A Flurry of Vancouver Web 2.0 Startups

A new wave of Internet start-ups is hitting the west coast. Vancouver is experiencing something parallel to a second goldrush following the burst of the dot-com bubble with the growth of innovative, small companies tapping into the power of social network

Who can resist a moose with an iPod…

Northern Voice is back for a third time! Registration is open now for this fun Canadian blogging conference, scheduled for February 23 and 24 at UBC in Vancouver. This Friday December 1 (tomorrow!) is the final day for speaker submissions.

Hey there guys. We’ve been scrambling to pull together the plans for our 3rd Northern Voice personal publishing conference here in Vancouver. There are a couple important announcements from the past few days that I wanted to pass along.

The deadline for prentations, panels, and speakers has been extended to December 1st.

You don’t have to be famous or a professional conference presenter: we’re looking for both fresh and experienced voices who wish to present or chair a panel on topics related to personal publishing, the internet, gaming, interactive, entertainment, blogs, videoblogging, podcasting, virtual worlds like Second life and that all fun geekery. It’s all about the abstract. If it’s well written and topical, your chances will be much higher.

Submit a speaker application form.

Registration is open now!

The last 2 years this has been a hugely popular event… we’ve sold out both times months in advance of the event and needed to run a waiting list. Don’t wait… it’s not expensive.

Pre-register and save $10. It’s only $30 for a single day and $50 for both days as opposed to $40 for one day and $60 for both days at the door. I bet we’ll sell out like last year so pre-registration is recommended.

Register online now!

Also… I’m going to be pulling together another lil Photocamp at the Moosecamp part of the event. If you want to be a part of presenting or sharing please drop me a line and lets figure something out.

UPDATED: Darren just uploaded and posted some groovy new graphics and badges to help promote the event. Please check them out and consider sticking one on your site or in a post and linking to the site. This conference is promoted purely by word of mouth and we could use your mouth!

threads of gastown fashion show

Hey internets, So Monday night was the fashion show for the WEAVE charity, and it was a success. Lots of peeps came out, and it was great to see some familiar faces. I have yet to find out how much money was raised for the cause, but will post it when I f

got hats? | ChangeEverything.ca

Do you have any warm clothes you like to see go to people in Vancouver shelters right now but just can’t get to a shelter yourself?

Francois Brunelle’s Doppelgangers

Canadian photographer Francois Brunelle has embarked on an interesting quest to take portraits of people with their look-alikes. Not the most visually arresting photography project in the world, at least when compared to LaChapelle’s fashion work or Tol

Summary of the violent acts and punishments inflicted by God, according to the Bible

Where is the good and just God Christians say they worship?

Aperture vs Lightroom

We’re in an era of transition in the way that we manage digital photographs. A year ago, we were mostly stuck with the filesystem and tools that built on top of it. That experience sucked. Enormous books were written about Digital Asset Management (DAM) w

Social Media Club Vancouver at Bryght Offices

Social Media Club is being organized for the purpose of sharing best practices, establishing ethics and standards, and promoting media literacy around the emerging area of Social Media. This is the beginning of a global conversation about building an orga

Fighting comment spam with Drupal

Recently, I asked a colleague why I couldn’t comment on their fancy, new, corporate blog and this was their response

The Flickr Camera Guide

Popular photo sharing site Flickr has published lists and graphs of the most popular cameras used on the site. The results are an incredible camera guide.

lomokev - Your flickr superstars, interviewed.

Lomokev lives in a world of LOMO and Drum’n'Bass. He is one of the last LCA users doing real lomos on flickr. His photos are full of life, colors and high contrasts.

Use your photographic skills to show your support for Creative Commons!

Creative Commons is hosting the CC Swag Photo Contest on Flickr from November 6, 2006 through December 18, 2006. To enter, take a cool, creative picture of your favorite Creative Commons swag (t-shirts, buttons, stickers, etc. — all available from the S

Discollection’s Designer Vintage and kdon Photoshoot

This past August Kris Krug and I collaborated with Margie Torgerson, Shai Dhali and Petrina Torgerson on an innovative photoshoot in the alleys of Gastown. Margie got her hair done by Shai at Prepwork, after we met at discollection for styling and make-up

How We Do It Video: Blogging as We Travel

In the video we mention a number of resources. Our camera is the Pentax Optio WP. Our computer is the Sony VGN-T350. This site runs on the Drupal platform, which is hosted and supported by Bryght. Our graphic design was done by Rain City Studios. We sh

Basic Photographic Lighting Techniques

Learning lighting setups for portraits, glamour, boudoir, etc. can be expensive and frustrating. Especially if you set out to do it by the trail-and-error method. The cost of film and processing alone, while you are learning, can be staggering. And the re

Lighting for Still Photography

The behavior of light is not well understood by many photographers. This applies both from a technical as well as compositional standpoint. It must, however, be comprehended, at least in principle, if one is to master the art. This paper will attempt t

WTB: Photography Light Kit and Tripod

I don’t know that much about this stuff so any advice or recommendations would be good, but really what I’m looking for is something selling mid-range used gear for cheap. Please point me in the right direction if you hear of anything or know anyone.

Joseph Briante and Theresa James just started a boutique legal valet service in Vancouver called Hardcore Superstar and wanted to make a big splash. We shot these fun and sexy pics for their website on the streets of Vancouver. Check out the rest over at Flickr and read more about their novel business concept below and over at their website…

“Clients seeking legal services often feel financially and emotionally hog-tied by their lawyers. We understand. It is no secret that law firms operate on a model of deliberate inefficiency based on the billable hour. And clients do not need to be infected by the energy of negativity, worry and conflict generated by dealing with lawyers. Having worked in legal plantations, we know the real cost of legal services. Now you will too.

Hardcore Superstar offers clients a means to access the world of legal services more intelligently - through former big firm lawyers who understand the legal game. We assist you in using lawyers constructively, intentionally and only where necessary.”

(Cross-posted from my Hardcore Superstar Photoshoot post over at Static Photography.)

I recently had the chance to shoot photos of the DeSmogBlog team at their headquarters here in Vancouver. They wanted black and white, journalistic style photos that said “We’re serious about climate change!” Check out the photos from the shoot here and some nice words from the client in our portrait photography references section of the site. Thx Sarah!

“Kris’s eye as a portrait photographer is amazing. I have recommended him to many friends and colleages who need portraits done for personal or professional reasons, and he has never failed to impress. He has a way of totally disarming people, so that even the reluctant end up looking great in portraits… and that’s worth a lot. If you want boring standard headshots, they aren’t hard to find. If you want exceptional and interesting portraits, call Kris.”

-Sarah Pullman: DeSmogBlog.com. October ‘06.

(Cross-posted from my DeSmogBlog Photoshoot post over at Static Photography.)