Our models for the day were Dan and Caitlin—who are actually engaged to be married—Tonya, Steven, and Jesyca. They were all great to work with!

Dan is none other than “Tarzan Dan” Freeman, a radio personality from Toronto who now lives and works in Kelowna. For anyone who has listened to him and is wondering: yes, he is as crazy in real life as he is on the air. Dan, I am still bummed that I forgot to set up a shot of you being sprayed with the hose at Summerhill Winery. Caitlin was originally a last-minute addition to the shoot, but I am so glad we had her along! She was super helpful and excellent in front of the camera. Caitlin is a very skilled ballet dancer and has abundant natural grace. Oh, and I should mention on behalf of Caitlin that her actual wedding dress was not worn for these images. Dan and Caitlin had a fantastic chemistry and a great sense of fun. It was so easy to get cool photos of them.

Tonya was awesomely professional to work with! Even when I had her out in blinding sunlight on a yacht in the Okanagan Lake at noon she was striking pose after pose for me, with no complaints.

Steven was one of the most enthusiastic and patient guys I’ve ever had out on a shoot! We went way later than expected and he wasn’t in as many of the photos as the girls were, but he was so into the whole process and was great to have with us.

Jesyca was really quiet during the day, but always up for whatever I suggested, even my crazy evening shots in the Okanagan Lake. I think we got some very cool images, thanks to her.

More details and an update in a later post. I’ll stop this one now, before I hit my smiley quota.

These are actually some of the most challenging shoots I ever do, believe it or not. Even though I don’t have to come away with nearly as many images as I do when shooting portraits or weddings, the dynamic is very different. Recently I’ve had more flexibility in my shoots, but quite often I only get a 15-minute window to capture several images of a busy business person in their cluttered workplace who doesn’t want their photos taken in the first place! Oh, and these photos will be published and make their way into thousands and thousands of homes and businesses in and around Lethbridge, so they better be good. Now you see what I mean, eh? Also, due to the nature of the magazine printing process, the colours of my images don’t turn out quite right. But that’s the way it goes for online viewing, too. Unless everyone’s monitors are all properly calibrated with external calibration devices, photos can appear too bright, or too blue, or too dark, or whatever. I just have to let it go and not be such a perfectionist about these things. Either that or go and calibrate the monitors of everyone who visits my site. Argh!

But I do enjoy it. I love the challenges involved. And Jenn and Tim, the owners of the magazine since 2006, are very easy to work for and have a great vision for the future of the Lethbridge Living. They’ve really pumped some new life into it since they took over and it’s exciting to work with people who are able to set optimistic goals and then exceed them.

The image below was taken for the upcoming summer issue and should be on the cover. It’s supporting an article on Lethbridge’s Softball Valley. I also have some photos supporting an article on Fort McLeod’s South County Fair.  Look for it on shelves in July.