, and the final video down below!

Shooting North Bay

2012-01-10T21:36:00.002-05:00

Over the past several months, I've had the opportunity to shoot a wide variety of events, locations and activities for the City of North Bay. I've been able to document the happenings, not only with stills, but also with a series of video clips which will soon be making their way into one complete piece, showcasing what the city has to offer, the scope of events it can accommodate, and the great facilities that can be found here.

I've had a great time working on this so far, and have been pretty impressed to see things like the sea of people at the Downtown Xmas Walk, and the overwhelming support from the community at events like the Military Appreciation celebration, and Relay for Life.

After spending some time scanning through all the video I've captured for this to date, I'm excited and looking forward to a few more rounds of filming, and to editing the final piece. Here's an image that's just a tiny sneak peek at some of what I've filmed so far (click the image to enlarge)...

Portraits - North Bay Photography

2012-01-02T17:06:00.003-05:00

I do a lot of shooting at all kinds of events, and in various industrial settings, which I love, but because of the type of shots I'm hired to take, it's not very often that I get a photo that I'd call a nice portrait. A good portrait isn't a like a smiley corporate headshot, but more of a personal look at someone. A photo that gives a little insight on a person, and ideally makes you feel the mood and emotion on their face.

In the new year, I'm definitely looking forward to more of the type of work I've been doing in the past, and continuing to get better at it... but I also want to finally take time on a regular basis to get interesting people in front of the camera for some nice portraits. I'll post updates when I make any progress on that.

Until then, here are a few shots I've taken in the last little while that I'm pretty happy with (click on the images for a better look)...

My 2011 at a Glance- North Bay Photography and Video

2011-12-14T20:40:00.041-05:00

Today I quickly scanned through my year in pictures, and if I talked about each of the shoots I had, this post would go on and on. Instead, I thought I'd just pick a few here and there and put together a random little collage of a few of the photos I was asked to take in 2011... Click on the image to get a closer look!

Sherry & Yan... Piebird Bed & Breakfast - North Bay Video

2011-11-24T07:32:00.003-05:00

A while back, I got the chance to spend a day shooting with Sherry and Yan of Piebird Bed & Breakfast, and finally after being tied up working on a few feature films back to back, I got the chance to go through all the files and put something together.

Spending time with people like Sherry and Yan, and putting together little profile videos like this, giving an insight into people's lives is my favorite thing to do. I'm loving doing all kinds of work with my business (websites, design, photography, etc...), but I know I'll be able to watch this again in 5 years, and it'll still make me smile. I can't say the same for any website I worked on five years ago. It's just different and much more personal.

There are a number of people I want to get in front of the camera, but time & scheduling usually get in the way. This was the case with Piebird, but when I had a shoot cancellation one day, and I saw that the weather was nice, I got in touch with Yan & headed right over to start shooting.

I had a great time spending the day with them, and it's pretty hard not to fall in love with them, their place, their lifestyle, their happiness... just the whole experience.

Below are a few stills, followed by the video...

As always, press the Play button to watch it & you can also click on the HD button on the video to see it in High Definition, Click on the arrows symbol to view it full screen (best with HD mode clicked on), or Click on the Vimeo logo to view the video larger on that site.

Please take a few minutes to watch the video, & let me know what you think!

MUSIC VIDEO... Faye Blais "The Ways I Love You" - North Bay Cinematography

2011-10-24T12:30:00.003-04:00

The first time I was introduced to Faye Blais and her music was at the Northern Ontario Music and Film Awards in 2010. I watched the musical showcase the night before the awards, and she completely stood out from the rest of the performers (in a good way). Right away, I knew I'd want to work with her eventually, in some way.

The next night, at the awards after party (I had just accepted the award for Best Cinematographer, and she had won her award for Best Vocal Performance), we chatted a bit about how we should work on something together sometime, but with all kinds of work, and Faye's world travels, it didn't go any further than that.

Fast forward to a few years later, and we actually found a time that Faye was available in Sudbury, and I was also free for the day. We talked a bit, agreed to shoot a music video, and started tossing around a few ideas... Things that would be possible to shoot in a day.

We started shooting, with a rough idea of what we were after, and as the day progressed, the four of us - myself, Faye, Kelly and Andrew (the star couple) ironed out the story in the video.

With everyone's schedules, arriving/leaving at different times, etc... we didn't have a whole lot of time to wrap everything up, so we had to be efficient. At the end of it all, we spent about six hours, shooting in a few different locations. I could have spent many more hours, looking at different angles, and shooting different styles, but for how quick we had to work, I'm really happy with the outcome.

Getting this done last minute, on the fly was pretty much the only way it was ever going to happen, so it's great that we were actually able to make it work.

Below is a screen capture, followed by the music video "The Ways I Love You"... Press the Play button and watch it!!!

You can also click on the HD button on the video to see it in High Definition, Click on the arrows symbol to view it full screen (best with HD mode clicked on), or Click on the Vimeo logo to view the video larger on that site.

Hope you enjoy it!

Goin' up With Helicopters Canada! - North Bay Video

2011-09-03T08:50:00.001-04:00

I got to do an aerial shoot not too long ago, and it has me thinking about how lucky I've been to have the chance to shoot so many interesting things, and people over the years.

In the past year alone, I've spent more time in the air than I ever thought I would, with my fear of heights. It all started with my first trip up while I was working on a corporate video for Helicopters Canada. I had never been in a helicopter before, and it also happened to be the first video project I ever put together. If I could do it over again, I would shoot this video completely differently, but it was quite an experience and I learned a lot in the process.

Looking back, this probably wasn't the best project for me to start out with at the time, and I definitely underestimated the amount of time it would take to produce, how difficult it could be to coordinate all the people involved, and how frustrating it is to wait for good weather to get a specific shot.

Even though I wouldn't do it the same way now, and I'd like to shoot this again in a much more artistic way, it's still a piece I'm pretty happy with. There were a lot of firsts in the making of this video, so I guess for me it's kind of a milestone. It's definitely not perfect, but, I'm pretty happy to have created this, and it's great to see that it has been viewed by thousands of people around the world.

Anyway, for anyone who hasn't seen it before, here's the project that started my career in video production, as well as a few aerial shots I've taken...

Check out "Small Town Girl"! - North Bay Video

2011-08-29T10:30:00.003-04:00

I've talked a few times before about our "Small Town Girl" music video which was in the works over the summer, and I thought it might be time to post the finished product.

We wrapped shooting on the video a while back, and the final edit was done shortly after, but since Pam was going to be having a big show at the end of this month, it seemed like that would be a good time to give the video its official premiere. The show took place on Saturday, and everyone had a great time... aside from kind of faking it for the video, this was the first time I actually had the chance to see Pam perform, so it was nice to sit back and enjoy the show (without a camera in my face).

I've had the video posted on my website, which a few people might have seen, but I thought I'd wait until after Pam's show to start posting this all over the place. We had a great time working on this, and I'm happy to share it with everyone. If you haven't already seen it (and even if you have, hah), please take a few minutes to watch it, and pass it along! Here it is, Pam Millar & "Small Town Girl" ... next step, CMT!

Sleepin' All Over The Place

2011-08-04T13:03:00.002-04:00

I recently had the chance to take a quick trip across the country (and way north) with friend and colleague Kevin Hoffman of Clark Marketing Communications. We were traveling to get some photos and video in quite a remote location. I can't say or show a whole lot of anything of what we were doing at this point, but what I've included below is a bit of a by-product of our little adventure. Our trip included 8 flights over the course of three days... travel to our destination went like clockwork, but on our way back, we did have some pretty long delays in a few airports.

As we waited for our last flight home, it somehow came up that it would be funny to get shots of Kevin with my phone, of him sleeping in various spots in the airport, and send them along to those at home waiting for us. Right away, we started walking around the airport, scoping out possible settings for our shots, and we got right down to business. The plan was to start with some slightly believable shots, then progress to some more goofy settings.

I spent years with a camera covering my face, looking at life through the lens just as a hobby, until photography quickly became a big part of my business. I couldn't be happier about this progression, but I rarely spend much time taking shots just for fun anymore. So this was a nice change from the usual, and I was actually having a hard time taking some of the shots because I was laughing and shaking (and crying) so much.

Kevin was great, getting right into it in any of the settings we spotted. Well, almost... I did suggest a shot of him sleeping on the bathroom counter, but that wasn't happening. It's ok, there's no way in hell I would ever lay down in any bathroom. That's just gross! A dude has to draw the line somewhere.

Of course, because we're both pretty artsy guys, I think we were happy to see that a few of the pictures we were getting were not only a bit funny, but just really looked nice and interesting as stand alone shots too.

Anyway, here's a look at what a couple of artistic goofs do at an airport when they have a few hours to kill...

Go WILD! - North Bay Photography

2011-07-05T09:50:00.002-04:00

Not too long ago, I went out and took pictures of a Nipissing Wild football game, and had a great time doing it. There's a level of excitement with sports photography (especially contact sports) that you just don't get with other types of photo shoots. You have no idea what's going to happen, the tension is high, everyone is emotional, bodies are twisted and flying all over the place... it's great!

The best you can do is hope you're in a good spot to capture the action, and when something interesting does happen, make sure you don't miss the shot.

At this game, the Wild were playing Toronto's Junior Argos. I spent the first half of the match taking shots from the visitors' side, right next to their bench, listening to their insults about small town folk as they took a convincing lead on the Wild.

My time in the second half was spent on the other side with the home team, and it was great to be near them as they encouraged each other and completely took over the game. The wild came back and ended up winning 37-27. Things got pretty intense and I'm happy that I was able to capture a whole bunch of great action shots, and some nice emotional snapshots too.

Here's a look at a few of my photos from the game...

Be a part of our crowd!

2011-06-08T10:16:00.000-04:00

You might already know that we've spent a few days here and there shooting a music video for Burk's Falls singer Pam Millar... well, on the afternoon of June 26th, we'll be shooting our last scene and we're looking to get as many participants as possible & really end this shoot (which has gone quite smoothly) on a high note. This last scene will take place in Burk's Falls, and Pam knows she'll be able to draw a good bunch of people there.

It would be a bit of a road trip for anyone interested in taking part, but the more people we can get involved the better, and it would be great to see some familiar faces in the crowd.

If you'd be into joining us for a few hours, send me a message, and I'll get you the details.
Thanks!

Through Jaden's eyes

2011-05-26T12:53:00.001-04:00

On the weekend, Jaden (our daughter) was bored and asked me if we could go out and take pictures for a little while. It doesn't take much convincing to get me playing with a camera, so since she finally asked me to do something when we had some free time, we quickly got our things together and took off to see what we could capture.

Jaden had showed a bit of interest in photography in the past, but she seemed to get frustrated with the limitations of using small point and shoot cameras, and got bored of it. This time, I figured I'd let her use my old 40D, with a 50mm 1.8 lens (a dirt cheap lens that is still one of my favorites). Armed with a tool that was much better than anything she had used before, it was nice to watch her doing her thing, and having fun with it.

We had a few locations in mind on our little adventure, but the rain started coming down not long after we left the house, so we had to change our plans. She told me I was weird when I said we were going to a parking garage, but I told her that some of the most interesting things are in unlikely places. Being able to find beauty in a grubby setting, looking at things most people don't notice, that's part of the fun. Still, she told me again that I'm pretty weird. I can't really argue that.

As soon as we got out of the car though, she started actually looking at everything, snapping away, and got a bunch of really good shots.

We were out for a few hours, and had a good time. Looking through her pictures at the end of the day, I was really impressed with what I saw, and she actually even managed to get a few decent shots of me!

Here are a few of her shots, and I'll be posting a gallery with more of them on Facebook a little later...

Attending NOMFA, and more! - North Bay Music Video

2011-05-02T12:56:00.001-04:00

The Northern Ontario Music and Film Awards & Conference took place this past weekend, and I had such a great time! I was nominated for Best Cinematographer again (won last year), and even though this year's award went to Nano Debassige and not yours truly, I'm so happy to have been a part of it all.

Last year was my first time attending the event, and I was only able to make it there in time to take in a few panels, and quickly get ready for the awards ceremony. This year, I headed to Sudbury on Thursday, and really had the chance to get to know a lot of people. A few I had met last year, like Ryan La Via (who was a winner this year, yay!) & Faye Blais, and many I had never met, like Nano, Lee Chambers, Curtis Jensen, and many more. They were all such nice people, and I look forward to our paths crossing again.

I also got the chance to spend time with Dennis Landry and some of the folks at MFM who put this all together, and they were all so great. It's quite a weekend they put on for us, and they do a lot for the film industry in the north. We really are quite lucky to have them around, so It was nice to spend time with them as regular people, and not just the organizers of the event.

Coming back from a weekend filled with so many creative and talented people, I'm feeling pretty inspired to get rolling on so many projects. For starters, It's time for me to start editing "Missing" which we recently got in the can, and I'm looking forward to our next round of shooting on a music video with singer Pam Millar. With those projects, and many more on the horizon, 2011 is shaping up to be a pretty productive year. Now I just have to make sure to leave some time in there for my regular business too!

I'll talk more about the music video project and the awesome people involved pretty soon. Until then, here are a few screenshots of the first day of shooting with Pam...

New Short... "MISSING" - North Bay Cinematography

2011-03-24T16:45:00.005-04:00

OK, I need to take a quick time-out in this crazy day to post something about a new short we've got in the works. I can't really say much about it because it is really going to be quite short, so any explanation would probably describe the entire thing, but I figured I'd put up a few screen captures. With an afternoon of shooting behind us, I'm pretty excited about how this one's looking. We just have an other hour or two to spend whenever we can get together again, and then it'll be on to editing, and on to planning the next film. I'll go into that one (which will be a longer project) some other time. One film at a time.

Here are the screens...

FACES - North Bay Photography

2011-03-22T11:26:00.006-04:00

I have fun taking pictures and video of just about everything, and I've especially enjoyed aerial work, and food photography I've done over the past few years.

I have to say though, there's nothing that's quite as rewarding as taking shots of people. When your subject is a person, anything can happen. You can control the setting and lighting all you want, but if the person you're taking pictures of is insecure, not comfortable in front of the camera, or even worse very unhappy about having to have their picture taken, it can be a pretty big challenge to get good results.

People can be pretty unpredictable, and that lack of control keeps things interesting. If all goes well, you get nice shots that make the person look great. If it goes really well and you have a little luck, you get a few shots that give you a closer look at a person, almost like a little sneak peek at their soul. That's what I'm after, and that's what has made me decide to start this new project.

FACES

I'd like to put together a collection of portraits, a book of faces, or maybe even a wall of faces. I guess it all depends how many people want to take part. I don't just want to get a group of clean, corporate looking head shots, but rather a bunch of portraits showing the real personal side of people. An old mechanic covered in grease, an adrenaline junkie about to jump out of a plane, a widower talking about his lost love, a baker working in the kitchen, a burn victim showing her old scars, a couch potato sitting in front of the tv with chip crumbs on his face... You get the idea. There isn't anything specific I'm looking for, just an honest look at all types of people, men and women, all ages 18 and up.

I don't have a whole lot of free time, so I have no idea how long this will take, or when I'll consider the project complete (if ever). but I just thought I'd get the ball rolling.

If you'd be interested in taking part in this project and being one of my faces, please click here to send me an email at faces@patrickgilbert.com, and tell me a little bit about yourself, just so I can have an idea of who you are and what makes you tick. This will help me with planning some shots.

I'm really hoping to get a LOT of people involved in this, so please pass this along to anyone you can think of. I can't pay anyone to take part, but at the very least, you will get a cool free picture out of it!

I'm looking forward to getting this started! Here's a little look at a few faces I've had in front of my camera in the past (shots not a part of this new project)...

Not a Complete Waste - North Bay Photography

2011-03-16T23:04:00.001-04:00

A little more than a year ago, I posted something about a bad day I was having. You can read that post here to refresh your memory.

I thought about that today for a few reasons...

1) I was editing some shots I took at the ski hill a few days ago (shots I wasn't able to get the miserable day of that post a year ago)

2) this also happened to be one of those days where things just aren't going well, except for the part about people pointing and laughing at me. Well, actually I'm sure that happened today too, just not to my face. hah.

So, as the day is close to being over, I thought I'd just wrap it up with one of the new ski hill shots. This wasn't the type of photo I went there to capture, though I did get a lot of what I needed, but it just happens to be one of the shots I like best. I guess the day wasn't a complete waste...

It's Jake Time Again! North Bay Photography

2011-02-03T22:45:00.001-05:00

A little while back, I was happy to get the chance to take some more pictures of my buddy Jake Lacourse, who I've posted about before.

The shots were for an ad, welcoming Jake back to Clarion Resort Pinewood Park, where he had started his career in hospitality years earlier. With him working there as the Director of Sales and Marketing, it will be interesting to see how the resort will change over the next few years.

I always have a good time taking pictures, and this was definitely no exception. It was hard to stop laughing long enough to snap some shots, but in the end everything worked out great, and we got what we needed. With life, kids, business, etc... it's hard to make time for socializing, so it's nice to sometimes be able to work, and catch up with an old friend at the same time. OK, maybe we're not all that old, but it does feel like it sometimes.

Here are a few of the shots, and the little ad I whipped up for the Nugget...

QR Code Fun!

2011-01-18T21:23:00.001-05:00

I love this stuff! If you haven't seen these around yet, I don't think it will be too long before you start seeing them pop up everywhere you look.

The first time I saw one of these, I was in Toronto with Mike for the screening of Oliver Sherman. It was on a poster for another movie that was showing at TIFF, and we figured it had something to do with scanning with a mobile device, but that's about as far as we got with it.

A few days ago, I was about to open a bottle of wine, when I noticed one of these cool graphics on the back, and it also gave a web address to go to with your mobile to get a free reader. I loaded the free app right away, scanned the image, and was taken to a webpage describing that particular bottle of wine, giving tips on food pairings, etc... I texted Mike right away, he had just seen one on a restaurant menu and was actually talking about it when he got my message.

I love this technology, and though I don't really expect it to pick up locally until a lot of major products are using them (if ever), I still think it will be fun to experiment with the codes. Aside from being useful in marketing efforts, I could see these linking to instructions for assembling furniture, medication warnings etc...

Not only can you have the QR Code open a webpage when a mobile user scans it, you can also set it to send an email, save your Vcard info to their address book, send a text message, dial a phone number, or play a video.

I'm really looking forward to using a QR code in a print ad soon, and seeing how much response it generates, if any.

I'd really love to have a big ol' ad in the paper that has no other content but the QR code image, just to see if the curiosity would be enough to drive people to check it out. It could be a fun experiment.

Since I first posted this, I've been looking into so many more applications for these, and I think one of my favorites is to have a QR code on your clothing. The examples I've seen all seem to have a QR code linking to the clothing designer's website, but I'm sure it's also being used for many other purposes. Single people could have a personal dating profile that you link to when you scan the code on their back for example... of course we might all look like a bunch of goofs if we went around scanning random people's clothes. hah.

Oh, and of course it's not surprising that some people have had the codes permanently embedded on their bodies. Do an image search in google for "QR code tattoo", and see the results.

If you have a cel phone and would like to test out this technology, go to skuyou.com using your mobile, and you'll be provided with a link to a free reader for your particular phone. It's quick and easy.

Once you've got it, scan this image below and see what happens! Ok, it's really not that suspenseful, but it's still fun. Try It!

When Life Hands You Lemons... And Limes & Oranges

2011-01-18T16:56:00.000-05:00

This post is the result of nothing more than needing a break from the project I was working on. I wandered around the house for a minute, until a bunch of lemons caught my eye.

I just happened to have a sheet of plexiglass in the basement (a leftover piece of hardware from a movie set), so I put it down like a bridge between two chairs, placed one of my softboxes underneath it, one above, sliced up some citrus and had some fun.

I didn't spend a whole lot of time experimenting with different light levels and placement, but here are some of the results of my citrus break

The Forgotten Lego

2011-01-12T17:47:00.000-05:00

This holiday season had me putting a lot of lego sets together, and making a little town for Tristan to play with.

We still have a little bin of my old blocks from when I was a kid, so I figured I'd use them to build some houses to match the new one Tristan got for christmas. My old legos have so much wear on them that the buildings I made look like they belong in the bad part of town.

Of course when we play with the legos (or do anything else really), I can't help myself, I have to at least take a few pictures with my phone. Here are a few I've taken over the last few weeks, and one older picture I took a few years back of a forgotten lego.

I was walking in an alleyway when I noticed this old, broken lego popping out of the dirt. It made me wonder how long it had been buried there in the sand, and what kind of creations it might have been a part of once upon a time. Nobody would have cared about, or even noticed one single block going missing I guess, but there was just something about this lone lego that seemed kind of sad.

Here's the forgotten lego, and a few other silly pictures...

The Old Shadow

2011-01-11T15:52:00.000-05:00

With Jaden turning ten last month, I've been spending some time looking back through old pictures I've taken of her since she was born. I have a few favorites from the earlier days... one of those I posted not too long ago, and another one of them from a few years later is included below.

I took this shot not long after we moved to this street. I was walking to the park with Jaden, and noticed our huge shadows as we crossed the street. I always had a camera in my pocket since I got into digital photography, so I quickly pulled it out and snapped a few shots before we got to the other side.

The camera I was using back then (my first digital) was the Casio exilim ex-S2, a great little toy to start out with. At the size of a credit card, and barely 1/4 of an inch thick, it was perfect to carry around with me all the time. Looking at it now it's pretty funny, the display is about the size of a nickel, and it only shot 2mp without any ability to focus. Not a very high quality tool, but at the time, it was pretty impressive. I liked it enough to upgrade to newer exilim models in following years, right up to a 10mp credit card sized camera. Then I finally decided to make the jump to SLRs.

I definitely shot a lot of garbage with the ex-S2, but this is one simple image I still like.

A Tasty Trio - North Bay Food Photography

2011-01-06T09:19:00.001-05:00

I figured I'd start the day with a few pictures of some little open faced sandwiches I made. I'm still trying to think of some new foods I can make to take shots of, and anytime I'm in a store like winners, I take a quick look around to see if there are interesting dishes or anything else I could use. Since I haven't really found anything different yet, I thought a little group of sandwiches might look tasty.

I think from here I'll move on to some colourful fruit or desserts. even though I don't really eat sweets, they do look nice. I'll see what I can come up with, but for now, here's the tasty trio...

Eyewhere - North Bay Photography & Web

2011-01-05T16:37:00.001-05:00

Just recently, I wrapped up a website for a new and unique company in town, Eyewhere Mobile Optical.

The company was started by Paul Kilfoyl, a licensed optician who decided to offer on location optical service. Rather than traveling to an optician's office to pick out frames, lenses, or to have your eyewear fixed, you can now call Paul and he'll come to you, fully equipped to meet your needs.

This service is especially useful for places like retirement homes where residents might not have easy access to transportation, or industrial facilities where several employees need to be equipped with prescription safety glasses.

I hadn't worked on this type of project before, so I was happy to be involved. Paul's big focus with this company is excellent customer service. Building long lasting relationships with his clients is top priority, so it just made sense for his face to be right there when people visit his website. So, once I had the design of the site taken care of, it was time to get Paul's mug in front of the Canon.

As with the Judy shoot, we wanted to keep this one pretty simple, so Paul came over to my place, and with a few softboxes, the shot was taken in front of a bare wall in my office downstairs. Actually, the room was pretty much empty back then, not quite an office yet, and it has barely changed since. Maybe someday.

Here's one of the photos I took, as well as a look at the Eyewhere website design...

Shooting the Not So Willing - North Bay Photography

2011-01-04T17:38:00.002-05:00

Over the past year I've had the chance to shoot some pretty interesting people, which has been great. The only problem is that 99% of the time, the folks I need to take pictures of hate being in front of the camera, and just can't wait for the whole thing to be done so they can get away from me. I hate to be in front of the camera too (that's why I'm always behind one!), so I don't take it too personally.

An example of this was the day I needed to get a headshot of Judy Sharpe. The shot was for the Influential Women of Northern Ontario Awards. Judy was the Public Sector Award Winner, and was being featured in their magazine and website.

Judy is obviously a very busy woman, so the shoot would have to take place at One Kids Place, where she works as Executive Director. This was fine because the natural light there is great. I knew she was less than excited about having her picture taken, so I figured I'd keep things simple to make sure it would be nice and quick. All I brought with me was a large reflector, placed to get just the right lighting I wanted on her face, and off we went.

Even though Judy wasn't excited about being in front of the lens, she was really nice about the whole thing, and I didn't keep her long just to make sure she wouldn't get too uncomfortable. Fortunately, she wasn't rushing me at all, and once I got the shot I needed, I even took a few seconds to get a photo with the old Yashica-A medium format film camera I had just received as a gift a few days earlier.

Below is the final shot that was used, how it looked in the magazine, and a look at the shot I took with the Yashica...

Back to the beginning - North Bay Food Photography

2011-01-03T14:00:00.001-05:00

Last night I spent some time looking through all the work I've done since last January, and I realized it has been a year since I started this blog. I did well in the first month, posting 25 times. Things went downhill from there until I ended up with only 2 posts in the last few months.

I'll see if I can keep the momentum going this year and put something up at least every other day. My first post last year was a shot of some soup, so I figured I'd start this year the same way with a bowl of Inferno sausage and rice soup.

It has been a while since I took shots of my food, and I wasn't sure why until I started taking pictures of this soup. The problem is I don't have any more variety. Same foods, same colours, same dishes, same silverware, same, same, same. I guess I got about as far as I could with these quick shots and moved on to something else.

I like taking the food shots though, so I'll see what I can find to mix things up a little, and still keep things really simple (no lighting or major set up, etc...).

The first photo below was taken using a Canon 50mm 1.8 lens, and for the second shot I thought I'd try out my new Lensbaby Muse plastic lens. The muse is not ideal for food shots but it is a fun little toy, and I'll get into that later, but for now here are the shots.

Happy Birthday Jaden!

2010-12-20T11:21:00.001-05:00

It's a big day! Our oldest girl Jaden is celebrating her 10th birthday today. It's hard to believe that time has gone by so quickly, but really I can barely remember what life was like without kids.

I'm sure it was quite easy and stress-free, but still, I can't imagine things being any different than they are now.

Having a 10 year old kid might take a bit of getting used to though... Her birthday makes ME feel quite a bit older. Not far from dealing with the teen years now!

I'll stop worrying about the future for a minute, and look back to the day that changed our lives... Here's a photo I took exactly 10 years ago.

Happy birthday Jaden!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

I'm Yours - North Bay Film

2010-12-14T15:38:00.004-05:00

Here I am again posting after a very loooong break. Since i'm currently a passenger on a two hour trip to a Foraco mine site, I guess I'll take the opprtunity to start playing catch up and post about what's been happening.

I still want to talk more about the shoots I showed snippets of in my last post, as well as all the work I've done since then, but for now, I'll talk a bit about "I'm Yours".

I got a call about 6 weeks ago from someone letting me know there was a Toronto production company (New Real Films) getting ready to shoot a feature in town, and they needed a designer/set dresser. I obviously had some film experience, but had never done this particular job before, and already had plenty on my plate.

I agreed to go to a meeting to find out more, and to see if I was interested. It turned out this was a production meeting with a good part of the crew talking about what needed to be done, and I was instantly on board.

The next three and a half weeks were taken over from that point on. Shopping for building supplies, furniture, transforming rooms, stores, pubs, outdoor spaces, producing props like signage, fake bus tickets, driver's licenses, etc... The list goes on and on.

The cast (led by Rossif Sutherland and Karine Vanasse) and crew were great, and it was nice to get the opportunity to be a part of it all.

I took a whole lot of pictures throughout, but i don't really want to show much until the movie's out.

I do have a bunch of random shots I took on set with my phone that don't really give anything away though, and here are a just few of them...

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Where did summer go? - North Bay Photography

2010-10-20T10:26:00.004-04:00

The past few months have been really crazy, which is great. Business is going really well, and I can't complain. What I'm most happy about is that on top of my usual web and design work, I've been getting a lot of photography jobs lately. This welcome addition to the workload has been partly responsible for my lack of posts, and my lack of regular sleep.

A lot of this photography has been for the City of North Bay's Tourism and Economic Development departments. There have also been some athletics, coins, political figures, an author, and a wedding thrown in the mix... oh, and a pretty cool dentist too!

I could say, and show a lot about each of these, but there just isn't enough time in the day for that right now. Instead, I'll just say how happy I am to have the opportunity to work on such a wide variety of projects from one day to the next.

Here's a little sneak peek at some of shots I've taken over the past few months (click the image to open it in a new window, then click it again to enlarge)...

A little teaser...The House - North Bay Cinematography

2010-10-01T15:36:00.003-04:00

Well, for those who might not have heard, The Lake won for Best Short at Film North International Film Festival last weekend. That was pretty good news, and a nice way to end things with The Lake's festival run. I've posted more details about this film a few times before, but the last thing I'll say about it is a big thanks to Kevin Hoffman who did the editing, and submitted the short to a bunch of festivals a while back. If that hadn't happened, nobody would have heard of it, or heard of me for that matter.

Now that The Lake has run its cycle, it's time to start pushing the next project: The House.

The House is a short film I worked on earlier this summer, and it's just now starting to get submitted to festivals. I'll keep my fingers crossed that it does well over the next year or so. You can do the same if you'd like, but people might look at you and think you're a bit odd. I'm seeing a bit of a trend with the titles of the some projects I've worked on so far: The Gloaming. The Lake. The House. what's next? The Backyard, The Car, The Sky, The, The etc... Time to mix it up a little!

As usual, we had a pretty small group working on this short, and we actually shot most of it in a single day. Really we shot the whole short in one day, but there were a few things we weren't completely happy with, so we spent a few hours reshooting a scene a few days later.

Starring in the film are Jim & Claire Calarco, Danielle Baker, Abigail Calarco, and Lewis Hodgson.

Jim wrote, produced and directed the piece, I worked on cinematography and Kevin Hoffman handled art direction, sound, as well as the big task of editing the whole thing together. Heather Cairns-Hodgson lent her hand to wardrobe, as well as helping with just about anything we needed throughout the day (including holding an umbrella over me for a while so my camera wouldn't get soaked... Thank you!). And of course thank you to Nicole who puts up with me leaving for a day to get a shoot done.

I can't really say much more about it, but you can watch a little teaser of it below the poster.
Have a good weekend...

The Lake showing at Cinefest - North Bay Cinematography

2010-09-22T12:45:00.001-04:00

Well, The Lake (one of our short films) is showing at Cinefest International Filmf Festival today. This is pretty cool, unfortunately I don't think anyone who was involved with the film will actually be there for the experience. Most of the cast and crew have regular jobs they couldn't just duck out of to go to a festival, which is too bad.

In my case, it's pretty much the same. I have quite a full month with a lot of different contracts on the go, from websites to video work and photography. I just can't take another day away from the computer right now. It's a little disappointing, but in the end paying the bills and hopefully keeping the family fed for a while happens to be quite a bit heavier on the priority scale.

The lake will actually also be showing at Film North - 2010 Huntsville International Film Festival this weekend. I'll be out in the wild doing a full day of shooting for the tourism industry, so I'll have to miss this festival too. On the plus side, writer and partner in crime Michael Humble will be making it to the event, and I'm sure he'll have a blast.

This weekend will pretty much mark the end of The Lake's festival shelf life. It has been around for a little while, and played here and there over the past year. One of the highlights was the Northern Ontario Music and Film Awards where a certain Patrick Gilbert (yay me!) and Ed Regan won for Best Cinematography. now it's time to move on and start pushing the next one.

We have had a pretty good run with The Lake, and I look forward to continued success with our recent, and future projects.

If you haven't seen it yet, why don't you take a few minutes to watch The Lake...

The Logo Showdown

2010-09-17T09:11:00.000-04:00

A little while back I posted some food shots here which I took for Glenn Sheridan, leading up to the opening of his new restaurant. Since that time, I've also been working on a website for the restaurant (Le Bon Marché), as well as a logo.

Last week, the logos were narrowed down to three variations. Glen was having a hard time deciding between the three, and someone mentioned it would be fun to put it up on facebook where people could vote on their favorite. We all agreed that this was a good idea, so before too long, the images were up and the voting had begun.

It has been interesting to watch the voting, and to see people's comments. I didn't want to sway people in any way, so I haven't posted anything on the page, or responded to any of the suggestions with why certain imagery, colours or fonts styles were used. It's fun to see how close it has been between the two highest vote getters. They're both my creations, so I'm not rooting for one any more than the other, but I'm still anxious to see which one comes out on top.

Anyway, today is the last day for voting, so if you haven't already done so, go to Le Bon Marché's fan page and become a part of the decision...vote for your favorite!

Here's a look at the two top choices (don't vote here, go to the facebook page)...

Oliver Sherman

2010-09-09T01:11:00.002-04:00

Hey folks, right now I'm in Toronto for a private cast and crew screening of Oliver Sherman, a feature film shot in the North Bay area last year which I did some work on. I have to say it's odd, and fun being in the company of several accomplished film makers. It's nice to have had some part (even a small part) in the making of the film, which will be premiering at the Toronto International Film Festival in a few days. I'm honored to be a part of it all, small or not.

My role was in the art department, and my contribution came in the design of things like beer labels, vodka labels, cigarette packs, a cheque, bus ticket, signs etc... I had fun working on these items during my short time on the film, and it was cool to see the stuff on the big screen. Of course, these are pretty much just little props and are mostly out of focus in a lot of the shots where they appear, but it was still pretty cool.

I have to share a shot of something I saw just outside of the theater where the premiere took place. It got my attention, so i figured i'd post it. Talk to ya later folks!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

T Dot

2010-08-28T12:19:00.001-04:00

Over the past few weeks, I've had the chance to go to Toronto (one of my favorite places to be) a few times. I really expected to spend some time just wandering the streets and taking pictures, but I didn't end up doing much of that at all. We did wander, but I just didn't end up taking the camera out of the bag very often.

I was a little worried when I started doing more photography and video work for money that I would lose interest in doing it for fun, and that seems to have happened a little. It's not something I really noticed, but now that I think of it, I do actually go for days now without holding a camera. Not many days mind you, but before the camera became a tool I use for my business, I would take at the very least 10 pictures every single day. And that would be a slow day!

I guess I've been more focused on work stuff, and less on just having fun with the camera. The Hipstamatic application for the iPhone has brought some of the fun back and I think I've actually taken more non-business related shots with the phone than with any of my actual cameras since I got the app.

I have a photo project in mind which I've vaguely mentioned a few times. I think it's something that could be really fun, and I'll talk about it in my next post.

Mike and I also have a short film we've been meaning to shoot all summer, but time flies by, and scheduling people who have regular jobs to worry about is always an issue. We haven't shot a thing just yet, but I'm hoping we can get rolling on that over the next few weeks.

Anyway, that's it for now. Here's a handful of shots I took with my phone while in Toronto. Don't forget to check back soon to read about "The Project"... Maybe it's something you'll want to join in and be a part of!

Helicopters Canada Video - North Bay Videography

2010-08-25T16:12:00.002-04:00

I have posted far less than I would have liked over the past few months, and there are quite a few things I've been meaning to talk about which I'll need to catch up on soon. The main reason I've been so tied up is the time I've spent working on a corporate video for Helicopters Canada. I talked a bit about this in one of my past posts entitled "I Can Fly!"

Helicopters Canada is a flight training and charter company located here in North Bay Ontario. They've been a client of mine for a few years now, so it was great to get the chance to shoot this video for them. Of course there were some obstacles to overcome (shy people, scheduling, rainy days, etc...), but in the end everything came together just fine.

I've spent far too much time on this to want to talk about it anymore... What more could I say anyway? Just get comfortable and watch the video! It's pretty small in this window, so you might want to kick it into full screen HD mode.

Come back soon to hear about a new and exciting project I have in mind, as well as a bunch of other things I've been meaning to babble on about.

Come freeze in my shower? - North Bay Photography

2010-08-12T17:09:00.001-04:00

Not too long ago, I posted a few shots I took of Scott in my shower. These photos were the result of a little test I did, in preparation for an actual shoot that would take place the following week. Having never taken pictures of someone in the shower (It's not something that people ask for a lot), I wanted to play a little and make sure everything would work out perfectly.

Well, that actual shoot took place earlier this week, and it went great. I'm so surprised that anyone was even interested in doing this. "Hey, do you want to come into a stranger's house and freeze in the shower while he takes pictures?". Sounds appealing right? Well, it was appealing enough I guess, and everything went as planned. I'm happy the girls were brave enough to hop in the shower for this, and I'm really pleased with the end result.

You'll be seeing these in the newspaper soon, and I'll talk some more about it at some point, and maybe post more shots from the collection as time goes on. I really had a lot of fun with this, and it has raised my interest in a little project I already had in mind. That's something else I'll go into more detail about soon.

OK, I'm all over the place now, here are a few shots. Till next time!

Food! Food! And More Food! - North Bay Food Photography

2010-08-11T14:13:00.002-04:00

I'm falling behind on posts again! Time to get back at it, here goes...

Earlier this week, we had the chance to go to Jake the Grand Master's house, where we were treated to great hospitality, and a sampling of chef Glenn Sheridan's menu. Glenn will be opening a restaurant (Le Bon Marché) in North Bay soon, so this was a great opportunity to get a little taste of what's to come, and of course to get a few pictures of the dishes in the process.

I've known Jake for ages, so it was nice to finally get our families together for a little visit, even though I was a little distracted with the photography, and getting the shots just right. I tend to get a little crazy when I'm taking pictures. I can keep shooting for hours, and take hundreds of "the exact same shot" until I get exactly the one I want. It doesn't bother me at all, but I guess it gets annoying for those around me. hah.

In the end, the food was great, and I think the shots worked out well too! Have a look at a few of them...

Welcome to my shower!

2010-08-08T15:50:00.001-04:00

So I got a call this week, and was asked if I'd be interested in taking pictures of a few girls in the shower. My mind started going right away, but not at all how you might think.

I started running through the scenario and trying to figure out exactly how I'd get the shots needed without getting my camera and my lights wet. I also didn't really think people would want to go into someone else's house, especially someone else's shower to pose for a few shots. So I tried to think of a few options for setting up the scene outside somehow. This would have been good for many reasons. The natural light would have been nice, I wouldn't have had to worry about any mess, and I would have had enough room to shoot from far enough away to not get my camera soaked.

In the end, it just didn't make any sense (or work with the timeline and budget) to assemble a faux shower. So the next obvious choice was our upstairs bathroom. We have a huge skylight, so the natural light would help, and there would be enough room for me to jam a few artificial light in there and still be able to move around somewhat comfortably.

I figured everything would work out fine, but just to make sure, I wanted to have a test run with someone else first. This way I could work out any issues that might come up and see what problems we might run into, before the actual models come over. Friday was the trial day, and Scott (probably the most cartoony and animated person I know) came over, jumped in my shower, and we got down to business.

I originally had only one light set up, a reflector which I didn't end up using, and a lot of sun coming in from the skylight. Then the clouds started rolling in and the constantly changing daylight became a problem. I decided to not rely on it at all, set up a second light and all was good!

Everything worked out great, and I'm looking forward to the official shoot later this week. I'll talk more about this, and what it's for some other time. Until then, here are a few pictures from Friday...

Wedding Cake... Times Two

2010-07-26T15:41:00.001-04:00

Last week was a bit overloaded, and I'm so glad it's behind us. There was all kinds of the regular craziness and running around, but that wasn't really the problem. I had a huge editing job to wrap up, Thursday was Nicole's birthday, and on Saturday, we needed to have two wedding cakes done.

Our original plan was to start working on elements of the cakes a few weeks ahead of time. We wanted to have the flowers and other decorative pieces done so that when the weekend came around, we would just need to assemble everything. Of course, things never go as planned. Time flew by and the next thing we knew we only had a few days to go and nothing was done.

We've worked with fondant quite a bit in the past, which you can see in our other cakes, but this time we thought we'd use gum paste to make the flowers, leaves, branches etc... It's supposed to dry very quickly, and become hard as a rock, so it seemed like a good idea. It worked out fine for the tiny flowers, but when it came to the big lilies, that was a different story. The flowers just wouldn't harden fast enough, and when we tried to attach them to the cake with royal icing, a lot of them lost petals and just crumbled in our hands.

After a week of too many sleepless nights, having the main element of a cake fall apart at the last minute was a bit scary, and very discouraging. Fortunately, I had made way more lilies than we needed, so even with the issues we had, there were still enough flowers to get the job done, and everything worked out just fine. After a few stressful deliveries on some of the most bumpy streets in all of Ontario, we were able to breathe a sigh of relief.

Have a look at the end result...

The Old Obsession is Back!

2010-07-13T22:35:00.009-04:00

I spent most of my teen years playing basketball, watching basketball, playing b-ball video games, dreaming about basketball, covering my walls with any basketball imagery I could find. Well, you get the idea. I was obsessed.

I stopped playing when I was 18 or so I guess. I'm not sure why, but I'm assuming alcohol and self-induced teen drama probably had something to do with it in the beginning. Then came college, family, work, business, etc... No basketball. A few times over the years, I tried to get into the routine of going to the nearest schoolyard and throwing the ball around, but it never stuck.

At about six this morning, I was laying in bed and decided to hop out, go for a little jog, then throw the basketball around a bit. A bit turned into 2 and a half hours, until I figured it was time to come back home and get some work done. I went outside of a school nearby where I spent a lot of time playing back in the day, and it felt great. I definitely wasn't moving quite as smoothly as I once did, but there's something that just felt natural and comforting about being there. Like visiting an old friend.

Back in high school, the only place I was comfortable was on the court. Well, the outdoor court anyway. When it came to playing for the school team, I was so preoccupied with the fact that I was not well liked (short, scrawny, shy geek who didn't know anyone... easy to make fun of) that I was nervous and even afraid to touch the ball. I don't think I ever even took a single shot in the two years I played on the team. I've always regretted that.

Anyway, when it came to street ball, it was a different story. I was very confident, in control, and enjoyed making people look bad. It was the complete opposite of the rest of my life at the time. Being there today I found myself remembering a lot of the moments and shots & passes I made in the games I played so long ago. I don't know why I remember it all so well, but like I said I was obsessed, and those were some of the only moments I didn't feel like an idiot back then.

I guess you could say those were my glory days... with absolutely no glory because there were no fans, crowds, or any record that any of those matches ever took place at all. hah. Maybe I dreamt it all up.

Here are a few pictures from this morning. It really took me back, but I wish someone else would have showed up to play. I miss the competition.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Hipsta-fun!

2010-07-11T03:34:00.007-04:00

I love lomography, and I've posted about it a few times now. Something about the low tech cameras and the unexpected result is just exciting to me.

A few days ago, I saw a post from Amanda Palmer (who I follow on Twitter) about the hipstamatic app for the iPhone. The picture she posted had that lomo look I really dig, so I jumped all over that app right away. It did not disapoint. The app is slow, and a bit glitchy, but overall I love it.

Looking into it a bit I discovered that the hipstamatic was actually a camera that was produced a while back. The interesting thing is that there were only 200 of them made. I'd love to get my hands on one.

Until then, I'll just keep using the iPhone version. Here are a few shots I took with it today...

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Hi Everybuggy! - North Bay Nature Photography

2010-07-05T22:43:00.003-04:00

I had to dig up a few insect photos for something recently, and as I was scanning through all my files, I started noticing that I had quite a few bug shots in there over the years. I don't have any special interest in the pests, but I have always been a fan of macro photography, and I guess bugs are just an easy subject. They're pretty interesting to look at close-up, and they're generally slow enough that you can get a good shot before they flee.

One of the shots I came across was of a praying mantis. It was pretty odd, because we found it just outside our house. I'm pretty sure those things aren't running wild around here, so I guess a neighbor nearby must have had it as a pet and it got away or something. Anyway, finding a mantis in our yard was weird, but even more strange was that the insect was brown, and not the usual bright green.

I don't know if it was dried out and dying, and that's why it lost its colour, but I put it on a big plant we had on our porch, and the next day, it was gone. I guess it either made its way elsewhere, or it became a midnight snack for some other critter.

Here's the shot of the mantis, as well as a few other bug shots I took a while back. These were all shot on a variety of ultra compact cameras I had years ago, before I took the leap to my first DSLR. Have a macro look!...

33 Cent Pile of Garbage - North Bay Food Photography

2010-06-25T09:22:00.001-04:00

So I was making Mr. Noodles for lunch the other day, and I started thinking about the crap I eat all the time. When I started this blog, it was pretty much about food every day, and I think I actually ate much better back then. Not because I wanted to necessarily, but because I wanted the food to look good for pictures, and it turns out healthy food is nice and colourful.

Anyway, with my Mr. Noodles ready, I decided to quickly put a few things together on the plate to try to make this lunch a little more interesting than a 33 cent pile of garbage.

This is what I ended up with, aside from a belly that was way too full in the end...

Nasty Dirty Rotting

2010-06-24T00:26:00.000-04:00

Chaos over (for now)... time to get back to regular blog posts.

I made a quick trip to Sudbury a few days ago and it reminded me that I'd like to spend a day there sometime just wandering and taking pictures. I'm a big fan of dilapidated buildings, and Sudbury has no shortage of them! Well, to be fair I'm sure North Bay has plenty of them too, but I'm always here, so I guess I don't really look around and notice things as much as I do in a different city.

The last time I had gone to Sudbury was at the beginning of May for the Northern Ontario Music and Film Awards. We drove by so many interesting looking places and people that weekend, I just wanted to stop and whip out the camera. Didn't have any time for that unfortunately.

Eventually I'll get over there just to take pictures of any nasty, dirty, rotting stuff I can find. Until then, here are a few shots I took there a while back when I was driving around exploring the city a bit...

A Little Monologue - North Bay Cinematography

2010-06-14T07:36:00.002-04:00

This summer should be a pretty productive one when it comes to shorts... Mike and I have a number of little films planned, which will come together nicely if we can get our butts in gear and make it happen. We have enough stuff to shoot to keep us busy for a while, so we need to get to it soon.

Aside from that, I'll be shooting a piece next weekend with Kevin Hoffman and Jim Calarco (among others). Hopefully the weather cooperates, all goes well, and we'll end up with an interesting, nice looking short. There are a few other possible projects on the horizon, but nothing solid enough for me to talk about at this point.

Before getting started with the film, Jim needed to get a quick demo video together to send off to someone. It was a good opportunity to test out a few things with equipment and editing, and in the end I think it turned out to be a pretty good little clip.

Have a look! (Clip running time: 2 minutes, 6 seconds)

Waiting for Godot

2010-06-10T23:23:00.000-04:00

About a month ago, I got the chance to take some publicity shots of the Gateway Theatre Guild's production of Waiting for Godot. The characters were visually interesting, and I ended up with quite a few shots I was pretty happy with.

Anyway, I just found out that they recently won the Elsie Award for Best Production at the Theatre Ontario Festival held in London Ontario. Congrats to the cast and crew, that's definitely something to be proud of.

Here are a few of the shots I took of the cast...

Freeze!

2010-06-02T10:03:00.000-04:00

Ok, so with a number of projects on hold, I was planning on doing some running around yesterday but then Jaden wasn't feeling well, so she stayed home from school and I was sidelined for the day.

I worked on as many things as I could, and she chilled on the couch watching Meerkat Manor. I don't care about meerkats, but the way they filmed and edited that series to be like a soap opera is pretty impressive.

Anyway, after a few hours, I felt the need to play around a little so I set up my camera on a tripod in the living room, went in the backyard, and started acting like a goof. "What are you doing?... Why are you doing that?... You're crazy!". That's about all Jaden could say. It was the first sign of a smile I had seen all day, so I didn't mind that she was looking at me like I was a freak.

Anyway, a little bit of editing later, and I've got myself one silly little video. Check it!...

I Can Fly! - North Bay Cinematography

2010-05-28T14:29:00.002-04:00

A few weeks ago I mentioned that I had been spending some time in a helicopter, and I was going to talk a bit more about that. Well, I guess it has been long enough now, it's about time I get to it.

So, I've been spending some time shooting for a corporate video, and it has required me to go up in a helicopter a few times. This wouldn't really be a big deal, but before this month, I had never been in a helicopter... oh, and I just happen to be terrified of heights!

The first few times I went up were actually no big deal. I was so distracted by what I was shooting that I didn't even pay attention to where I was, so it all worked out. The third time was going to be more of the same, until the pilot says to me "How about I take the door off the helicopter so you can hang out and stand out there on the landing skid?"

"How about you take the door off?? Oh SURE!!" and that's when my stomach started feeling a little funny. They got to work on removing the door, and anything in the aircraft that wasn't strapped down, and off I went to get a harness on. About half an hour later, it was time. My harness was buckled in, and I actually felt pretty secure, even though half of me was hanging out of this big piece of metal that was about to be in the sky.

Take off was fine and the next thing I knew we were pretty high up, and the wind was hitting me quite nicely. Again I was distracted by what I was up there to do, and didn't focus much on the craziness of it. I was actually pretty calm. That is until we took a sharp right turn (I had no idea a helicopter could tilt so far sideways), and I found myself looking straight down, with nothing between me and the ground below. Far below. My heart started pounding a bit for a few seconds, until we straightened out and I started breathing again. hah.

It all worked out in the end, and I'd love to go up again! Here are a few screen captures taken from some of the video I shot while I was up there...

What a Douche!

2010-05-17T21:49:00.000-04:00

I always get a kick out of people who take themselves too seriously. People who feel the need to uphold a certain image of themselves, people who claim to be experts at things they know little about, people who think others are priviledged to be around them or to hear them speak. People who refuse to reveal any part of their real personality to people they deem to be beneath them.

It's really a little odd how important some people think they are. I couldn't really describe that type of person very well, until I was talking to someone and they said something like "What a douche!". That was perfect.

I just hope I never become one of those people.

I'm not too worried about it though, really. I'm pretty sure my geekiness will always keep me from thinking "I'm the man! Give it up for me!". To reinforce that, I'm posting a few pics I took with my phone this weekend. I was doing dishes and decided to make faces in the soap. Yep, I was acting like a toddler. Not geeky enough? well, I took pictures of it and I'm posting them, how about that? Oh, and to make it worse, it wasn't enough that I was taking pictures of my little bubbles, I actually spent some time getting them just right and angling the camera oh so perfectly so that the light reflecting off the water would add to the emotion in the faces. Have a look!

Oh, and if you happened to miss some of my earlier displays of geekiness, you can catch a few of them here, and here. Enjoy!

Grand Master

2010-05-13T16:59:00.000-04:00

A lot has happened this week, and I haven't really had time to get on here and write about it or post any pictures/video. I'm shutting down for the day to get the BBQ going, so I thought I'd come and post a quick update. Over the past few days, I've attended the installation of my friend Jake as Thrice Puissant Grand Master, and I've spent an hour hanging out of a helicopter way above the city!

I'll post more about the helicopter later on, but I don't have time right now so I'll just stick with the masons event. I have to say, I don't fully understand the Freemasons or what they do, but I know that this night was a pretty big deal, and I'm happy I was able to make it.

Congrats to Jake, and here are a few pics I took of him after the installation...

Helloooo Dolly! - North Bay Cinematography

2010-05-11T10:40:00.001-04:00

I've been working on a promotional video for the past week or so (when the weather has cooperated), and now that it's almost done, I'm looking forward to shooting our next short film. Mike's been kicking around a few scripts, but I'm not sure which one we'll be shooting next. Either way, I'm getting the itch to start.

In preparation for our upcoming production(s), I've picked up some gear that will come in handy. The camera was obviously number one, followed by the Zoom H4N for audio, bigger memory cards and a bigger hard drive, etc... It never ends. My latest addition is a dolly which I put together using roller blade wheels, a sheet of MDF, and a few PVC pipes. Good Times!

There's still plenty of gear I want to get, and will eventually need, but this will have to do for a while, A loooong while. It's a good thing this stuff is for work and it pays for itself eventually (sometimes more quickly than others), the fact that it will also help out with our personal projects is just a bonus!

Have a look at a short clip I put together, testing how smoothly I could roll around with the dolly. I still need to practice with it a bit to get a more consistent speed, but overall, it worked out great. Check it out!

What a weekend! - North Bay Cinematography

2010-05-03T08:51:00.003-04:00

This weekend, I went to the Northern Ontario Music and Film Awards, and had an awesome time (and not only because I walked away from it with an award)! I haven't posted anything here for quite a while, and I figured I'd have time to put a few things together throughout the weekend, but I was just too distracted.

I got to Sudbury Friday evening, just in time to check in and be taken to the theatre to introduce our film at the screening. I was a little nervous about that because The Lake was first on the list. I was hoping to see what a few of the other people would say about their work, so I'd know how long I should talk. hah. Anyway, it went well and it was nice to see our work on the big screen, and to hear the reactions in the audience. Once we had seen all the nominated films, it was off to the musical showcase at the Townhouse. The sets were great, and I was really impressed, especially with Sarah Craig and Faye Blais.

Saturday was a day to go to a few panels, and do some networking at the hotel, and that went pretty well. The whole weekend was really well organized, and so was the main event at Laurentian University, hosted by Montreal musician Tricia Foster (She did a great job). Over the few days of the conference, it was strange to talk to people in the industry who knew about us and respected our work, and things got even more strange when the winner for Best Cinematography was announced.

I got up to accept the award, and because I was in a little bit in shock, I didn't even notice that the house band was playing the music from The Lake. Once I made my way up I clumsily babbled a bit, then thanked Michael Humble and Kevin Hoffman for their writing and editing, and off I went.

Wait a minute, that's not good... I really didn't expect to win, but one thing I did know was that if I did make it up on that stage, I wanted to thank nicole for putting up with me spending time working on these silly projects. Did I do that? Not at all. I got up there, looked out at the rather large crowd and completely choked. hah. I'm pretty sure I was coherent and even got a laugh out of the audience which is great, but I didn't get out a single word I had wanted to say. Next time!

Here are a few quick shots of the award, and some souvenirs of the event...

The First Batch

2010-04-23T21:48:00.001-04:00

Yesterday, I dropped off a few rolls of film to get processed. Today, I picked up my first batch of pictures taken with the Yashica camera.

The camera's shutter hadn't moved in decades, so I wasn't sure what to expect, but after getting my pictures back I can see that the old girl's got plenty of life left in her.

I still need to play with the camera some more before I'm completely happy with the results, but we're off to a great start!
Here's a little preview of the pics...

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

New Additions to the Family! - North Bay Cinematography

2010-04-22T10:00:00.003-04:00

Yes, we have a few new additions to the family! Well, the camera family anyway. I mentioned something a few weeks ago about a new toy I had just been given, and yet another toy I was hoping to get. Well, a few weeks have passed and I've finally had a chance to play with both of them.

The first toy is one I got for my birthday from Derf Rellim, a sweet Yashica-A medium format camera. He bought it about 50 years ago when he was starting out as a photographer, and now it has been handed down to yours truly. A great addition to the camera family, and I'm sure it'll occupy a lot of my time.

The second toy is really more of a workhorse, the Canon 7D. I've been looking to get more involved in video work for a while now (and wanting to have a good camera to shoot our short film projects), but the cost of a good quality HD camera was something I just couldn't justify. All of a sudden, Canon and Nikon came our with SLRs that could also shoot video. WOW! The quality and manual options weren't quite up to par with those early models though, so they weren't a practical option for professional video work. Along comes the 7D, with full HD video capability, and all the manual options you could want. Did I mention it's also a 18MP SLR? I couldn't resist any longer. SOLD!

I was going to post some pics of my new additions, but instead I figured I'd post a short little video of the Yashica, shot with the 7D. HAVE A LOOK!!

Robot Monday!

2010-04-19T20:32:00.000-04:00

There's something about Monday morning that makes me feel a little off. Getting up, and getting back into the cold routine, being a part of the machine, trying to make money, trying to spend money, trying to keep people in business, trying to stay in business, etc...

It's this never ending cycle that feels a little more odd and robotic than natural and human. Trying to keep some sort of creativity flowing through the gears in the middle of it all isn't always easy. So, on this Monday, when I happen to feeling a little more robotic than normal, I figured I needed to scribble something silly to get it out of my system.

Here it is!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Toys, Toys, Toys!

2010-04-15T17:21:00.002-04:00

Well, this has been a stupid week. Long days, and even longer nights, but I think everything's under control now. I don't know what has made things goofier than usual lately, because I'm always busy (aren't we all), but for some reason this past week I haven't had time to post anything to the blog, I've barely touched Twitter, and I've gone on facebook once for what seemed like 5 seconds.

I haven't even taken a single photograph in 6 days!! Now that's unheard of!

Now, my mind is on new toys. A new toy I haven't had the chance to play with yet, and another new toy I might be getting soon. I'll post all about that real soon but in the meantime, here are some old toys from when I was a kid.

After I posted something about my GI Joe dude last week, I remembered taking out my old Micro Machines town and playing with the kids not too long ago. So, I decided to scan through my pictures to see if I had any decent shots of that. Here are a few of them...

It's Friday! - North Bay Industrial Photography

2010-04-09T17:09:00.002-04:00

Alright, it's Friday just after five o'clock. Quittin' time for the weekend. I spent most of the day taking a whole bunch of shots in an industrial setting today. So, I figured I'd throw a few of them up here before I pack it in. These have nothing to do with what I was actually taking pictures of... Just goofing around between shots. Have a good weekend!

I'm such a geek.

2010-04-08T12:35:00.001-04:00

This will come as no surprise to anyone who has known me for more than five minutes, but I have to say I'm a pretty big geek. Sure, I always leaned towards the athletic side (played basketball for hours everyday during my teen years), and it makes me grumpy that I haven't had , or made the time to play any sports in ages. but aside from that, I'm 100% geek, and I always have been.

There are two things that make this very clear to me... Well there are way more than two, but I'll just mention two right now.

1) When I was younger, I had a pretty big crush on Seven of Nine. Now, if you have to ask what that means, you're lucky, it means you're not a geek. If you don't have to ask, it's because you were either a young geek like me at the time, or you were a creepy 40 year old dude living in your mom's basement.

2) I watched The Young & The Restless pretty much every day from the time I was a little kid, until I was about 18 years old. Ya. really. My favorite character was Victor Newman, the powerful and feared businessman surrounded by all kinds of exciting drama.

Why am I writing about this extreme level of geekiness? Well, I figure if you've been nice enough to follow this blog and read the nonsense I put out into the world, you deserve a good laugh.

As a display of my complete geekdom, here's a little doodle of Victor Newman (Eric Braeden) I did when I was 14 or so. I don't know why high school was so rough on me. hahah. I'll post some more of my old sketches sometime soon. I went through them last night and found some pretty silly stuff I had forgotten about.

Me-i-Joe!!!

2010-04-06T06:35:00.001-04:00

As a kid, I wanted to be all kinds of things. For a while, I watched L.A. Law and I really wanted to be a lawyer, but aside from that, and a short stint wishing I was a ninja turtle (it was not meant to be), I just wanted to be in the army. More than anything, I wanted to be a stealth double agent, a clever and sneaky spy. A big part of that was due to my love of GI Joe. What boy didn't love GI Joe back then. The thought of being on these exciting missions to save the world from the forces of evil... that was huge for any young dude.

I'm not sure where it came from, but at some point, I got my hands on a form to fill out to get a personalized action figure. You'd answer a series of questions, and based on the responses, they'd send you an action figure that matched your profile (I'd assume they used the same action figure for everyone, regardless of the answers, but it was still cool).

When I got my guy in the mail, I was pleasantly surprised... not only did I have an action figure I never saw before (which was apparently me), but it came with a folder of top secret information on missions I needed to carry out, as well as some dog tags with my name on them.

I never did without as a child... always had anything I could have wanted, but this was more than a toy, this made me feel like I was a part of something important. Like I was a part of GI Joe.

That was such brilliant marketing. Not only did it make me so happy back then, but I still remember the experience so clearly over 20 years later. I still have the action figure too. I took a picture, have a look!...

Easter Weekend... a success?

2010-04-05T17:15:00.001-04:00

This weekend, like most people, we went here and there and had a variety of easter visits, and meals (far too many meals). We got together with some family I haven't seen in quite a while, the kids got some goodies and little toys that they loved, they had fun dyeing and eating hard boiled eggs, I took some decent pictures and wore bunny ears, etc...

Overall, it was a pretty good weekend. Almost good enough to make me forget that my car is still dead on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere, 130 kms away. It died on the way to a family get together on Saturday afternoon, and nobody around there would even consider towing until some time tomorrow. So, I wait. Luckily my aunt and uncle were nice enough to sacrifice their car so that I'd have something to drive around until things get sorted. If it wasn't for everyone's help, things could have been a lot more painful and even more expensive than they already will be.

Ah well, enough of that. Here are a few shots of egg decorating/devouring.

I'm hungry now.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Bad Apple

2010-03-31T16:46:00.001-04:00

The other day, Mike and I took a little detour at lunch to get some shots of a tree that still had a fair bit of crab apples hanging from it after the winter. Obviously, after hanging on those limbs for all those months, the remaining fruit was dried up and rotten.

I guess to most people, this wouldn't be interesting or appealing at all. To us, it was a great opportunity to take out the cameras and see if we could capture something interesting.

I got a variety of wide shots, then took some close ups of the apples to really get the details, but nothing was really looking good to me until I started doing the opposite. Instead of going for the details, I decided to take a bunch of shots that were completely out of focus, and I liked what I saw. The dream-like, blurred images seemed to look a bit more like paintings than photos, and I just like the way it all seems to flow.

Looking at the crab apples reminded me of when I was younger. There was an apple tree that used to hang out of someone's yard and over into our schoolyard a bit. I remember climbing the fence at recess, reaching up to grab as many apples as I could. A lot of the kids did it, and some even climbed right over into the yard and up the tree, grabbing as much as they could and running out before getting caught. I never had it in me to do that, I just stayed at the fence.

The problem with everyone grabbing as many apples as they could was that you couldn't wait very long for the fruit to ripen, or there'd be nothing left. Because of that, the fruit had a very bitter, sour taste. It wasn't good at all, but that didn't stop anyone from choking the nasty little things down.

I miss that taste.

Updating the dot com - North Bay Photography

2010-03-30T11:24:00.004-04:00

Well, I finally took a little time to update my website to add sections for photography, and cool cakes. The site had been nearly unchanged for years, and what it really needs is a complete overhaul. Since I don't have time for that, this little update will have to do.

I'm still not sure if I have too much on there now, but I guess it's fine. What I need to do is decide if I should add yet another section for film work. I guess if anything, film work should be added, and cakes should be taken out. Bah, either way, I'm sure I won't have any more time to spend on this for a while, so it'll just have to stay the way it is for now.

Have a look! http://www.patrickgilbert.com

I've stocked up!

2010-03-27T02:33:00.002-04:00

I finally got around to bringing a roll of film from my holga to get developped. It's been a while since I took that camera out to play around, and I can't really remember what pictures will be on that film. I'm anxious to see the prints, and that's part of the fun of using an old school camera every now and then.

There's only one place left in town where I can get this medium format film developped, and where I can buy new rolls. Having said that, their supply is running quite low, so before long I'll have to order online. The plus side of buying the film in town is that because everyone has been digital for years, the rolls are not in demand and have expired in 2005 or so, which means I get them for next to nothing, and the film works just fine.

So, with a handful of rolls in hand, I'm stocked up and ready to play around for a little while. I'll be posting some new Holga pics soon!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Bits n' Bites! - North Bay Photography

2010-03-24T18:35:00.002-04:00

Warning: What you're about to read is probably the lamest post ever. I haven't posted anything in a week or so (I just haven't had much time to do anything but work these days), and I figured I really needed to get the ball rolling again somehow. The problem is, I haven't even unloaded the camera in a while or played with any new pictures. My solution was to flip through the pics I have on my phone, and see if there was anything interesting in there. Scrolling through the odd variety of shots, I came across a bunch of pics of drill bits I had to take for an Atlas Copco job last fall, I didn't mind those. Then I flipped to a shot of some bacon and sausages I took on a camping trip last summer, yum. So, that's when it came to me... "Hey, Bits n' Bites... There's something to post!"

Like I said, lamest post ever. if you read this far, and you're now regretting it, don't say I didn't warn you. I'm almost caught up with a bunch of stuff that's been on my plate, so I'll be sure to get some more interesting stuff on here soon. Thanks for visiting, and come back soon!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Mario Land Was a Success!!

2010-03-16T13:56:00.000-04:00

Tristan's birthday just passed, and his request was a Super Mario cake. His thoughts for what/who he wanted on there changed pretty much daily, so we just had to wing it and hope he wouldn't be disappointed.

Our original plan was to have a 3 tiered cake, with the top tier being the castle. Once the baking was done, it became clear that our plan wouldn't work. The cakes just had an odd shape to them, and to cut away enough of them to make it work wouldn't have left us with much to feed our guests. So it was on to plan B, I came up with another idea, which I sketched out, and we were good to go again! We actually ran into a whole bunch of other issues with this one, eventually it worked out.

By the time we started creating the Mario masterpiece, it was quite late (always is), and I was already running out of gas. A few hours in, I just couldn't keep my eyes open, so I had to tap out. I slept for a few hours while Nicole worked on the cake, then shortly after I got up, she headed off to sleep while I continued decorating.

I was hoping to have the cake done before Tristan woke up in the morning, but that didn't work out. He got up, opened presents, then I got back to the cake for a bit to wrap things up. I really didn't feel like it anymore, but what a boring cake it would have been without Mario and Bowser Junior on top.

In the end, it was a success, Tristan really liked it, and he especially enjoyed playing with the characters and the bridge while everyone else ate cake. Watching him have fun with that made the whole night worth it.

Fun With Lights!

2010-03-15T10:28:00.000-04:00

Once again I've become a bit of a blog slacker, no posting for days. I've taken thousands of pictures over the past few weeks (with maybe a few decent ones in there), but there's been too much going on for me to have time to get them on the computer or do any messing around with them. Anyway, I finally got around to doing some of that, so I guess I'll get the posts rollin' again.

To start things off, here's a little fun with lights. Derf Rellim recently bought a nice little light kit, and we thought we'd play around a bit with it last night. I don't need much of an excuse to want to snap a whole bunch of shots, but a new toy is definitely a good reason to whip the camera out. Here are the results...

They're All Gonna Laugh at You!

2010-03-07T20:24:00.000-05:00

Some days, things just go so crappy that I need to spend a few seconds doing something goofy to try to get out of the funk. Today was one of those days.

I hurt my finger, banged my head a few times (once on a doorframe in the house...ya), dropped my keys in the mud, lost a pen on the snow, had strangers actually point and laugh at me (I'm not kidding at all), and had snow thrown at me from people on a ski lift while I tried to take pictures (again, not kidding one bit, seriously).

All this added up to the complete failure of the task I needed to accomplish, and I was feeling pretty defeated by it all. I usually have no problem bouncing back from challenges and setbacks, but today I just couldn't shake it.

Eventually, I was cleaning the kitchen and Lily helped me empty the dishwasher. She was pretty cute, and really helped with my mood. After that, all I needed was to do one little silly thing to get back to my normal goofy self. Here it is...

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

I'm Back... With food of course!

2010-03-07T04:59:00.003-05:00

Well it's been a few days since I posted anything. The days seem to have been going by a little too quickly for my liking. There has been a little bit of distraction over the past few days (I'll post something about that later), but my time has mostly been taken up by a lot of last minute rush jobs. Anyway, I did finally get a chance to go through the food shots I took at Churchill's a few days ago, so I figured I'd get my posts going again with a few of those pictures. Here's an assortment of crab cakes, calamari, lamb, steak and more...

What a Croc!

2010-03-03T06:33:00.002-05:00

Well, I guess it's actually an alligator, if that matters. When a few schools were merged to form Alliance Public School at the beginning of this year, I was asked if I'd be interested in designing a logo for the new alligators. I thought it would be kind of cool, since my kids are students there, so I went ahead and put something together. Now, after we were asked to put together a cake for the 100th day of kindergarten, the obvious choice was to create another alligator, and throw him on a big '100'. The original idea was to have a hundred dots on the cake too, but we just made them too big, and couldn't really fit all of them on there. oops.

With every cake we make, we start with a sketch, then get to creating... I usually hate the cake half way through, and feel like things are not looking as good as I'd like. Without a doubt there are a few struggles here and there, and then by the end, we're always quite happy with the outcome. This was no exception. Here's the logo, the rough cake sketch, and some pictures of the end result.

A Pig With Bling!

2010-02-28T11:37:00.002-05:00

Happy Brithday Regan! For this first birthday party, we were asked to create a cake that was pink and girly, and had some elements of the farm (Regan has many little barns she loves to play with). So, a pink barn seemed to be the way to go.

a barn is not the most challenging shape to make out of cake, so to make things a little more interesting, we had to focus on the details like a haystack with flowers on it, a shovel and a rake, a pig with bling etc... Have a look!

did you miss some of our earlier cakes? you can see Lily's giant cupcake here. For plenty more like a pirate ship, a monkey, a motorhome, click here.

Winter... Wonderland?

2010-02-26T13:17:00.002-05:00

Well, I've been trying to motivate myself to get in shape lately, and I started jogging a little bit. I say a little bit, because it has been years since I've done anything with this body, so I don't get too far before I want to lay down on the sidewalk and reject my insides. I was running on a fairly regular basis a few summers ago (the first time since I was young), and feeling pretty good about it, so I'd like to get in that routine again. I'm not looking to do great distances, or spend much time doing this. I was always satisfied just going for a quick 4 or 5km boot around town. Right now I'm killing myself just trying to get to 3.5km. hah. I've only been out a few times though, so I'm sure it won't take long to get the old body into it again.

The big problem I'm having is that running (which worked for a few days when it was warm) has now turned into a challenge of making my way through deep snow, ice patches, and stinging wind. I'm not so interested in that, so progress is a little slower than I'd like.

Winter is definitely not one my favorite things, but when you think about it, there is something kind of magical about snow, isn't there? Here are a few wintery shots I've taken...

Some Lo-Mob Fun!

2010-02-24T12:39:00.001-05:00

Thanks to fellow creative mastermind Eric Rockburn, I discovered and got my hands on this tasty little iPhone app that's exactly what I've been looking for! With Lo-Mob, I'm able to take shots with the phone, and give them a damaged, flawed, retro look... similar to what you'd get when taking photos with a Holga, which I love. There's so much about the Holga that you just can't match with any digital photography (the mystery of how your shots will turn out, the excitement of getting some sweet looking shots with what is essentially a crappy platsic toy, etc...), but this app is definitely worth playing with.

Here are a few phone pics I've had a little fun with!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Money. Love it? Hate it? Need it.

2010-02-22T17:23:00.004-05:00

I've got money on the brain these days, for a few reasons:

First: It's time for me to start organizing all my financial info for taxes for the business. I usually have this in order and tracked on an ongoing basis, but this has been quite a messy year, and things didn't come together like they normally do.

Second: Because of the messy year, I haven't had time to be as active with my business as I'd like, as far as promoting myself or going after new clients. This needs to change so that I can keep things rolling, and keep the dollars flowing. So, like it or not, I've got money on my mind because of that.

Third and Final: I'm seeing a lot of greed all over the place these days (nothing new, I'm just noticing more), and it's really annoying. Of course we all need money, to pay taxes, to keep a roof over our heads, to feed the very hungry mouths of our children, and to buy a few toys here and there. Some people just take it to the next level.

I have no problem with people wanting to make more money, get a nicer house, a great car, go on a cool trip, whatever... Of course people want these things, and as a small business owner, going after more money is very important to stay afloat. Like it or not, money is a necessary evil.

Where I get disgusted is when people just want to get their grubby paws on everything they can, even if it's stuff they don't care for at all. It gets to the point where a person loses any trace of personality, and goes on a mission, with a one track mind. If there's something free to be had, they'll take it. If there's money to be made, they'll go after it, regardless of who it hurts. They'll sneak around, turn on those close to them, whatever it takes. All for a few bucks, or a couple pieces of junk. Oh, and of course if you've got a few bucks more than the next guy, you must be a better person right? Not familiar with this type of person? Just wait until someone in your family passes away, they'll be all over the place in no time, sniffing around for anything they can claim as their own.

I guess in the end it's a fine line isn't it? Even for me, at what point does my desire to do better in business become a matter of greed, and not just wanting to do well and support my family? I don't know if I'll ever figure that out. Oh well, in the spirit of greed, here's a shot I took of some big money!

Why Do I Keep Doing This Anyway?

2010-02-21T16:20:00.000-05:00

If you've even loosely followed my blog, you know that I eat a whole lot of eggs. Pretty much every day, my breakfast has some sort of eggs in it, and I'm now trying to think of a decent breakfast alternative. Not because I feel like eating something different, but because I want to take pictures of something different. How many egg pics does a guy need on his blog, right?. I need to mix it up! This leads me to wonder, do I have some sort of problem here? I change things in my life based on what I want to take pictures of. No other reason, just for the pictures. ya, it is a problem huh.

I guess it might be a little strange for me to keep taking pictures of just about everything, or to take shots of today's breakfast even though I already have hundreds of egg pics. The thing is, I just can't help it. I look at something, and I see it as a photograph. It doesn't matter if it's breakfast, plants, shadows, scenery, the kids, whatever. That's just the way I look at things. Actually, I've always visualized everything as a painting, but the truth is, I would never have time to paint all the things I'd like to, so the next best thing is a photo. It's a thousand times quicker to create a nice image with a camera than it is with a paintbrush, so it has become my tool of choice. Not only because of time, but because I think I'd look a little silly if I brought a big canvas and painting supplies everywhere I went.

Anyway, I may very well be wasting my time with all these pictures, but it is nice to look back on past years of our lives and pretty much see what we were up to every single day. OK, so I admit that a lot of the shots I take are unnecessary and just silly, but I like that. Here's yet another egg breakfast!

Mushrooms anyone?

2010-02-20T10:37:00.000-05:00

I love mushrooms! Well, for pictures anyway, not so much for eating. Don't get me wrong, I have no problem chomping on some fungus every now and then, but it's definitely not one of my favorite things. When it comes to photos though, you can't go wrong with mushrooms, because they have such a great variety of colours, shapes, and textures. Here are a few shroom pics I've taken during hikes in the forest over the years (yes, I'm still anxious for summer to get here)...

Tic, Toc, Tic, Toc... Time, I Hate You

2010-02-19T12:22:00.003-05:00

WARNING: I'M ABOUT TO WHINE FOR A BIT... I really hate time. There's never enough of it for anything, and no matter what you do, everyone always wants more of it from you. We all just put up with this, and I'm just sick of it.

It seems like no matter where I am, someone somewhere else is mad, waiting for me to be there instead. When are you coming...? when are you going...? When will you do...? When will you get...? When will you start...? When will you finish...? When, when, when? BAH!

I know it's not normal, but being expected to be somewhere, or do something at specific times of the day just doesn't work for me. Why is it weird If I want to have lunch at 4 o'clock, work in the middle of the night instead of during the day, or get an urge to start a painting, or go for a jog at 3am?

Oh well, it is what it is, and there's nothing anyone can do about it. I just thought it was time for a grumpy post. Tic, Toc, Tic, Toc... Time, I hate you. Glad I got that off my chest, now I can stop being a cry baby and get back to business as usual.

Moving on to something sort of time related, here's a picture I took of a watch! It has a story of it's own, but that's for another day.

Soup n' Sandwich... Times Two! - North Bay Food Photography

2010-02-17T01:30:00.001-05:00

I notices when I was looking at the many pictures I've posted so far, that I didn't have a shot of any kind of sandwich. This is strange because I eat a lot of sandwiches, but I guess most of them just don't look good enough to bother taking out the camera. Over the past two days, I happened to have a few half decent looking ones, so I couldn't help myself. Out came the camera! The first picture is a colourful serving of chicken salad, hot peppers, and chunky vegetable soup. The second is egg salad, alfalfa sprouts, and italian wedding soup.

The challenge I'm having now is I have no idea what to have for my lunches or breakfasts that I haven't taken shots of and posted already. I'm also stuck with a limited variety of plates, bowls, placemats and settings for my pictures. I'm finding myself looking at things when we go to stores, thinking specifically how I could use them in my food pictures. If I don't get out of this phase soon, we'll end up having a large collection of mismatched dishes, glasses, and many colours of tablecloths, placemats etc... I haven't purchased much of anything yet, but it could soon become a problem. I've had my eye out for a white tablecloth so I can brighten things up a bit, but for some reason that's something I haven't been able to find yet. Anyway, on to the photos...

Happy Valentine's Day - North Bay Photography

2010-02-14T15:54:00.002-05:00

Well, there's not much to say about this... being Valentine's Day, I thought it would be an appropriate time to post a few flower photos I've taken. Hope everyone has a good day!

The Storm - North Bay Food Photography

2010-02-13T13:53:00.005-05:00

About four years ago, we were hit with a pretty sudden, and serious storm. It was summertime, and the weather was quite nice, until the sky quickly turned black and the wind started blowing. It rained quite hard (sideways, thanks to the crazy wind), and trees, patio chairs & just about everything else in town was flying around all over the place. The storm lasted no more than fifteen minutes, and once it was done, the sun came back out, shining on the disaster that the wind had left behind.

I took a spin around town shortly after to get a few pictures of the destruction. My favorite photo was taken right by a home where a huge tree had fallen, and pulled up a good part of the yard along with it, mangled fence and all.

Last night, I happened to meet the owner of the home, and we briefly talked about the storm. It's pretty amazing with the amount of large trees that came down that day, that there wasn't more damage, or more injuries all over town. Overall, we were pretty lucky that day.

Anyway, I just had to dig up the old photo and post it. I tried to capture something ugly and horrible, and somehow make it look kind of nice. I think it worked...

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Waiting For Spring - North Bay Photography

2010-02-12T14:42:00.004-05:00

For some reason, even though this winter has been relatively mild, and we haven't been hit with ten feet of snow (yet), it feels like the 'blah' weather is just dragging on a little too long for my liking.

We still have months of this white stuff to go, but I need a little visual break from it, so my desktop background today is a close up photo of some moss I took at the Canadore College trails a few years ago. I took it with an ultra compact camera I used to have. No point-and-shoot could ever compare to an SLR, but this camera sure had some great macro abilities. It was definitely one of my favorites of all the little cameras I've had through the years. Here's a small version of the shot.

Random iPhone Silliness

2010-02-11T16:59:00.000-05:00

This week has been pretty busy, and I haven't really had time to take any interesting pictures, or even to go through old pictures to look for anything interesting. I figured I should post something anyway, so here are a few very random, silly pictures taken with my phone. I'll have something better to post tomorrow, really.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

The Lake - Now Playing!

2010-02-10T10:44:00.004-05:00

Our Somerset Productions short film "The Lake", which I talked about in this earlier post, is now playing on the National Screen Institute's website. If you've got a few minutes to spare, please feel free to follow this link and watch the film. I shot the flashback sequences in the story, so of course I'm pretty happy with how that turned out, but really I think the whole thing looks great. I'm excited to start shooting the next one.

Writer Michael Humble talks about it more eloquently here, on the Somerset Productions Blog.

Anyway, have a look at it and let me know what you think!

Happy Birthday Lily!

2010-02-08T11:35:00.000-05:00

Lily is two years old today! It's hard to believe how quickly the past few years have gone. When it came time to decide what her birthday cake would be, it was a toss up between a mushroom with a fairy on it, or a cake that looks like a giant cupcake. A few days ago, Nicole found a birthday shirt for lily that has cupcakes on it, so we decided to go with that idea for the cake. We haven't shown it to her yet, but I can't wait to see her tearing into it. Should be nice and messy. I'm guessing she'll want to chew on the cherries, or the giant strawberry (they're made entirely of icing), yum! I think this is a decent one to add to our cake collection...

"That Looks Disgusting!"

2010-02-07T16:48:00.000-05:00

"That looks disgusting!"... that's what came out of Nicole's mouth when I handed her breakfast this morning. Not exactly the reaction I was going for, but considering what was on the plate, I wasn't entirely surprised.

The dish was an english muffin, topped with salami, eggs, green onions, and some delicious Guinness Cheddar (thanks Mike). The cheese that topped the egg might not be the most appealing thing to look at, but it definitely was tasty. Throw some spinach and cherry tomatoes on the plate to go with that, and you've got yourself one tasty breakfast. Unlike Nicole, I actually think it looks nice too, and I believe my camera agreed.

Good ol' Toronto (more iPhone pics)

2010-02-06T13:47:00.004-05:00

This past week, we went to Toronto for a Leafs game, and a little bit of shopping. I love going to the city, and I don't think I'd ever get tired of walking the streets, taking pictures of just about everything. We didn't really have much time on this trip, so my good camera stayed in the hotel room (very rare).

I did take a few seconds to get some shots on the walk from the restaurant to the ACC, here they are.

I've been using the 'camera bag' app on the iphone to edit these shots, and the ones in my last post. It gives a few options for filters to apply to the photo, but there's no control at all over brightness, contrast, colour etc... So it's not the greatest. If anyone has a good photo editing app for iPhone, let me know what it is!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Feelin' FLABULOUS!

2010-02-05T20:46:00.004-05:00

This year, we haven't exactly taken very good care of ourselves and lately, I've been feeling more gross and flabby as the days go by. You could assume that all the food I take pictures of (then eat) has something to do with it, but that stuff is in small doses, and mostly pretty healthy.

The big issue Is what goes down the hatch when I don't have a camera attached to my face. Looking through the pictures I've taken with my phone, I came across a few of the culprits. Not good.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Time to plan a party!

2010-02-04T12:23:00.002-05:00

It's time for us to start planning for Lily's second birthday party! I'm not sure what makes me feel older, the fact that our baby (our very last baby) is not a baby anymore, or the fact that our oldest is 9! It doesn't really sink in that I've been a dad for nearly a decade already. Why is it that after so many years, I still don't have this gig figured out! I don't know that anyone ever does.

Anyway, right now, what we need to figure out is exactly what we'll make for Lily's cake (I'll post pics of that when it's done, in the meantime you can see other cakes we've done here), and what food we'll have at the party. To get our butts in gear, and keep the 'party food' dilemma fresh in our minds, I'm posting a few snacks we had at Tristan's last birthday get together. Spinach, artichokes, garlic... all the staples of stinky but delicious treats!

You'll love my nuts!

2010-02-03T09:02:00.002-05:00

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Soup's On!

2010-02-02T04:31:00.002-05:00

Well, we've had a few soupy days, and of course if I'm eating it, you're seeing it. So one is an Italian wedding soup, with macaroni instead of the usual little ball noodles (I don't know what those are called), and the other is pretty much a whole garden in a bowl. Have a peak...

I could eat soup anytime, and I can't remember ever having a bowl I didn't like. One of my favorites is a soup my Memere used to make. There really wasn't much to it, and it could be considered quite boring, but even thinking about the smell and taste of that soup reminds me so much of my childhood. Maybe that's why I like it as much as I do. Here's the recipe for the soup, give it a try if you get bored sometime, it's a pretty easy one to make. You'll be missing the very important ingredient of childhood memories, but you might still enjoy it.

--------------------------------------------------------
- Boil a big pot of water
- Add 2 onions, 2 sticks of celery, and 1 small soup bone (about the size of a hardball).
- Boil for one hour.
- Remove bone, onions and celery. Squeeze the onions and celery on the side of the pot on the way out to get all the flavor out of them.

- Add approximately:
   3/4 cup of alphabet pasta
   1/2 cup of white rice
   Handful or so of long macaroni noodles

- Boil 'till noodles are ready and rice starts opening/splitting.
- Add a big can of tomato juice.
- Leave it on the heat until it comes to a boil again, and then it's done.
--------------------------------------------------------

Some Kitchen Fun

2010-01-31T16:40:00.000-05:00

I've posted quite a few food pics so far (in case you haven't noticed), but what I haven't posted is where all these dishes are made. Even though the kitchen is my favorite room in the house, I still don't have any shots of it that I really like yet. I'll need to spend some more time on that eventually.

Since the camera is practically a permanent attachment on my arm, I obviously have taken quite a few random shots of just about everything, and the kitchen is no exception. Here are a few...

Stir-Fry for breakfast? - North Bay Food Photography

2010-01-30T11:57:00.001-05:00

Pretty much every day of the week, I have the exact same thing for breakfast (I'll post a pic of that some other time). So when something different gets on the plate in the morning, I of course have to take out the camera and snap a few shots. I don't have time to say much more about it now, so here are the pics...

Not So Good For Your Appetite

2010-01-29T15:45:00.001-05:00

No good food to post today. lunch consisted mostly of old, dry KD, so I had no interest in pulling out the camera. I did receive a few interesting suggestions for pictures though. The idea is was to photograph something dead, or rotten, and somehow make it look nice. I think this could make for some pretty interesting shots, and I'll need a bit of planning for the visuals that first came to mind when I read the suggestions. I'm not too sure if I'm ready to have things rotting in my house for weeks before they're at the point I want them to be for the photos. I might have to wait until summer for this project, so I can let things rot outside. hah.

In the meantime, I do already have some shots of rotten things, which I took for no good reason really. One is a fish I happened to see on the beach one day, and the other is a dead, dried up cactus we had in the house a while back. The cactus looked like some strange sea creature to me, so I tried to take the shot in a way that would make it look like it was on the move. These shots are not necessarily appealing, or nice to look at in any way, but they're somewhat related to the requested theme, so they'll remind me to follow through with what I have in mind for taking something disgusting and making it look appealing. Here they are...

Shooting The Brothers Humble - North Bay Photography

2010-01-28T13:10:00.002-05:00

A few months back, I took a few headshots of buddy Michael B Humble for use in promotion of "The Lake" (one of our Somerset Productions projects). There were definitely some goofy shots in there, but in the end, we did end up with some nice ones too.

Today, Mike's little bro Ryan came by for a few headshots of his own. He recently got his real estate license, and starts his first job on monday. So he needed more of a simple, corporate shot to use in his self promotion. Good luck with the new career Ryan!

here are a few shots of the bros...

Who Likes Eggplant Anyway?

2010-01-28T04:20:00.003-05:00

Lots of people like it apparently. I'm generally not one of them, and there are two main reasons for that:

1) the soggy texture of cooked eggplant grosses me out.

2) I'm a little weird, and there are a few words that I really don't like (ok, many words) to the point where they almost put me in a bad mood when I hear them. It makes no sense, and I can't explain why, but some of the words at the top of my 'hate list' are:
- Pumpernickel
- Cliché
- Verbage
- Couch (when used as a verb)
- and of course... Eggplant

Anyway, where I'm going with this is that I've finally had something with eggplant in it that I actually really liked. An eggplant soup with ground beef, tomatoes, celery and more... thick, chunky, and deeeelicious! I guess I'm not quite done with my food picture phase just yet.

Keep the suggestions coming!

2010-01-27T02:37:00.000-05:00

I've received some good suggestions, and I'll definitely try to get some new shots to go with those themes (along with food shots I'll continue taking, hah). Until I have the chance to take more pictures, I thought I'd post some of the pictures I already had that fit with the suggested themes. These are the first images that came to mind when I read the comments: for Edward, a shot of something old and decayed. For Sacha, a dessert, someone doing something they're passionate about, and me in a photo, taking a photo of, well... me. And last but not least, a nature shot suggested by Nicole.

What to do next? Any ideas?

2010-01-26T12:41:00.001-05:00

It feels like I haven't posted anything in a while, so to get things going again, here's some more lunch! I'm having fun taking all these food shots, but I do want to mix things up a bit. I think I need a new 'theme' to shoot for. Something other than edibles. Any ideas? Until I move on to my next fixation, here's a plate of spaghetti, with baby bok choy, mushrooms, pine nuts and sausage...

Breakfast Time!

2010-01-23T23:52:00.002-05:00

I've posted plenty of food shots, which included a variety of lunch and dinner dishes, appetizers, salads, etc... What has been missing is a little bit of breakfast. I've struggled a bit with breakfast shots, for two reasons:

1) I hate eating cold eggs. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I do eat this food after I take some shots of it. So, this makes me rush things a bit to get a few decent pictures and pack up the camera while the egg still has some heat left in it. Not easy.

2) Lighting. During the week, it's still dark outside when I have breakfast, and since I only use available light for these food shots, it's tough to get anything decent until the sun comes up. Turning on the kitchen or dining room lights just ruins everything, and flash doesn't do any good either. I'm not about to take out any lighting gear first thing in the morning.

Anyway, I think I managed to get a few decent pictures. I was debating which one to put up, but then I realized this isn't for some competition where you can only submit one photo. It's just for my blog, where I can post as many of these silly things as I want. So here they are.

Up, up, and away!

2010-01-22T19:50:00.022-05:00

I've received a few emails today from one of my clients who is in the aviation industry. It got me thinking about how many websites I've created over the last 4-5 years that are directly related to aviation. At some point, it seemed to have become a niche for me, and I'm not sure how it all happened.

I actually had no interest at all in flying (I'm scared of heights), even after doing a lot of this aviation work. One day though, I had to go for a ride in a little cessna to take aerial shots for one of my clients' websites... Being up there, I fell in love with with the sky and as soon as we landed, I wanted to go back up.

I immediately started thinking of ways I could keep my business going, while training to become a pilot. Hah. I sent Nicole a text that afternoon saying something like "holy crap I was just in a plane". Her response... "holy crap I'm pregnant!". priorities shifted, and I haven't had any interest in going in a plane ever since. Thanks lily, you probably saved my life! Here's a glance at my collection of flight websites;

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Spring Rolls, Version 2.0 - North Bay Food Photography

2010-01-22T04:33:00.003-05:00

OK, so maybe we're in need of a little variety. Fresh Spring rolls were on the menu not all that long ago, and here they are again, but that didn't stop me from whipping out the camera and taking a few more shots of the tasty little things. This time, they were accompanied by some mango and black bean salad. I'm sure I'll get tired of food shots soon and move on to something else. Until then, they'll just keep on comin'.

Sloooow Painting - North Bay Illustration

2010-01-21T12:54:00.002-05:00

After the last 'speed painting' illustration I posted a few days ago, I figured I'd post another one to show what can be achieved with a little more time and effort. OK, a LOT more time and effort. This piece was intended for use in various promotional materials for a cossack riding and acrobatics show. Sort of a Cirque du Soleil with horses type thing. hah. In the end, there was a change of plans and the show was never launched. So, the illustration was essentially useless at that point, but I'm still happy I got to do it. I don't do nearly enough painting, whether it be digital, or traditional, so this was a nice change.

I'm posting a few of the sketches I came up with in the planning stages, as well as the final piece. There was a lot of detail to this one, which you can't really see because the original image was over 40" high, but you'll still get a better look if you click the image to zoom in. It took about 100 hours to create this thing from beginning to end. Ouch!

Back to the lunchtime routine - North Bay Food Photography

2010-01-20T15:56:00.002-05:00

I got home for lunch and Nicole told me to take out my camera, so I knew we were going to be having something good. Today's dish was a soba noodle and veggie stir fry, topped with green onions, sesame seeds, olive oil, and some hot sauce. Tasty! The food picture collection continues to grow.