ONWA - Building Our Bundles Launch - Thunder Bay Art Gallery
I’m so thankful that I get to continually photograph and in the process, participate in so many wonderful events and causes put on by ONWA. Yesterday evening was yet another example with the Building our Bundles Launch would took place at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery. The theme of the event was local indigenous women’s leadership through artwork, stories and digital storytelling. The featured artists of the evening were Candace Twance, Venessa Willow and Tony McGuire.
I’m so thankful that I get to continually photograph and in the process, participate in so many wonderful events and causes put on by ONWA. Yesterday evening was yet another example with the Building our Bundles Launch would took place at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery. The theme of the event was local indigenous women’s leadership through artwork, stories and digital storytelling. The featured artists of the evening were Candace Twance, Venessa Willow and Tony McGuire.
The purpose of the project is to create Indigenous-informed learning material for educators and students with a focus on Ojibwe women from the Robinson Superior region. Storytelling is fundamental for passing on knowledge, culture and language for future generations to learn, create meaningful engagements and honour their ancestors.
If you would like to learn more about ONWA and this particular event, I encourage you to head on over to their Facebook Page or Website. Please have a look at some of the highlights from the event below.
Hunger 2018
It’s almost Halloween and that means one of my favourite events of the year is here, Hunger 2018. It took place this past weekend, and as usual, it was such a great time. Admittedly I didn’t get out to cover it as much in previous years because I had a birthday party I was attending, but I still came away with a lot of great shots.
It’s almost Halloween and that means one of my favourite events of the year is here, Hunger 2018. It took place this past weekend, and as usual, it was such a great time. Admittedly I didn’t get out to cover it as much in previous years because I had a birthday party I was attending, but I still came away with a lot of great shots.
Definitely Superior Art Gallery always puts on such an amazing event. I can only imagine how much work goes into organizing all the venues and performances. All I have to do is show up and take photos of people in costumes. I have it easy.
Each year it seems to be better turnout out then the last too. I’m already looking forward to next years event. Scroll down to check out some of the highlights!
ONWA 47th Annual General Assembly - Falling Leaves Moon - Toronto, Ontario
Last weekend I had the pleasure of photographing ONWA’s 47th Annual General Assembly at the Chelsea Hotel in Toronto, Ontario. On Friday, the first day of the event, The Talk4Healing launch took place in the afternoon. ONWA and Beendigen announced the expansion of its 24/7 helpline for indigenous women. Initially just serving Norther Ontario, Talk4Healing expanded to the rest of Ontario. If you like to read a great article on the subject head on over to the CBC website here.
Last weekend I had the pleasure of photographing ONWA’s 47th Annual General Assembly at the Chelsea Hotel in Toronto, Ontario. On Friday, the first day of the event, The Talk4Healing launch took place in the afternoon. ONWA and Beendigen announced the expansion of its 24/7 helpline for indigenous women. Initially just serving Norther Ontario, Talk4Healing expanded to the rest of Ontario. If you like to read a great article on the subject head on over to the CBC website here.
The evening saw the Annual General Assembly being with the Opening Ceremony with “Passwewe Ikewug” - Echo Women, Sisters in Song Women’s Drum Group & Grassy Narrow’s Women’s Drum. Afterwards ONWA held an election.
The Saturday and Sunday saw a variety of different sessions take place. From Inspiring Change Through Leadership to different speeches on Trauma and Sexual Violence, there was plethora of support and information passed along to all attendees.
The Sunday session ended with an exercise where attendees were encouraged to honour their sacredness through art. The resulting creations were all so well done. It was amazing to see so much creativity and passion.
Have a look at the photos below to see some of the highlights from the event!
Health Quality Transformation - Quality Matters 2018 Seminar
With wedding season pretty much over for me, aside from a New Years one (which I’m super excited for), I tend to do a variety of events. One of my latest events was the Health Quality Transformation - Quality Matters 2018 seminar at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine. Along with Thunder Bay, It’s Canada’s largest conference on health care quality. Along with Thunder Bay, Toronto, London, Ottawa and Sudbury all took part as well.
With wedding season pretty much over for me, aside from a New Years one (which I’m super excited for), I tend to do a variety of events. One of my latest events was the Health Quality Transformation - Quality Matters 2018 seminar at the Northern Ontario School of Medicine. Along with Thunder Bay, It’s Canada’s largest conference on health care quality. Along with Thunder Bay, Toronto, London, Ottawa and Sudbury all took part as well.
It was a one day conference that focused on putting quality into action. The main guest speakers for the conference was Jeffrey Braithwaite and Tanya Talaga. Jeffrey is the Professor and Foundation Director at the Australian Institute of Health Innovation and Tanya is the Author of Seven Fallen Feathers and a Toronto Star Journalist.
My task was to simply document the day which I had a great time doing. Everyone was very laid back and just trying to take in all the information they could. That is also something I was able to do while photographing the event. If you would like to learn more about Health Quality Transformation head on over to their website here.
Dan + Dave Day After Wedding Party
Dan and Dave ended up winning one of my giveaways at one of the previous weddings shows I attend. As it turned out, they already had a wedding photographer booked or their wedding so instead, they asked if I could photograph the small party they would be having the day after their wedding. Well, I couldn’t say no to that!
Dan and Dave ended up winning one of my giveaways at one of the previous weddings shows I attend. As it turned out, they already had a wedding photographer booked or their wedding so instead, they asked if I could photograph the small party they would be having the day after their wedding. Well, I couldn’t say no to that!
To be honest I haven’t done too many of these types of parties for an extended amount of time. Usually it’s either the bride or groom getting ready for about an hour. As with any photography assignment I welcome the challenge. Upon showing up I immediately realized it was going to be a fun 3 hours. Dan and Dave’s family and friends were so nice and welcoming that it made my job (it didn’t even feel like a job) extremely easy.
I was essentially a fly on the wall with a camera. I tried my best to stay in the background and just capture moments, mixed in with some portraits when requested. It was a good mix and resulted in lots of great photos. I was also surprised to learn that Dave’s dad was my grade 7 and 8 teacher a long long time ago. So it was super awesome catching up with him briefly.
My time with Dan and Dave went by so fast and I kind of wish I was able to spend even more time with them. Regardless, I’m very happy they asked me to capture their day after party. I actually hope I am able to photograph more of these types of events.
Pumpkin Mania 2018 - Belluz Farms
It was a long time coming but I finally got the chance to make the drive out to Belluz Farms Pumpkin Mania 2018. All these years living in Thunder Bay and I had never been to Belluz Farms before. So with my video camera in hand along with my photography camera as well, I set out on the open road to find Belluz Farms.
It was a long time coming but I finally got the chance to make the drive out to Belluz Farms Pumpkin Mania 2018. All these years living in Thunder Bay and I had never been to Belluz Farms before. So with my video camera in hand along with my photography camera as well, I set out on the open road to find Belluz Farms.
I joke when I say find because google maps told me exactly where it was. Suffice it to say, I still managed to go down a few wrong roads. So did the person driving in front of me if that was any consolation. Once I finally found the farm, I gave my donation and parked the car. The parking attendant told me the pumpkin drop was pushed back until 3:30 which was a good thing. I honestly thought it would be at 4:30, so I was happy I decided to get there for 3:00 an no later.
Having never been to the farm before, I didn’t know what to expect. I knew I had 30 minutes until the drop though so I decided to check out the corn maze which was right where I parked. My main goal for the event was to capture some video with photos being secondary. So I started getting some video of the maze. After about 5 minutes I realized I didn’t know my way out. I started panicking just a little because I didn’t want to miss the pumpkin drop. Luckily, I found my way out rather easily.
So I headed over the main area where the drop was to take place and set up camp. It was a good spot and more and more people kept crowding around, especially kids. There were a lot of them there, which so fun to see. I could only imagine being a kid and going to something like that. It really put a smile on my face. In any case, I knew I wanted to be closer, much closer. So I put on my kindest most professional face and asked the attendant lady if I could go around the fence and into the main area. She eyed me up and say my camera and backpack and said sure.
I think all the small children were appreciative of the face that I was leaving as I am sure I was blocking a lot of their view. This being the first time I attended this event I really didn’t know what to expect so I asked some of the other workers and another man taking photos how far back I should be. I never really got a straight answer so I just winged it.
The first pumpkin dropped from the crane into what looked like a makeshift kid pool and exploded upon impact. It kind of caught me off guard just how far the pieces fell. It was very exciting. There was still one more pumpkin to go, and this one was filled with candy. So once it finished dropping the crowd would be allowed to rush in and grab all the candy they wanted.
For the that pumpkin, I would say I was about 20 feet back which I thought was enough. It was barely enough. As I was recording the slow motion video the pumpkin smashed into the grand and pieces flew in every direction. Luckily I was paying attention because one chunk came hurtling towards me and I casually spread my legs and it flew under. I haven’t even checked out the video yet but I’m pretty sure I got it on film.
I spent the next 30 minutes or so capturing a bit more video the venue and some of the animals as well. I also made sure to get some photos of the pumpkins which you can see below. Once I left I knew I wanted to drive down the same dirt road to get once last shot of the mountain. On my way I saw the cutest small cat strolling down the side of the road. I wanted to stop and take him home but I assumed he had a home out there. The last shot of the day was indeed from the spot I saw on the way in. It actually turned out quite good. I would have liked it to be about 1.5 hours later in the evening but now I have an excuse to go back. Plus, I think more colours should still come in.
All in all, it was super fun couple of hours. If I can, I will most definitely be coming out again next year. The only downside is that I am now craving pumpkin pie …
Elliot Brood @ Crocks Thunder Bay
Last week I was happy to finally see Elliot Brood live at Crocks here in Thunder Bay. I had heard quite a few of their songs over the years so it was great to finally witness their music live. It was an intimate show at Crocks, and if I’m being honest, those are my favourite kind. I photographed the concert for the local newspaper The Walleye, so if you live in Thunder Bay, watch out for some of these photos in next months issue which should be out by next week.
Last week I was happy to finally see Elliot Brood live at Crocks here in Thunder Bay. I had heard quite a few of their songs over the years so it was great to finally witness their music live. It was an intimate show at Crocks, and if I’m being honest, those are my favourite kind. I photographed the concert for the local newspaper The Walleye, so if you live in Thunder Bay, watch out for some of these photos in next months issue which should be out by next week.
Even though I was hired to capture the event, I made sure to also sit down for a while and enjoy it as well. It’s easy to just go go go when photographing but I’ve been trying to force myself to ‘take it all in’ as they say.
I have always preferred black and white for concert photography as I personally feel it has more emotion. At least for me. Thanks for viewing!
Lakehead University New President Ceremony
This past Saturday I photographed I very prestigious event at Lakehead University in which Chancellor Lyn McLeod officially bestowed Dr. Moira McPherson President and Vice President. I couldn’t believe how many people where there in support of her. Not just honoured guests but colleagues as well.
This past Saturday I photographed I very prestigious event at Lakehead University in which Chancellor Lyn McLeod officially bestowed Dr. Moira McPherson President and Vice President. I couldn’t believe how many people where there in support of her. Not just honoured guests but colleagues as well.
Also at the event, the Chancellor presented Ron MacLean with an honorary degree for his work on television and various sporting events throughout the years. It was a pleasure photographing him and also meeting him in person for the first the time.
If you would like to find out a bit more about this special event, head on over to the Lakehead University article on their website here.
Festival of Colours 2018
Summers are usually pretty busy for me with weddings and portraits so I’m not always able to make it to some of the local events here in Thunder Bay. Luckily, this year I was free to check out the Festival of Colours down at the Thunder Bay Marina. It is honestly the one event I look forward to most out of the whole year. What’s not to like? You have dancing, colours, unlimited energy and lots of great music.
Summers are usually pretty busy for me with weddings and portraits so I’m not always able to make it to some of the local events here in Thunder Bay. Luckily, this year I was free to check out the Festival of Colours down at the Thunder Bay Marina. It is honestly the one event I look forward to most out of the whole year. What’s not to like? You have dancing, colours, unlimited energy and lots of great music.
As soon as I showed up you could feel the energy from everyone there. Suffice it to say, it was fairly easy to come away with some epic photos. This year, I also started getting into more and more video so you can find that below as well. I’m already looking forward to next years event!
ONWA 3rd Annual MMIW Pow Wow
It was my second year in a row photographing the MMIW Pow Wow at ONWA. Admittedly, it is one of the events I look forward to most. It's for such an important cause and the amount of people in the community and abroad that show up is amazing to see. For those of you who don't know, MMIW stands for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women.
It was my second year in a row photographing the MMIW Pow Wow at ONWA. Admittedly, it is one of the events I look forward to most. It's for such an important cause and the amount of people in the community and abroad that show up is amazing to see. For those of you who don't know, MMIW stands for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women.
If you would like to learn more about the event I have supplied some links below. Feel free to look through the photos to get a sense of what the day was all about.
https://www.facebook.com/events/292303881565821/ (Facebook Page)
http://www.onwa.ca (ONWA Website)
Thunder at the Bay - Motorsports Extravaganza
I love cars. If I was rich I would probably a whole lot of old vintage cars and probably a few new ones as well. Alas, I do not have that kind of money, so for now, I just photograph them. The Thunder at the Bay car show at the CLE grounds is a yearly event that I very much look forward to. It's the biggest car show of the year here in the Thunder Bay, which means lots and lots of different vehicles to drool over.
I love cars. If I was rich I would probably a whole lot of old vintage cars and probably a few new ones as well. Alas, I do not have that kind of money, so for now, I just photograph them. The Thunder at the Bay car show at the CLE grounds is a yearly event that I very much look forward to. It's the biggest car show of the year here in the Thunder Bay, which means lots and lots of different vehicles to drool over.
This year I was only able to catch the last hour or so of the event but it ended up being just enough time to walk around and capture some photos. I literally could have spent 4 hours walking around, so it was a good thing I was on a time constraint. I tend to focus on the details of the cars and the colours. That is where I find the true character reveals itself. Luckily, almost every single vehicle, was in immaculate condition.
I'm already looking forward to next years event, which can't come soon enough. If you are any kind of car lover, I encourage you to scroll down and see some of my favourite photos from the event.
Thunder Bay Ultimate League Night
The Thunder Bay Ultimate League asked me to capture some promotional photos for the upcoming 10th Anniversary season coming up. I am definitely no sports photographer but I jumped at the chance, and challenge, to do so. Having played ultimate frisbee in the past, a long time ago, I understand the game so it somewhat helped me in anticipating moments. It's still a really fast pace sports at time so it was still very challenging.
The Thunder Bay Ultimate League asked me to capture some promotional photos for the upcoming 10th Anniversary season coming up. I am definitely no sports photographer but I jumped at the chance, and challenge, to do so. Having played ultimate frisbee in the past, a long time ago, I understand the game so it somewhat helped me in anticipating moments. It's still a really fast pace sports at time so it was still very challenging.
I'm amazed that the 4 teams that night were playing in what felt like 30 degree plus weather. I don't know how they do it. I was sweating just from taking photos. At the end of the day I was able to get some really good moments on camera between the 4 teams. It helped that all 4 teams were playing with some really high intensity as you can see from the photos below.
Hopefully some of the photos I captured can help bring new players into the league next year. It really is a fun sport and probably some of the best exercise you can get!
