Category: Updates

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Work(s) in Progress

Just got back from a great long weekend away with friends. Some sweet spring skiing and barbeque on the lawn. Classic USA.

Here’s what’s up in the world of me:

  • Today finishing up a five-day shoot for Teldon Media Group. I’ll post some samples once they’ve run through the presses.
  • Editing on Rwanda: Hope Rises. Steve Plitt has recently joined the team and brings some much-needed editorial expertise. We’re working towards a mid-May screening in Fresno.
  • Some potentially big news on the RED side of life… will post more when it’s official.
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Roadtrip Weekend

Ol’ Nessie (my bright red Jeep)’s been feeling a little lonely these days… time to get some tracks under her wheels.

Taking a break with some friends to hit the slopes. Back on Tuesday…

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Editing Begins

The pre-edit checklist:

  • New burr grinder, for consistent, tasty quality
  • Slightly leaky but functional coffee machine
  • nearby coffee shop for emergencies
  • 7 terabytes of data neatly organized and backed up
  • Workstation set up and monitors calibrated
  • Post workflow researched and tested
  • Slide scanner prepped for distraction during long renders (yes! finally get to bring in some of my slide film from 2006)

… and I’m ready to start editing! Here’s where I’ll be spending the next six weeks:
Workstation

Not the greatest picture, I guess… ah well. I’ve finally been able to set up a standing editing workstation, something I had back at my old job. I had the maintenance guys find an old countertop and install it at standing height. It helps keep me alert for the long stretches… this isn’t quite as fancy (two cardboard boxes and a leftover shelf) but it’ll do the trick.

Editing is my favourite and least at the same time. I enjoy seeing the story form from the raw, but the long hours without fresh air get to me… and my attention span has decreased with my approach to old age :)

I’ve found a nearby river for some peace, and I’m within walking distance of an old heritage home with a coffee shop inside. I feel well prepared and I’m looking forward to tackling the story challenges ahead of me.

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Back Home

63 hours in transit coming home is enough to make me never want to fly again… OK maybe not :) This trip set my new record: 14 flights, including two aerial photography helicopters and six long-haul legs.

I’m so very glad to be back on firm soil in the cold Vancouver air. (Just in time to travel a bit more up to Silverstar :)

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Heading Back from Bulembu

7 days, 4000 photos, 8 more flights and many interesting stories later, I’m headed back to Vancouver. I think I’d call the trip to Bulembu, Swaziland a photographic success. I feel like I was able to get to know the story and the people, and capture them well.

The photographs are destined primarily for a calendar, which is a unique challenge. I was trying to capture multiple layers in each shot: the images need to be beautiful and truthful, and they need to be something people will hang on their wall. Bulembu is a broken community in the midst of redefining itself. There is extensive history as well as big ambitions for the future, with a lot of problems to overcome. The challenge is for each image to tell all that while being something you can look at for a month.

I’ve posted a wallpaper of one shot that I like. I’ve also got two galleries ready to go… at the moment I’m in Nairobi, where the bandwidth is minimal. I’ll upload them when I’m back in Vancouver.

Just two more long flights, and then a little R&R before diving into the todos that have been piling up for six weeks…

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In Bulembu

Just a few minutes to make a quick post… Kelly and I have arrived safely into Bulembu. I’ve been busy shooting since then… we’re now about to begin photography day 3. This place presents some unique photographic challenges – the usual transport and scheduling issues, the spread out nature of the town, and the high grade of image required for a calendar.

I’ll post more as I can, and perhaps a gallery of images shot so far. (Internet is faster here, but only available during the day when I’m working.) For now here’s a photo from the night we arrived.

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Shake & Rattle

This morning around 9:30, and again this afternoon, two earthquakes hit Rwanda. In Kigali they were minor… I noticed the first because the ceiling fan began to dance. Jeff & Jodi were outside and didn’t even feel it.

The second (and its aftershocks) were a little more noticeable because of the hanging tiles in the Kigali airport. I was wondering for a bit if I should make a dash for an early departure… but, no harm done. Apparently some other areas took it a bit harder.

In Nairobi now, catching some free wifi in the transit lounge before my flight to Joburg in a few hours…

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That’s a Wrap – Let the Show Begin

Bags are packed, gear checked, batteries charged, hard drives backed up (twice)… and with that Rwanda: Hope Rises is a wrap. I’ll sum up a few of the challenges and successes in a little while… It was a very difficult trip, but ultimately we came away with some incredible stories and images of Rwanda, pieces that I hope will do this place justice.

And with that, I’m on to my next big assignment – a calendar photo shoot in Swaziland. I’ll be taking photos in Bulembu, an ex-mining town for Teldon Community Foundation. I’ll post more as I go… but for now it’s time to get me, and all my gear, checked through via Nairobi and Johannesburg…

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Three Days

  1. Monkeys, rainforest, pizza, winding road, broken motor, cozy cabin, steak, long sleep…
  2. Fixed motor, fume-induced headache, swimming, cruise, negotiations, fishermen, evening light…
  3. Morning light, cleanup, three-hour pound, trees on the road and more on the way, bridge out, school field trip: hauling rocks, home.

We’re back from Kumbya, on the beautiful shores of Kivu and through the Nyungwe forest. Photo gallery coming shortly…

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Bourbon, Nyungwe & Kivu

Today we visited Bourbon Coffee to shoot some b-roll and interview Amy Karuletwa (Arthur’s wife). Bourbon is a bustling place, with the best lattes I’ve had anywhere (except maybe for JJ Bean in Vancouver… maybe). It’s a first rate coffee shop, smack in the middle of Kigali – and they’ll be opening a second location soon.

The coffee shop is part of their holistic vision, “Naturally Rwandan, from Crop to Cup.” They work with the farmers to maximize quality and pay them a premium for their coffee. They are also helping develop a coffee culture within Rwanda, and exporting Rwandan coffee as a premium product around the world.

Amy’s a firecracker and a lot of fun. Everything I’ve seen of her and Arthur’s work is first-rate quality, and I expect they’ll have a lot of success with their vision of exporting Rwandan coffee as a premium product around the world.

Tomorrow, Lyn, Jesse, Jeff and I head South to a little hideaway on Lake Kivu. We’ll be passing through the Nyungwe Forest, a place full of beauty and history. We’re hoping to get some shots of the lake, the forest and the tea & coffee fields along the way. We’ll be back late Friday; I suspect we’ll have no chance to update until Saturday.

So until then…