Photography

Just Landed

Posted December 4, 2012 by Eden

“Just Landed” is a neo-realist, 4 minute short film about two Pakistani immigrants to Canada and their struggle to fit in. The highly educated, older brother is unable to find employment while the younger brother/student assimilates to the Canadian way of life too quickly, causing conflict. This was a film school project for York University in May 2012.

Award Winning Photograph from Youth Olympics in Innsbruck

Posted November 23, 2012 by Eden

I was very excited to hear that I was the winner of the DayTripper TV Photography Competition – both the Grand Prize and first prize in the Portraiture category for the photo below (and I won something in another category as well).

This image was taken in Innsbruck, Austria in January, 2012 during the Youth Olympic Winter Games. My niece, Roni Remme, was invited to represent Canada for Alpine Skiing so twelve of her family/ fan club members made the trip over. On the final day of racing, she delighted her fans when she came in second in the Ladies Slalom event. Immediately after the race, they performed a small ceremony at the bottom of the hill and it was quite snowy. They were actually facing reporters and each were interviewed by television crew afterwards. Then they were whisked away for urine tests and received their actual medals later that night in the ceremony in the square.

The actual medalists for the Ladies Slalom were:

GOLD VLHOVA Petra SVK – Slovakia
SILVER REMME Roni CAN – Canada
BRONZE TKACHENKO Ekaterina RUS – Russian Federation

Fall Convocation at Western

Posted October 25, 2012 by Eden

Early morning and long day, today, but my son Perry (2nd from right) graduated from Western University today with his Bachelor of Management and Organizational Studies (Specialization in Finance and Administration). We’re back home but he is still in London celebrating. It’s been a long 4 years but I am very proud of him. After a shaky start in first year, he had to work extra hard and take some summer courses to get his degree but in the end, he did very well and has grown up since he first started back in 2008. He already has a job with Ricoh Canada as an Account Manager.

The Miracle of a Rainbow

Posted August 15, 2012 by Eden

On Saturday evening, I witnessed a miracle, eye candy that was heaven-sent. We first spotted the colours in the sky at about 7:30pm after a very special evening. It was a sign, an omen for a wonderful future. I felt it.

Merriam-Webster had a more scientific explanation for the phenomenon. It was “an arc.. that exhibits in concentric bands the colors of the spectrum and that is formed by the refraction and reflection of the sun’s rays in raindrops, spray, or mist”.

The Rainbow was absolutely spectacular. I’ve never seen the full arc from one end to the other with a mirrored band above nor been so ‘close’ before. Of course, according to Wiki, a rainbow is “not located at a specific distance, but comes from any water droplets viewed from a certain angle relative to the Sun’s rays. Thus, a rainbow is not a physical object, and cannot be physically approached.” So, the pot of gold was not achievable, apparently although I wonder if we were actually in the rainbow from some perspectives on the water that night.

In southern Ontario, it was a stormy, wet, weekend – not ideal weather for an outdoor wedding in a park followed by a dinner boat cruise around the Toronto Harbour and Islands. But, of course, you have to work with what you get and in the end, this most wondrous omen appeared in the sky on our return journey to the dock.

I was delighted to be included in my old friend Jola’s wedding last weekend. We were great friends in our twenties but I got busy with kids and career, she moved out west and we lost touch until the last few years on Facebook. She came to town with her amazing fiance, John, from Calgary to get married on her father’s boat, the “Island Princess”. The wedding was in the Toronto Musical Gardens, right by the boat. There were delays due to the misty, windy weather but ultimately it went off without a hitch and we all climbed into the boat for the reception.

There was some rain on and off but we were comfortable in the boat in a wind-protected area among the Toronto Islands. It was so great to see how happy Jola and John were. She found her soul mate and I am thrilled for her.

On the return to harbour, the visual delight of the double rainbows stretching across the lake from the Toronto city side to the islands seemed to be nothing short of a divine promise of everlasting love and friendship for them both.

Vimeo had a weekend film project to create a one minute short of scenes from the ‘magic’ hour (dawn or dusk) over this past weekend so I pulled together this short video with the little bit of film clips I had and some of the shots: Short Rainbow Video with Pictures on Vimeo

Vancouver and Lake Louise

Posted June 16, 2012 by Eden

At the end of May, I went on a whirlwind trip to Western Canada. First stop was Vancouver where I fell in love with Stanley Park. It’s been many years since I’ve been there. I don’t think I fully appreciated it when I was younger. Next stop was Calgary and the drive to Lake Louise to visit my son, Jordan, who has been working there, at the Fairmont, since September. Again, the mountains, forests, crystal clear lakes, and wildlife were all a joy to behold. Even though Jordan had warned me, it was surprising to still see snow and ice on Lake Louise at the beginning of June. Definitely a little chillier than Southern Ontario but crisp, clean and beautiful. I’m so happy that he is treated to such immense beauty every day when he goes to work.

Here’s a few shots from the trip:

Heron Reflections

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Taken in Vancouver Harbour from Stanley Park

Film Class

Posted June 6, 2012 by Eden

In May, I joined a diverse and talented group of students on a quest to produce a film in less than a month. In our film class at York University, we were assembled into teams of four – Producer/Writers, Directors, Directors of Photography and Sound Designers. Under the tutelage of expert course directors, Genevieve Appleton and Rafal Sokolowski and TA David Han, we learned about film production and especially as it applied to the neo-realist genre.

Our mission was to produce a short, neo-realist film. We had to write the screenplay, get the actors, design the storyboard, find and assemble the set, plan the shot list, sound design and then shoot the film and edit it, refining it multiple times in post-production during a three week period.

For me, it was a fabulous opportunity to learn a lot about film-making in a very compressed period of time. It was also very stressful at times to meet the required deadlines, incorporate feedback and changes after presentations and coordinate the way forward as a group. There were 14 short films shot by the teams in FILM 2030, all of which are available for viewing in Vimeo. Following are some pictures of the class and then links to videos where the licensing has been approved for public viewing.

$On set of \"Just Landed\"$

$Shooting \"Just Landed\"$

[Show as slideshow]

Links to short films on either vimeo or youtube:

Team 12 – Just Landed, about Pakistani immigrants to Canada

Team 6 – Swan Song, about a young musician who is going deaf

Canada Geese

Posted May 22, 2012 by Eden

One of my recent obsessions – observing the behaviour of Canada Geese – is not an overly popular one. I have one friend who, at the mere mention of geese, will launch into expletives and his desire to annihilate the species (good luck with that). He does not appear to be alone in this opinion as they can be pests in some areas and seem to be spreading like wildfire. It also strikes me that they seem to be highly intelligent, organized, and family oriented, often mating for life. I was amazed at the migration drills I observed last fall but spring has brought even more interesting activity.

In late March, near the bridge at the MacKenzie Marsh in Aurora, I witnessed a ritual that I had never seen before. There were about 10-15 geese in the pond making quite a racket. Frantic honking lead to a rather spectacular (and frightening) goose fight! From what we could figure, two males were fighting over a nest with a female waiting placidly for the result. In addition to this shot on the side,

I’ve included about 10 pictures of this fight in the set below… so perhaps there are some geese mating ritual experts who can tell me what was going on.

Gosling

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Now it’s May and the babies have been hatching. It’s so much fun to see the little goslings. Of course, I’ve been hissed at by more than one protective father when I’ve tried to take their pictures…

And, yes, I’m getting a little tired of navigating amongst the goose droppings.

Olympic Silver!

Posted January 29, 2012 by Eden

The Innsbruck 2012 Youth Olympic Winter Games are over. Both Roni and her fan club are now back in Canada although she will be on a plane again very soon. She’s been invited to join the Canadian Prospect Team in Vail for a series of NorAm races which is amazing. It’s a great opportunity for a 15 year old and no doubt that lovely Silver Medal that she picked up in Innsbruck helped to get her the invite. 🙂

The last days in Innsbruck were busy. The Ladies GS race was a disappointment for Roni as she finished 15th but again, I thought this was awfully good given that she was racing against the top female 15-16 year olds in the world! But she knew she could do better and anything less than her very best is not good enough for her.

So on her last race, the Ladies Slalom, she showed everyone what she was capable of. The weather was sketchy and some events were cancelled, including Bobsled training runs and Ski Cross. Heavy, wet snow came down all day which made the roads disastrous later but they managed to get both runs of the Slalom in.

When Roni came down 5th in the first run, we were ecstatic. It takes two runs in Slalom and there are a lot of DNF’s typically (and even more than usual on this day with the tricky conditions). 5th means she has a chance of reaching the podium with a good second run. And, anyway, 5th overall would have been great.

But she did better, made even easier by the trail of European racers who didn’t make it to the bottom of the course. She finished Second Overall in the Slalom! Which meant a lot of attention, press interviews, two podium events (the ‘mascot ceremony’ at the hill and the Medals Ceremony in the square that night), and it also meant they whisked her away to do her doping test. (Two people watch the medalist pee to make sure there’s no funny business!)

So, everyone (including Roni) had a new date for the Medals Ceremony that evening, instead of going to the Canada v. Russia Hockey Game that night. And the celebration continued after the event…

Roni’s father, my brother Randy, put together a youtube video with some highlights from the opening ceremony and races. Here it is:

Happy New Year

Posted January 2, 2012 by Eden

Winter is here and with it, at last, the first snowfalls which turn dead, dreary landscapes and forests into magical, white wonderlands.

Many prefer to stay indoors, avoiding the cold and sometimes bitter winds. As someone who grew up skiing in Ontario, I’ve always been accustomed to outdoor activity during the winter although I must confess that I find the cold uncomfortable and my ski days are sporadic and short (more like half-days). But, I also enjoy snowshoeing and walking in the woods. Part of the allure with walking instead of soaring down the hills is to shoot the scenes of winter. It’s almost a painful thing for me, now, to drive by something beautiful and not be able to take a picture of it. So strange, this new obsession, but also so engrossing. By capturing the beauty of an outdoor scene, after I process it, I can put it on my iPhone, my computer, or even print it and come back to stare at it, feeling again that sense of awe. This picture above is of the bridge in Collingwood accessible from the backyard which connects the neighbourhood to beautiful walking trails in the woods.

Christmas and New Year’s 2011 are over and now it is January 2nd, the beginning of a new year. Back to work tomorrow but soon, we will be on our way to Innsbruck, Austria to watch the Youth Olympic Games from January 13th to 22nd. My niece, Roni, is one of two girls representing Canada for Alpine Skiing so it is very exciting. I will post some updates on how she’s doing from Innsbruck.

Happy New Year to all…