Sorry for how quiet it has been on the blog. I am currently on what feels like the last leg of a two month road trip around (quite literally) the United States. Two provinces and sixteen states down. Two provinces, eleven states and one capitol to go. Of course you can still contact me through email or blog commenting or telepathy if you have such powers.

There are some scant thoughts and images on my personal blog, Wandering Homebody if you care to look.

Hope everyone is enjoying the LOVELY autumn. I miss all you Canadians and flashing signal lights.

(My rough plan. It’s changed a bit. You get the general idea though)

]]> http://brittanyesther.com/blog/road-trippin/feed/ 0 http://brittanyesther.com/blog/ontario-bw-home/ http://brittanyesther.com/blog/ontario-bw-home/#comments Mon, 11 Apr 2011 08:04:33 +0000 Brittany http://brittanyesther.com/blog/?p=7325 While visiting family in southern Ontario this past summer I took an hour to photograph the house my grandfather, his twin sister and brother grew up in.

The house now belongs to my wonderful uncle, however my grandfather lives less than a two minute walk from the side door.

Each room has its own personality. It’s like a time piece. Some rooms appear to not have been touched since being built in the late 1800s. Other rooms are more reminiscent of the 70s, others the 90s. Strewn throughout the house are magazines from all decades.

So much character.

Thanks so much for looking

Events of this past week have taught me that taking the risk of stepping outside your circle of comfort can be so rewarding. Failure may hurt. But it is always worth the risk.

Despite being a film enthusiast, all of my professional work is digital. I shoot, develop and print my own black and white but have never taken it beyond that. I decided to take the chance however in Vegas to shoot only film. I’m so glad I did.

Here are some of the results. There will be more to come. Taken with amazing photographers who I have the fortune of calling my friends.

Isn’t Elyse just stunning?

Love to hear from you!

Let’s start with the bad news. The bad news is that I am now entering crunch time to finish my degree at the University. In short, time is worth more than unicorn dust and flying by faster than a cheetah with a rocket on its rear.

Good news is that on the other side of these papers, presentations, projects and exams is a summer full of weddings with the best couples a photographer could ask for and the possibility of traveling galore.

So what this means is I may be a bit behind in answering emails. But don’t worry, they will be addressed pronto!

Thank-you-thank-you-thank-you so much for  understanding.

I leave you with some more images from Iceland – because I adore road trips.

Such catastrophic events put into perspective just how fragile our current existence is.  This is such a reminder to me to live each day to its fullest potential and to embrace my family and friends.

My thoughts and prayers are with Japan and countries effected by the resulting tsunami.

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Toy cameras are such a delight of mine. My passion for collecting and fixing toy cameras first began when I wandered into an antique store in Harrow, Ontario. There sat this Kodak Duaflex IV, made somewhere between 1947 and 1960, dusty as could be but from the sounds of the shutter in still operable condition.

It took a serious amount of disassembly, cleaning and reassembly to be fully functional but it is so worth it. Plus, it looks pretty good in front of my Mamiya I must say. I may be a bit biased though.

All images except the first shot with the Duaflex.

Nothing beats wandering the strip with a rather bulky medium format camera. The wonderful thing about Vegas is that there is always guaranteed to be someone more interesting than you on the block. My camera was the least of people’s concerns with the men on the corner handing out their cards, the buskers selling bad karaoke or dressed in ridiculous get-ups crooning “I am beautiful! Look at me! I’m on a sidewalk!”, and the odd stormtrooper strewn here and there. I could swear I saw both Elvis and Michael Jackson as well.

Despite appearing as a bad set of the real Vegas, the strip in the day time had its own handful of gems.

I hope you enjoy viewing these and laugh as much as I did taking these.

Thanks so much for looking! Feel free to leave a comment. Love to hear from ya!

First, I just arrived back from the grandmother of all photographer convention and trade shows. Wedding and Portrait Photographers International, WPPI, held their annual event in Vegas this year and I had the pleasure of attending for the first time. Not only did I meet some amazingly talented photographers from all stretches of the globe but I was able to attend informative classes and look at different product lines (insert ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ here because that is how I felt looking at some of the albums).

Second, I am now catching up on emails and all things contact-ish so if you are waiting to hear from me, it is top of my priority list.

Third, (this one I am ridiculously excited about) I am going to be heading to Memphis end of April to attend a workshop I won at WPPI that will entirely change how I approach my photography. I honestly believe I will come back a much better photographer and I can not wait to see how that translates into all my images – especially given the amazing clients I have this year. I truly wish I could sit here and tell you all about each couple but that would take all day and I am sure that if you are in Calgary you have better things to do (like shovel your driveway or fix burst pipes).

Fourth, I am ridiculously close to being booked for the year. So if you are thinking of booking best contact me sooner rather than later. Two dates in particular I would love to find some awesome couples for are July 16th and July 23rd however I am booking a handful of other dates so please feel free to contact me :)

That’s it. That’s all the news for now. So before the full on Vegas post, here is a single image.

Enjoy and glad to be back to all your hopefully smiling faces behind the screen!

From my earliest memories I recall going to her house and there would always be candies set a side. A whole table of them. She is not particularly partial to sweets but always makes sure there are plenty for visitors – and I always take full advantage of this.

I have the absolute pleasure of saying I am related to this fine lady by blood and by marriage. Not only is she my grandfather’s cousin but she also married my grandmother’s brother.  The last photo has a framed image of her and my great uncle before they were married at 18.

Unfortunately I am not able to attend her 90th birthday in Kingsville, Ontario tomorrow but believe she deserves a huge shout out on the blog. So, to the finest and funnest (it’s a word now) 90 year old jiving this side of the pond…

Happy Birthday Aunt Anita!

Apparently my third last post thoroughly confused a dozen people as to how I could see a second caribou in a Canadian quarter.  Rest assured – I know this is a schnauzer. A schnauzer who is not particularly pleased with being dressed up like a caribou.

I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas with ample food (hmm.. food. Did someone say peppermint ice cream?), lots of family and friends and a ridiculous number of gifts (I’m kidding. Just the ones you want. Not the year supply of underwear kind. Or in any case at least a witty Hallmark card ).

Love,

Brittany’s Famjam

One ridiculously fun way to document guests at an event is the infamous photobooth. So here we go. Health Science students in their natural habitat.

Enjoy!