4th Annual Boundary Bay Air Show

Pilot Renny Price in his Sukhoi SU-29 aerobatic plane thrills spectators with loops, swoops and fly bys at the fourth annual Boundary Bay Air Show, Saturday, June 21st.
Photo by Robert Shaer/The Delta Optimist

Last weekend I had the chance to feel like a kid again… I guess I should explain this… Both my grandfathers served with the RCAF in various capacities and one still lives near the base where he retired in Trenton, Ontario. In a sense I feel like I grew up close to one of the busiest RCAF bases in Canada, and summers were often spent listening for the roar of jets and the CF-130 Hercules taking off and landing a few blocks from my grandparents back yard.

Years later I returned to live with my grandparents in Trenton when I returned to school to study photojournalism at Loyalist College. Every day my route to school took me past the north runway where I could, over the fences and bushes, see and hear the roar of those same airplanes that fascinated me as a child. I’ve spent a lot of time, during my five years as a commercial photographer, on airplanes and though the romance of traveling via air for work has long since lost it’s draw, there remains a soft spot in my heart for military aircraft vintage and contemporary, so I was excited to get the assignment from the Delta Optimist to cover Last Saturday’s air show.

Please see my Recent Work Gallery for more images.

A Royal Canadian Air Force CF18 Hornet of the 409 Cold Lake Squadron sits on the tarmac at Boundary Bay Airport on display for the Fourth Annual Boundary Bay Air Show on Saturday, June 21st while a Russian Sukhoi SU-29 Hammerhead performs aerobatics above.
Photo by Robert Shaer/The Delta Optimist

Media Preview at Playland: Free Hot Dogs & Rides that Spin

Last night I had the treat to attend the Media Preview for this season’s Playland in Vancouver, complete with coupons for free popcorn or cotton candy, a hot dog and a soda. The park was crowded with people in local media apparel and the smell of cinnamon mini-donuts was everywhere. The donuts were very hard to resist, but the queue for them proved too significant for my resolve to wait.

Skee ball was played, tickets were redeemed and free hot dogs were consumed and washed down with lukewarm sodas. When I finished my free hot dog I was struck by the question: “how many free hot dogs would it take to be sick on a ride that spins?” It’s a question that may be better left unanswered, though…

New Post Pending

After a few days of computer issues, mostly software combined with a buggy Mac, and scores of editing I am now in the process of editing images from the Elite Divisions of the BG World Championship Triathlon in Vancouver last weekend. While I didn’t have press credentials I still managed to get a couple of reasonable shots and will post them in the next day or two as I find time around other more pending issues. I did find this on the beach at English Bay on Sunday afternoon and thought: ‘How Vancouver.’

Ah What? I thought Triathlon was a summer sport, no?

When I woke Friday morning, about 2 am, to open my bedroom window, my commitment to getting to the start line of the 2008 Vancouver BG Triathlon World Championships had become instantly suspect.

Standing at my window, looking at the rain falling into the alley below me, the time became suddenly and dreadfully important. My alarm was set for 5 am and the closer it was to that time, the less likely the rain would pass before I got on my bike to ride to the start-finish line of the Friday’s Sprint Distance Race.

When three hours later my alarm clock awoke, and woke me, the rain was still falling and standing by the window I could feel the cold air and my resolve further atrophied. Coffee and a hot shower didn’t help. The only thing that got me through the door, early Friday morning, was the thought that missing the start was missing the race, and that was the point of being up so early in the morning.

I made it to the start line, and even managed to fight my way to a couple of half-decent frames. I watched as athletes, some in their 80’s, run into the ocean and I was, at once, both inspired and dismayed that the 70-year-olds in my view finder was fitter and healthier than I. I was surprised at the number of men and women in their 60’s, 70’s and 80’s were on the start line, wet suit armored and ready to run head long into 12° water, but this is the beauty of triathlon. My own body was paying the price for wearing shorts and a no longer waterproof jacket and I couldn’t wait to take my place in line at Starbucks. But I suppose everyone has to do something, and if you do, I will be happy to take pictures!

Follow the link to my Recent Work Gallery to see more of my Edits from Friday morning.

What Saturday Looks Like

My affection for community reportage is growing, actually it is my affection for the people I meet every weekend; the volunteers, parents, kids and coaches that make the qualitative contributions to our communities so that they feel like home.

On almost every assignment I meet a volunteer. Be it a coach or the guy that pilots the motorcycle around a race course with a photographer hanging off the back, volunteers make things possible. I have been inspired to think more about the nature of volunteerism in the community and how communities are genuinely improved by people who freely give up their Saturdays and Sundays and of all the planning and phone calls in between.

Well I’ve come off the rails a little, I wanted to post work from last Saturday in the trenches. I use this word, trenches, euphemistically as I really do enjoy my weekend shifts. The following are images from my Saturday assignments, these images were all filed to either the Richmond News or the Delta Optimist along with several alternates, but since I haven’t seen either paper, I can’t say which pics ran, but if I were editing, these would have been my choices.

Delta Thunder Ashleigh Goldman (center) reaches for the loose ball in Saturday’s game against the North Shore Pink Panthers on the turf field at Winskill Park in Tsawwassen.
Photo by Robert Shaer/The Delta Optimist

Fire Fighter Martin Konrad lifts six-year-old Carson Todd high into the air in the bucket of Tower 1, Tsawwessan Fire Hall’s ladder truck. Dozens of parents and young children attended the open house hosted by the 12th Ave Fire House on Saturday, May 31 for a BBQ and activities such as bucket rides and the Jr. Firefighter Challenge obstacle course, pitting pint-sized firefighters against everyday challenges faced by the full-sized version.
Photo by Robert Shaer/The Delta Optimist

The Air Cadets of 692 BCIT Aerospace Squadron stand in formation during their 49th Annual Review on the tarmac at the BCIT Aerospace Campus on Cessna Drive on Saturday, May 31.
Photo by Robert Shaer/The Richmond News

Richmond Kigloo Clay Koonar, in the near lane, competes in the backstroke at the Steveston Outdoor Pool hosted Kigloo Ice Breaker swim meet on Saturday, May 31. The meet brought hundreds of athletes, parents, coaches and volunteers from around the Lower Mainland creating a festival-like air.
Photo by Robert Shaer/The Richmond News

Erica Mak and Minnie Chow are among two-dozen or so students from Steveston-London Secondary School’s Eco Club pitching in to help clean up the shoreline around Garry Pt Park on Saturday, May 31. The Eco Club is a student driven group focused on sustainability, recycling and other environmental issues.
Photo by Robert Shaer/The Richmond News

Polynesian Dancers Jerrica Santos, Linie Bessette, Alison Paul and Ambera Cruz line up for their final adjudication and awards following the dance competition of the 19th annual Polynesia Festival at the Kinsmen Recreation Centre in Tsawwassen on Saturday, May 31. Dancers from BC, Alberta and Washington State attended the festival and competition which was followed by a Luau.
Photo by Robert Shaer/The Delta Optimist

The action gets a little physical on the track for skaters at the Terminal City Roller Girls Roller Derby at Minoru Arena on Saturday, May 31. Riot Girls met Bad Reputation in the second bout of the second season of the Flat Track Roller Derby league drawing about 200 cheering and jeering fans.
Photo by Robert Shaer/The Richmond News

Sunday Morning

In addition to shooting on Saturday for the papers, I spent much of Sunday morning on the back of a motorcycle pacing riders in the Westside Classic, a road race around the neighbourhood I grew up in, Point Grey on the Westside of Vancouver. Shooting from the motorcycle was fantastic and revealed pictures that would not otherwise be possible. While I wasn’t able to stay for the whole race, I still managed to shoot a ridiculous number of frames, around 1300, and I have spent the last couple of days sorting and editing. Have a look in my Recent Work Gallery and don’t forget to click on the thumbnails.

New York Flash Improv!

This morning on Digg.com I found a post leading me to Improveverywhere.com, and I was instantly impressed with their latest “Mission.” I’ve come across their site before, but this recent post comes with particular interest because of it’s photo component. I’m reluctant to give too much away, because the pics on the site are the real story, but on one rainy night in May, 700 intrepid New Yorkers (are there any other kind?), took to the Brooklyn Bridge with cameras, and for the rest you’ll just have to have a look. But rest assured it is an impressive display and looks as though it was great fun!

Last Dispatch from VidFest 2008

Painting with light at the PopVox VidFest Awards Gala, Friday, May 23, 2008

Last Friday I attended what I could of Vidfest 2008, thanks again for the tix Kris, starting the day with keynote speaker and Wired Magazine Editor Chris Anderson at The Granville Island Stage at the Arts Club on Granville Island and finishing the day with a couple of Vodka + OJ at the PopVox Vidfest Awards Gala in the “Hanger”.

I missed the awards component of the night but managed to get a couple pictures of No Comment’s Rock Band performance of Interstate Love Song, which, they profess, they had practiced all afternoon. But maybe most interesting was a demo that provided would be artists to “paint” with light. I watched with intent as guests created works on a projector screen and wondered if this was the 21st century evolution of Rorshach’s infamous ink blot tests. I could just imagine Freud handing his patients an LED flashlight and suggesting that they tell him about their mothers.

No Comment crash and burn with STP’s Interstate Love Song, they eventually get it right for guest of The PopVox VidFest 2008 Awards Gala at the Hanger Friday, May 23, 2008

A Rock Band comeback moment for No Comment at the PopVox VidFest Awards Gala, Friday, May 23, 2008

Does this look like a butterfly to you? Perhaps this is the Ink Blot Test of the 21st Century… What was it that Drew Carry said about Rorschach tests?

Cornell Capa 1918 – 2008

Photojournalist, humanitarian, founder of the International Fund for Concerned Photography and founding Director of the International Center for Photography, Cornell Capa died this morning at his home in New York. Cornell Capa will be remembered not only for his work, but his tireless and dedicated support of the medium of photojournalism. He will be missed and remembered.

From his introduction to The Concerned Photographer Capa writes:

“Today so many pictures are being taken that no one is really interested in what has gone on before. Man’s witness of his own time dies with him. Added to that, the technological advances in camera design have made photography seem easy. It has become so popular – so used and abused – that because of it’s popularity, it is in danger of losing its own self respect as well as the trust and confidence of viewers in its veracity and artistry.”

Capa wrote this introduction in the late 60’s, long before the digital age “democratised” photography or the internet and camera phones spawned a generation of “citizen journalism”. I can’t help but wonder, based on the above passage, how he viewed the evolution of his craft. It is appropriate to note that in some ways the book and exhibit The Concerned Photographer was in part a eulogy for his brother Robert Capa and his colleagues Werner Bischof, David Seymour, Dan Weiner, Andre Kertesz and Leornard Freed, but I wonder now, reading it again, if it wasn’t also in part a prophetic warning to preserve the medium.

New York Times Obituary

Photo District News Obituary

Long live the concerned photographer, and long live the legacy of Cornell Capa and the contributions of his generation of photojournalists.

The Future is Free

Wired Magazine Editor Chris Anderson speaks about the past, present and future of free on the Granville Island Stage during his keynote Vidfest 2008 address.

“Waste is good” reads the Powerpoint slide 20-feet high, but before you reach for the outrage button, Anderson describes waste as an necessary imperative for innovation, whether biological or technological. It is the idea that waste creates abundance which ultimately reduces user costs and makes advancements in technology available to the end user in opposition to the glass box model of the 70’s when technology was still the sole purview of IT departments.

It is Moore’s Law in action which states that the number of transistors that can be inexpensively placed on an integrated circuit is increasing exponentially, doubling approximately every two years, which has the practical application of halving the cost at the same rate. Anderson uses the downward spiraling costs of storage and bandwidth as evidence of this hypothesis using Yahoo’s move to unlimited email storage as example.

Free is a hard concept to get your head around as an independent producer, a photographer for example, but, he insists, business models have to change and they are. Perhaps the slices are getting smaller but maybe the pie is getting larger? Exerts of Anderson’s book The Long Tail are available here: http://www.changethis.com/10.LongTail and his blog can be found at: http://www.thelongtail.com/

Chris Anderson, author of The Long Tail and Wired Magazine Editor, fields media questions following his Keynote address at Vidfest 2008 in Vancouver, BC, May 23, 2008

Job Related Hazards

Oh the glamour of the life photographic. Photojournalists often and somewhat willingly take risks with their own well being, war zones, natural catastrophe, famine, unstable governments, despots and nutters-at-large all pose health risks which may be a little beyond your average workplace safety issue. While always tragic, the death or serious injury of a photojournalist it is somehow understood as a risk associated with the job… if you are in Iraq, Columbia or China… but Utah? Provo? Really?

Read about ex-marine Ryan McGeeney of the Standard-Examiner who found himself on the losing end of a javelin at a local track meet in Provo, Utah. Is this the glamourous life you imagined? Somehow taking the stairs because the elevator is out of service in your office building no longer seems like such a big deal!