Its that time of year again, The Scope’s Best of St. John’s issue is on stands now, and I was fortunate enough to work with some fun people again this year.
Mark Critch, for example was awesome, and given his tight schedule over the holidays he was up for anything i threw at him. It worked out that he was at the BOSJ awards party at the Rockhouse, where I was set up with this years photobooth. We decided on a mashup with “whattaya at” – best local slang.
Below are a couple more winners from the booth.
1 – Awesome random rockhouse emloyees (?)
2 – Mireille Eagan – Best Exhibit
3 – Stacey Tuttle – Best Bayman
4 – Meg, Robbie, & Tyler from Repartee – Best Album Artwork
Editor and publisher Elling & Bryhanna, the brains behind the Scope.
Above there you’ll see a couple of snaps of the band “Over the Top” they won best new punks, and this year at the scope there was a bit of a fun mashup concept, so these shots are also for best carwash (ESSO on anderson avenue) so in meshing them together we decided to get the guys all dirty and grimy looking, fire them in the car wash and my lovely assistants almost passed out blowing bubbles. (We couldn’t find a bubble machine – dead of winter and all) add to that some suds and we were gold. I’d like to thank the guys from the band AND the manager at the esso for being so accomodating for our shoot.
This past Week I picked kristen up a little treat from Shawna – a local craftsperson who has a really great etsy shop called Faunrainspired
Kristen liked it so much that she has pretty much turned into a little wolf, and i wanted to take a few shots of her showing off the craftsmanship behind her new wolf hood.
My favourite part of this shoot was when a little Jack Russell dog and his owner came walking down the pathway – the dog was frightened of kristen when she had the hood up. He couldn’t take his eyes off of her and was cowering. As soon as she put the hood down and bent to say hi, the little Jack Russel went Batshit crazy – barking, jumping and trying to grab the sleeves of the hood. SO GOOD.
This is The second in a series of shoots for Chris.
Chris is an artist and creative thinker of all sorts these shots for his personal promotion for his many projects which you can find at Driedzic.com
I LOVE the back and forth when we talk concepts for his shoots. Chris is a great collaborator, and allows people he works with to bring their own flavor to whatever kind of project it is you work on with him. This series of shoots involved a really lovely late summer weekend adventure up the Bonavista Peninsula. We were introduced to the Two Whales cafe out in port rexton, had a wonderful dinner with Chris’ parents and made some really fun photos.
When most think good pizza they think italy – and there are some of us that when we think italy, we think think style, and that leads to Vespa.
Brian from Piatto called me up and asked if we might do a quick project for some in store artwork. When i worked out that i’d get to shoot from a chaser vehicle while being followed by Brian on a vespa, down signal hill – of course i jumped at the idea.
From Naples to Newfoundland, Brian and Piatto just got awarded the distinction of officially making authentic Neapolitan pizza by the italian government’s Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana. I want to congratulate the restaurant and all of its staff on that honour. They make some of the best pizza this side of the atlantic ocean!
CIAO BELLA!
The Main Promo Shot You might see floating around
Album Sleeve Design By Alexander Pierson Featuring two of my shots of the gang.
I can’t say enough how fun it is shooting for Meg and the rest of the Repartee crew. Even under pressure and stress with last minute album polishing these guys were just so cool.
I am listening to their just released album as I write this. Its almost impossible to give it a listen with out bopping your head. Its got such good rhythm, just the right amount of synth and Meg’s voice is so smooth. Its an honour and a privilege to have worked with Repartee a few times in the past year.
I love the props in this last shot. This was made down at Model Citizens, rather on the fly. The people from the shop were amazing to deal with – they let us have pretty much full reign. Half of the props were brought from my personal collection, but we found a few really choice pieces down at the store. My favourite being the bunny.
To hear some tracks from the album check out their site over at reparteemusic.ca. Though, i would just run out and buy it.
Or see their super cool featured live recording of “I Would Die Before You” on heavyweather.ca
Creativity breeds creativity. Its nice hanging out with like minded individuals especially if their creative strengths are varied. Everyone offers a little something from their own perspectives. Below are some of my friends and peers. Its a privilege to know them and shoot them from time to time.
Mike – Designer & All ’round Creative thinker.
Geri – an amazing Illustrator & Designer.
Chris – Chef & Photo Maker.
Tyler – Web Developer/Code monkey extraordinaire
A few months ago i met and shot Roger and Theresa From Retarded Velvet for my StitchUp project.
After Hearing that they were on their way to Fashion week in Mumbai and were in need of some bio shots, we hung out at the studio and Had a blast. These are the shoots i adore. Roger and Theresa work so well together that it felt more like playing than work, and thats what its all about for me.
It Just so happens that Vogue india Covered the two while they were over there for their part of the NextGen Fashion show:
Canadian designers Theresa James and Roger Prince have pulled all the stops to create a collection that is so visually effective in its approach of embracing global eclecticism. From Native American influences to a dash of East Indian flavor, the line transcends style boundaries and does so in a street-smart and savvy manner that appeals to fashion lovers of both genders.
Amazing work on their part. I cant wait to see more of their creations. In the meantime here’s a Glimpse at a few other frames from our shoot.
The Shot that was selected for use.
I was downtown shooting for the StitchUp this evening and heard a Bang up the block a bit. I Never thought anything of it until a restaurant owner stormed by my complaining about a power outage, as he went to check with another business about their power situation. Then a Fire truck blazed up the street. I had to bite. Curiosity killed the cat on this one.
A manhole had exploded, shooting a flames, water and smoke out from under the vehicle that was parked over it. when i arrived the St. John’s Regional Fire Department was just getting ready to lay down some foam.
The poor guy (left in profile) who’s truck was parked atop the manhole when it decided to explode.
This time of year, with the influx of the university crowd and the kids getting ready to head back to school always gets my nostalgic. So with the labor day weekend out of the way, and fall right around the corner i’ve been looking through my archives Seeing what i’d been up to, around this time last year…
It appears that i was gearing up for the Canadian Home Builders’ Association of Newfoundland’s 2010 Berg Awards! Rather then doing the traditional grin and grip type shots for the gala dinner I decided to try and glitz it up a bit with informal candid shots from pre and post show with some fun “studio like” shots as the award winners stepped off stage left, and into my hands.
Heres how things worked out!
In the end I think it’s safe to say that everyone on hand had a great time, myself included. Heres hoping that their 2011 gala will be just as special!
I am SOOOO happy to announce that i have a permanent home for the street photography that i enjoy doing in my Free time.
Go on over and check it out! it offers a glimpse into the City of St. John’s as i and my contributors see it. Some examples of the type of work that i am going to be showing over at “A City Like Ours” blog can be found below. 
