Sara & Pete /  by Tye Eldridge

There's always something so special about a wedding day, though this past August I was able to photograph an especially special one of those days. One of my best friends Sara got married to quite a nice fella named Pete, who is all the way from the UK.

 
 
 
 

On the morning of the big day I met Sara over at the hotel room to start the day with a few photos of herself and the bridesmaids getting ready. And I will say being able to take getting ready photos is one of my favorite parts of the day. These photos to me at least just feel really “real” and candid, I think partly since there are just so many emotions from excitement to anxiety (cause some people can never be on time for the life of themselves) and it really shows through the lens and tells such a story. Also everyone just seems to busy to stop and give a cheesy smile… well mostly. The other nice benefit is that it’s a really nice way to ease in some of the more camera shy folk (which is totally fine, I know I am definitely one of those people when I’m on the other side of the lens) since they are just to busy getting everything/themselves ready for the day to worry about the guy with a beard off to the side taking an occasional photo, they kinda start to realize it ain’t that bad.

After all the ladies finished up getting ready we off to the Edmonton Public Schools Archive & Museum for the Ceremony to meet up with Pete and his fellas. And I will say cars/limos are for suckers, we kicked it pre-neolithic era and just walked our way down there. So after arriving, Sara and her bridesmaids hid out in the building before making the grand entrance to the gazebo outside, we also may or may not have accidently set off a fire alarm when we exited out the door which just so happened to also be an “emergency exit”. And there is one especially interesting side note about that gazebo… as well as being a very nice spot for a wedding it is also frequented by a large number of wasps, and of course Sara is deathly allergic to those little guys. Luckily the maid of honor was well prepared, and was ready to stab Sara on a moment's notice with a concealed epipen, thankfully stabbing the bride with a needle was not required (though it would of made for an exciting photo). The ceremony finished up with an almost perfectly timed  fire truck drive by with horn and sirens.

After the reception line and family formals we were walking off to take the wedding party photos. Those were finished up fairly quickly since everyone had Pizza on their mind. Sara and Pete lead the way and off we went for a stroll down Jasper ave. to hunt down some delicious slices of cheesy goodness. Amazingly by some miracle no one ended up with a giant pizza stain on themselves as we left for the Yellowhead Brewery. After several beautiful toasts from friends and family, as well as some blackmail worthy photos of Pete were shown and passed around for all to see it was time to get a few beautiful and tasty cupcakes. But from there the lights dimmed and it was time for the first few dances, and I will say after knowing Sara for so long you realize how clumsy she can be and to her credit she handled herself beautifully, though I give Pete all the credit since he must of been a hell of a lead. Then the dance floor opened up…. I must say I’m not sure I had ever seen as many epic dance moves from the “Sprinkler” to the “Dice Roll” to the “What the hell is going on”. This I believe may have also been aided in the fact we were in an actual brewery. Pete for the most part was fairly respectable, but boy oh boy when that T-Swift came up on the speakers he was something else.

 

I just want to say thank you again to Sara and Pete for letting me capture the day. It was an opportunity I will never forget.

Tye Eldridge

P.S. Thank you Sara for the years of friendship, and the countless laughs and numerous failed attempts to watch a meteor shower.

P.P.S. And Thank you Pete for coming into Sara’s life, I was getting really sick of telling her that her crappy boyfriend’s before you were assholes and she shouldn’t be dating them (I was 100% right every time) When you came around I knew you were something special to her. So thank you for making her so happy and putting up with her shit.

 

 

 

A Beautiful Couple /  by Tye Eldridge

This past Sunday I went out to photograph an amazingly adorable couple for their engagement session. Here's a few from the day

 
 

I had such a wonderful time photographing this couple, and I must say I can not wait to photograph their Wedding coming up in September.

So long Winter.... /  by Tye Eldridge

 
 

Well spring is just is just around the corner, and that kinda makes me sad. As much as people always talk about despising winter and all of it's snow, chilliness, ice, bitter darkness, cars being frozen solid, shoveling, constant Christmas carols for a solid month (if you hate Christmas carols you're a horrible human being), lack of patios, and other such things. I must say I don't mind. I'm always in love the beauty of the wintery blanket that comes along every year; and if you are cold well.. there is nothing better in the world then curling up with a blanket and warm cup of coffee in your hands.

Tye Eldridge

Winter /  by Tye Eldridge

Winter...

So this winter I've been really wanting to do some photography here in Edmonton during a snowfall. I must say mother nature has not been at all cooperative as the only days it's really been snowing I've been stuck at work. Since wanting to do a shoot in the snow is kind of an impromptu sort of shoot seeing as both myself and at least one lovely human being there to photograph need to happen to be free while the snow is coming down. So I started asking around and created a contact sheet of everyone who would be interested on going out on the fateful day I do finally catch that all elusive snow day. On one of the all to many non-snowy days I had some time to kill at the mall before work, so I decided it was as good as time as any to pick up some more Polaroid film. I ended up stopping by the camera store and several minutes later I walked out of the store without any film whatsoever but instead walked out with a shiny new 50mm lens. 

So as a couple days passed I figured enough was enough and I was going to go out and shoot... snowfall be damned! I was way to excited to really test out the lens, so I went through my "Snowy Day" contact list and asked a couple of lovely ladies that I work with if they were free to go out for some photos. So on a near cloudless absolutely unsnowy day we all met up for some wintery themed photos. 

This photo of Amanda was up on the High Level bridge where she insisted on going jacketless. (you may have already read this story in a previous post) It ended up being possibly my favorite from the shoot, in a large part just to the fun I had in working on the image afterwards. As I was working away on the photo and tweaking the colours around trying to get it just right I had a moment where I thought to myself "I wonder how this would look in black and white?". As I removed the colour from the photograph I immediately got excited, it looked amazing! After a quick brightening of the highlights and and a little tweaking to get a little deeper blacks I was finished and more then happy with the final product. And Luckily she didn't catch a cold! 

 

(And the colour version isn't to shabby either)

 

So going back to the whole "I really want to do a shoot in the snow" thing... we decided to fake it a bit. I had Amanda jumping around and tossing snow up in the air over Joell as I photographed away. The results ended up quite lovely with the snow sparkling in the bright sunlight. So I suppose this will have to be good enough for now until I finally get a real day to play around in the snow.

Tye Eldridge

THIS IS WAR!!! (aka YEGsnowfight) /  by Tye Eldridge

Over this Sunday I experienced complete chaos and bitter coldness here in Edmonton. I was witness to families fighting each other, small children with vicious intent in their eyes, random strangers locked in duels surviving only by their dexterity and quickness of feet, loved ones betraying one another and laughing at the damage they wrought... it was all out war in the river valley!

 
 

Scheming a Battle Plan

Sunday was the absolutely epic YEGsnowfight event (which I can only hope returns and becomes at least an annual event) If you're from Edmonton you may of heard about the event that was put together by a couple of local fellas here. Through the lovely magic of social media many Edmontonians and folk from the surrounding area came together to descend down into the Edmonton River Valley to the Kinsmen Park area for a battle of snow!
What started off as a good natured jaunt as two equally matched sides gently lobbed the snowy projectiles at one anotherit soon escalated into all-out war complete with organized volleys of snowballs, courageous charges through the no man’s land, and many many face fulls of snow.
I survived, and this is my story...

 

As I approached the battlefield I could see the projectiles arching through the sky leaving an icy trails in their wake as if they were streaking comets in the night sky. I soon left my donation of canned goods at the edge of the field hopping the offering to the Edmonton Food Bank would bring me protection in the coming fight. As I entered the fray I decided to offer my allegiance to the troops on the Western edge of the fighting grounds. As I approached the ranks of the Westerner's I was ambushed by a troop hiding within a small hastily built snow bunker. To this day I do not know if they were Easterlings hiding in their fortifications behind enemy lines or if we were simply mistaken for the enemy. I quickly hurled several snowballs their way to keep them pinned as I made my escape. Soon I was in the think of the battle as I made my way to the front lines; as I crouched next to a young troop of winter soldiers armored in their protective snow suits I began to feed ammo to one young blue snow suited boy who was firing off his projectiles as quickly as I could make them as I placed them near his feet, his fire was not accurate but he hit targets none the less due to the sheer volume of Easterlings across the way.

This is where I received my first blow, as I turned my attention forward I glimpsed only for a moment the icy ball of pain flying towards me before it struck me in the face. Not knowing who my attacker was I began selecting targets at random before my comrades to the left directed my attention towards a young Easterling wearing a mohawked toque carrying a shovel which he would use as both a shield and a catapult. This cleverness had to be stopped soon we were hurling our snow balls his way till he fell back. We had foolishly thought we had won until he returned with a black toboggan which he stood on end making a nearly impenetrable defense.

Soon thereafter my once comrades decided to turn traitors and rushed to join the other side, my hasty throw only able to catch one of the traitorous scum on his right buttock as they rushed over. Soon there began numerous controlled and directed snow volleys as both sides exchanged calls of "1...2...3... FIRE!!!!". After several of these volley's is when I became locked into a duel with a long haired moustached opponent we exchanged several throws at one another until finally out of seemingly nowhere I was struck in the side of the head, luckily my beard offered protection cushioning much of the blow but it was to be of no help when a second strike hit me in the chest and a third toppled me as I was hit in the groin. I soon crawled my way to safety making my way to the rear of the Western line. After recomposing and a couple leg shakes I returned to the front, this is where I witnessed true courage... in attempt to rout the Easterling's battle line a gallant though foolhardy charge was led. As battle cries of "CHARGE!!!" rang through the unforgiving winter air the Easterlings did not waiver, instead they showed true discipline and held their line as what I can only imagine was a terrifying ordeal to witness the many blood thirsty children bearing down towards them as they surged forward snowballs poised to strike.

Man Down!

It was a slaughter... the Easterlings held their fire till the perfect moment when a volley of snow stuck the rushing Westerners and stopped them cold. At this time I made my escape seeing too much war for one day (also there was fresh food at my grandmother's place to get to)

Tye Eldridge

Portrait (Week #27) /  by Tye Eldridge

Earlier last week during Black Friday I had some time to kill at the mall, so as I waited for my shift to start I decided it was as good as time as any to pick up some more Polaroid film. So I stopped by the camera store and several minutes later I walked out of the store without any film whatsoever but I did walk out with a shiny new 50mm lens. 

Luckily after a few days of going crazy wanting to try the new lens out I was able to go out and photograph some friends .  It was a bit of a chilly day but Amanda was pretty adamant about getting a few photos without her jacket on. This photo ended up being possibly my favorite from the shoot, in a large part just to the fun I had in working on the image afterwards. As I was working away on the photo and tweaking the colours around trying to get it just right I had a moment where I thought to myself "I wonder how this would look in black and white?". As I removed the colour from the photograph I immediately got excited, it looked amazing! After a quick brightening of the highlights and and a little tweaking to get a little deeper blacks I was finished and more then happy with the final product. I can't wait to share the rest of the images (including the coloured copy of this photo) I should have a blog post up soon with all the rest.

Tye Eldridge

 

Portrait (Week #25) /  by Tye Eldridge

 
 

Brought my favorite lady in the world out for some wintry photos in the Edmonton River Valley. She toughed out the cold like a trooper for a few more photos.

 

Also here is my failed attempt at placing the camera on a tripod and setting the timer, then trying to run over in time for a photo.

I REALLY sucked at it...

Tye Eldridge

Portrait (Week #24) /  by Tye Eldridge

 
 

A group portrait of some of the amazing men of our armed forces. This was taken at the Remembrance Day Ceremonies by Edmonton City Hall. If you would like to see more check my previous blog post for more images. 

Tye Eldridge

Lest We Forget /  by Tye Eldridge

This early afternoon I headed down to Churchill Square here in Edmonton's Downtown core to observe the Remembrance Day Ceremony at City Hall. It was a moving experience seeing everyone coming to pay their respects despite the frigid weather.

To watch community leaders and the family members of fallen soldiers laying wreaths beside the cenotaph was something I find difficult to place words to the emotions it stirred up. As I watched one of the families lay their wreath I realized I had seen them dozens of times walking past the transit center and the local grocery store when I lived on the North end of the city, it really hit home at that point. I couldn't begin to imagine what it would feel like to loose someone in a way like that, to have someone in your life where you know that they are willingly placing their lives at risk in the protection of others and knowing that their death is a very real possibility which could happen on any given day. As much sadness, anger, remorse, or loneliness that those families must endure I only hope they know how truly grateful this Nation is of their loved one's sacrifice.     

 
 

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

by John McCrae, May 1915

Thank you to the Men and Women of the Canadian Forces who are serving currently or in their past.

And thank you especially to the ones who did not make it back to their families and their homes, you are truly heroes.

Lest We Forget,

Tye Eldridge 

Portrait (Week #23) /  by Tye Eldridge

Went out one chilly afternoon to a little spot in the Edmonton River Valley for some photos. I was super excited since I just received my Holdfast Gear's double camera strap in the mail (take a look here) and this was my first opportunity to really get a chance to test it out. I must say that strap is WONDERFUL! It will definitely help me capture the photos I want when the seconds between shots really matter, not to mention it looks pretty snazzy.

Thanks again Rebecca for toughing out the cold (it wasn't that bad) and sorry again for almost dropping you in the river.

Tye Eldridge  

Portrait (Week #22) /  by Tye Eldridge

 
 

Wen't out for a stroll Halloween night with the Edmonton Street Photography Club down Whyte ave. dragged this fella out for the photography fun. As we were headed home for the night after some drinks found this apartment building walkway with some interesting lighting. You should take a moment to take a look at Kalan's instagram (here) for some amazing local photographs here in Edmonton.  

Tye Eldridge

Travel Alberta Feature /  by Tye Eldridge

So I finally did it! One of my photographs I took was featured on Travel Alberta's Instagram feed. It was a pretty amazing feeling when I noticed it pop up. I was at work walking and it was probably the hardest thing I've had to do in recent memory not to jump up and fist pump the air. Trust me if I was alone there would of been some dancing involved. To get featured on that account was one of my Instagram dream experiences.

There has been just so many incredibly talented photographers that I have found on that feed that have truly inspired me.

Tye Eldridge

Portrait (Week #20) /  by Tye Eldridge

 
 

Met up with this wonderful lady I've known from way back in my good o'l Walmart days. We met up near Fort Edmonton Park for a mini photo adventure where we swapped around photo/awkward model roles. Definitely check out Tara's Facebook page right here

Tye Eldridge