JULY 13th SUMMER UPDATE

So summer's off and running and so far I have not done as much photography as I hoped. Gonna need to change that. I did go to Edmonton and was able to do x2 shoots in one day. What I discovered was I am REALLY out of shape and it was a challenge having to cope the next few days of pain after. The pandemic really took it's toll on my mental and physical health. I am in MUCH need of some exercise so I have been hitting the air bike more and trying to make plans to get out and walk, move and just keep busy physically. Finny doesn't love my new getting up more routines as he LOVES cuddling. 

Well, I am off to start moving as my BIG project is to organize our basement and purge some useless things I have been hoarding. Time to release some things I have not used in many many years. 

Here are some visuals from summer so far:

~ Summer 2022 Update ~

A Moment of Growth

I was having a summer where I was praying a lot to God for some inspiration and direction to take my talents and creativity. Within a day or so of praying I got a message from a very good friend, more about this message later. This friend visited me when I was sick, brought me food when I was in the hospital and most importantly kept me in his prayers. Not only did he pray for my health and healing, he got his church prayer group to lift me up in their prayers. I came out of cancer and was faced with a pandemic....my photography was mainly portrait based for so many years. I always love nature, landscapes and seeing it around me was always beautiful. When I started my photography the lenses I wanted to shoot animals and nature were so expensive as they were massive zoom lenses with a LOT of glass. Ok, that backstory is over, back to the message. My friend was able to purchase a Sigma 150-600 lens, which was on sale. He shared this with me and after discussion with my wife, we decided this would help me get going in a new direction with my photography. I called Vistek in Edmonton and turns out they only had 1 lens left and I was able to pick it up. I have always been happy with Vistek and their customer service and was glad I could support a business local to me.

 This image was the first thing I shot when I got home from Edmonton yesterday. I want to share more on my BLOG how this lens and I will work together to showcase how God has gifted us on earth a taste of heaven. Teasers of heaven are all around us, we just got to be open to seeing them and realizing that our Creator loves us and all these things we find beautiful are gifts from Him.

Thanks for reading this and I hope it inspires you to pick up a camera and look for those gifts. God is the ultimate artist and creator. I give Him all the praise for the gifts he gives me and the beauty around for me to capture with my camera.

-Randy

~ Summer 2021 Update ~

 SUMMER 2021 Update

Here it is summer of 2021 and I have not updated this blog in ages. I have been working on a post that goes into more details about my year of 2019 but for now I'll just give a quick overview.

September 2019 I was diagnosed with cancer, I started aggressive chemo and was hospitalized for about a month before they let me go home to finish chemo. I took the year off of teaching to recover and of course during that time COVID19 hit hard and the planet went into survival mode with people not allowed to gather. 

I started teaching in the fall of 2020 and now here I am finished one of the hardest years of teaching I have ever had. Thankfully I am vaccinated x2 with the wonderful phizer vaccine. It has been stressful at times and I did have to quarantine once because I was a close contact with a covid positive person in my class.

I have not touched my camera much, I am hoping this summer I can start shooting some new pixels and doing more photography!! Really going to try and get more physically active as I packed on some serious covid pounds....also due to a thyroid issue too. 

Anyway, this wasn't a super exciting blog post but glad I was able to post something. These aren't new photos, just some I have shot since recovering from cancer. Posted from my FLICKR. First pic is my ringing of the bell to celebrate finishing my chemo.

So if anyone that's reading this wants to shoot some photos with me, please contact me and let's create something awesome. I need to get out and adventure with a camera again!

-Randy

~ 244/365 Crazy Lights in the Sky ~

244/365
© www.randypond.ca
Driving home I saw I could get my 244th pic of the year by pulling off and shooting some Northern Lights.  Thankfully I had a tripod with me.  Going to be nice sleeping in and waking up knowing my 365 is done for the day. -Randy

~ 233/365 Keren ~

© www.randypond.ca
233/365
Keren came out to Vegreville today with her awesome BIKE and we shot up some pics!  Keren is a sponsored rider and model and has many many talents.  Always an honor to get to shoot with Keren! :)
-Randy

~ 230/365 Veggie Burger BBQ ~

© www.randypond.ca
230/365
BBQ today!!  Veggie BURGERS!!!! Woke up with a headache, one of those days where I just felt bleh!!  Lots of cat cuddles and resting. -Randy

~ 213/365 Some Summer Water Fun ~

© www.randypond.ca
213/365
Tried to shoot a water shot today.  I had done one years ago, decided to try it again this summer.  I was not sure what to expect, but I am happy with the results. :)  Nice hot day to shoot such shenanigans. :) The models were awesome, thanks ladies for playing along with my water idea. -Randy

~ 205/365 Wall Walking Model ~

© www.randypond.ca
205/365
This has to be one of the coolest poses I have ever seen a model pull off. :)  Huge props to Leanne for this shot.  I suggested she try and get a leg up on the wall and she went all spidey model and just free styled it.  :)  Really had a fun day, shooting with 2 models....just too bad Sherwood Park Toyota gave me some terrible customer service today.  Other than that today rocked! -Randy

~ 186/365 Summer Day at the Leg Pool ~

© www.randypond.ca
186/365

Got to shoot 2 lovely ladies today down at the leg grounds. :)  Two former roomies!!! :)  Beautiful warm summer day and some pool photos. -Randy

~ 181/365 Summer Day ~

© www.randypond.ca
181/365
Just a hot summer day.  Spent resting and enjoying the freedom of summer. -Randy

~ 125/365 Flowers on a Spring, errr Summer day ~

125/365
HOT day today, drove to BP's to have supper and found out we had a flat tire on the Matrix.  Thankfully we were able to change the tire in the shade.  Went from winter to summer weather, I think spring decided to skip us this year. -Randy

~ Summer Update 2011 ~

Well, so far this summer has been a LOT of fun as far as photography goes. I have shot a lot of pictures and hope to take a ton more before August ends. I shot a lot with my buddy Mac Sokulski of Miks Media and RPM Photography. We shot some engagement sessions and a family reunion. I have done some personal work lately too, I will post some in this blog post.

I have done the usual afternoon naps with cat cuddling included. Lots of late night games of COD Black Ops with my buddy Sonny on xbox live. I have just enjoyed the summer, but the main rant is the horrid swarms of skeeters. They are the worst ever, little tiny photo bombers that look like sensor dust on most of my shots.

I have loved the chance to shoot portraits of a few very talented photographers. Candace Vanstryland and Olivia Kovios. Hoping to add Samantha Scharf to the mix soon, as we have talked about shooting before she leaves for BC in a few weeks. I enjoy shooting other photographers. It's fun to show that there are some very nice looking people behind the lens of a camera. I am happy to showcase their beauty in front of a camera and give them props for their talents behind the lens.

Anyway, hope to keep my blog updated throughout the summer. Need to do lots of shooting and hope to keep sharing it with everyone.

-Randy

~ Mini Vacation ~

Jenn and I are planning a mini vacation down to the states to visit my Mom and Dad.  It's been a LONG time since I've made the trip down to see them.  We leave today and should be back in about 1 week.  We are planning to visit my cousins in Creston, BC along the way....as well a possible trip to Victoria, BC.  I hope we go, I love Victoria and would LOVE to get pictures of the ocean again.  I can't wait!!! :)

Well, I look forward to posting more wedding shots when I get back and some new nature shots from our trip.  Hope everyone has an awesome finish to their summers.  I'll have my crackberry with me so will be able to respond to emails while we are in Canada, will have it turned off in the States due to roaming charges, etc.

~ Jenn comes Home Today ~

Jenn arrives today.  :)  I am pretty excited, also the weather looks awesome for the next few days!!! Summer rules!!!

~ Emily ~

I was looking at some photoshop tutorials last night on a really cool website on photoshop. It really reminded me how much fun it is to be creative with photoshop. There are so many talented photoshop artists out there that it makes me feel a bit overwhelmed when I try and do similar work. I have to keep reminding myself how individual art is. I know that is a simple concept but I am always looking at other artists and creative people and feeling like somehow I just don't stack up. I do love it and last night I played around with a pic from my shoot with Emily. I have come up with these two versions. I really like them both for different reasons.

A great resource for stock photography to use with edits is here. I found a lot of cool images to use and sometimes a good stock image is a place to start for creating ideas. Just use your imagination, practice photoshop and really start learning to use layers, layer properties and how to blend layers together to create different looks. I found dodge and burn are also very helpful tools. The trick when you blend lots of images together is to try and make the lighting and colour work. It's like a magic trick, trying your best to create the illusion that all of those elements you are blending together in photoshop deserve to be there together. A good way of doing this is doing an image adjustment for colour balance on the layers to try and make them all work together.

I hope I am able to inspire someone else to try using photoshop and to be creative. I am by no means an expert or on the level of some of the photoshop artists out there. It's an art form and takes time and a lot of talent to master. You have to start somewhere and don't let others intimidate you. Just do what you can do and it will come. Baby steps, I started with some really basic concepts and techniques. Google is your friend and there are some excellent guides and tutorials out there. I look forward to exploring my creative side more this summer. :)

On a personal note, thanks SO much to the people (you know who you are) that read my blog about my Dad and his recent diagnosis with cancer. He is seeing his doctor today to discuss treatment, so hopefully tonight I will have some reassuring news. Your thoughts, prayers and well wishes really helped and I thank you so much. I know many of you have had loved ones and close family ill and also experiencing cancer, which makes it mean even more to me on a personal level that you cared enough to let me know you were thinking of my family. Thanks so much. I hope all of your families and friends stay safe and healthy this summer and in the future too! :)

On a really happy note, my beautiful wife returned safe and sound from her Huntsville adventures. I love having her back as do the 3 baby cats. Life is good! :)

~ Wednesday ~

I am looking forward to summer. I really want to focus on shooting location shots this summer. If I am going to do portraits I want them to be done in some really amazing locations. I want to scout of Edmonton and try and find places to shoot that are unique. I do not want to just flock to the legislature building. That has become overdone in my mind. It's always a mass of people, photographers and usually weddings fighting for locations there. I love the spots to shoot there, but have shot enough there. I want to find locations that really are off the beaten path.

I did get an AlienBee vagabond, which is a portable power supply. I want to use it on location shoots and add artificial lighting to natural light. I feel this combo will create some stunning portraits. I really can't wait until more leaves come out and it turns green. This summer of 2009 is going to be a busy one for my 40D. I hope it burns out and I can convince Jenn to buy me a 5DMII. Or maybe Tammy will throw her 5D my way out of pity. She's a high roller...that's pocket change to her. :)
-Randy