Here is the second night of a two night shoot for the Artist Next Door Series.  I’d never been to the Graffiti Gallery before, and like many inner city gems, was surprised as we pulled up along an emptier stretch of Higgins Avenue to find a warehouse full of art.  This show featured a variety of local artists, including handmade postcard-maker Becky Thiessen, story-teller Hannah Godfrey, painter Arlea Ashcroft, photo/video designer Tyler Funk, and was headlined by a performance by singer/songwriter Don Amero.

As always, I love playing with light.  The warehouse space was surprisingly large and was lit mostly by fluorescents, so I purposely set up my flashes to overpower the ambient light and create some more interesting directional light. And with the display of paintings in the background, it made for some pretty neat and colourful backgrounds.

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I met Sean about five years ago during my previous life working with the government of Manitoba.  Smart fellow, keen wit, and you could tell he was destined for big things in the workplace (which he now appears to be well on his way to achieving).  It just so happened that his wife Twinkle was also into photography and was thinking of getting into weddings.  So it came to be that I got a willing and skilled shooter to help me on a number of shoots, as well as a good friend to boot ever since.  Shortly thereafter I left the civil service to shoot full-time, and it wasn’t long before Twinkle took the plunge too.  She’s now successfully running her own business in town – you can check out her work at her website: www.twinklereyes.com

Earlier this summer I had the honour and privilege to photograph Twinkle & Sean’s celebration of their 10th year of marriage.  An intimate gathering of close family and friends at Chez Sophie, the evening was highlighted by their children Chloe & Mark making remarkable and heart-felt toasts to their parents.  The food and atmosphere was great, and with Mark being about the same age as my son, it was fun watching them romp around together with the gaggle of other kids that were tearing around the place.  Congratulations on ten years Twinkle & Sean!  (and thanks for waiting on the pictures!)

After a whirlwind road trip out to Saskatchewan for a wedding, Katrina and I raced back to Winnipeg to shoot the season 2 finale of the Artist Next Door series at the Neighborhood Cafe in the Wolseley community.  This happy little cafe, whose walls are filled with what seems like a million paperbacks, was packed with people who came out to see performances by local fiddling sensation Sierra Noble (www.sierranoble.ca) and Brazillian guitarist Marco Castillo.   The concert also included performances by Taiko drummer Phoebe Mann, hand drummer Brian Cloud, percussionist Scott Senior, and presentations by artist Diana Thorneycroft and poet Jan Guenther Braun.

It being a packed house, it was super warm and really tight for space, making it a bit of a challenge for shooting.  That said, it’s always nice to work while listening to good music.

Assiniboine Park was packed this weekend as it was the Ultimate Frisbee championship tournament for Winnipeg’s middle and high schools.  Sunday afternoon was warm, sunny, and calm – perfect conditions for Kelvin High to face off against St-John’s Ravenscourt in the finals.  It was a hard fought and exciting game with some thrilling plays and crazy swings of momentum.  Though SJR emerged as the winner, I think both teams can be pretty proud of the way they played.  More info can be found on the tournament and Ultimate in general on the  Manitoba Organization for Disc Sports website (www.mods.mb.ca).

Below are some pics from the final.  The full gallery of images can be viewed here.

While I usually cross paths with my videographer friend Derek Eidse during the wedding season, I occasionally have the pleasure of working with him on his other projects.  This past weekend I had the opportunity to shoot stills for his production of the Artist Next Door - an ongoing TV series broadcast on MTS On-Demand about local performers and artists in the Winnipeg community.  Sunday’s production, which was filmed live at the CYRK (a private club/theatre/concert hall in the West Broadway neighborhood), included an exhibition of work from animator Alison Davis (www.errantline.com), a skit by actor/director Stephanie Plaitin, and was headlined by the Juno-nominated duo Twilight Hotel (www.twilighthotel.ca).

I really enjoyed my evening – the CYRK turned out to be a very cozy venue, reminiscent of a modern-day underground poetry café, and the performances were all excellent.  Ms. Davis’ shorts were an interesting blend of hand-drawn & computer animation, and I was blown away by the richness of sound that Twilight Hotel was able to accomplish with just their vocals and two instruments.  While the Artist Next Door episode won’t be available on MTS for some time, it’s worth the time to stop by these artists’ websites to view/hear their work.