So Many Photos

In the last week or so I think I have taken more photos than the entire season combined. I did a huge photo shoot at the Fringe Festival for a social media company called FusedLogic who partnered with the Fringe to provide social networking services. Here is my huge photo set of over 600 shots. Walter Schwabe, FusedLogic's CEO, later wrote a blog post thanking the photographers and listing me as one of Edmonton's ten "trust agents."

Eastwoodfest is a community initiative of the Alberta Avenue revitalization currently happening. I managed to stroll down there on August 15 and for some shots which were later used by iNews880 as a photo gallery.

This past weekend I shot a wedding for some friends of mine. It was my first time ever shooting a wedding so I was pretty stressed about it. I was with the bridal party from early afternoon to the ceremony getting shots of everyone getting ready, then it was off to the church where, go figure, I knew the priest doing the ceremony. Then, after some basic formals, it was time for the reception. The food was mostly home-cooked, and great! I was glad to actually be able to sit down with some of my friends and enjoy myself. Some of the most memorable moments for me included two very cute little girls who had no problem posing for me, until they got dressed and it was time to go outside for their portraits. Then, one of them started crying and I had to chase the other one throughout the back yard. In bare feet. On dry grass. Fortunately, my camera was fast enough to catch them before the theatrics started.

At the reception, I sat at a table with a close friend and his son and family. His oldest granddaughter, who has really beautiful red hair, exclaimed that she was the only redhead in attendance. I said that I was the only Jewish person. Hey -- if I dyed my hair red before the wedding, I would have been the only Jewish redhead! Silly jokes aside, it was a fun time, and I also got some shots of the preparations and day before and gift-opening after. Here is a look at some of the shots on Facebook.

After the gift-opening on Sunday I headed down to the dragonboat races. Louise McKinney Park was totally full for parking, so we went to the south side and then scampered down to the riverbank. I never shot the boats from this perspective before, and the results were pretty decent.

That pretty well wraps up festival season for 2009. I am looking forward to getting out and shooting events in the fall and winter months - but not just yet. I still want to capture images in the sunshine and snow-less streets.

Small Community, Big Problems: What's a Jewish Girl to Do? - InterfaithFamily.com

I still get a lot of feedback concerning an article I wrote in 2000 about the Jewish dating scene in my city. Lately, I have been asked on more than one occasion to write a follow up. I honestly wasn't sure if I had anything further to say on the topic. However, when InterfaithFamily.com asked me, I reconsidered. Here is the result.

Small Community, Big Problems: What's a Jewish Girl to Do? - InterfaithFamily.com

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Girl On A Bicycle

Girl On A Bicycle
Originally uploaded by raise my voice

I went out for dinner with one of my staff on Tuesday evening, after which she had a quick errand to run on the south side. On our way back west, we spotted someone in long black trench coat riding a bicycle with fresh daisies in back. She insisted I take a picture, and we ended up following that cyclist down several side streets. Finally, we just pulled up alongside her and insisted we were not stalking her, but wanted to take a picture of her fabulous bike. Sylvia, as she told us her name, had a terrific European accent (I think German) to match the stylish sensibilities of her bike. She posed for us before peddling away near Whyte Avenue.

A Folk Fest Weekend

Edmonton Folk Music Festival
Originally uploaded by raise my voice

I spent this past weekend in Gallagher Park for the Edmonton Folk Music Festival. Does anyone ever go to Gallagher Park in the summer for any other reason? I think people ski there in the winter. I don't ski, but I sure got a good workout walking all over the park and up and down the main hill enjoying a vast variety of excellent music. I heard and saw some of my favourite acts and was introduced to a few new faves.

The highlight for me was seeing The Skydiggers on Saturday afternoon. The Skydiggers was one of my favourite bands in university and yet I had never had the opportunity to see them live yet. Did I ever feel nostalgic when the announcer said the band was celebrating 20 years! Some other memorable performances included Oysterband, Arrested Development, Hot Tuna, Great Lake Swimmers, and the Agnostic Mountain Gospel Choir.

I am writing in detail about many of these performances at my music-related blog, Inside World Music. To see my full photo set from the weekend, click here.

Dancing With the Lions - EdmontonStories.ca

Vote for my story at EdmontonStories.ca and you could win an iPod shuffle! My story is accompanied by a video. Here is the link:

http://www.edmontonstories.ca/story/dancing-with-the-lions

You can vote once per day.

Heritage Days Are Here Again

The Heritage Festival (or, Heritage Days as us long-time Edmontonians know it) is likely my favourite of all our summer festivals. The combination of ethnic music, dance, dress, and food really does it for me. I also enjoy bargain hunting for cool, inexpensive trinkets. This year I got two bracelets: a stretch wooden bracelet with anarchy symbols, the likeness of Che Guevara, and other subversive images, and a magnetic stretch band with Jesus and some of the saints pictured. I am not into saint veneration, but think of these images as art. It apparently seems to be all the rage now, I think because a main character in the teen vampire flick Twilight wears something similar. I also got a small, colourful bag at the Ibero-American tent (a friend of mine was working there) and my name spelled out in pictures at Korea. This is a Korean art form and I was amazed at how quickly the artist used these little brushes to make the pictures. "P" was made using a butterfly and rainbow - if you know my music, you'll get the symbolism of that! Of course, I gorged myself on ethnic treats, mostly from South America (empanadas, churros, flautas), but also made sure to grab my favourites from Afghanistan (kebab, bolani). Here is a look at what I saw and what I ate!