ae6c846691594873bd47b7b0e1ae438c.jpg

249f7bf0f4c147688daef841ef73d633.jpg

96bfa74880cd4d1882439e2739c30b2d.jpg

f0a3005eeeaf453d9df229fcda43a69f.jpg

f3427d9353fa463193c3f3d62fdc5d32.jpg

1bd09095e3b645d88f063b920d248cb6.jpg

32cfbf5d074e49eaabe8dad93554ed37.jpg

e30cc8874fbe4b42abb2c7e121132de8.jpg

e6dee8f9ba624fd29ea51cd6e6960eb3.jpg

a57c8d15de0b4928ba2f015ccf4316b1.jpg

4e43448ec8304a24b8ac58101e5672e8.jpg

24a513854bbd4f3882347a2ac3a6b9d8.jpg

19e533e6c23d4527a1add92c71b80bdb.jpg

7250730f7d18402398c7e2657fdcfcc5.jpg

8cdf7d4c10c04e11909b8b0577cc53cc.jpg

f96bd4e3b4e64a9d992f978bcc794a65.jpg

5d38f8b8201a459396e42a629b29d3d6.jpg

f9c22b098c194583a89fa85495ea4b4e.jpg

046cd9955b96495babe0b8568f0c8928.jpg

77804416b69f480a98e35d68f1667b71.jpg

f1c70f89c48e4fea99e47c8ac63a5c9d.jpg

a42cca421e524963a37f058b8bf2b799.jpg

f2b406e037be46e0a3dd60583e368d9c.jpg

f4ad4e47e8be4ff79ae85139897cb123.jpg

2ace687c8f6f48ee8ae610f0013c37e0.jpg

I was approached by my good friend Brandon to help photograph a wedding for our mutual friend Jennifer. I was more than delighted to shoot it. Then he told me it would be out by Spray Lakes in Kananaskis and I was ecstatic to shoot it. We had so many ideas!
&nbsp;
The intimate wedding was set out at the beautiful Mt. Engadine Lodge just south of Spray Lakes and Canmore on Highway 742. I would use the word highway loosely as there are times of the year you need an all-wheel-drive or 4x4 vehicle to safely navigate this road. Driving a 4x4 truck, I had zero issues getting there. This lodge is a very intimate, low-key lodge with no cell service, on purpose. Its purpose is to get you away from the hustle and bustle of the city and into calm, relaxing nature. They do, however, have WiFi out there; which their password tells you to get out and explore nature. A small tidbit that I thoroughly enjoyed. They've got a few rooms in the actual lodge, but the interesting element that I loved was that they also had some camp-style A-frame "tents" and they also had cabins away from the main lodge. This was my kind of place, for sure! You don't need to pack food or camping supplies though, as they deliver food directly to your room, cabin, or tent every morning and every evening and include a packed picnic-style lunch to take with you, exploring. So, you should definitely check this out if you're looking to get out and do some exploring not too far from Calgary or Canmore and still away from all the busyness. It was a little smoky from the nearby fires in British Columbia, which would actually help give us some beautiful golden hour type light that was well diffused, later on.
&nbsp;
The ceremony was small, beautiful, and intimate. Only the couple, parents from both sides, the JP, videographer, and myself, photographing. It was set out on the rear balcony overlooking the valley in the background and looked absolutely stunning. We live-streamed the entire ceremony to their families all over the world and it was well-received! Below are photos from the ceremony and portrait session afterward.
&zwj;

Jennifer and Andrew's Wedding

110c65f36234410f88c0ff7c2324d26c.jpg

864b4585698a45b39b5c2388ea0e060a.jpg

f216af80c1d44485a027ee0a392370ae.jpg

<figure id="" class="w-richtext-figure-type-image w-richtext-align-center" data-rt-type="image" data-rt-align="center"><div id=""><img src="https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/62cd866c4c6e980afa726f68/62d0234a387770be6b372bd6_cbf6d4_56b57849df0240339681c35620f7a77c_mv2.webp" loading="lazy" id="" width="auto" height="auto"></div></figure>‍First of all, the people that we met up with on this trip will be mentioned below! Now, on to the post! This day, was a planned shoot. We had decided to cross this off my girlfriend's Bucket List. A sunrise photo opportunity at Moraine Lake. She had never seen it in the daytime and had only been once before. That was with me back in October 2020, when it was a Full Moon. Which we should have planned for but didn't. The full moon illuminated the entire place to the point we really didn't even need lights. It made it very challenging to photograph due to the harsh shadows at even a 30-second exposure and bright moon. Probably the highest dynamic range photos I've ever taken. Lesson learned. This time, however, we planned to go on the New Moon. We packed our gear up, with a sleeping bag for my son for when he got tired of following us around on the Rockpile at Moraine. As we drove out to Moraine Lake, we were driving past Canmore and noticed some lightning off in the distance. We talked about it and really hoped it didn't rain on our parade, pun fully intended. As we got closer, we were seeing more and more lightning. I was checking the radar on my phone to see where the storms were. There was one by Golden, and one by Field. They were close... For those that don't know, Moraine Lake is just south of Lake Louise in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada. Honestly, in my humble opinion, it's one of the most beautiful places on Earth. Nestled in the Valley of the Ten Peaks, you arrive coming south on the road from Lake Louise. It's a steep, winding road. Not much room on the two-lane road with the occasional pull-out for hikers and bikers to park on. But other than that, there's no shoulder and if you're headed back from Moraine Lake to Lake Louise, you're on the outside of this narrow, winding road. It's a lot of fun to drive, in my opinion. When you arrive, you'll enter the small parking lot. Drive to the end and the Moraine Lake Lodge is on your right (west) side. Here, in this parking lot, you'll catch a glimpse of Moraine Lake. But you won't be able to see the full beauty of it until you climb the Rockpile. You'll drive around a 180-degree corner and there will be more parking. If you don't arrive early, there will be no parking for you. In fact, the attendant at the turnoff for Moraine Lake will likely direct you to the overflow parking, where you'll need to park and either take one of the shuttles up the road or hike it. The parking lot at the lodge is typically full by 5 am or 6 am. After that, good luck. We decided to chance it anyway. I mean, we were already almost 3 hours from home. So, why not? We got to Moraine Lake about 11:30 pm or so and headed straight up the Rockpile. We were still adjusting to the darkness and couldn't see if there were any clouds close by, but we brought jackets that would help keep us dry and rain gear for our camera bags. Boy, I hope we didn't get rained out when we were climbing around on the Rock Pile. That would have made things fairly slippery, and it's already a slightly daunting task climbing around on there at night, in the darkness, with just a headlamp. We proceeded to head up Rockpile. Still seeing the flashes of lightning West of Effiel Peak. Which is West of Moraine Lake. We still weren't seeing the direct flashes, but we were seeing the light from them that bounces off the clouds. We hiked up the very short but steep trail to the top of the Rockpile. Then found a spot to climb over. Found a fellow photographer who happened to know my friends that were due to arrive later that night, so it was nice to catch up to someone close to our group of friends. Turns out I already followed him on Instagram as well. We had a good conversation with Dylon then decided to pick our way farther down the Rockpile, out of the way of the trees to see the entire Lake all at once. We were having some issues finding a spot when Dylon shouted over to us that there was a spot below him that we could check out. Turns out it was perfect! We set up shop there. Just below him on the SW corner of the Rockpile. Things were looking good. Our vision had adjusted and we realized that there were no clouds or almost no clouds in the sky above us. The lightning had also stopped to the West of us. We later found out it had skirted us to the north. Now, facing south we had the glorious Milky Way to watch all night. Justin and Adam showed up later that night and decided to shoot with us. Now, Justin is the guy that made my Milky Way shots possible as he's the one that taught me how to take night photos over the last 2 years. I've also met Adam through Justin on one of our storm chases!‍<a href="https://twitter.com/Brad_In_YYC/status/1416143254127452161?s=20" target="_blank" id="">https://twitter.com/Brad_In_YYC/status/1416143254127452161?s=20</a> A timelapse of that Milky Way above. I got it! I got the Milky Way over Moraine Lake on an absolutely gorgeous night! BUT. That's not what we were there for! We were there to check something off my girlfriend's Bucket List. Sunrise at Moraine Lake!‍<figure id="" class="w-richtext-figure-type-image w-richtext-align-center" data-rt-type="image" data-rt-align="center"><div id=""><img src="https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/62cd866c4c6e980afa726f68/62d023ac5ffd15543a48bed7_cbf6d4_0ef7d74b1ef541b58abe66378ae17045_mv2.webp" loading="lazy" id="" width="auto" height="auto"></div></figure>‍So? What next? Well, we maneuvered into our own positions to capture the sunrise. She moved slightly to the west. I moved further down The Rockpile, closer to the water. And we waited. We took pictures and we waited. And more pictures. And more waiting. I scoured up The Rockpile a couple of times to chat and see what she was getting, but other than that, we just waited. Sunrise was officially at 5:42 am. But, because of the mountains in the way, we would have to wait until after 6:00 am to see it ourselves. We were discussing how awesome it was that there weren't any clouds for the Milky Way. Unfortunately, that's not what we were hoping for when sunrise came along. We wanted just some nice, thin clouds that could show a little colour with the mountains. Not that we would be disappointed if they didn't show, but it would have been nice. This was our view at 5:44 am. A quick cell phone panorama.‍<figure id="" class="w-richtext-figure-type-image w-richtext-align-center" data-rt-type="image" data-rt-align="center"><div id=""><img src="https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/62cd866c4c6e980afa726f68/62d023c26996e75340382dc7_cbf6d4_79014a13f20e499a918a0e166c2b0181_mv2.webp" loading="lazy" id="" width="auto" height="auto"></div></figure>‍Not really anything to write home about, now was it? 2 or 3 thin, wispy clouds that we could barely see. Pretty much the most we saw almost all night. But we were still anxious for the sun to hit those mountains right around 6:00 am. Without paying too much attention to the sky at this point, I turned my attention to the changing colours and the sun rising and just set my camera and basically forgot it and enjoyed the sunrise. It was a beautiful sunrise. Fantastic, even. Then I looked up and noticed something... In the 15 or so minutes that I was watching, some clouds had very quickly rolled in. Gravity waves, which are a really cool phenomenon where waves of moisture creating clouds are moving through a stable layer of the atmosphere. They completed our trip! The photos look amazing and we couldn't have planned it better!‍<figure id="" class="w-richtext-figure-type-image w-richtext-align-center" data-rt-type="image" data-rt-align="center"><div id=""><img src="https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/62cd866c4c6e980afa726f68/62d023d5f6b05b3e6be3a440_cbf6d4_a7f5524e4a5c4ef5b33da39bdad1a6dd_mv2.webp" loading="lazy" id="" width="auto" height="auto"></div></figure>‍If you're ever looking to go up to Moraine Lake, you won't be disappointed. I've never walked away disappointed from there. Not once. Been many times and every time something looks different and it's always awe-inspiring. Enjoy the rest of my photos from there below. - Brad People we met up with.www.instagram.com/leavemymark2016 www.instagram.com/aurorajanderson &nbsp;www.aurorajanderson.comwww.instagram.com/dylonwaldron www.instagram.com/goodwinforce ‍

The Moraine Lake Challenge

Today I got a reminder about why we do this. Why do I take photos? I got a great reminder of that today. And it wasn't even my photo. Emotions. Emotions. I had an acquaintance on Facebook that requested that someone take their cell phone photo and edit a couple of things out of the background and maybe change the colour grade or go Black and White. I was one of many that took on the task. But I requested the full photo. Being a cell phone shot, it was smaller as it was so I needed the full-size photo to really do what I wanted to do. They sent it to me. I did as requested and made it Black and White and then, with the help of a couple of friends, we decided to actually take the initiative and print the photo ourselves. I sent it to my printer earlier this week. Today was the pickup day. I asked that they meet me at my printer to give them this photo. They still hadn't seen the final image. We've never met in person. I had never met the subject in the photo. But it really just seemed right. So I brought a quick frame with me. We met there. I found out exactly why this photo meant so much and realized exactly how this photo was going to stay with them. Emotions. This photo wasn't just going on Facebook or some hard drive that they'll forget about. This is now going to stay with them. It's something they can hold. This holds so many emotions with them. Now, I remember why I do this. Because sometimes I forget. Sometimes I get in my own head a little and do it just for me. Which isn't bad at all. My landscapes are just for me. They're to remember the experience of being out there. The drive to the location. If we stayed out there, the nighttime feelings and excitement. The challenges. The dinner. The company. Whatever made that location ideal for a landscape. My thoughts and emotions while I took the shot. I try to convey those emotions while shooting. But those landscapes are for me. Emotions. Shots like this one. The ones with a story behind them. The ones with deep-rooted emotions in them. Those are the ones that really resonate with me. Those are the ones that will live on with my clients, friends, or family. That is why I shoot. That is why I love taking photos of families. People. Events. Weddings. Couples. Engagements. Because I want them to remember how they felt when they were at this point in their lives. How their lives were. I want the emotion tied to it. I love how the story unfolds. I want people to come back to me a year later, 5 years later, 10 years later and I can see how they've progressed. I can see how they've changed. They can see how their emotions are affected looking at this photo. Printing photos is a HUGE part of this. Looking at it on the screen is one thing. But holding it in your hands. Feeling the paper. The ink. The thickness and weight of the paper. The frame. Having something tangible in your hands and not lost somewhere on "the cloud" truly changes how you look at your photos. Emotions.So, if you've had a photoshoot with me, and want to work on something like this. Let's do it. Let's get those photos printed. Let's get some on your walls. Let's get an album going. Let's really get these emotions solidified in your minds. Burn them in. Remember that happiness. Love. Joy. Excitement for a new job. New partner. Old partner with renewed vigor. Love of family. Love of life. Love of your passion. Let's start this journey. Continue this journey. Together. The photo below wasn't the photo from today. But capturing a moment like this. This is why I do what I do. Seeing that friendship and respect. Happiness. Back in a time where we could go out and listen to live music. This is Greg and Jay at a live jam that Jay was hosting. I remember how I felt when I took this photo. I bet they can remember how they were feeling at this moment. Do you have moments like that? Let's capture them. ‍<figure class="w-richtext-figure-type-image w-richtext-align-center" data-rt-type="image" data-rt-align="center"><div><img src="https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/62cd866c4c6e980afa726f68/62d0230da9b59c3297ef6aa9_35cdbd_b01b1af49aea4cd5b37ae45f2783dea0_mv2.webp" loading="lazy"></div><figcaption>Greg and Jay</figcaption></figure>

Why Do I Do This?

<h3 id="">1. Harry Pointer and His Cat Photo</h3>Cat photos. We've all seen them. Most of us love them. Heck, there's even a ton of funny ones out there. We've seen an influx of these photos in recent years that has also began trending on almost all social media platforms. It's one of the most popular searches on Google, but here's what you might not know. The first cat photo was taken in the 19th Century when Harry Pointer took a photo of his cat. He started by taking photos of his cats in normal poses. Sleeping in a basket, drinking milk and resting. Sometime around 1870, he started posing them in unusual ways. Something that would create humour or that mimicked human activities - a cat riding a tricycle, cats roller-skating and even a cat taking a photograph with a camera. He quickly realized that a cat photograph could be turned into an amusing image by adding a written caption such as Happy New Year. They could turn them into greeting cards and send them to their friends and family. &nbsp;Who knew the 19th Century held such a gem!? <figure class="w-richtext-figure-type-image w-richtext-align-center" data-rt-type="image" data-rt-align="center"><div><img src="https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/62cd866c4c6e980afa726f68/62d01f9d10a0f6a204911824_35cdbd_22d789dc408242b2b5cfd3169573e6fc_mv2.webp" loading="lazy"></div><figcaption>A Harry Pointer cat photo</figcaption></figure>‍<h3 id="">2. View From The Window At Le Gras. It's Nearly 200 Years Old.</h3>Joseph Niepce took this photo, almost 200 years ago. It took 8 long hours to capture. It was taken in a place in Saint-Loup-de-Varennes, France. It is called 'view from the window at Le Gras.' The process used to capture this photo was quite complex. But, simplified, a sensitized plate made of pewter and lightly coated with bitumen. The bitumen hardened in the light areas, but in the dark areas it remained soluble and was washed away with a solution of lavender and white petroleum. It is estimated this photo was taken in 1826 or 1827. This type of "camera" was called a Camera Obscura. &nbsp;The literal Latin translation meaning "Dark Room." It became the prototype for today's cameras.Niepce also invented some more well-known inventions you probably heard of. Propellers and boats. Yup. Nothing like a camera. Guess what else? He also invented the first internal combustion engine. He called it the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyr%C3%A9olophore" target="_top" id="">Pyréolophore</a> and he invented it with his brother in 1807. ‍<figure class="w-richtext-figure-type-image w-richtext-align-center" data-rt-type="image" data-rt-align="center"><div><img src="https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/62cd866c4c6e980afa726f68/62d01fd1f19f9ed5d8bc5773_35cdbd_7593c6b788f34044a26722d4ebde48ac_mv2.webp" loading="lazy"></div><figcaption>View From The Window at Le Gras</figcaption></figure>‍<h3 id="">3. First Colour Image Captured in 1861</h3>Keeping with the first image theme, the first colour image was captured in 1861 by Thomas Sutton with the help of a mathematical physicist Thomas Clerk Maxwell. He was an inventor and photographer who came up with the process. He also created the first SLR camera! He layered 3 separate images of red, green, and blue filters. They were then projected onto photosensitive paper with the appropriate filters. Sutton also earlier invented the panoramic picture with a wide-angle lens in 1859. ‍<figure class="w-richtext-figure-type-image w-richtext-align-center" data-rt-type="image" data-rt-align="center"><div><img src="https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/62cd866c4c6e980afa726f68/62d01fec7efe07b0a8ae776e_35cdbd_c2e0cb011df547dfb8f824f8cdb5d28b_mv2.webp" loading="lazy"></div><figcaption>The First Colour Photograph by Thomas Sutton</figcaption></figure>‍<h3 id="">4. First Digital Camera Invented In 1975</h3>The first digial camera was invented in 1975 by Steven Sasson who worked for Eastman Kodak. It weighed 8lbs. Which is 4x the average weight of today's DSLR's at approx 2lbs. ‍<figure class="w-richtext-figure-type-image w-richtext-align-center" data-rt-type="image" data-rt-align="center"><div><img src="https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/62cd866c4c6e980afa726f68/62d0200e7efe0723b6ae7893_35cdbd_3a109953e01d40e9a278d20c92b21b85_mv2.webp" loading="lazy"></div><figcaption>Steven Sasser's First Kodak Camera</figcaption></figure>‍<h3 id="">5. Auto-Focus Invented in 1979</h3>The first SLR camera was invented in 1861 by Thomas Sutton shortly after he captured the first colour photograph. It wasn't until over 100 years later when Polaroid finally made an auto-focus feature. They typically get their name from instant cameras and film cameras. But they were the first to invent the auto-focus feature. Minolta then created what would be the standard for the SLR camera.‍<figure class="w-richtext-figure-type-image w-richtext-align-center" data-rt-type="image" data-rt-align="center"><div><img src="https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/62cd866c4c6e980afa726f68/62d0205ce0be88f42f388ea6_35cdbd_027e3353a321434785e2b67bd7706a7a_mv2.webp" loading="lazy"></div><figcaption>Polaroid SX-70 Land Camera. First Camera With Auto-Focus</figcaption></figure>‍<h3 id="">6. Coffee Is A Developer</h3>Coffee can develop black and white images. Caffenol is a real thing. You can use coffee, vitamin c and washing soda to develop your black and white negatives. The coffee and vitamin c creating a binding agent and form a developer. The washing soda is then used as an alkaline in the solution allowing you to develop your images. Mind. Blown!‍<figure class="w-richtext-figure-type-image w-richtext-align-center" data-rt-type="image" data-rt-align="center"><div><img src="https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/62cd866c4c6e980afa726f68/62d0207c7977b948aa89b771_35cdbd_5aa8bbe7ddbb478c862d4cf74b73bed9_mv2.webp" loading="lazy"></div><figcaption>Coffee, Vitamin C and Washing Soda can be a developer</figcaption></figure>‍<h3 id="">7. Bliss</h3>The most viewed photograph in history. It's called 'Bliss.' It's the Windows XP background. We all know it. Almost all of us have seen it. It was captured by Charles O'Rear in 1996. ‍<figure class="w-richtext-figure-type-image w-richtext-align-center" data-rt-type="image" data-rt-align="center"><div><img src="https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/62cd866c4c6e980afa726f68/62d020a04a6ae1793d03754e_35cdbd_19970466b09e4f0cae821aac0d435738_mv2.webp" loading="lazy"></div><figcaption>Charles O'Rear's 'Bliss' taken in 1996</figcaption></figure>‍<h3 id="">8. The No Smile Squad</h3>Old photographs depict scores of people. Grumpy people. People who never smiled. We heard the joke in 'A Million Ways To Die In The West' when they joked about one guy smiling in a photo, to which she proves it later in the movie. Do you know why people never smiled in photos before? We all figured it was because it took so long for the exposure to happen. Thinking 5 or 10 minutes was a long time. Wrong, but somewhat right. It was a long exposure. But it's not what you think. It would take HOURS Often including neck and head braces to keep the pose. Maybe they were dead people? Some of the most popular photos in the 1800s were of dead people. This was how people recorded a memory and physical appearance for a deceased family member. How weird!‍<figure class="w-richtext-figure-type-image w-richtext-align-center" data-rt-type="image" data-rt-align="center"><div><img src="https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/62cd866c4c6e980afa726f68/62d020c6ef9c1fb81d7fd853_35cdbd_b2f37a0cc4a24a3db8224cc1c8c1658d_mv2.webp" loading="lazy"></div><figcaption>Smiles? Who needs em</figcaption></figure>‍<h3 id="">9. Your Eye has an F-stop</h3>You eye in light has an F-Stop of F8.3. But it has to be in light. In the dark it has an F-stop of about F2.0. Bonus Fun FactIf you stare into someone's eyes for 10 minutes it'll induce and altered state of mental consciousness. In 2015, an Italian psychologist paired 20 people up (15 of them women) to stare at each other for 10 minutes. It was light enough to easily make out features of their partners face but low enough to diminish their overall colour perception. They had strange "out-of-body" experiences. On top of that they had hallucinations of monsters, their relatives, and themselves in their partners faces. More can be found at the link below.https://www.sciencealert.com/staring-into-someone-s-eyes-for-10-minutes-induces-an-altered-state-of-consciousness‍<figure class="w-richtext-figure-type-image w-richtext-align-center" data-rt-type="image" data-rt-align="center"><div><img src="https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/62cd866c4c6e980afa726f68/62d020fe32b7532834e2023a_35cdbd_153cb4d1dc2244d297ef55ae03e1bb38_mv2.webp" loading="lazy"></div><figcaption>This would be an interesting test to do</figcaption></figure>‍‍<h3 id="">10. That's Not A Moon. It's a... Oh Wait, It Is The Moon</h3>The pictures of the Moon were captured by Hasselblad cameras. Twelve of them on different trips to be exact. &nbsp;They left them there too. They were left to carry the 25kg of moon rock samples they were bringing back because they were so heavy. Hasselblad's phenomenal picture quality was chosen by photography enthusiast and prosective astronaut Walter Schirra. After a strip-down of the 500C and a new film magazine to have 70 exposures instead of 12 and a matte finish to reduce reflections, the Hassleblad went into space in October 1962. This camera captured the first spacewalk in 1965 during the Gemini IV made by Edward White with photos taken by James McDivitt. The following is an excerpt taken from the Hasselblad website about being in space and on the moon along with pictures from Hasselblad and NASA. "What could be deemed as one of the most iconic moments of Hasselblad in space was when the Apollo 11 mission successfully landed the Eagle on the Moon on 20 July 1969, signifying humanity's first steps off our own planet. A silver Hasselblad Data Camera (HDC) with Réseau plate, fitted with a Zeiss Biogon 60mm ƒ/5.6 lens, was chosen to document the lunar surface and attached to astronaut Armstrong's chest. A second black Hasselblad Electric Camera (HEC) with a Zeiss Planar 80mm ƒ/2,8 lens was used to shoot from inside the Eagle lunar module. The HDC had never been tested in space before, adding to the pressure of this once in a lifetime moment. Would the one Hasselblad camera used to shoot on the lunar surface capture the results everyone was hoping for?Working perfectly under the extreme conditions of the lunar surface, the HDC produced some of history’s most iconic photographs. After the successful shooting on 21 July 1969, the Hasselblad was hoisted up to the lunar lander with a line. Securely removing the film magazines, both cameras with lenses were left behind on the Moon in order to meet narrow weight margins for successful return.The journeys home from the Moon made very special demands on what could return regarding weight; from Apollo 11 to the final Apollo 17 mission, a total of twelve camera bodies were left behind on the lunar surface. Only the film magazines containing the momentous images were brought back. The resulting photographs captured the history of humanity in the making."https://www.hasselblad.com/history/hasselblad-in-space/ <figure class="w-richtext-figure-type-image w-richtext-align-center" data-rt-type="image" data-rt-align="center"><div><img src="https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/62cd866c4c6e980afa726f68/62d021268088c7364b27709d_35cdbd_8a0e608b9f5e4a12bcb2d3452ffcec83_mv2.webp" loading="lazy"></div></figure><figure class="w-richtext-figure-type-image w-richtext-align-center" data-rt-type="image" data-rt-align="center"><div><img src="https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/62cd866c4c6e980afa726f68/62d02135ef9c1fcffa7fdb2a_35cdbd_f5bebde6e3584fc4a63c1afedc7a9521_mv2.webp" loading="lazy"></div></figure>

Photography Facts You May Or May Not Know

&nbsp;This is a debate that has been happening for a little while now. And while phone cameras are getting better and better, there's some things to consider when it comes to deciding whether or not to only rely on a phone camera. &nbsp; Let me say first, the old adage of "The best camera is the one in your hand," still most definitely holds true. It's better to capture that shot than to miss it completely, that is, if capturing the shot is your end goal. And especially so in the age of social media where the photos we're taking aren't being blown up and put on walls as art that is 3.5 feet by 4 feet big. Or something along those lines. They're pretty good at doing your standard 8"x10" and printing it off at Walmart, London Drugs or your local photo printing kiosk. It does the trick, it captured a closely held memory and it looks good to boot. But if you're going to get into doing some photography, and think the phone will cut it, let me throw some info at you. &nbsp; Let's start by how a photo is captured. Any photo, is a sensor that is exposed to light and capturing the light and dark onto a medium, with colour sensors capturing green, red and blue colours. Given that our eyes can capture greens much easier than reds or blues, most colour sensors (as in pretty much all cameras nowadays) are approx 50% green, 25% blue, and 25% red photo sites on the sensors. This is a Bayer Filter Array system. As opposed to the Fuji X-trans sensor that has large green sites with mixed up blue and red sites around them. But that's some super technical stuff. &nbsp;The stuff everyone wants to know is about megapixels. But that's not what everyone SHOULD be looking at. Do megapixels matter? &nbsp;Yes. &nbsp;Well; and no. &nbsp;Let me explain. Sure megapixels matter. It allows far more information to be captured with more megapixels. This is very true. But if you look at a 50 mp phone, vs a 50 mp medium format &nbsp;camera, which will be better? Clearly the medium format will. Why is that? Microns. Or size of the photo sites plays a much bigger role than people understand. While the average phone's microns (expressed as "μm") is approx 1.1μm a medium format camera averages around 8.4μm. Which is a huge difference. It can capture not only the same amount of information in that pixel that the phone can capture, but "it captures much better dynamic range which gives a better transitional tonal value, better tonal accuracy, and better colour accuracy.¹" The smartphone's ability is to capture light and colours will be far less than the ability of the medium format. Even a crop sensor, like the one on my Canon 60D only has 18.1 mp but the micron size is 4.3μm, meanwhile the microns in my Samsung S9 is only 1.22μm in an 8 mp sensor. Which is why you see the photos on your smart phone with weird artifacts once you start doing minimal editing to them. This is due to only being able to capture in JPG format, which burns the information into the image to reduce the size, and the lack of colour information that can be absorbed. Now, there are smartphones that have the ability to capture in RAW format, which allows you to better manipulate the image, as it's capturing and holding ALL the information, rather than burning it into the image. Even the S10 has a cameras capable of 8-16 mp. But with only that 1.22μm-1.44μm sensor, depending on the version model of S10 and which camera you happen to be using on it. &nbsp;These smartphones are just that. Smart. Smart as heck to be honest. Sometimes much smarter than we can imagine. Sometimes, too smart. But there are a lot of sacrifices to get these certain technologies that we want in them. The sensor size to have such a portable camera is the sacrifice that we take here. But digital zoom will never replace a zoom lens. Although you can now get mini lenses for your smartphone as well. Plus you can get an off camera flash and attach it via an app for some flash providers too! You can now switch between JPG and RAW. Do long exposures. Pro modes. Take better HDR (High Dynamic Range - Lots of difference in light) photos. You can still take 3 or more photos into photoshop from your phone and merge them together for an HDR image if you want. It has the ability to do a panorama straight in camera. Add filters (BLECH) and much more. All stuff you can do in post processing with your camera. Except without the post processing. &nbsp;Most people are happy having the camera do all the work. Seems to be th &nbsp;at way in life too. They don't really care how something is done, they're just happy there's something out there to do it for them. I'm kind of the opposite with this stuff. I want as much control over it as possible. Am I a controlling person? No. But I may not like how the smartphone does something and will want to change it. But you can't. It's just how it's done with the tech in the camera. Meanwhile, I want to go back to using film. And will probably do so for some things in the near future. Maybe whip out a film camera when doing a family shoot. Using my DSLR to shoot with, and then take a select few shots on film, and continue with the DSLR. There's just something about being to take control over all the settings, all the processing. Choosing to use one type of film or another. Choosing what to Dodge and Burn. Double Expose. Or a multitude of other options that you can maybe do with a smartphone to an extent, but you're still limited. Limited to those microns. Limited to the information in the photo. Moreso than with a DSLR or film camera. Plus then there's the feeling of accomplishment that you just don't get with a smartphone. A smartphone you can just shoot and shoot and shoot until your card is full or your heart is content and then call it a day. But when you're using a film camera, that gets expensive; really quick. So you pick and choose your shots. Slow down. Do your own thing until you're ready and then BANG. And if that shot turns out. Even after working with a DSLR and seeing so many terrible shots and all of a sudden you see just that ONE that turns out the way you hoped, and then maybe work to make it just slightly better. Boy, that accomplishment. That feeling. Pride. &nbsp;It's all a matter of choice but, for the time being at least, smartphones won't completely replace an entry level or mid level camera. Though they can still take some pretty stellar photos! In my humble opinion, I do not believe that a smartphone is better than a DSLR or mirrorless camera. But it's a great option for when you don't have time to put the proper lens on, set up a tripod, put on your ND filters or graduated filter or macro tubes or whatever it is you need to do to set it up. That's when a smartphone comes in handy. That's when it works well. So enjoy your smartphones. Enjoy your DSLR. Enjoy your mirrorless. Your Pinhole. Your film camera. Large format, medium format, or smartphone sized cameras. Enjoy your photos, but shoot with a purpose. Not just for the sake of shooting. Print your work. Hang it somewhere. Give it to friends. Whatever your heart desires!‍

Smartphone Cameras Vs. DSLR's and Mirrorless Cameras

How do I learn how to take photos? Well, I usually start with some tutorials on YouTube. Search for some reading on the material I'm researching so I can visually see diagrams about how they set up lights and subjects. I'm a very visual person, so I learn by seeing. I'm also a kinetic learner, so I learn by doing. &nbsp;Below is a diagram of how to set up a Rembrandt lighting set up. If you know anything of his paintings, you'll know he had a particular style of lighting how he painted. The thought is that he had a skylight high above where his subjects stood and it created a small triangle on the subject's cheek. It became an iconic lighting technique. Later on, I'll show you what this looks like.‍<figure class="w-richtext-figure-type-image w-richtext-align-center" data-rt-type="image" data-rt-align="center"><div><img src="https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/62cd866c4c6e980afa726f68/62d021cb20a58dcfdc7f9cc3_35cdbd_cc3746c81c0742baa2ab1c512dc0267e_mv2.webp" loading="lazy"></div></figure>‍After seeing and reading about what I'm planning on doing. Usually, I'll set up in my basement. I'll put up some lights, I'll bring out almost ALL my gear. I try the setup that I read about and saw, and then I start to get creative. I move things around, I add flags and scrims and lights and different poses and angles. This is where I'm most creative. Not in post. I usually keep things pretty light in post production. But I'm creative in the moment. I start in one spot. Usually a spot I'm comfortable with, and then my creativity usually takes over. I start getting really excited about it. I really do. One of my favourite lighting styles is low key lighting. Usually something that is lit from the back providing a kind of rim light around one side of the subject. I was working with some low key lighting today and ended up with "almost" Rembrandt lighting. I say almost because my head was tilted slightly forward so the triangle ended up being slightly too high. The light was also around the back of me, but with me being turned it made the triangle below my eye. If I had turned slightly away from the camera more, angled my head up a bit and had the light just slightly higher, this would have been great Rembrandt lighting. Rembrandt lighting is a historically classical style of lighting. A lot of people feel it suits men more than women with the dramatic, contrast-y style of it. Women can definitely easily pull this style off though as well. ‍<figure class="w-richtext-figure-type-image w-richtext-align-center" data-rt-type="image" data-rt-align="center"><div><img src="https://uploads-ssl.webflow.com/62cd866c4c6e980afa726f68/62d021bc862c6f8f772a8d5b_35cdbd_e317b70eaa9b4bdaadfb3a91933e1d53_mv2.webp" loading="lazy"></div></figure>‍However, I wasn't going for Rembrandt lighting. It just turned out that way. Happy accident as Bob Ross would say. I was going for some low-key lighting. Which went SUPER well with the black and white I had in mind here. I absolutely love how this picture turned out. I can't wait to make similar pictures with some more people. I love working like this and I'm definitely excited to have started this journey. Signing off for now,Brad

How I Learn

Thank you so much for spending the afternoon with our family and for taking such wonderful and artistic pictures ! Despite the weather, we had a lot fun! You certainly know how to put our little ones at ease, and made it so much fun for them. The photos and the video are really good. We really appreciate your speedy delivery of the digital photos. We certainly look forward to working with you again in the near future. Thank you again for your help in creating a happy memory for our family.

Tulian T.

Brad did a bang up job for our wedding. Plus he sprinkled in some extra bits of “him” that just added a fantastic, real, and personal touch to everything. Thanks again Brad.

Sarah and Phil

Very professional and fun at the same time! Brad captured our wedding day perfectly we could not be happier with how all the photos turned out. everyone had so much fun with our photo shoot! 10/10

Kathryn and Jeremy

My husband and I were lucky enough to have Brad be our photographer on our wedding day. From the smallest details to the largest ones he had everything covered, really going out of his way to get the best shots. His passion for photography really shines through!!! The best part about the whole experience was how much fun we had… my husband is not much for photos but Brad was making him smile and laugh with his jokes and amazing personality, I never would have thought hours of photos would be so much fun and the best part is that we have proof…. Brad captured every smile, all the laughter and love that we were experiencing that day more than we could have hoped.

Jennifer & Andrew

Default

The perfect package for couples looking for a little more coverage! Our Classic Wedding Package includes a full day of coverage as well as a complimentary engagement session.

Classic Wedding

The Focal Essentials All You Need Plan lets you create a beautiful business website with the power of AI. Create Packages, Pricing pages and Blogs. Make booking easy for your client with Focal's Booking System. 5TB of Gallery Storage.

All You Need (Website + Booking System) Plan

neutral

As the flowers are getting ready to start to bloom in a couple month, this signals the warmer months are coming, there&rsquo;s another significant event that many of us start anticipating - the wedding season. How many of you are excited for marrying your favourite person? How many of you are excited to watch your favourite people get married? I can sense the excitement and anticipation of many couples who are ready to walk down the aisle this year and next.
&nbsp;
This blog post is dedicated to all those who are gearing up for their big day in 2026 and 2027, and those who are just as excited to attend these joyous occasions. Whether you're the one saying 'I do' or you're a guest, let's dive in and find out how to make the most of the wedding season.
&nbsp;
It all starts with nailing down your dates. The earlier you secure your dates, the smoother the planning process will be. Whether it's booking your venue or scheduling your honeymoon, having a set date makes everything else fall into place. For those attending weddings, knowing the dates early enables you to plan your travel and accommodation, especially if it's a destination wedding.
&nbsp;
Next it's about securing your vendors.
&nbsp;

Whether you're recently engaged or been engaged for a few years and just deciding to start planning the wedding this year, it's important to start planning early. Lock in your vendors early and the small things will be much easier to work on. The small details. the personal touch you add to your day.
&nbsp;
I'll be posting this on Facebook on my page there, feel free to comment your favourite Calgary vendors if you've been married before. Or the ones you've already booked!

Prepping for Wedding Season: A Comprehensive Guide for 2026

Capturing Life's Moments, One Frame at a Time.

A quick wedding highlight reel. I'm a hybrid video/photo shooter. So I can capture your wedding with both photo and video! There's info about this in the packages section!