Nothing like taking your 16yr old aspiring surfer son to the surf mecca of Hawaii and witness his fascination with the ocean. My guess is he has dolphin blood!
Such a treat to travel with him and his positive spirit! A small burp into our holidays when Day1 the bottle of water spilled onto my camera and it died… serious bummer. A good friend suggested the Canon Power Shot D10 which I rented for the week and was pleasantly surprised by it’s versatility! For one, it loves the water which makes it ideal when you have a dolphin as a son. The images below were only touched up in Lightroom. The quality is by no means of professional standard but will do just fine for playing around and catching moments that normally would be difficult without proper water housing.
Félix’s excellent eye…
The romance and mystery of the life of a lighthouse keeper can be a beautiful thing and also a very isolating experience. There are 27 staffed lightstations along the BC Coast. Staffed with two employees for safety reasons, the keeper’s primary duty is to report the weather changes on our rugged coast. Every 3 hrs starting at 3:30AM, lighthouse keepers all along the coast will call in the weather report to Coast Guard radio. The radio staff collects the data and transmits the information for all vessels at sea. There is the on going station maintenance of course, and some keepers take on odd chores such as collecting and removing the countless items of plastic and styrofoam debris that litter our shores. Keepers don’t get days off. They are out there 7 days a week, for month after month. This keeper tells me that although the idea of living on 50 acres of prime ocean front property conjures forth images of romance, in reality the long days and nights offer personal challenges regarding keeping the mind and body active and stimulated. The word romance is gradually replaced with words like patience, self-reliance and endurance… this is not a career choice for everyone to be sure. It was a privilege to experience the day and life of a lighthouse keeper and I am now fully aware of their critical presence on our Coast!
Posted by Helene Cyr on November 29, 2009 – 4:38 pm
They boast of 100+ golf courses and a sea of windmills. It’s believable. But you can’t help wonder where heavens’ are they getting their water? After shooting Michelle and Berkeley’s wedding I treated myself to 2 days of desert (mostly by car I’m afraid) as Joshua Tree Park is immense! They should have a sign “watch for soft sand” as you will get very very stuck. And this I did well no more then 20 feet from the paved road! No less then 5 minutes both a car and tow truck stopped to help. This is John with his dog who helped me partly before the tow truck could truly pull me out. John was incredibly kind and seemed as though he was pulled out from a movie! The highway leading to L.A. is already 8 lanes wide at 159 KM from Palm Springs and you are warned not to go near it past 4pm… gaaa. The other park I visited was Indian Canyon, also a spectacular park where the palm trees are huge and grow from a natural fault line water source like an oasis. These two deserts I briefly visited are incredibly spiritual places! Oh! can you find the chain gang in any of these pictures? Truly.
Posted by Helene Cyr on November 25, 2009 – 2:22 pm
Filed under B&W, Personal
Such a treat to spend the weekend with friend photographers and my son, away from our computers and the buzz of it all. First weekend to ourselves. The rain poured and poured and poured… i loved it, we all loved it! The rain hit my lens and I could not care, they kept playing and being wild. So much fun you are!!!!!!!!
Posted by Helene Cyr on November 16, 2009 – 9:51 pm
Breathtaking summons our escapade and wedding shoot in Tofino. From electric blue skies, snow on the pass to eventually two solid days of relentless torrential rain where the roads threatened to be closed. The wedding couple were extraordinary and braved the elements which made for some of my most favorite shots! Félix was a great help holding the umbrella keeping the 75º rain fall from hitting the camera! Can’t wait to work on this last wedding.. thank you Félix for your indispensable help!
1st image taken by Félix
Filed under Personal, Street
A short trip to Montréal with Félix fed many of our senses. Family, dear friends, photographer comrades, and walks along old neighborhoods fueled me beyond words! The City is known for its’ openness and it’s fabulously true, Montréaler’s do not seem threatened by the camera. I was a tourist in my old town and enjoyed opening my eyes.
There’s something fascinating about Parades. An array of cacophony & visual over load topped with anticipation, nervousness and boredom. These images were taken from Mayfair parking lot where they spend up to two or more getting ready with last minute choreography, last minute tuning of hefty instruments, and a few embraces here and there to keep warm. The parade itself does not interest me, but behind the scenes where emotions are strong.
Some of these images may have a hint of humour, possibly because the Scottish have a very developed sense of humour themselves. Not often do you see strong men weighing close to 300 pounds in skirts throwing what seemed like a telephone pole as far as possible. Having a pint surrounded by this culture was most refreshing!
