Northern Exposure

Last fall I entered the Canadian Geographic Photography Contest. I won the runner-up prize in the Landscapes category for my photograph "Tumbledown beach", which was published in the January/February issue of the magazine. In addition to getting published, I won a pair of Nikon binoculars. Last year, when I won the Photo Life contest, I also won a pair of binoculars, but a very snazzy (translate $$$$$) pair of Swarovski binoculars. I sold them on Ebay, as I just didn't see myself (har har) using them enough, and ended up putting the money towards a Canon L-series lens, which I do use a lot. Win-win! But I think I'll keep this Nikon pair. They might come in handy this summer on the trip I've begun daydreaming about ....

Cue Carmina Burana

TB created a very special box set of DVDs just for my birthday. This gift stems from my peculiar fascination with 1970s horror movies, and my more general and rather recent bout of 70s nostalgia. Even though 70s retro has been popular for a while, I've never experienced this nostalgia until now. In fact, while living through the 70s, I couldn't stand the 70s, couldn't wait to get out of the 70s, and throughout the 80s and even some of the 90s, thought "thank God the 70s are over"! So, how does one know that one is suffering from creeping 70s nostalgia? I think that a sure sign is a sudden, inexplicable ability to sit through many an episode of Fantasy Island; a truly, truly, horrible show. A show I never even watched when it was originally on TV. I think it's some kind of yearning for simpler times in contrast to our current glossy, highly corporatized world where everything is focus-grouped to death. Or maybe it's just middle age.

Unlike today’s crop of high-gore torture movies, these movies don’t aim to shock. They just very quietly get under your skin in rather unsettling and unnerving ways. And for some reason, the spooky, evil child was a particularly popular theme (witness “The Exorcist”, “The Omen”, and one of my favourites, “Rosemary’s Baby”, though not technically a 70s movie). I’m sure film historians and critics would point to societal issues such as the crumbling family unit and the rise in popularity of birth control. Yes Dina and Maggie, THAT’s why I have no children ; )

At any rate, thanks TB for another awesome gift!

Has anyone invented a time machine yet?

... so that I can go back in time to this past Saturday night, to the moment just before the moment I stood up from the sofa and knocked over a glass of red wine, creating a spray pattern across the rug and slip-covered sofa that, as TB pointed out, could only be analyzed by the likes of a Dexter. Panicked pouring of various substances with magical stain-removing properties ensued, followed by a machine-washing of aforementioned slipcover, which resulted in major shrinkage and its current state of not-fittingness. Anybody?

EPOTY

I recently found out that I was chosen as EPOTY - Environment Photographer of the Year, for my photograph "The Face of Nature". The other winning photographs can be seen here:

www.epoty.com

One of my prizes was $1000 towards an environmental charity of my choice. I chose Wildlife and Environment Zimbabwe, which is located in Africa, where hopefully the money will go further.

"The Face of Nature" was taken at the Hopewell Rocks in the Bay of Fundy region of New Brunswick. This is a truly surreal landscape, and a part of the world that experiences some of the highest recorded tides. I highly recommend a visit to this part of Canada. Can you say summer vacation?

This photograph is available as a print in my shop.

Postscript added February 20: Apparently, this was newsworthy enough to make the British Journal of Photography.

RIP

Perhaps it was inevitable, but it’s very sad indeed. Polaroid has announced that they are going to stop producing instant film later this year.

Apparently, Polaroid is seeking a company to buy the rights for its instant film so that it will continue being made for enthusiasts. Let’s hope this happens. But, if Polaroid can’t afford to continue its production, who can? The article below indicates that Fujifilm will remain the only maker of instant film. Perhaps they will acquire the rights.

I just bought a Polaroid camera on ebay a few months ago, but haven’t had much time to play with it yet. I guess I’ll have to stock up on film while I can. TB, we might need a new fridge.

Read the article

Extreme Makeover Home Edition: Part Deux

I made my primetime network debut last night on ABC! Well, at least a couple of my photographs did. So much more exciting than the Grammies, dontcha think ; )

Above are some photos from the show:

(1) shows them mounting "The Hanging Garden" wall mural that was used in the dining room

(2), (3) and (4) show the mural in context

(5) shows a print of the hanging garden that was framed and displayed on a wall outside the master bedroom
(6) shows "Liquid forest"

I'm very happy to have been able to contribute to this project in my small way for the very deserving Gilyeat family. I still can't believe they manage to build an entire house, even with hundreds of volunteers, in a single week!

Extreme Makeover Home Edition

This Sunday, February 10th, some of my prints will be seen on Extreme Makeover Home Edition. It's a two-hour episode that airs at 8 pm EST/7 Central on ABC. If you get the chance, tune in!

Back in the fall, someone from the show contacted me and asked if I'd be willing to donate a few prints. When I asked how she found my website, she said that she did a search on the word "zen", as she was looking for photographs on that theme. She found one of my photographs on StumbleUpon, which lead her to my website. Yeah Internet! You still blow my mind from time to time.

The second photograph shown above, "The Hanging Garden", was turned into a wall mural, and it probably will be the only photograph you will actually see, going by other episodes I've seen.

I'll publish a few photos from the show soon.

Extreme Makeover Home Edition

New year, new blog

Well, here I am in the blogosphere. Meaningful content, links, photos, and all that bloggy goodness coming soon ...