So met this fella named Mat Simpson the other day to go wandering and take a photo or two... holy crap is he one talented guy (check his wedding stuff here). One day I hope to get to his level of photography; I think I have a good start but still a ways to go. At the end of the day... some photos taken, grabbed a beer, shared some laughs, I got some wonderful photography advice, and another instagram/photography friend made!
Tye Eldridge
This past weekend I had the chance to be the photographer for an Indian Engagement Ceremony. I must say it was a lot of fun to photograph, with all the colours that were in the traditional clothing that a lot of the family and guests wore. As I was shooting I realized that this was something I really began to fall in love photographing, documenting those little moments between friends and family. It is a pretty cool feeling capturing a special moment in someone's life and sharing those photos with them. I hope I in the future I get a chance to photograph something like this again. I want to thank Deval once again for contacting me and letting me into your home, I wish you and your family all the best.
Tye Eldridge
Jasper Ave.
So tonight I met up with a former coworker for a quick photo session before he heads out of town for a few weeks. We ended up finding a great little spot in the Heart of Edmonton's Downtown to take photos in. I will be posting the rest up here in my blog soon.
Tye Eldridge
Went for my first Color Me Rad 5k Run today. This is Jessica going in for a selfie in the aftermath.
I was lucky enough to meet a bunch of amazing local photographers at a instagram meet up hosted by Travel Alberta. The night was kind of soured by loosing my phone out in the Edmonton River Valley but luckily the night was fun enough to not let that over shadow the meet to much. I've gone on few different meetups with this fella Kalan (definitely check out his instagram "Kalan_Wong" for some amazing photography) Some of this guy's architecture and cityscape photos are absolutely breathtaking. Luckily he's agreed to show me the ropes to taking some long exposure architecture shots. So other then a stolen phone (which if you ever see someone walking around Edmonton with an iPhone 5 in a custom made R2-D2 case break their knee caps for me) it was a pretty good night.
So fairly recently I had signed up for a site called Model Mayhem. I had heard about the site a few times and decided to take a look into it. I must say it’s a nice little community which helps photographers, models, and other such folk connect through the wonders of the internet. What drew me in was the opportunity to find some willing people that wouldn’t mind me sticking a camera in there face for an hour or two taking photographs. One such person was a very nice young lady named Alexandra who like me was fairly new to the site (You can find her portfolio here) So a few messages back and forth a date was set for the shoot which would take us through the downtown area of Edmonton for a bit more of a “grungier” feel. So after taking a day scouring through Edmonton hopping around alley to alley, graffiti laden wall to bridge I found a few nice locations and sent some location photos off to Alexandra for her approval.
Lookin Up
Up on the Rails
A couple days later after a quick cup of coffee it was time to shoot. Once again being a new photographer to a structured style of shooting it felt a bit odd, but my recommendation to anyone in a similar situation is relax and have fun just wing it! The worst thing you could do is panic soooo don’t worry about the small things just focus on the basics and work with the mode; show them the photos as you go get there feedback and by far the worst case scenario that can happen is that you find out what NOT to do next time. Luckily things seemed to click a bit more than a disaster shoot and instead of learning more of what “not” to do next time I got to learn what to do “more” of the next time.
If anyone is in the Edmonton Alberta area and would be interested in going out for a coffee and some photos please send me an email! As much as I love taking those little candid shots of moments passing by me I’m beginning to fall in love with this style of portrait photography. I promise we’ll have some fun, and hey at the worst coffee is on me.
Tye Eldridge
Week #3 of my little portrait project found me downtown
Read MoreThis would be my Grandma Bell.
Giving Chase
Growing up in Stony Plain there was not always a whole lot to do, as many of you from other smallish communities can probably relate to. Though every summer it seemed like the town would come semi alive when Farmers' Days came around (mostly for alcohol related reasons) with a parade, exhibition rides, rodeo, and beer. This year I missed out on the parade and everything else but got to see the final day of the Farmers' Day Kinsmen Rodeo. I had been looking forward to taking my camera out to the Rodeo for months! Shooting this was probably the funnest time I've had photographing. I hadn't even realized how many photos I had taken until I received an error message that my memory card was full. I hope next year that I can go out and shoot for all three days of the Rodeo.
Maybe next time you get 8 seconds
One hell of a wild ride
Making new friend's in the rain
When I first decided on starting this lil Portrait a Week Project I had every intention to start at the very beginning of June and to make sure I post on time within the week.... but then Life happened. At the beginning of the month I moved into a new apartment in Downtown Edmonton which is wonderful but it pretty much eats up most of my free time outside of work as we get the place cleaned up, boxes moved, organized, and caught up on Game of Thrones. So this may be a late post but I did manage to at least get a photo the first week of June.
Down the Platform / Canon 7d
Today I ventured out into the City’s Transit System for the first ever International Underground Meet Day (check Instagram for #IUMD or #IUMD_Edmonton for the Edmonton edition). The Underground Meet was promoted by a fella down in NYC, Clifton aka Underground_NYC on Instagram; you need to check out his work! As the event was floating around the Instagram community Chris Anderson a local Edmonton photographer caught wind of the event and threw the idea out there for the Edmonton community to partake. I was lucky enough to hear about it through the InstagramYEG group and was more than happy to jump on the opportunity.
Looking In / Canon 7d
Waiting For That Sunday Train... / Canon 7d
Well that Mirror added another 40lbs / Canon 7d
Kalan (@freyrtography) setting up the group shot just before ETS inspectors came around the corner / Fuji x100s
As my train rolled into Churchill Station I met some familiar faces and some new ones as everyone began to arrive for the photo walk. Soon we were back on the LRT traveling down the line stopping off station to station as we took photos, joked, and chatted amongst one another. After taking a quick break and heading back North up the LRT line we jumped off to get a nice group shot of everyone who made it for the meet. This is where ran into our first and only hiccup… It seems ETS isn’t too keen on people approaching anywhere near the back access gates for the tunnels, or standing a tad bit too close to the platform edge to get a nice photo of a passing train (which I suppose is more than reasonable). Luckily we were all done for the day and just waiting for the next train so we could find ourselves food and beer, which the transit inspector was nice enough to let us catch and be on our way. As we emerged out from the depths of the Edmonton Transit System into the sun I was happy to say we all made it out with no broken cameras or lenses, lost camera bags, or any form of trespassing / fare evasion tickets.
Arrival and Departure / Canon 7d
Thank you to the photographers that made this day happen, also thank you to the City of Edmonton and the Edmonton Transit System for allowing us to go about taking our photos
Tye Eldridge
Jessica - Taken with a Fuji x100s
So for the longest time I was trying to think of a photo project to start working on to help improve my photography and experiment a bit. The first project I kicked around my head for a bit was doing a photo a day project. I've seen some amazing photographers part take in that challenge and am completely amazed with some of the work they had created... but when it comes down to it there is a lot of days I simply don't have the time to search for a photo worth taking (and also I will admit I'm sure there would be days I would just be to lazy). So then I began thinking about maybe just dropping it to a photo a week which is more then doable, laziness and busy life be damned! But in the end I figured if it was simply going to be a single photo a week why not make it a more structured theme, portraiture became a natural fit for this personal project. In my opinion portraiture is one of the most powerful types of photography out there. It is amazing how much emotion and personality can be captured in just a single photograph. Taking those photos is something I've sadly lacked experience with, and I've been wanting to change that fact for quite some time now. Hopefully this little personal project will finally push me in the right direction to get started.
Tye Eldridge
Earlier this week I had the opportunity to photograph Railtown Park, a local Edmonton band filled with some wonderful people (Scroll down to the bottom of this post and hit play to listen, also check their Facebook)
The night prior to the shoot I was contacted by Jackie from Railtown Park who was wondering if I was available for an impromptu shoot. Shooting something like this was something completely new to me, all of my photography at this point had been candid moments which I’ve happened (on purpose or coincidentally) to have a camera with me to capture a photo or two. So pretty much not going to lie... I was terrified going into this. If I had more time to research going into a shoot like this I would have felt a million times more confident but a busy night and morning the day after kept me to occupied. The day came up and with nothing more than a few Google image searches to see other photographer's work as a frame of reference and that was that I had to go for it.
Arriving at the location the sun was beautiful, but sadly it ended up disappearing behind clouds pretty shortly after starting. Right from the get go I must say it was a complete blessing Jackie had done photo work prior to this, she took charge and started setting up the group for their photos but soon everyone was pitching their ideas and things began to come together. With the lull between setups I was able to get in some of my normal shots and snapped of a couple of more candid photos which a few became some of my favorites from the evening. As time progressed I began to feel more comfortable and confident working on this style of photography. As the evening came to a close I had a lot of work to do in Lightroom since the deadline to finish was the very next day. I was very shocked how quickly 3:30am sprung up on me, but I was done and more then ready for bed.
Looking back at the photos as I worked on them in Lightroom there were a lot of things I wished I had tried or had done differently, but for a first attempt into this style of photography I am happy with the results. I hope I have another chance to photograph these fine folk again since I know I can deliver much better now that I've learnt a thing or two. It's amazing how after testing the waters by taking that first little dip of the toes into something new you feel like you can swim across an ocean (Well not really, more like the kiddy pool but that sounds less epic)
I just want to give one last Thank You to Jackie, Chad, James, and Trevor of Railtown Park for the opportunity.
Tye Eldridge
For anyone who has ever seen the Rockies they know how absolutely breathtaking that landscape is. Someday I hope to get to travel the world to see and experience what it has to offer, but I know without a doubt the Rockies will always be a special place for me. I still remember the first time seeing the Rockies as a young boy, in a split second I was in absolute awe with that amazing feeling you get when something truly beautiful tugs at your heart. I had been traveling with a friend's family to Jasper National Park in their van and had been dozing in and out of sleep. I remember waking up and taking a look out into the night sky and seeing the silhouette of the Rockies all around us. It was such a feeling! I had never seen anything like those mountains in my life and it forever changed me. Over the years past I've been back time and and time again and realize that I'm quite blessed to be only a four hour drive away from the mountains.
Canon 7d / EF 70-300mm 4-5.6 IS USM / ISO 250 280mm (f/7.1) (1/1250)
Over this past Sunday I went back to Jasper on a day trip which was so long overdue. On our way into the town of Jasper we came across a few cow elk crazing along the road. Out of pure luck we came across them right when the clouds had just parted and the sun was shinning down. I wish I could have stayed a bit longer but after almost four hours of driving, and all of us having a hungry stomach I figured the best course of action was to head into town before the girlfriend became a grumpy pants.
Once stomachs had been filled (if you are of the vegan or vegetarian variety as the two I was traveling with were... I highly recommend Coco's Cafe for a delicious breakfast) we decided to head for the Valley of the Five Lakes for our first hike of the day. The trail was a great one to get back into the hiking season. The Five lakes loop is about 9km and there isn't a whole lot of steep elevation change but the view's are incredible as the trail pokes you in and out of tree cover. There was one point nearing the end of the loop where I was looking down into the valley thinking to myself "It sure would be nice to see something other then another squirrel" When I just happened to look over my shoulder and see a deer just strolling right past us. So right away my only only thought was I needed to get closer, and from there according to my girlfriend and our other hiking companion I began to look like a complete idiot... Imagine a cartoon character right out of Loony Toons trying to sneak up on someone, you know that that long awkward half crouch and extending leg step? Yep, well that was me. I may have looked like Wiley Coyote sneaking up on the road runner right before a anvil fell on his head but I did manage to get pretty dang close and was able to snap a few photos. My sneakiness soon wore off and the deer disappeared into the woods as we made our way back to the car.
Canon 7d / EF 70-300mm 4-5.6 IS USM / (ISO 640) (170mm) (f/5.0) (1/1600)
Canon 7d / EF 70-300mm 4-5.6 IS USM / (ISO ) (250mm) (f/5.6) (1/1250)
Canon 7d / EF 70-300mm 4-5.6 IS USM / (ISO 400) (300mm) (f/7.1) (1/400)
After the Valley of the Five Lakes we headed out and Old Fort Point was next on our list.Old Fort has been a favorite of mine, it may be a busy trail but that's probably because it's so close to the town site and it offers such an amazing view after only a short hike up. And the Sheep! Oh my so many sheep! Other then a cute little chipmunk which paused just long enough to get a couple of quick shots of before it was off scurrying again I spent my time with the big horn sheep. I remember our "domesticated" sheep we had growing up and I will tell you these wild mountain sheep were 3000x less skidish around people then our flock we had back home. Being around so many hikers and other tourists everyday has made these sheep very less "sheepish" which allows you to get remarkably close without so much as a bothered glance from one of them. I could have probably walked right up and stood only meter away if I wanted to, but with any wild animal you always show your respect and do you're very best not to disturb them. But that being said it was absolutely amazing! I would just sit down with my camera and snap away with my shots as they would walk towards me grazing.
It was quite an experience to be so close to such a beautiful animal. I hope to go back in mid May which I believe is their lambing season and just spend a day following them, and again during the fall during their rut.
Tye Eldridge