Netherlands part 1 - much more than Amsterdam

On the afternoon of September 2nd, I arrived in Almelo, Netherlands after a 22 hour journey from Canada via Germany. I was my second trip to Netherlands. The first time I visited Holland was when I was 19 and I only saw Den Hague and Amsterdam in a blur of many wild nights. This second visit at the age of 26 was a little more tame and I had the gracious opportunity to stay with friends I met traveling last year in India. I was excited to see Manon and Ellen again and naively curious about eastern Netherlands and the quiet countryside.

Eastern Netherlands can be summed up in a couple of "c's": cows, corn, and clouds. The landscape consisted mainly of open fields with farms full of cows and corn. The vast flatness accentuated beautiful cloud formations as the weather changed from overcast to patchy clearings frequently everyday. I was used to this because I grew up in Vancouver but I was blown away by the 360 picturesque view of the sky in every direction. The skyscapes give the beautiful skies of Montana a run for its money. I of course kept my camera pointed a couple degrees higher than usual in all my compositions during my stay.

The night of my arrival, Manon and her Band were playing in a small village called Hardenberg in a battle of bands. I of course was the groupie of honor from Canada and came along to this beer festival of bands. Over 8 bands competed that night moving from different beer garden locations throughout the small village. Manon's band "Ditist Borne" played loud and hard and were probably the most animated band there as they probably drank the most as well. The mainly brass and percussion bands reminded me of marching bands as they played mostly popular tunes and some Dutch classics. They ended up winning first place and on the floor, impressing the packed crowd of locals. I was happy to have shot over 100 frames my first day in europe making the band very happy and adopting me as their professional international photographer.

full size images here

World Fire and Police Games 2009

Shoot, travel, shoot, travel edit, sleep... repeat. A week of intense shooting came to an end Sunday night in front of a packed Swanguard stadium of over 10 000 athletes and spectators. I had the opportunity to join the official photographers "Coast Mountain Photography" for a week long full coverage of the event. We shot furiously in the 30+ degrees heat and edited late into the nights. We swore and cursed at internet connection and technical difficulties. We dealt with tough conditions and adapted to sports and situations new to us. It was a great challenge for us all and I am very proud of our product. Seeing the final slide show played with video footage and epic music in front of a packed stadium was rewarding enough. I made a quick compilation slideshow of my favorite shots from the event. Hope you enjoy it!

Full coverage of the event can be viewed at wpfgphotos.com

False Creek at Dusk

Just as I thought I had enough of HDR, I came across a whole new way of using it. I decided to use it at dusk to bring out some depth and saturation. it worked amazing!

I went out on an overcast evening just as the sun was setting. I was very lucky because there was a clearing in the west letting a spill of warm light into the sky.

Once again I am addicted to HDR and gloomy Vancouver clouds. Bring on the rain clouds because I am so over clear blue skies, they are so boring.

Skimboarding on Spanish banks

Since moving to Vancouver I've been trying to find another sport to keep my adrenaline addiction satisfied. I stumbled upon skimboarding again through an old friend and great skimboarder Neil. It isn't nearly as exhilarating as mountain biking or snowboarding but for now its keeping me challenged and at the beach.

Flat water skimming may not seem like the most photogenic subject for a photograph but I tried anyways and was pretty happy. Now that my initial HDR crave has subsided I am leaning back towards creating complex images using my texture collection and mashing up some more graphical looking work.

Vancouver Convention Center

The first time I saw the new Vancouver Convention Center I was blown away by this architectural masterpiece. I returned several times and finally shot it during the perfect light.

I took several exposures and used some of them for composite HDR images.

I like the HDR shots in some shots but in others they seem too fake or photoshopped.

You be the judge and the full comparisons can be viewed on my flickr photostream.

Anyways I am glad to have the time to catch up on some posts and there will be many more photos to come very soon!  enjoy!

California

I've finally settled down my schedule to catch up with some new posts. 

Last week I went to Los Angeles, and San Diego. I took the opportunity in a gorgeous Beverly Hills hotel to blast a photo shoot in with my girlfriend Kara. 

I packed light for this trip because half my gear was under repair. I had only my 14-24 2.8 wide lens, D700 and a SB800 speed-light. Its been a long time since I traveled anywhere with so little gear. Although limited in gear, I found the restricted focal length forced me to be creative in a different way. 

The lighting was ripe, the scene was classic and I had a photogenic model, this is what i came up with:

BMO Vancouver Marathon

It was a beautiful sunny morning on Sunday, May 3rd which set the stage for the BMO Vancouver Marathon. Approximately 7000 people participated in a 8km, half and full marathon. I had the opportunity to shoot the start and finish.