Pretty

You can't even tell this is the inside of an arena, can you (from the Casey House Ball, shot for the Globe and Mail)?

Stevie Nicks

Yes, that is Stevie Nicks (shot for the Globe and Mail). Yes, I went to the Fleetwood Mac concert last time they were in Toronto. Yes, I felt a little bit like a fan girl (unusual since celebrity doesn't normally affect me).

The Stop and Foodshare Toronto

One of the best assignments I've ever shot was a story for La Presse about sustainable food here in Toronto. Writer Laura-Julie Perrault was traveling across Canada writing about a number of different food-related issues, and during her visit to Toronto she and I visited the Stop Community Food Centre on Davenport, the Stop's Green Barn at Wychwood Art Barns and then finally stopped in at Foodshare in Bloorcourt Village.

I was struck about how passionate everyone was about their work and their communities. Everyone seemed to be genuinely committed to making a change in the lives of Torontonians. It was inspiring.

Take a look at a mix of photos from all of our different stops along the assignment.

Doors Open Toronto

I had a great assignment shooting two spaces for the Globe and Mail's spread on Doors Open Toronto. I had the opportunity to visit the Munk School of Global Affairs at U of T's campus and Daniels Spectrum in Regent Park. Both are beautiful spaces well worth checking out.

Munk School of Global Affairs at U of T Daniels Spectrum in Regent Park

Mashup

Here's a mashup of some shots from some recent assignments for the Globe and Mail.

There are a few business portraits, some shots of a daddy blogger, a photo from a Special Olympics event, Walmart Canada's CEO as a greeter at one of their Toronto stores and Hilary and Galen Weston in their home.

Sri Lanka Part 4 - The South

In the south we stayed in Talalla, Ahanghama and Galle.

I only had one day in Galle Fort and I wish I'd had more time. I'd expected the fort to be a touristy destination but it was beautiful and an actual place where Sri Lankans live, work and play. Divers jumped off of old outcrops of the fort, Muslims streamed to the mosque for call to prayer and young couples hid out on benches behind umbrellas in the hidden nooks of the fort.

Sri Lanka Part 3 - Nuwara Eliya

Nuwara Eliya is hill country in Sri Lanka, renowned for its tea plantations, old British hotels (it's nicknamed Little Britain) and the gorgeous hike to Horton's Plain where the "End of the World" is supposed to provide breathtaking views of the surrounding region.

Unfortunately for us it poured while we were there so we saw none of this - no tea pickers, no nature, just a few hills on the drive in and the inside of our hotel's old-school British pub. Then the sun came out the day we hit the road to leave so we got a nice view of all the mudslides.

Sri Lanka Part 2 - Kandy

Kandy is the cultural heart of Sri Lanka, with large hills surrounding the beautiful lake in the centre of town. It's a former capital and features the country's most significant religious and political site, the Temple of the Tooth.

Sri Lanka is a Buddhist country and it is believed that the temple holds a relic of Buddha's tooth and that whoever holds the relic of the tooth holds the governance of the country.

We visited in the evening and it was packed with worshippers dressed in white and praying. Since it's a functioning temple it felt a little strange slinking around with my camera but it was easily the most beautiful part of the trip.

Click here to see more photos from Sri Lanka.

Mashup

This is what happens when I don't blog regularly. You get a big mashup of portraits from editorial assignments for the Globe and Mail.

Remembrance Day

I photographed a small Remembrance Day ceremony at Mount Pleasant Cemetery, hosted by the Air Force, for the Globe and Mail.

It was a surprisingly emotional event, largely due to the number of young men and women who were in uniform. I think that it gave the event a totally different feeling from the traditional ceremonies with a large number of older vets.

Sierra Club Magazine

I no longer want to hear you complain about "these young people today!" At 19, Eden Full is CEO of her own company, a nationally ranked rower and a Princeton student who is just taking a break from school to change the world. She's incredibly bright, personable and funny. I wish most 35 year olds were even half as amazing as she is and she's only just getting started.

I was lucky enough that Sierra Club magazine asked me to photograph her because her story is really incredible. She's using solar power to change the lives of people around the world. Click here to read about her and her new solar powered invention.

BC

Spent a little time out in BC with the family. Just a few pics from the trip.

Shakespeare in the Ruff

Not to be confused with Shakespeare in the Park, which runs at High Park, Shakespeare in the Ruff is performing until September 2nd at Withrow Park.

Outtakes


I often shoot at events where I stumble upon pretty photos that have little to do with the event I'm shooting. It means that they don't really have a home (at least editorially speaking).

So here are a few outtakes from tonight's assignment for the Globe and Mail at the Toronto Hunt Club. I'm glad they get to live somewhere.

Waterfront


I had a corporate shoot on the Toronto waterfront a few weeks ago so I managed to grab a few unrelated shots.

Dominican village


Matt's brother Mike lives in the Dominican Republic, in Santo Domingo, with his fiance Lillian.

Lillian's family lives in a village inland that her grandfather helped to build. She was nice enough to bring us for a visit to meet her grandmother and the rest of her extended family.

Also, I got to ride a donkey (burro!), which was pretty entertaining (as you'll see by the thrilled expressions on the childrens' faces).