Check out the new ION Magazine blog - featuring Daily(ish) Reviews, behind-the-scenes peeks at fashion and music shoots, and access to guest list and insider info on the by-now-legendary ION parties. They assure me that 08 is going to be next-level, and Static Photography and Kris Krug will be a part of it all! Good work Fiona, Vanessa, and Michael.

PS. We’ve also recently created a ION Magazine Flickr group. Submit your photos there and have them included in the magazine and the blog. Here’s some more info…

For the past 2 semesters I've been teaching at VFS in the Entertainment Business Management faculty. I teach 'Internet Technologies 101' and 'Internet Technologies 202'.

As a part of our final project for 'Internet Technologies 202' each of the students has been creating and maintaining their own Wordpress.com blog. With Matt coming into town, and so many awesome social media types on hand for Nothern Voice I decided what better way to toss them all into the deep end, than requiring that they all come to Northern Voice to pass my class. *evil grin*

This weekend is BarCamp Vancouver and I’ll be heading up a PhotoWalk on Friday night and a PhotoCamp on Saturday.

Here’s some shots from last years late night photowalk at BarCamp.

If you’re interested in photography, cameras, or just want to talk a cool walk through East Van… it would be great to see lots of you out there. Here’s the details. Get in touch with me if you have any questions.

PhotoWalk
- signup on FaceBook
- meet at WorkSpace
- 11pm, Friday August 17th

PhotoCamp
- signup on the Wiki
- @ Workspace during BarCamp Vancouver
- TBD, Sunday August 18th

Back in Vancouver for a week after a few days in Seattle at Gnomedex. Gnomedex is a secret club of uber geeks that gets together once a year to hang, chill, chat, chest beat, network, share, and collaborate. Or something. It’s put on by friends Chris and Ponzi and draws a great group of nerds, dorks, and geeks from around the globe. I got the chance to hang with lots of old friends like Ethan, Lee, Mark, Dave, Darren, Scott, Schlomo, and Jay and met lots of new ones like Guy, Cali, Jacob, Molly, and others.

Check out this awesome video that explains how Wiki’s work by social designer Lee Lefever.

Click To Play

I took this quiz that Thomas Hawk pointed me towards and the results that were ‘the robot’ thinks that my photography most resembles Helmut Newton’s… who happens to be one of my inspirations. Awesome.

My buddies over at Burnkit, the hottest web design and creative services firm in Vancouver, launched their new website today… and it’s smokin’. They are a part of a bunch of boutique design agencies that are participating in a web redesign contest called May 1st ReBoot.

The site features video embedded in Flash and lots of awesome photos of the Burnkit team and their stunning new offices in Railtown. I was honored to find upon clicking through the super creative ‘Team’ section of the site that a couple of my photos had been used on Jeremy Crowle’s profile. Swedish! I should probably also mention, that like any uber-hip new media outfit… they have their own Facebook group.

Solid work guys. Can’t wait to see what you come up with next.

(this has been cross-posted from my fashion photography blog)

We've really been learning a ton about flashes, strobes and studio lighting for fashion photography in the past year and one of the main avenues for my education has been assisting other working photographers on their creative projects.

Recently we had the chance to go to a local Gastown boxing training gym to assist on a shoot for Trevor Brady. We brought our new lights and between the 2 of us we lit 4 different locations and came up with these shots.

We spent most of the time on set setting up and testing lighting and cameras, but also had the opportunity to step in and Trevor took a couple test shots of Kris this time around and published them with the rest of the images. *blue steel* Careful, now he's a 'male model. Ha.

Trevor is a true creative talent… We're big fans of him as a person of his work as well. He's been super gracious and knowledgable and very fun to hang out with. Thanks again man.

Model - Kay (Jettmodels.com).
Photography - Trevor Brady.
Assistant - Kris Krug.
Makeup - Dana Mooney.
Wardrobe Stylist - Jessica Smith.
Location - Vancouver, Canada

(This is cross-posted from my fashion photography blog)

Some cold wet Saturday's in Vancouver it's just plain hard to get rolling. To fire up our creative juices this weekend, Static pulled together a shoot with aspiring models Margaret Torgerson, Jordan Petryk and Bill MacEwan to build up their portfolios and have some fun.

We pulled from Discollection made by local vancouver fashion designers kdon and Elika Designs, styled by Kimberley Nelson and hit the Vancouver streets and alleys. This is what we came up with. Check out the rest of the creatives over at Flickr.

(This is cross-posted from my photography blog over at http://staticphotography.com)

We recently had the chance to wander around Gastown and dowtown Vancouver with actor and musician Mark Huculak. He looks like Justin Timberlake and sounds like Akon and he was an absolute pleasure to hang-out with and shoot.

I shot 100% film on this including both color negative and cross-processed expired slide film. Check out the rest of the headshots and portraits over on Flickr and check out Mark and his music on his MySpace.

If you’re an actor or actress (or model or dancer or DJ or comedian) looking to have headshots or portraits taken and/or build your portfolio please don’t hesitate to drop us an email or give us a call. We’re fun, easy to talk to and affordable… look at the results!

I recently assisted on a photoshoot with awesome Vancouver fashion photographer Trevor Brady. Trevor is an amazing guy with fingers in lots of different creative pies: from the web, to retail, to photography.

I brought out my new Alien Bees studio lighting and we tinkered around with our 5 lights combined. I learned a ton about studio lighting gear and am excited about another upcoming shoot that I will be assisting him on at at boxing studio here in Gastown. Stay tuned.

Thanks Trev for having me out and to everyone who collaborated on this super creative shoot.

Photographer: Trevor Brady
Assistant: Kris Krug
Model: Bianca (Jett Models)
Makeup: Dana Mooney
Styling: Adan Chan
Location: Studio 304

(cross-posted from my Vancouver Fasion Photography blog over at www.staticphotography.com)

We recently had the chance to do a fun fashion editorial photoshoot with Natalie Pagnucco. We used several impromtu Vancouver photoshoot locations including an alley along Water Street in Gastown, and Matthew Good's apartment.

Congratulation to Natalie, she has recently been picked up by the Vancouver modeling agency L2 Models and has used several of the shots she worked on with Static in her portfolio.

Kdon over at Discollection is an amazing designer and stylist. I've been using her for lots of Static Photography shoots lately and was even more impressed than usual in the job she did styling the Ashley-Rae photoshoot with awesome designer vintage clothes from her store.

I recently had the chance to shoot for Denyss Halo of The Black Halos and have a 2nd booking with the whole band coming up soon. Thx to kdon and Patron of Discollection for styling the shoot!

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

For those of you who don't know, that lil white 'puter sitting on the bar at Workspace has an awesome app on it called Photobooth. It works with the onboard camera and you can take fun and silly pics of yourself and the peeps you see at Workspace. I'm currently working on a lil documentary project where I take at least one snap everytime I show up at the space. It's been fun and I have quite the collection going. If you do take some please tag them 'photobooth' and 'workspace' so we can find them on the internet. You can also submit them to the Workspace group on Flickr. I'm going to make a Qoop poster of them all my Workspace Photobooth self portraits and give it to Bill for Xmas.

Mmmm… Movember.

So you’ve decided to be awesome.

You’re about to embark on a mission that will not only change your face, but also the face of men’s health. It’s natural to have questions, to wonder if you have the sheer strength of will to make the world a better place.

Fear not, Mo Soldier. We have the answers that you sorely crave.

How to participate

1. Before you do anything, sign up. Do it now. Seriously.
2. Tell your friends. Ask them to pledge you, or, if you think they have the testosterone, challenge them to grow their mo’ as well.
3. Spread the word as much as you can, through your blog, through the mail, or by spelling out “GROW YOUR MO” in skywriting.
4. On Movember 1, shave your mo’ for the last time until December, and prepare yourself for the adoration of a hero.
5. At the end of Movember, come together with your Mo’ Bros and celebrate a job well done at the Mo Bash on November 30 at the Gladstone Hotel in Toronto. (Barrows will definitely hold their own party somewhere, all participants will be welcome)We’ll do a Vancouver version of this party if any of you cats can actually grow whiskers.

Movember Rules

1. Once registered, each Mo Bro must begin on the 1st of Movember with a clean shaven visage. Five-o’clock shadows at 10 am are considered ‘false starts.’ (participants will have to take their own ones and mail them no later than 11am on the 1st)
2. Each gentleman’s moustache must, through the entire month of Movember, adhere to the following guidelines:
a. At no time shall the aforementioned ‘mo’ join the sideburns — that’s a beard.
b. At no time shall the gentleman’s chin hair overshadow the Mo’s brilliance, nor may it join at the sides of the Mo — that’s a goatee.
c. For gentlemen who crave balance above all things, we will permit growth of a patch of the man’s own design under his bottom lip (aka a soul patch).
d. At no point may a gentleman’s eyebrows connect to the moustache. We most definitely do not endorse this.
3. Failure to observe these guidelines will, at the complete discretion of the Movember Committee, result in an embarrassing ejection from further Movember activities, including the Gala Parté. You do not desire this.
4. The Movember Committee accepts no responsibility for requests of heroism, increased female affection resulting in the alienation of girlfriends, increased senses of self-satisfaction, or any other of the potential side-effects of sporting a Movember mo.

Spread The Word

The best way to tell the world about how you’re going to change it is word of MOuth. Tell your buddies, your brothers, your fathers, your grandfathers, your uncles and your cousins about the cause. Tell them you’re a Mo’ Bro/Sista, and they should be Bros/Sistas too.

Be forewarned, they may object; they may resist. You’re likely to hear things like:

“Mine will look ugly.” “My office won’t allow it.” “My girlfriend/wife/casual bed-friend has banned moustaches from our common living space.”

Stand strong Brothers and Sistas. Be brave

This WILL get interesting…

My buddy Bill is opening an awesome new shared Workspace for independant artists, geeks, and other creative entrepenerial types an awesome part of Vancouver. I’m a member and so are lots of other great peeps. Anyway, he’s holding a photo contest and giving away 10 free month long memberships. It’s a great idea and would be a great way to see if the space and the scene is right for you. Here’s the deets…

If your desk is totally overflowing or you spend time with your laptop open on public transit, show us! Send us a picture of yourself working under less-than-ideal conditions for your chance to win a one month evening membership to WorkSpace.
We will be awarding 10 memberships and are accepting submissions from now until August 16th. Winners will be announced August 18th. For more info check out http://abetterplacetowork.com/contest

On a side note, Bryght is moving offices and will soon be neighbors with Workspace over at One Alexander.

Check out this quick interview with George from Flickr at the Vancouver International Digital Festival on Granville Island. I think if you absolutely forced me to pick a favorite Flickr peep…. I’d have to go with George.

I was humbled tonight to get a beautiful testimonial on my Flickr profile page tonight from Mommy Peace… someone I know online but have never met.

“A search for “Flaming Lips” brought me to KK +, his friends and one of the best ever photos of the band.

KK’s photos have also acted as the portal for my children and my studies on degrees of seperation, community and its evolution. KK+ is also an execellent example of the importance of ones name.

Continue to live big Kris…the next generation is watching.”

Wow. That’s like the sweetest thing ever Danie. Thx.

Last week the Bryght guys went down to Seattle for our second Gnomedex in Seattle put on by friends Chris and Ponzi. We saw lots of our geek peeps and a great time was had by all. The event was keynoted by John Edwards who was there to make connections with the blogging community and hear and learn about technology (I got my pic taken with him by Ted Leung backstage… w00t!).

My favorite talks were by Ethan Kaplan and Philip Kaplan (not related). Ethan works at Warner Brothers Records and talked about the future of music and the sales/marketing/distribution machine that propels it. Phillip runs AdBright and started FuckedCompany and gave an engaging chat about promotions and building buzz.

Media was created, products and companies were launched, and connections were made. Check out my photoset on Flickr as well as the Gnomedex tag. Boris and I got interviewed by the Lipgloss and Laptops girls and the episode turned out pretty funny… Boris going on about his hair and me getting nailed with questions about my China exploits and personal grooming habits. *blush*

Thanks to Chris and Ponzi for an awesome event and all their hospitality. I love it that you guys liked last years photos enough to use them so prominently and hopefully you'll find some more this time around. And thx so much for the awesome Robosapien… my daughter Sierra loves him!

It was so fun to see great old peeps like Eric, Chris, Tara, Will, Marc, Alex, Bre, Matt, Captain AJAX, Dave-O, Jay, Derek and Air, Ted and Julie as well as meet new ones like Corey, PUD, Ben, John, and Kosso.

(cross-posted from my Bryght blog)