Back a few years ago when I was working at a small time TV station in Winnipeg, Manitoba we would often do morning show segments featuring animals from the humane society. It was to encourage the people of Winnipeg to consider adopting pets instead of buying from a pet store. When shooting these segments I often got to choose the animals that would be featured. For one of these segments I was drawn to a cute, mild mannered, orange tabby named Izzy. During the shooting and in between segments I quickly grew attached to little Izzy. Shortly after the Morning Show was over I called up my girlfriend to ask her if she would be okay with us adopting a cat. She was on the fence about the commitment, but I was able to win her over. As soon as my shift was done I drove over to the Winnipeg Humane Society to pick up Izzy. He was such a good boy and I knew that I had to cruz over there as soon as possible. I was certain someone else would have scooped him up really quick. Luckily when I arrived he was still there. I filled out the adoption forms, renamed him Cat Stevens and from that point on our family of two became a family of three. HBD Cat Stevens!
Happy International Cat Day!
It’s International Cat Day! As a cat dad I have an obligation to share a photo of my cat, Cat Stevens, across all of my online platforms. I’ve also included a bonus illustration of him.
SKETCH OF THE DAY 12.07.19 - First Commissioned Digital Illustration
As a young lad I thoroughly enjoyed drawing. I would sit down and watch YTV and try to draw my favourite animated characters. From the prince of the fallen Saiyan race to a sponge that lived in a pineapple under the sea, I would attempt to draw them all! As I grew older these energies were focused into other things and my passion for drawing dwindled to doodles in the margins of my notebooks. Drawing took a backseat to photography/videography and music. Flash-forward many years later and something unexpected happened. I was introduced to Procreate, a powerful and intuitive drawing application. If you follow along with anything I post across my social media platforms you may have noticed that I’ve been posting a lot of digital drawings lately. This app has single-handedly rekindled my interest in drawing. In the past few weeks I’ve been setting aside time just about everyday to get a little practice in to make up for all my lost drawing time. Recently I had someone I know notice that I was doing a lot of drawing, so she decided to hit me up to see if I was up for the task of doing a portrait of her beloved kitty-cat which she recently had to get put down. I was honoured and willing to make an attempt at it. I wasn’t sure exactly how to approach this because what I usually draw is a bit more cartoony, but I gave it a go anyways. I am pretty happy with the way it turned out and more importantly she seemed very happy with it as well. Here is my Illustration of Lyla the cat. May she rest in peace.
This illustration took way longer than I care to admit, but it’s all welcomed practice. I learned a lot about workflow and the order of operations when doing this sort of thing. I hope to get more opportunities to do this kind of work in the future.
Throwback Thursday: Reminiscing & The Travel Itch
I'm ready for some travels, like big time! It's been almost a year since my last big trip abroad. I've got an itch that can only be scratched with my passport and bags packed! I've got a few ideas on places to go, but nothing set in stone yet. It's hard to choose when there are so many places to choose from...
While going through the photo archives reminiscing on past travel experiences I found a file with my first roll of 35mm film on it. Shots from my trip to Turkey, my first big trip abroad. From the archways of the Grand Bazaar to the fairy chimneys of Cappadocia, this is one of the greatest experiences of my life time. I want to relive moments like these. I want to submerse myself in different cultures. I need to travel. I need to experience the world around me to the fullest extents.
I sense some travels in the near future. Until then, here is the roll I've been reminiscing on. Shot on my Pentax ME Super.
Flash Photography Festival: Planet Iceland
For such a small country, Iceland is jam packed with a plethora of alien landscapes. Vast black beaches, ancient lava fields blanketed by thick green moss, underground natural hot springs and so much more. Around every corner there is scenery waiting to take your breath away. This place is truly a photographers paradise.
Talia and I wanted to experience this first hand, so in April we blasted off to the small nation. We lived in the back of a van for two weeks and drove over 4000 kilometers to take in all this country had to offer and to snap a few pictures along the way. It's hard to encapsulate such incredible scenery in a small series of photos. We did our best to capture its essence and hopefully, if you were thinking about going, our photos can be enough of a push to get you out there!
If you are interested in seeing some of our pictures from the trip and maybe hearing a story or two I invite you to come join us at our launch party for this years Flash Photographic Festival. Meet us at Rudy's Eat & Drink at 375 Graham Avenue anytime after 7pm. If you can't join us that night, you need not worry, you can see our photos there all month. More details can be found HERE.
I figured I would tease our event with a few of the images that will be shown at Rudy's. I'm super excited to see you there. Catch you at Rudy's on Friday! LETS BLAST OFF TO PLANET ICELAND!!!
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A spacecraft (or maybe an airplane?) crash landed on the black sands of Sólheimasandur.
The atmosphere seems to be unstable here. It smells of poisonous sulfur.
A wild Bantha and its baby getting nourishment from their fodder... okay, maybe it's just an Icelandic goat, but what an amazing coat!