June means Waterloo Region’s Arts Awards are here. This past Wednesday a number of local artists were recognized their incredible contribution to our region’s art scene. Once again the awards were held at The Centre in the Square and I was the official photographer to capture the evening. The guests were all treated to some pretty tasty food sampling (I admit that I purposefully skipped eating at home so my dinner could be the samples offered at the awards) as well as some superb music in the lobby before the show started.
Like always, the awards committee did a fantastic job having everything ready and keeping things on schedule. Everyone in attendance also got to hear some live performances from The Water Boys, The Suns, Chico Dusty, and Alysha Brilla. And just like last year, a number of BOX artists had some work on display before the show and during intermission that guests could bid on. I had two pieces available, with one selling (woo hoo!).
This past Saturday I was asked by my good friend Brian, of Brian St. Denis Photography, to assist at a wedding he was shooting in London, Ontario. Brian shot my wedding in early 2013 and I’ve always kept watch on his portfolio as it has grown. I knew the amount of work he puts into each wedding, so I was happy, not to mention humbled, that he asked if I could be his second shooter.
I don’t have nearly as many weddings under my belt as he does as I tend to stick more to fine art and architectural/urban work, but shooting a wedding is a lot of fun, especially when the couple, like the one on Saturday, is having one of the best days of their lives. Keeping up with the bride and making sure you get all the shots they want and need is exhausting, but it’s worth it when you know you get the shots.
Saturday was flawless in terms of weather, unless you don’t like hot, sunny days. Ideally photographers like overcast days because of the even light it produces, but a sunny day is better than a windy and rainy one. Did I mention it was hot? Well, it was (hence the pile of water bottles photo). We went to a couple of parks and beelined it to the shade so we wouldn’t get heat stroke or have everyone in the photos go all squinty on us. At the reception I manned the photo booth (check out my stunned test shot!) which turned out to be a huge hit. It was slow at first, but when word got around that there was a horse mask and fake moustaches, well, it was no longer slow.
Big thanks and much respect to Brian for letting me tag along and help out.
I’ll be the official photographer at this year’s Arts Awards Waterloo Region once again and, just like last year, there will be a silent auction for a number of items, including some work by yours truly. This will be similar to the SVP auction I was a part of last fall where we set a reserve price for the work; if the reserve price is met, we get paid, while anything over the reserve price goes to the Arts Awards.
Anyhow, if you’ve been to any of my shows in the last three years or so, you may have noticed a theme: thick, black frames. Well, no more! I’m taking one of my typical frames and painting it white. The photo that will be going into the frame is full of bright orange and green so I think it will have a nice clean look with a white matte and white frame. The included photos are obviously still an in-progress thing, but I will be doing another entry on the Arts Awards themselves which should include an image of the finished product, so stay tuned for that.
It’s an experiment of sorts to see if displaying my work this way looks good and if it’s worth trying again. If it sells, I may have an answer.
