Blasted by Winter at the Winter Stations

Wind and blowing snow at Woodbine Beach. This Winter Station seems to be holding up pretty well, but it’s signage has seen better days.

I have been waiting for some winter weather to hit before I got out to photograph this years Winter Stations at Woodbine Beach. I thought I might have been SOL since just yesterday I was out at the beach for a run and it was mighty sunny, it felt well above 0°C and all the snow was melting. This year I guess I would be taking some spring-themed Winter Station photos, but lo’ and behold! This afternoon the winter weather came in with a vengeance. It was a little chilly at first, but the sun was shining. Within a few minutes of walking around the wind started to pick up and the snow really started to blow. I got my wintery Winter Station images, hooray! These came at a price though. I wasn’t really expecting this weather so I was caught shooting glove-less. Usually not a big deal. However, this time I had the weirdest thing happen to my hands. After I got back in from the cold they swelled up. I’ve been out in the cold shooting with thin gloves or no gloves lots of times before, in far worse weather too, but I have never experienced this phenomenon before. I found it comical how big they got. Luckily once I ran them under some warm water they went back down to their normal size.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy these wintery Winter Station images, I almost lost my hands for these ones!

Dachshund Derby

Last week I had a fun time gathering b-roll for the organized chaos that was Woodbine's First Annual Dachshund Derby. How could you not enjoy being swarmed by these speedy little pups? Here is a quick highlight reel of the event! 

POTD 08.02.18

Picture(s) of the day for Thursday, February 8, 2018.

From dusk to DON - Before and After

Here is a "Before and After" sequence of a photo of Don Valley that I shot the other day. I had a handful of people message me asking about how much I had manipulated the photograph and what sort of gear I used, etc... Rather than explaining what exactly I had done to the pictures, take a look for yourself.

Catch Me at the Beach...

Finally, I have found a home and work in Toronto!

I haven't been shooting much recently because I've been giving myself some time to get to know Toronto. I want to make sure I experience the city through my own eyes, and not through my viewfinder. As a photographer I feel it's important to give yourself some time to get to know an area rather than running into the unknown spraying the scene. I like to sit and people watch, get a sense of the rhythms of the neighborhood and really listen to the sounds. It's easy to just come in blasting off shots, but when you do that you might miss out on some of the subtleties of what you are shooting. It might be tempting to bring your camera everywhere, but I feel it's easy to miss the true scope of the world around you when you are peering through a 2x3 window. It may seem counter-intuitive for a photographer to choose to put their camera down, but it is for this reason that I've been leaving my camera at home.

As for work I've recently got a job as a EFP Videographer with Woodbine Entertainment. I'll be doing a lot of different things there, anything from shooting races and promos, to features on jockeys and musicians that come through. A lot of the content I'll be shooting will run on TSN as well as in house. I loved the run and gun nature of being a news photog, but I'm excited that in this role I'll be able to spend a lot more time on getting shots right, and making them look really pretty. I've only been at Woodbine for about a week now, but it feels like it will be a great place to work and stretch out the creative muscles. Also I think through work I'll officially be getting my drone pilot license. SO STOKED!

It's been a couple weeks since I've been in the Toronto now, so you can expect to see more from me soon. For now here are a couple shots just down the street from my place. If you can't tell, I'm currently living in "The Beaches". I'm really digging the area. It's a nice mix of big city, and beach town here. I really couldn't ask for a better neighborhood to live and I can't wait to get even more familiarized with the area.

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