The Begining and End

This past couple of weeks has been a whirlwind personally and professionally. My family lost my uncle who was the glue of our family. He had a very long battle with Alzheimer’s disease.

A few months ago, my Aunt asked me to compile a slideshow using the photos that she had over their past 46 years of marriage. She gave me their wedding album and 2 family albums. There was so much history in those photographs. I saw pictures that I’ve never seen before including photos of me when I was a baby. I’ve always been fascinated by old photos, especially from Jamaica in the ’70s. The fashion, the colours and the colour of the film are just mesmerizing to me.

While I was working on a video about my Uncle, I received a phone call from a number that I didn’t recognize. When I answered, it was a woman inquiring about doing maternity photos. To make matters more interesting, this was a Friday afternoon and she was due on Sunday. After speaking with her husband, she decided to come to the studio on Friday evening.

She brought her family consisting of her daughter and her husband and she also invited her sister, his husband and their infant son. I had an almost instant connection with their daughter. She was always smiling and laughing so much so that I asked if I could take a photo with her. I think she’s going to be a great big sister.

Happy Family of 3, Number 4 on the way.

My New Assistant

After the shoot, I thought to myself, “Wow, this woman is having a baby on Sunday and I have Uncle Lloyd’s funeral on Saturday”. I attended the funeral and I saw a slideshow that I compiled playing on the projection screen and they even had some images that I had taken during his final years of life and less than 12 hours prior, I took images of a life that hasn’t started yet. It was a full-circle moment.

The beginning and end.

Pro Fusion 2019

A few weeks ago was a big week for me. It was the 10th annual ProFusion Expo at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. For me, this is like my personal Super Bowl with all the major photo companies and other vendors in attendance. As well as the top photographers in their respective fields providing free lectures and Live Photoshoots.

Before I start with my experience, I have to shout out Jeannine from And Action media for asking why I stopped blogging. I honestly didn’t know that people paid attention to my posts so thank you, Jeannine, and to anyone else that takes the time to read posts.

I attended both days of the event and watched lectures from Mark Blinch on sports photography. I wish I could just sit with him and pick his brain. His images are incredible and he photographed the infamous Kawhi Leonard game 7 buzzer-beater shot vs the Philadelphia 76ers.

Every year that I go to the ProFusion expo, I try to plan my day around Miguel Jacob. The first time I went to one of his lectures, I was blown away and wanted to shoot right away. I always learn something new watching his lectures. I went to say hi and shake his hand and he gave me an unexpected hug. His positive energy is inspiring and I try to adapt that to my work.

I think the headliner of the whole event was Lindsay Adler. I think if you’re into photography, you’ve heard of Ms Adler. She was speaking at the Canon booth. She drew such a crowd that you could hardly see her. She’s not very tall. I got to see her speak on day 2 on a stage and I took a lot of notes. Not only did she give some photography tips, but some of the things that she was saying, you could apply it to life in general. Things like to “craft the career that you want ” and being persistent.

Of course, I picked up a couple of items on sale. In the earlier part of the year, I was hoping to get a new camera but some unexpected expenses threw a fork in that idea. Nonetheless, I purchased a Godox PL90 parabolic softbox. I was inspired by my friend and mentor Derrel Ho-Shing who has one and used a similar softbox on a photoshoot that I assisted him with. I also purchased a Zoom H4n Handy Recorder for my video projects. With these new purchases, I’ll be occupied for the new year.