A ’68 Skylark and a Twitter Roadtrip
When one thinks of Yorkton, Saskatchewan, a film festival probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. What most people don’t know is that this city actually hosts the oldest film festival in North America. The Yorkton Film Festival celebrates short films and screenwriting from around the world. This year I had the pleasure of attending the festival. I could have jumped in my vehicle and drove to Yorkton on my own, but that would have boring. Why not instead jump into an classic 1968 Skylark with one of Canada’s premiere screenwriters/directors, an emerging producer, and an expert in transmedia?
Thursday morning Dave Shultz and I met Katrina Ham and Emme Rogers at the Chop Chop Salon near downtown Saskatoon. The two ladies were getting themselves all decked out for our roadtrip to Yorkton where they would be receiving the Key to the City from the Mayor upon our arrival. Earlier in the morning Katrina was a guest on the CBC’s The Morning Edition with Sheila Coles to talk about the festival, and our roadtrip. The idea was to live tweet the trip in hopes of promoting and bringing awareness to the festival.
While Dave and I waited for the women to finish up, we tried to devise a strategy for making a ton of luggage fit into the rather small trunk of his Skylark. It seems that three of us had overestimated how much space we had to work with. My assumption was that old cars had big trunks. I was very wrong. After running through a number of scenarios it seemed that the only way to make it work was to lose the spare tire….and to leave Katrina’s golf clubs behind (seriously, golf clubs).
With the car all packed we were on the highway in no time. Since we had the top down Katrina and Emme wrapped their heads in scarves to salvage their new hairdos. Good thing they did because things got pretty windy and I’m sure they didn’t want the awesome work of Chop Chop Salon to go to waste. It was the end of May in Saskatchewan so we hadn’t yet got into the hot temperatures which would have made the back seat a little more bearable. Everything was fine when the sun wasn’t hidden behind a cloud, but it could get pretty chilly when it disappeared for a few stretches.
It wasn’t long before stomachs started to growl, so we stopped in Lanigan for a delicious lunch buffet at Wong’s Restaurant. I’m not sure what it is, but small town Saskatchewan always seems to have the best Chinese food. We also did a bit of window shopping at an interesting pizza/clothing store before getting back onto the highway. With our bellies full of delicious Chinese food a few of us started to get a bit parched. We were nearly at Foam Lake so we decided to stop by the local watering hole. After a couple of beer and some very passionate conversation about the film industry and social media, we thanked the friendly staff and continued on the last leg of our trip.
We rolled into Yorkton just a few minutes before the key ceremony so we high-tailed it to the downtown park where it was going to take place. We were greeted by the Mayor and the Executive Director of the film festival who told us to make ourselves at home and to enjoy all of the festivities. This was just the beginning of my experience, but I can say that the first thing that will come to mind from now on when I think of Yorkton is the Yorkton Film Festival.
Saskatoon Fashion Shoot – A Local Business Collaboration
A couple of months ago I had the opportunity to collaborate with three other Saskatoon businesses – Mint Fashion Company, Chop Chop Salon, and Lifetime Productions. None of us had worked together before, but we hoped that the four of us could leverage each of our specialities to make some stunning photographs. Mint Fashion Company was kind enough to provide three outfits for Katrina Ham of Lifetime Productions to model, while Jennilee Cardinal-Schultz and Amanda Dreis from Chop Chop Salon styled her hair and worked their magic with the make-up.
Even though it was the end of February, I was really hoping to do the shoot outside. We were getting unusually mild temperatures during the lead-up to the shoot, but when the day finally arrived things had returned to normal and the great outdoors was no longer an option. I knew that some of the newly renovated buildings at the University of Saskatchewan were promising for indoor locations so just as a precaution I had scouted the area a few weeks prior.
Fortunately it was February break so there was barely anyone at the University. This gave Katrina and I the luxury of just taking our time and using each location to its fullest. We spent a couple hours together wandering around campus taking advantage of the bountiful light flowing into so many different areas.
I must say that it was a pleasure working with these other local companies. All of them were class acts and I would highly recommend stopping in and connecting with them – you won’t be disappointed. I hope you enjoy the photographs that I captured.
Clothing – Mint Fashion Company
Hair/Makeup – Chop Chop Salon, Jennilee Cardinal-Schultz and Amanda Dreis
Model/Coordinator – Lifetime Productions, Katrina Ham
Christa & Luke are Engaged
Christa and Luke are getting married this summer in Melfort, Saskatchewan and they contacted me because they were interested in having some engagement photos made. We were getting close to Spring so I was hoping that we would be able to make it my first outdoor shoot of the season. But if you know anything about Saskatchewan winters, it rarely cooperates. This time was no exception.
Since we weren’t about to let a little cold weather get in the way of us having a good time, we found a handful of great locations around the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon to shoot. Making use of the many large windows around campus, there was plenty of soft natural light for us to have fun with.
The two of them were hoping to get a few shots downtown along the river since that was where Luke proposed to Christa, so we wrapped up at the University and decided to brave the frigid temperatures. I’m glad we decided to make the effort because now they have some photographs that they really had their heart set on getting.
Here are some of my favourite photographs from the afternoon, and be sure to also check out their high definition slideshow.
Note: for the best quality make sure HD is set to on along the right side of the video player. Scaling should be set to off.
Christa & Luke Engagement Teaser
Christa and Luke are getting married this summer so we got together this past weekend to capture some engagement photos. It was one of the last cold days of the winter, but that didn’t stop us from finding some great locations in Saskatoon to showcase this gorgeous couple. Here’s a photograph I made to give you a preview of what’s to come. Check back soon for the full spread.
Rachel and Jeffrey
Rachel and Jeff live in Montreal. The last time they were in Saskatoon was this past fall and they were expecting their first child. Rachel wanted to capture this moment in their life, but didn’t want maternity photos. She just wanted to have some photographs made of her and Jeffrey just having fun.
A nice park by the river seemed like a good place to spend some time with them. It was late in the day and the sun was low in the sky creating a nice warm light. It took a little while for Rachel to get over her case of the giggles, but they did make for some great photos. I was able to also get some nice romantic shots of them as well.
A few months later Rachel and Jeffrey welcomed their daughter Ginny into the world, and hopefully I will get the opportunity to get the three of them together for some photos. Here are some of my favourite photographs from the evening, and be sure to also check out their high definition slideshow.
Note: for the best quality make sure HD is set to on along the right side of the video player. Scaling should be set to off.
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