Friend and photographer, Neil Zeller, needed a tutorial video for his aurora workshop in the Yukon and I was more than happy to help out. With the help of Scott from The Company Inc., we shot this tutorial at SAIT's, Art Smith aerospace school.
Neil goes over all the little things you'd never think of while trying to photograph aurora timelapses from an airplane window.
I can now add the 'inside of a beer cooler' as places where my work has played in. This is River Valley Beer, available at the new Drinks and Beyond in Edmonton. It's a buck a beer! This was shot at the Big Rock Brewery here in Calgary as they are the brewers of said beer.
There's four varieties: Golden Lager, Red Ale, Session IPA and a Light Lager. In the process of shooting this, Brad Goddard, director of sales, was able to educate us on some of the ins and outs of brewing multiple brands of beer. Each recipe has to be unique, so the PC brand beer isn't just rebranded for someone else. Some relaxing of the laws here in Alberta means that Big Rock is able to do the canning or bottling for some of the newer, smaller breweries here in Calgary as well.
The 2017 edition of Beakerhead is in the books and while I still have a small pile of footage to dig through for building the 2018 promo video, the one thing I was excited to share was this, the Serpent Mother. A 200ft, metal fire spewing snake. It's made appearances at Burning Man, Coachella and will be making it's Australian debut next month.
Created by the Flaming Lotus Girls out of San Francisco, it's a fully interactive display of fire and engineering. Some of the highlights include a fully articulating head and mandible. The spine features fully manual firing mechanisms. For the big show, the egg at the centre of the sculpture shoots 70ft, multi-colored pillars of flame.
I shot this on my Sony a6500 and was my first real project using my new Ronin-M gimbal. The Ronin gave some opportunities for some super interesting looks, hyperlapse being one of them. I shot the majority of the video in 4k and using the 2.35:1 aspect ratio for a more cinematic feel. Mixing in a little slo mo at 120fps was great for the bigger fireballs. All in all it stands as a project I'm really proud of.
For the past couple of months I've been working with Wine and Beyond to help them document the opening of their new Sage Hill location. From video, to head shots of the staff and shooting their grand opening week events.
We started in early August by shooting this video to celebrate the collaboration between them and Wildrose Brewery, the Tri-Coastal IPA which is now pouring exclusively at their Growler Bar. It's one of 24 local, Albertan and Canadian brews available on tap. They can even make you a 32oz can, or Crowler of whatever you'd like.
The store is massive, the largest in Alberta in fact. Their selection is so impressive, if you can't find something, it may not exist. This Sage Hill location has a number of cool, unique features. Besides the growler bar you'll find a Discovery Centre, over 100,000 bottles of wine, a sampling bar for higher end spirits as well as an absolutely huge cube of 3240 cans of Budweiser (free delivery anywhere in Alberta!) and a $64,999.95 bottle of 50 year old Balvenie single malt scotch.
If you find yourself in Calgary's North West and a need a drink, you should absolutely check out the new Sage Hill, Wine and Beyond. It's open now.
It's football season! After a tie game in week 1 vs Ottawa, the Stampeders held on to the lead to beat the Redblacks 43-39.
I recently upgraded my camera to the newer Sony a6500 and thought this was a great opportunity to take it for a run. The a6500 shoots 4k, and 120fps HD in Slog3 which gives me all these great tools to make cool stuff. You can consider the highlight video I made from last night's game as a mini review of the camera. It does a ton of stuff in such a tiny package. I was able to shoot all of this footage handheld. I was able to switch shooting modes rather quickly and the camera is packed with all the tools to help achieve great results.
The struggle is real.
With summer around the corner I thought it would be a great time for a career update. It feels good to be as busy as I am. I finished my 4th season with the Calgary Flames. There were dozens of projects to work on and I was able to establish myself in the technical director/switching role. It gave me the opportunity to do the role for Shaw TV and ProShow as well.
Speaking of Shaw TV, It was a pleasure to work on what would be the final season of the WHL on Shaw as the big market stations are shutting down and the coverage is up in the air. April and May saw us traveling between Medicine Hat and Lethbridge and back for the 2nd and 3rd rounds of the playoffs.
I'm happy to report I've taken a position with the Okotoks Dawgs of the Western Major Baseball League. I'll be helping with their in game presentation.
Over the course of the last 3 years I've been working towards a certificate in DSLR Video Production from SAIT. I've finished 6 of the 8 classes, all of the video portion. There's a couple audio related classes to take in the fall and winter before I'm done. As far as I've come over the last few years, being certified will feel pretty great.
The future is looking pretty bright. July will see me working my 4th Calgary Stampede, shooting the Grandstand Show. This September, on top of my usual involvement with Beakerhead, I'll be a presenter! I'm part of a team looking to turn Loft 112 in the East Village into 'Mars 112', a futuristic Mars Colony. We're using environmental storytelling to tell the tale of a lonely astronaut counting down the days until she's joined by the first colonists from Earth.
I look forward to sharing all of these amazing projects with you guys over the next few months.
Over the Family Day long weekend, Downtown Calgary put on a winter festival of lights called Glow. The weather was great and it was an unusual but welcome sight to see downtown Calgary packed on a Sunday evening.
Amanda Parer's Beakerhead 2015 exhibit, 'Nibbles', her collection of glowing, inflated rabbits were back. There were many exciting exhibits of light and art on hand. Hopefully this becomes an annual event.
Had the pleasure of covering Skijordue at the Calgary Polo Club over the weekend for Back on Track Canada. Basically, in various events, skiers and boarders are dragged by horses competing in things like long jump, circuit and sprint racing. A crowd of over 400 people came out to watch ensuring this won't be the only time for the event.
Could not be more proud of the turnout today for the Women's March on Washington - Calgary. It was estimated that over 5000 people showed up for the occasion. I genuinely believe women's rights are one of the biggest issues today. There's a gap, it must be filled. Here are some more of the images from the day.
AUGUST - Something familiar. The night sky. This was taken about 20 feet from the front door of my girlfriends, parents, cabin in the BC interior. Using a camera to see into the universe is always my favourite.
JUNE - Outside of my comfort zone. The last time someone put me in a cage and suspended me more than 15 feet above the ground, the footage was garbage. No choice this time. One shot. Burst mode. Spray and Pray. Nailed it.
JUNE - I shot my first wedding!
AUGUST - This 55 lbs beast entered my life this year.
SEPTEMBER - Beakerhead. A constant in my life for the last 3 years. This is the first image I've ever had printed to hang in my own house.
OCTOBER - I want to do more of this. Capturing moments in time. The re-opening of the King Eddy, legendary music venue.
OCTOBER - Carry your camera everywhere! Because you can be driving home and this happens.
NOVEMBER - The Calgary Flames continue to let me get better at my craft. Now in my 4th season with the team.
The YWCA in Calgary has rebranded. Gone was the much beloved but 20 year-old burgundy door. In is the blue and green YW. They held a gathering for members of the YW team at their downtown building to unveil the new look.
The Montreal Alouettes decided to spend a week in Calgary practicing on their recent road trip. After playing a game against the Stampeders, before their game against the Riders, the Alouettes were at Shouldice Park to prepare. It was interesting to work for a different team and see the differences in how they operate. Hope I get to work for other teams in the future.
My favourite email ever year comes in August. It's the first email I get gauging my availability for the Flames and Hitmen preseason games. Hockey is back! Here is a piece I shot and edited for the Flames and their fan event, Red Rally. Thousands of Flames fans filled the Dome to watch practice, meet players and have fun prior to the start of the regular season.
The fourth year of Beakerhead, Calgary's smash up of art, science and engineering filled our streets once again with wonder, color and fire. After 3 years of covering this event, I was finally making the type of content I always wanted to for it. I was able to shoot and edit a number of pieces and have them online the same or next day. Immediacy is something that videos can sometimes lack. The process of editing while trying to shoot the next event was always a challenge. What changed? Just pulling back and focusing on the real iconic events of Beakerhead...
Beakerhead Launch. Beakernight. Four-to-Six, and SO MANY MORE.
I really wanted to tell a story this year. From the launch of the 2016 program through promoting the school program and showing people the events as they happened. I thought I was able to do this better than ever.
As always an amazing opportunity to capture amazing images. Can't wait for 2017.
I recently had the pleasure of photographing my first wedding. My old friend from college, Sarah and her now husband Colin, decided to get hitched and were brave enough to have me shoot it for them. It all happened at the Lux Steakhouse in Edmonton. We started at the Delta hotel, where everyone was staying, mere blocks from the venue. After everyone was ready, we slowly made our way to the restaurant via the pedways (Uh, Edmontonians, they're called +15s.). This was convenient seeing as how it was a rainy day.
The wedding was a nerdy affair. Guests were encouraged to cosplay. Colin himself went for a 10th Doctor (Doctor Who) look, hence the 'Sonic Screwdriver'. The tables all had different pop culture names.
It was a terrific first experience shooting a wedding and generally a great time. Thanks to Sarah and Colin. It made me happy to know that I was able to deliver them with so many great shots they can have for the years to com. I learned A LOT about what's needed to shoot a full day wedding. Mainly I'm hiring an assistant for the next one.
Wild 95.3 Performance Project entry for Nice Horse - Beer Baby Banjo.
Music by Nice Horse: Kaley Debra, Katie Marie, Brandi Caroline and Krista Lee nicehorsemusic.com
Sound recording by: Tobias Kalden (Sir Touby) sirtouby.com
I was able to take my recently aquired Atomos Blade recorder for a test drive behind the scenes at the March 26th Flames game vs. the Blackhawks. Really happy with the results. I'll be using this to put together a sports reel at the beginning of the next season.
Piece I shot for the Calgary Stampeders. Edited by Spencer Fortier. Stamps players Spencer Wilson and Brandon Boudreaux went Easter egg hunting at Butterfield Acres.
The Calgary Roughnecks host an annual workshop where 100 women get coached by the team. There's skill training on the floor, video coaching and exercises. Attendees range from women who play looking to get some tips and women who are picking up a stick for the first time.
In Part 2 of our Calgary Roughnecks Ladycrosse piece. We focus attention on Kathleen and her old school, field lacrosse stick. Roughnecks Curtis Dickson gets a chance to try it out, with mixed results.
Back from the new year with a bunch of projects. Brett Hopper from Good Ole' Fridge and I went to X92.9 to shoot this performance from Nathaniel Rateliff and the Nightsweats, last week. It's the second single from their self titled album.
