Rogue MP

MP John Cummins' Conservative party came to power in government this year, but that hasn't stopped him from criticizing Ottawa. He has spoken out on issues such as the Deltaport Expansion, Fraser River fishing stocks, and the Tsawwassen First Nations treaty.

Heron

A Great Blue Heron enjoys the last sunshine of the day while perched on some rocks at Garry Point on Friday afternoon.

Holiday Shots

This one was a tad bit interesting... As I walk into the Public Health Unit, the lady that runs the place asks me if I had done this before, and explains that I am going into a breastfeeding clinic. So, I walk in, and try to organize something to look at least a bit interesting. But the problem is, organizing 17 different 4-month olds is a lot tougher than I thought it might be. And they are pretty much stuck to one pose, which is very well displayed by the little gal in the front middle. She had that position down pat, once she was laid down I did not see her move a millimeter, she was down for the count and enjoying a well-deserved nap. 17 newborns, all four months or less, got decked out in their Christmas duds for the weekly mother-and-baby drop-in clinic at the South Delta Public Health Unit in Ladner Wednesday afternoon.
Rabbi Bailteman of the Chabad of Richmond holds a Menorah in City Hall this Wednesday. A Chanukah Family Festival will be held on Sunday December 17th at City Hall where everyone is invited to take part in building an eight foot tall Menorah out of Lego.

Merry Festivus!

I took this picture of Santa a few weeks ago, and tried to make them into Christmas postcards to send to everyone, but the printer messed up the order and it was too late to reprint. So here it is, maybe next year you will get a postcard that looks a little something like this. I hope everyone all the best and hope the big guy brings you all the stuff you asked for.

CSI - DELTA STYLE

Sgt. Dave Winberg of the Delta police's forensic identification unit swabs a screwdriver that could have been used as an entry tool or weapon. Police send samples to Canada's National DNA Databank in a bid to identify suspects.

Read more - Moe's article here

a wrinkle in time.

there is a story that goes along with this picture, but I like the thought of people drawing their own conclusions.

Bertha Speaks Out.

Bertha Williams, who was born and raised on the Tsawwassen First Nation reserve, is troubled by some aspects of the final agreement reached between the band and the provincial and federal governments.

TFN sign Final Agreement

On December 8th, 2006, the Tsawwassen First Nations signed a Final Agreement with the Provincial and Federal governments . The agreement outlines their land, financial contributions from the government, fishing rights, governance, and taxation. The next step in the process for the treaty to be ratified is a vote among the 358 Tsawwassen First Nations members, where a 50 per cent plus one member vote would see the treaty go to ratification.
Tsawwassen First Nations Band Member Darryl Splockton holds a traditional drum as the procession to the signing of the Final Agreement inside the TFN longhouse starts.
A Tsawwassen First Nations youth throws a log on the fire inside the longhouse while media await the start of the event.
Squamish First Nations Chief Ian Campbell talks to his daughter as a speech is made about the Agreement.
A TFN Band Member warms a drum by the fire before the signing of the Agreement.
Tsawwassen First Nations Chief Kim Baird (centre) signs the Final Agreement between the TFN and the Provincial and Federal governments. She called it "a very good deal."

FilmlessPhotos: What a Mutley Crew

FilmlessPhotos: What a Mutley Crew

Check out the very top right, your truly sneaking his way into the photo, at my new favourite bar. Hanging out with all the Vancouver photographers was great and I hope to see a lot more of them in the future.

More from this week.

Start off with a feature I took as I was driving over the Arther Laing on my way to work the other day. It was kind of brutal running down the bridge and getting sprayed by bus-residue, but came up with something I was fairly happy with. Next shot was from a Richmond High basketball game, which was actually exciting to watch and fun to shoot. Set up a couple of flashes in the gym to make things "pop" a little more, although the lighting in the gym was probably the best high school gym I have ever shot in. And next shot, these guys were wondering what I was doing as I dived face-first into a tree a city hall and got them to decorate it, but came up with something a little more interesting than the other options. They were more than happy to know they were going to be in the paper, which I think is the great thing about community news. The subjects are always pretty excited and more than willing to be in the paper, and it means a lot to them. Next post are some shots from the Tsawwassen First Nations treaty signing, the first of it's kind in B.C. Stay tuned. Ha. A construction worker walks down a portion of the new Canada Line over top the Arther Laing bridge Friday morning. Construction continues on the new light-rail transit line, which is set to be complete in November of 2009, just before the 2010 Olympics.
Richmond High player David Whitley splits the David Thompson defense for a basket en route to the team's 89-57 victory at Richmond high Tuesday night in the HSBC Basketball Classic.
Josh Murphy (left) Ty Galbraith, and Wesley Kaklander, all students from Mrs. Pollock's grade three class at Delta Manor Elementary, hang ornaments on a tree at Municipal Hall this Wednesday. They were one of 23 classes who came to decorate the trees this year.

A feature and an illustration

A couple of different style shots.

The first is a feature from last Friday which just ran today. Was a really cool day, very interesting lighting and I had never been to this park before. He was the only one walking around in the park, and ended up getting wet shoes after sloshing around in the snow to try to get the shot. Has a lot of fun running around in the snow though, although I probably looked like a nutcase.

Next is the shot that ran on the Richmond News' front page today. I was told to go out and 'grab' some kind of shot of someone addicted to video or online gaming. In comes my buddy Kevin Chao. I go over to his place and get him to look as intense as possible, set up a few flashes, we have a few laughs, and that is that. Using creative off-camera flash makes these kinds of shots really sing, and as Illustrations to prove a point, I think they work well. Here I used my two flashes zoomed all the way in to get a more dramatic harsh style lighting to get a look I think would go with the shot.

Raymond Prestridge, who was visiting Richmond on business from his hometown of Weatherford, Texas, takes a walk around Garry Point under dramatic afternoon skies. Excessive gaming has recently been recognized as a social problem. At Richmond Addiction Services, it accounts for 80 per cent of one youth counsellor's caseload.

From Saturday

Well I clocked some OT on Saturday and here are a few of the shots. More coming in the next few days...Marley Day, 2, feeds a llama at the petting zoo portion of "First Christmas" at the South Delta Baptist church. Along with the petting zoo, there were other activities like a play, crafts, and cookie decorating.As Mount Baker shines in the distance, Albert and Candace Honetschlager enjoy the crisp winter weather to take a walk along the dyke in Boundary Bay Saturday afternoon.

Latest and Greatest

Crew members did their best to clear Delta Street of the white stuff this week as they readied to shoot scenes for the movie Trick or Treat. The skulls are some of the many props seen around Ladner Village. Photo by Brett Beadle
Beatrice Zeilinger will "morph" into a stern aunt in the musical Emily running at the Gateway Theatre Dec. 14 - Jan. 7. Brett Beadle/Richmond News
Richmond secondary students walk by the taped-off baseball diamond at Brighouse Park on their lunch break Thursday afternoon. The diamond, on the corner of No. 3 Road and Granville Avenue, toppled over Sunday night after wet snow collected in the mesh covering the top of the backstop.

Icy Beach

Pam Sim of Beach Grove takes advantage of the beautiful light to take a picture of the Coast Mountains and surrounding landscape on her digital camera along the dyke in Beach Grove early Tuesday morning.

SNOW IN DELTA/RICHMOND

Well I thought I could escape the Calgary weather, but, as everyone has been telling me, I guess I "brought the weather with me." (Heard that about 10 times in the past week.) Snow in Vancouver was fairly treacherous for a lot of people, but for the most part people have been out enjoying it, especially the kids as it is pretty rare to get such a good dump of snow. Here are four of the shots I produced my first week on the job, three of them went as fronts. I am really enjoying being back in Vancouver, and will be keeping my blog up to date with the photos I produce at the paper(s).