Light in the river

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River light

I went to see Volver at the Hollywood Theatre yesterday evening, and really enjoyed it. I am behind on my movie viewing so thank goodness for living near a second-run theatre. I did go see Hot Fuzz on opening night a few weeks ago, but that kind of prompt movie attendance is a rarity for me these days.

My favorite scene in Volver was watching Penelope Cruz’s character sing her heart out at her daughter’s request. It was a song filled with passion and the regrets of life, taught to her by a mother she thinks is dead. I loved the scene because of the emotion it seemed to generate within her, bringing tears to her eyes.

Magnolia (b&w)

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I can’t remember if I have mentioned this already, but I have recently added more prints for sale in my etsy shop.
I’m hoping to upload more soon, once things settle down and I get the chance to scan my most recent holga photos.

A special thank you to Liz Shuman for blogging about my store on Abstract the Day earlier this week, and to Leslie Webster for the featured gallery of my work on Apartment Therapy: San Francisco today.

[Edit: I meant to add this to the entry earlier…]
There are two things you should check out this weekend if you live in the Vancouver area: Vancouver Moving Theatre’s production called “We’re all in this Together. The Shadows Project: Addiction and Recovery” ends on Sunday. The play is inspired by the ancient tradition of shadow theatre (see the photo on their website) using stories of the Downtown Eastside. It features a cast of thirty community actors performing as shadow-casters and musicians.

There is an open house at the Orphaned Wildlife Rehabilitation Society (O.W.L) this Saturday and Sunday. I learned about this organization, located in Delta, after reading Conversations with an Eagle by Brenda Cox. The book is her personal account of working closely with a Bald Eagle named Ichabod, during her years of volunteer work at O.W.L. The open house gives people the opportunity to see more of behind-the-scenes at the rehab centre than is normal. I would really love to go to this, but sadly can not make it this weekend.

Brightness

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I took this photo with my holga a few weeks ago on a trip to the Squamish area to go exploring with friends. It was a beautiful, peaceful day, with weather hot enough to make us wish for shorts and sandals to wear. It came very close to this type of weather again yesterday. Spring is here and summer isn’t far behind.

Yesterday I attended the Creative City Conversation, conference at the Vancouver Playhouse. The purpose was for “the City of Vancouver to gather information to develop a 10-year, long-term plan for arts and culture in Vancouver. Local, national and international speakers were invited to share their experience and stimulate discussion. It was free and open to the public.”

I want to write more about this experience at a later date, but for now let me leave you with a talk by Ken Robinson at the TED conference earlier this year. Mr. Robinson was the keynote speaker at Creative City and gave a very entertaining and inspiring speech very similar to the one for TED.

Silhouetted Kirsti

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Silhouette.jpg

The above photo was taken with a holga, using studio strobes as the light source. The lovely Kirsti Wakelin is the model, and she is one of my favorite people to photograph. The holga I was using doesn’t have a hotshoe because it’s the type with a built in flash, so I was firing the strobes using my light meter as the trigger and set the camera shutter to bulb. Let’s here it for improvisation… 😉

I attended the Earth Day celebrations at Jericho Beach yesterday, and was interested to hear some of the history of the area. Jericho has been at various times the site of a native village, a whaling station, and an army base, and began as an estuary where three rivers met with the ocean. I was also excited to learn of the Jericho Beach stewardship program. They meet once a month to weed out invasive plant species and restore Jericho to it’s “natural” state.

Receive it with serenity

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Into my life you came like a storm of monsoon banging down from the eastern sky.
And you scattered me, like the wind disperses dry grass and the petals of flowers.
Out of myself you scattered me into Nothingness,
Beyond the Nowhere, beyond the Beyond.
~ Irina Tweedie

Kirsti close-up 2

I haven’t felt much like updating my photo blog lately because I’ve been pondering what exactly I want to do with this thing. It’s in need of a proper design, featuring a portfolio and contact section. I should also add a link to my new etsy store. (Now I can proudly say that I sell my work.)

There is a small show of Holga photos on display at the Pendulum Gallery. The work is by local Vancouver photographer Trevor Brady, and will be on display until April 21st. I liked seeing Holga photos printed very large and bold. It gave me a few ideas for things to do with my own work.

Magnolia

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Magnolia

I’ve been wanting to try out a few of the modifications that are possible with a holga. There are many out there, but the three I am most intrigued by are panoramas, macros, and shooting with 35mm. Last week through a contact of mine on flickr I discovered a simple variation on the “macro mod”, where I can use my close-up filters to get closer to my subject than the one meter minimum a holga normally allows. If you don’t have close-up filters, there is an article on Toycamera.com with three variations for macro modifications.

I’m really happy with the results from my first roll. Even though I chose flowers as my subject for the test I can see potential in using this technique for shooting portraits. It’s always frustrated me to keep my distance when photographing people with the holga, and now I can get much closer.

I have a gallery of the night shots taken this past winter up at Toycamera.com. Please check it out.

Sun summoning sunflower

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A bit of colour to brighten the day

I have chosen the above sunflower photo as my avatar to summon up a bit of sunny weather. Here’s hoping it works.

Last Saturday I went for the loveliest walk in the rain. The air was fresh with the perfumed scent of spring, the temperature was warm, the plants and moss glowed a vibrant green, and everywhere the trees were blossoming. A week later it’s still raining, and my walks outside seem less lovely and more…soggy. We are at the point of springtime when every Vancouverites thoughts turn to ark-building.