Granville Island Night Photowalk

Posted on October 19, 2009 by Janis

After a pretty lame Saturday, I decided that I better do something productive with my Sunday. So I did. I ran 10.6km at Burnaby Lake with my good friends Liz and Di, and I went for a walk and did some shopping with my friend Sheralyn downtown, taking photos all along the way. I felt like I had been neglecting my camera lately, so I made a promise to myself take it with me more often when I go places. We saw this tree absolutely covered in ladybugs on the way back from our walk. Good thing I had my camera, eh?

So, I had been debating on whether to go on this evening photowalk or not, and finally decided to stop thinking about it and just do it. I’m very glad that I did.

There was a large turnout for it, more than I expected. We met on Granville Island, and there were 3 models there to shoot, which I also wasn’t totally expecting.

I took some shots of one of the models, Barbara, in front of these lights boxes (after some coaxing from Scott) and this is probably my favourite one of the bunch.

Meanwhile, the guys were all shooting using flash triggers, which I don’t have any experience with, but Jeremy loaned me his remote trigger and Peter helped me get the correct settings to get a good shot. He got me to shoot using manual settings, which I’ve never done; I always just shoot in either shutter priority or aperture priority, but this is what these photowalks are for, learning! Below you will see my beautiful subjects for my first “off-camera flash” experience.

Afterwards, we walked around Granville Island a little more and John let me borrow his tripod for some shots. I really have to thank all of these guys. I was pretty intimidated at the beginning, but they sure made me feel welcome. It ended up being a total learning experience for me, and I look forward to more photowalks like this in the future.

Here’s another one of my favourite photos from last night – John showing the models one of the shots on his camera. To view the rest of my photowalk set, click here.

BarCamp Vancouver 2009

Posted on October 4, 2009 by Janis

On October 3rd, I attended my 2nd BarCamp. Last year’s BarCamp – I can’t believe it’s already been a year! – was my first ever “un-conference.”

What the heck is an un-conference? (Am I right?)

Well, it’s basically an event that doesn’t get organized until you show up. Although, it is planned by a small group of people who actually attend BarCamp, my brother being one of them. Anyone who attends has the opportunity to pitch an idea for a session, in under 30 seconds, and then it gets scheduled into the day. There were 5 rooms with 5 sessions happening at once, in the Discovery Parks building on Great Canadian Way, and you just got to choose which ones you would like to go to.

Last year, my brother shot a short video of me as we were leaving BarCamp, to ask what I thought of it. Check it out below.

This year, I think I was a little more into doing my own thing, and not just following Jordan to whatever sessions he wanted to go to. In the morning, I went on the photowalk session with a bunch of photographers whom I know and admire, and after lunch went to the photography-related session that talked about using programs like Aperture and Lightroom to manipulate your photos. Now, of course, I need to out and buy one of them, because you can do all kinds of crazy stuff with your photos, and tag them and organize them in so many different ways. It’s nuts.

There were many other great discussions yesterday, and I learned a lot from some very cool people who are doing amazing things in the tech world.

I will leave you with a few photos I took yesterday during the photowalk.

I was amazed at how few cars were there. Most people chose to carpool, cycle, or take transit.

Thank you everyone, and hope to see you all next year at BarCamp!

Summer 2009 in Pictures

Posted on September 27, 2009 by Janis

I have been unbelievably lazy with blogging lately, and I’d like to blame it on being really busy doing fun stuff. Most of my weekends this summer have been spent out of town, and I wouldn’t have had it any other way. It’s so nice to get out of the city once in awhile, and to spend time with friends and family.

Anyway, rather than waste my time explaining what I’ve been doing for the past couple months, I thought what better way to write a quick post about everything summer related, than with a bunch of photos that can speak for themselves? They do say a picture speaks a thousand words.

And without further adieu, here is Summer 2009 in pictures:

JUNE:

IMGP3292 IMGP3303 Dale & Jerra’s wedding in Las Vegas.
(The rest of this set is here.)

IMGP3623 Volleyball Saturday’s on Jay’s rooftop.

IMGP3760 My running club.

JULY:

IMGP3785 IMGP3790 Dale & Jerra’s “Powell River” wedding reception.

IMGP3840 IMGP3849 Taking a break on the drive up the Sunshine Coast.

IMGP3950 What I LOVE about Powell River. Momsie, you da best!

Liz + Chris’ wedding in Powell River.

IMGP4062 IMGP4093 IMGP4292 Our cabin, “Kokanee Cedar,” on Powell Lake, a.k.a. Paradise.

AUGUST:

IMGP4318 IMGP4429 Trip to the Okanagan.

Catching a Canadians game at Nat Bailey stadium.

IMGP4465 IMGP4495 Pool party at Uncle Bill and Auntie Joanne’s.

IMGP4536 IMGP4569 Thursday night Urban Rec soccer champs.

SEPTEMBER:

IMGP4587 IMGP5015_2 Wedding shoot in Kelowna with Emily.
(The rest of this set is being updated and is located here.)

Well, that’s it – the highlights, anyway. Here’s hoping that Autumn will bring some more new adventures my way…

The most beautiful Las Vegas Wedding

Posted on June 21, 2009 by Janis

Photo credit: Cashman Pro Photography

Just recently, I was fortunate enough to be a bridesmaid in the most amazing wedding I have ever experienced. My best friend, Jerra Pexton, married the love of her life, Dale Lupul, on Sunday, June 7, 2009, in a beautiful ceremony held at the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Many of the guests were there for a few days arriving on June 5th or 6th, and departing on June 8th or 9th, so they had a chance to experience Las Vegas and all of its glitz and glamour.

Las Vegas experienced a small cold front while we were there – but a cold front in June in Las Vegas still means 25 degrees celsius! The only day where we really felt the heat was Sunday, on the day of the wedding (of course).

IMGP3138 The tears were flowing as soon as us girls saw Jerra in her wedding dress. She looked so gorgeous! Then, to see her father walk her down the aisle… he was unbelievably proud of her, and didn’t hesitate to tell anyone who would listen! She walked up an aisle covered in pink rose petals to the sound of a violin, surrounded by palm trees, and her and Dale said their vows in front of a waterfall. Not exactly how you pictured a Vegas wedding, is it?

After the ceremony, the newly wed couple and the wedding party posed for pictures, and then took a limo trip to take photos in front of the Las Vegas sign. The reception afterward was a poolside cocktail party at Treasure Island. It was a very nontraditional wedding, filled with so many amazing moments, great new friends, and a reaffirmation in my belief that true love actually exists.

IMGP3303

Photo credit: Cashman Pro Photography

Jerra and Dale, I truly wish you a “happily ever after” together, with a marriage full of love, and many offspring!! Thank you so much for letting me share your beautiful wedding day with you!

**UPDATE: One thing I forgot to mention in this post – do you see that gorgeous dress? It was made by her VERY talented mother, Cathy Spreeuw. Also, a full set of photos are available to view here.**

Here is the video I made for Jerra and Dale, that includes the speeches from the Maid of Honour and Best Man at the reception. Please note: It is very long, but I made it for them, not for you. Enjoy!

Photoshoot with Cheech

Posted on May 10, 2009 by Janis

My friend Cheech is a personal trainer, and he wants to start putting together a portfolio, and he asked me to take a few pictures of him to get started. I was very happy to do it for him, because I am really starting to love my camera and I feel like I am learning something new every time I use it.

So we spent Saturday afternoon taking a few shots on his beautiful rooftop patio in Kits, and then we wandered down to a quiet spot on Kits beach for a few more. It was an awesome day for it; absolutely gorgeous weather. Looking back now, though, I wished I had a shield for the sun, because there are a lot of shadows in the photos. Oh well, maybe next time.

I really had a ton of fun doing these photos, and I hope Cheech did, too. It wasn’t exactly hard to take a good photo of this guy. Anyway, here a few of my favourites below.

You can view the rest of the set and the full size photos here.