Royalty | Canadian Lifestyle Photographer

 The "magic" happening at the end of the session.
Well I have some awesome work coming up this weekend and to start it off I had the pleasure of photographing the Pete Knight Rodeo Royalty just outside of town. Now when I plan a session I always work out a couple of set-ups that I think will work well. That way I can focus on the shooting and working with the client. I almost always expect there to be something great happen between light and location and as good as the session was going, I wanted a little more.

Sure enough I found this cool roof sticking out of the ground and after a few minutes of shooting I told the girls to take a break. As they relaxed and looked away from the camera I saw an amazing image. So I tuned them back up and put arms and legs and faces all into the right places and just started shooting. Again magic happened. The light is right (of course I brought the light in as usual) and everything in the image works so well together. The girls were a lot of fun and had great attitudes, just the way a session should be.

Never Stop Chasing | Alberta Storm Chaser

Today was unbelievably perfect as far as set-ups go. I left the city at noon expecting something to develop in the Foothills and sure enough it did. I connected with Kara Jones around 3pm NW of Olds where we had to pick from 3 cells to the West. Well we picked the right one and soon enough the Olds cell was building. It was a near textbook build with a rain-free base to the South and big core to the NE.

Reed Timmer gives his signature point while posing with Kara Jones near Trochu, AB. 


Around dinner we headed out East of Olds to head it off where we were met by Steve Hollingsworth. We had enough time to setup some film and time-lapse when a wall cloud started to twist out of the bottom. Right over the East part of Olds we were seeing severe potential for Tornado activity, so classic.

We had to move East a few times and unfortunately the storm did not quite touch down. All in all it was a great day and was the first time a chase went like clockwork. Not to mention we met the Host of the US TV show Storm Chasers; Reed Timmer as he was chasing our same cell. Do we know what we are doing here in Alberta or what?

Below is time-lapse footage from our chase.
                

Didsbury Event July 3, 2012 | Storm Chaser

  A grain bin rests 50m from its original location a day after severe weather near Bergen Rd.

Today I drove out to Bergen Rd. just North of the town of Didsbury as I had to see for myself the damage that a supposed Tornado had touched down. As I was having a look I decided that I would take pictures and geotags to see if I could build a model in Google Earth when I was done. I ended up spending a couple of hours out there and even interviewed a few of the property owners.

Metal and splintered wood entangle trees almost 100m from where they were part of a barn.

It is sad to see the damage done (at the personal level) but extremely interesting to get a close up and detailed look at just what power a storm of this magnitude is capable of. After gathering all of my images and geotags I was able to build a full model of the Tornado's travel and debris fields. Yes, I am calling this a Tornado for sure. There was little eye-witness but from my findings alone regarding width of touchdowns and swaths, radial debris patterns and small object missile action (plywood going through walls), I'd be willing to state (non-professional opinion) that the area briefly experienced an F1 for at least most of it's path.

A 60sq/m tight stand of poplar trees is flattened like toothpicks just NE of the 766 and 582.

I love storm chasing and getting images of live weather is awesome, but to spend the time and inspect the damage and try to recreate the event like some forensic tv show, I have learned so much and found it fascinating. The great thing is the season is just beginning.

Air Service | Canadian Adventure Lifestyle Photographer

 Jason Lazenby spraying local crops in his Piper Pawnee aircraft.


In the last 24 hours I have had the great fortune to meet and photograph Jason Lazenby of Royco Air Services while he works in the fields West of Crossfield. And I should also add that he is working "above" the fields West of Crossifeld. Jason and another pilot (Dean) are currently giving a bit of an airshow in the area as they spray crops for local farmers and it is an amazing show indeed. 

                                 

It's hard for me to ignore the sound of the aircraft especially when they are working so low to the ground. Growing up around planes and helicopters gave me a great respect and appreciation for being in the air and I don't think I can ever shake that. I still dream about paragliding and hope that I can get down to the US in the next year to be trained on a "Speed Wing"

For now it's just a lot of fun watching (and photographing) someone who is so passionate about their work and lifestyle. Every time Jason jumps out of his Piper Pawnee (plane) for a break and reload, you tell that this guy loves what he is doing. And as I've said it before, when I can capture great shots of someone who loves what their doing, then I love what I'm doing.

Fast And Low | Canadian Adventure Photographer

Tonight I was just taking it easy on the couch when I started to hear the high-pitch drone of a couple sprayer planes just west of town. I knew it would be a good show and it was. I shot until the sun went down and watched the pilot make his last pass. I couldn't help but drive over to their operation base and meet the pilot. Sure enough I did and he is a great guy and extremely passionate about technical flying. Looks like I will get the chance to connect with these guys tomorrow. Hopefully I can post something from that in the next few days. Stay tuned....

Stage One | Canadian Adventure Photographer

Well it is finally here!

I have been waiting patiently for the right time to come along so I could finally bring a linear-motion dolly into Canada from Dynamic Perception in the US. Originally I was going to go with the 6 foot "Stage Zero" but DP recently came out with their newest and compact (breaks down into carry-on size) unit, the "Stage One".

What does this mean for me? Time lapse: this is a new type of capture for me and it can be used to produce motion video of events or movement that is too slow for the human eye to really distinguish. Currently I am working on a few projects (including a science documentary) that will consist mostly of Time lapse (TL) as well as numerous commercial applications such as construction site documentation and Rig set-up.

I am excited to put this unit to work and will be posting test clips here from time to time so you can see just what can be achieved with this kind of unit. Stay tuned to this blog and let your friends know what we are doing. Feel free to contact me at any time if you have questions about this or any other type of work we do.
First test clip below:
                   

Layers | Alberta Storm Chasing

Sun breaking through two layers of cloud near Madden, AB.


Tonight I drove out West with the family in order to gather some more time-lapse tests for a project I am working on. It is still early in our very short season but there has been a lot of moisture and so there are some   cool formations that have been happening. This sky had 2 layers of clouds, One high and the other only about 100 feet from the ground. Each layer was moving in separate directions so the footage looked good. I have to say, it's a pretty cool place we live in here.