Father & Son

A few from when I was walking around with my rangefinder and Fuji 1600 ISO film last weekend. I am pretty sure I like the last one best, but as always I am a terrible editor of my stuff.

Kirk Holifield Memorial

This was not an easy assignment to photograph. The day that you become immune to feeling emotion at these kind of events is probably the day to put down the camera, it was very emotional and I felt for everyone there. ISO 3200, which means b &w. -Brett.

Over 600 people came to the Riverside Banquet Hall in Richmond Friday afternoon to pay their respects to Kirk Holifield, who was killed in a targeted shooting on Westminster Highway January 11th.

Read Eve Edmonds' story here.

A member of Kirk Holifield's hockey team grieves as he looks at a picture of Holifield and his daughter Amelia on the front of the program to the Memorial Service.
Kirk Holifield's father Bert Holifield hugs Kirk's business partner and close friend Chris Barrett after the ceremony, held at Riverside Banquet Hall in Richmond Friday afternoon.
Kirk Holifield's close friend and business partner Chris Barrett, front, is overcome with grief at Holifield's memorial Friday afternoon.

Our game.

Dave Williams brought his kids and their friends out to enjoy the ice that formed in a frozen field just off of Highway 17 in Ladner Friday evening. This was just one of the many spots around South Delta where kids were out enjoying the first year for quite some time where it has been cold enough to play pond hockey.

She's a Sheila Alright

"Sheila" the Australian Blue Heeler was out, quite literally, having a ball in the snow at Winskill Park last Wednesday morning.

Another B&W Shot.

A few eager toboggan-ers were out at Deifenbaker Park Wednesday afternoon as snow fell throughout South Delta and the Lower Mainland.

NewlyWeds

Andy Mccabe, 78, and Viola Steele, 84, were married Friday January 12th at the Saint Joseph the Worker Parish in Richmond, B.C. Viola walked down the aisle -- with the aid of a walker -- for the first time in her life. The couple spent their honeymoon in a local hotel Friday night, then returned to the Lions Manor care home where they have lived for more than a year. They will be moved into adjacent rooms in the facility.

Full story here.

Michelle.

Michelle Dean's weight fluctuated between 100 and 190 pounds as she battled an eating disorder. At her lowest body weight, she stopped menstruating, lost hair on her head, and grew fine body hair. She is speaking about her history with anorexia at a free public education event on eating disorders Feb. 6 at City Hall. Brett Beadle/Richmond News

Read the full story here.

I wish I had a bit more "studio" space for this shot. I was shooting from the production office and the backdrop was setup in a fairly busy walkway in the office, but was the only spot to set it up. The shadow of Michelle's mom Terry was cast by a flash with a kraft-dinner-box snoot. (Always gets some laughs when I pull it out.) The flash on Michelle was gripped to a cubicle to the left and zoomed way in and aimed at her. Both Michelle and I wanted to get away from the typical "looking into the mirror" anorexia shots, so I think this one worked pretty well for what I was going for.

Little Shoveler

Two year-old Nathaniel Factor was out helping his dad Emmanuel shovel the walkway in front of their English Bluff Rd. home in Tsawwassen Wednesday afternoon.

2nd Richmond shooting this week

Police pore over a Dodge pickup truck, which veered off Westminster Highway just east of Shell Road, after the driver was shot and killed early Thursday morning. Police think it may be a case of mistaken identity as a family member of one of the gang members involved in last week's shooting drives the same model vehicle and lives nearby. The victim, 35-year-old Kirk Holifield of Ladner, is not known to police and has no criminal record.

stella.

Stella spent her first week that my neighbours had her on IVs in the animal hospital after catching some sort of virus. But the tiny one hung in there and now you can't stop her from running around and exploring the world. Here she is flanked by Leroy's back leg, to give a sense of scale.

why I  photography

On a typical day for a typical 22 year old guy, it would be pretty much impossible to follow around a Grandmother and two young kids. But with a camera, doors open and you get to meet people you would never have a chance to meet in a normal social setting. And as often as I think that people would give me weird looks or be upset at me taking their picture, time and time again I meet great people who are totally accepting of me photographing them. And I don't think there are too many other ways that you can just jump into someones life like that. And that is one of the reasons I love photography.

Another "how I did it"

Another look into a different shot. This shot was one I did for the front of the Optimist back in December. Link HERE

The story was about DNA testing on pieces of evidence recovered from crime scenes. A lot of the Ident. lab was a lot like an office, with a lot of computers and other somewhat normal-looking stuff. So I found somewhere that I looked somewhat like a lab to use as a background. The shot was made using three different flashes, the first shot through an umbrella (top left) was used as the main light on Dave's face. The second, on the far right, was zoomed in to add a bit of highlight on the left side of his face. The last light was used zoomed as wide as possible to fill in the fume hood to keep the overall exposure even and have a bit of detail in the background. For these kind of illustrative shots, it always helps to have some flashes around. It was shot at f/8, ISO 100, 1/50th of a second at 16mm.

Paramedic Response

Richmond chief paramedic Pascal Rodier says tragedies like 9/11 and Columbine exemplify the importance of a unified communication frequency for all first responders. Richmond is the first city to pilot such a project, and now other communities in the Lower Mainland are looking to Richmond to help them set up their own such system.

Brett Beadle/Richmond News

EDIT: HOW I DID IT

I shot this at about a 15th or 20th of a second on my 16-35mm lens. I had one flash set up on a 2-dollar clamp w/ hotshoe thing I have in my bag for situations like this where I can't have a lightstand but need to position a strobe. Fired the strobe zoomed in at about 50mm clamped onto the left glove compartment. Because it was raining, there was a lot of glare off of the windshield, so I attached my Circ. Polarizing Filter which took away the glare where Pascal was sitting and made him "pop" a bit more. I got Pascal to turn on the lights after a few shots to add a bit more to the zoom/driving effect. It was one of those situations where I had a 5 word assignment with this guy's name and location and a blurb on the radio system they were using. So I got Pascal to explain everything to me so I could get a mental picture of what a situation like this might look like, and tried to make an interesting image from what I was thinking he would look like responding to a big call. Phew. Next post, more rangefinder shots with natural light and easy explanations.

EDIT 2: Forgot to say I zoomed out while taking the picture, hah, kind of important.

-Brett.

Walkers both young and old were out working off some holiday pounds at the track at Minoru Park during a stunning sunny afternoon this Thursday.

Beauty Nights

A few weeks ago I went to photograph a "Beauty Night" on Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, right at the intersection of Main and Hastings. It has yet to be published, although there was some interest from the Vancouver Sun to run the photos along with an article written by Michelle, who I work with at the Richmond News. This is a women-only event (myself and another guy from CityTV were the only men in the place) which aims to help disadvantaged women improve their self-image and increase their self-esteem.

From the Beauty Nights website
"“Beauty Nights” are our original and most popular program. All throughout the year and at various locations, volunteers offer services such as hair cutting and styling, make-up application and lessons, basic manicures and pedicures, relaxation massage, aromatherapy, reflexology and healing touch. Our image consultants help clients pick out donated clothing to take away. Clients are served healthy, delicious snacks and treats. If the venue allows it, we play music or movies for our clients. And at each Beauty Night, we give away to each client a small gift bag filled with small necessities – and some treats – including soap, shampoo, razors, nail files, nail polish, etc.

Beauty Night events take place in drop-in centres, transition homes, clinics, groups homes, hospitals and, sometimes, in salons. Beauty Nights are our most popular events, for their fun, friendship and pampering. "