Perhaps because of my recent visit to Tulk’s, I’ve been noticing lately the old shops that are around (or should I say, with all the Walmarts, Home Depots and Starbucks popping up)… the old shops that are still around.

So while downtown today I popped in to a few different places. Although I had noticed Family Barber on Duckworth Street many times in passing, I’d never actually been inside. It’s has a unique feeling – sorta a mix of men’s club and museum.

More from this series later…

Tags: barber shop, Downtown Shops, Downtown St. John's, old shop, retail

When I need some room and get really bored, I start making a backup of the backup. It’s a process that always seems to provide a bit of blog fodder too, assuming no one minds some shots from who-knows-how-long-ago.

I really like these, tho I totally missed them the first time round for one reason or another.

Tags: red coat

For those not in Newfoundland, we’re experiencing a bit of weather.

I’ve learned that nothing motivates the masses like fear. Or flurries. So feeling like a true sheep, I stood today in line at the grocery store to buy what could be classified as “in case of power outage” supplies.

Ya know; candles, matches, fruit, whipped cream, vodka. Maybe I should change that to “third date” supplies?

Anyway, the storm has officially hit, and hit quite hard. I’m constantly checking the window, looking in disbelief at how much snow has fallen. I’m hoping it’s a hallucination induced by the delicious combination of low light, gluten and 80 proof alcohol.

So, I’m sitting here amid it all in total appreciation of the beautiful weather we had during the visit to Bell Island this past Saturday.

Tags: Bell Island, ferry workers, lobster trap in snow, shadows of the geeks, sunrise

After closely watching the forecast for three days, we got up very early on Saturday morning with the intention of heading to Bell Island. It was a trip that we’d been talking about for a few months, pretty much ever since we realized that we’d soon have the entire Avalon Peninsula covered.

It was touch-and-go early on, as almost half the participants had slept in.

Still, we caught the first ferry and a nice sunrise during the crossing. It was a little cold, but once I got a few shots, I didn’t notice the temperature again until five hours later – while I was lugging the equipment out of the car and back into the house.

Note: The online ordering has been updated with all images from the last few days – it’ll always be up-to-date with each day’s content from here on.

Tags: Bell Island Lighthouse, ferry skipper, miner

We usually have a destination in mind when heading out to take a few photos. Even then, more often than not I end up focusing on details rather than an overall scene… and I’ll shoot people over scenery any day.

So when we headed downtown last week I was more than excited to see a few bodies on the side walks. I spotted these guys having a smoke and stopped long enough to chat and take a few pictures. I was going to say they “seemed surprisingly comfortable” with the camera a mere six inches from their faces, but I think it was more like them not giving a sh#t!

Tags: Water Street, young fellers

I got a call the other day from Bev, one of the Fotogeeks. She also happens to be a Girl Guide Leader, and asked if I wanted to come by and shoot a meeting which was being visited by a local belly dancing group.

The Neighbourhood Strays, as the group is known, showed the girls how it’s done and, as can be seen from the photos, everyone really got into it. It was great fun to photograph and it managed to strengthened this burning desire I have to visit India.

Tags: belly dancers, girl guides

Here are a few random crap shots from around the house that support something that I’ve said many times; the right light can make anything look good.

I actually don’t like these pictures – too “romance-novel-like” for my taste – ick! …but they illustrate a point.

Someone asked me a few weeks ago about how I knew when to get these shots. I didn’t understand the question at the time, but later realized that, due to the number of windows in our house, I have a bit of an advantage when it comes to indoor natural light shots during this long bleak winter.

Take a look…

All sides are peppered with windows now. It was a fact that inspired much cursing during the reno… “27 friggin windows”. Arggg!

On a sunny day, if the light is not good on one side of the house, it’s good on the other!

Tags: nice light, tacky romance novel pictures

A few unexpected things happened when I first started this blog. I’ve been in contact with many people that often have nice words about my work, and frankly am a little shy and embarrassed when something overly nice is said.

One thing that I found both curious and mildly amusing was the first request about two years ago for an enlargement of a scenic shot. I though… “There must be dozens of places to buy Newfoundland photos… right?”

Since then, I’ve been contacted for photos by old friends who are living away that want a few shots of home, online friends that I’ve never actually met who really like one specific picture, and a very nice lady who came to Cape Spear for her daughter’s wedding and simply “fell” for the place (for Newfoundland, not at Cape Spear). There’s one common thread among all the people that have asked for prints though – they genuinely love the province.

Most times though, for one reason or another, these requests go unfulfilled.

So, after a little bit of setup, we’re ready today to start online photo ordering.

Naturally though, there are some images that won’t be available online. For example, from recent history, here are a few photos you won’t find:

• Angela in her skives
• Randy the minion
• Senor Picket

What you will see are Newfoundland scenic photos, for up to six months after they’ve been posted here.

I should also speak a bit about the setup we use for online ordering…

I’ll be uploading photos to the e-commerce server as soon as I post it here. When you order a photo, it’s sent electronically from the US-based server to a photo lab in Ontario. The photo lab prints the order and sends it directly to you. It’s totally automated – and quite the multi-national / multi-provincial effort.

We’ve used this system for wedding enlargements for a year now and, overall, it’s worked well. I’d still consider the technology to be in it’s infancy though, and we’ve been actively working the kinks out. Pretty much everybody along the way (the server crowd, the lab and myself) are here to help, so if anyone encounters a problem with ordering (done only after viewing the FAQ, of course), please get in touch.

So why a US service, and why an Ontario lab? Simple really. When we set this up, we looked at dozens of services before settling on this one. We also considered almost as many labs, with the nearest being in Nova Scotia. As it turns out, our wedding clients (being Newfoundlander’s) are pretty evenly scattered across the country – for last year alone, a surprising 53% lived outside the province. Based on the inquiries I’ve received so far, I’d estimate that this would be about the same situation for scenic stuff.

Anyway, as you’ll see in the left sidebar up top there, we’ve added a FAQ with (what I’m thinking will be) some common inquiries. I’d encourage anyone placing an order to review that info first. Payment is accepted through credit card, and shipping (for better or worse) is via Canada Post.

If you’d like to just poke around and check it out, have at it.

Tags: farm equipment, online ordering

I’ve been trying lately to get out for just an hour or so on days when there’s sun.
At this time of year, when the weather is agreeable you have to take what you can get.

As we headed out the other day, I had a different direction in mind than my significant other, so we ended up scouting one location, then heading in the complete opposite direction.

These shots are from a local salvage operation. They’ve let me shoot inside in the past, and I found myself there again scouting for another modeling shoot. It’s the type of place that changes drastically, depending on the light and stock they have in the building – there’s a picture around every corner.

Tags: bottles, gears, paint cans, salvage