Herding Cats!

Luckily I had help at ICAN yesterday ... hubby Paul was there to lend a hand ... getting four tiny kittens in the same place at the same time ... and helping me get photos of a couple of skittish older kittens, too!

It was quite the sight, Paul's 6'2" frame in the tiny kitten room, terrified to move his feet for fear of treading on one of the four grey furballs who we don't think are more than five weeks old! It was a challenge, but we got some good shots! Below is one of my fav's of the litter ... the rest of the day's makings are in the gallery on my Smugmug page.

FIS Spring Series @ Panorama

As it turns out, photographing the first three days of this event was my last outing of the season!

If you raced at Panorama Resort this winter, have a look at my race galleries from some of this season's events!

This week, I added the first runs of the FIS Spring Series men's slalom, women's giant slalom, and women's slalom, on April 1st, 2nd and 3rd.

Meanwhile, I've become obsessed with goggle reflections ...

And how about this one, where the young man's eye colour so perfectly matches his helmet and goggle rims ...

These images were not posed, but were taken from severely cropped race action shots!

The Robins Are Back!

Spring must truly be on its way!

He was very busy digging for worms (yay, the ground's thawing!) and let me get quite close ... just as well because I only had my 24-70mm lens!

IPC Alpine Skiing World Cup Finals - Panorama, Canada

I've been up to Panorama Resort several times to photograph ski racing in its various forms. This is the first time that I've seen Paralympians competing live, and had the opportunity to photograph the action. There are few words that describe the feelings I was left with:

Inspired                          Grateful                      Humble                         In awe

The IPC Alpine Skiing World Cup Finals came to town and, true to form (Sod's Law), brought tons of snow! For those of you who don't know, a lot of snow is not what they want on the ground for ski racing - especially when you get about 30cm of powder in one day! Yes, they need snow covering the ground, but they'd rather have a hard-packed, even icy, surface to slide on - it's way faster!

Anyway, the photos are in my smugmug gallery ... here are a few of my fav's:

A Sight-Impaired Skier Following His Guide

He Looks Like He's Having A Blast!

Believe It Or Not, He Didn't Fall - Saved It & Continued On!

First Solo Wedding

Last Friday I photographed my first solo wedding!

I think it was a good thing that I had just five days' notice before the event - no time to get nervous! That being said, I did nearly have a heart attack when the bombshell was first dropped on me!  I'd just spent the day hiking halfway up the mountain to photograph a ski cross race, then hiking down, and was exhausted, all defences down ... "Oh, by the way, you're shooting a wedding on Friday evening." was about how the conversation went!

Once I'd had a good night's sleep, though, I was fine with the idea, and quite surprised by how calm I was feeling ... but then again, the wedding venue was Earl Grey Lodge, a delightful log cabin b&b in Panorama Resort, and there were at maximum 20 guests, including the bride and groom! I was pretty sure I could handle that, for 2-3 hours of shooting.

Was I ever the luckiest photog?! Lauren is the most lovely bride ... and there wasn't a single person in the place who was more relaxed and easy-going than her! Thank you, Lauren!

Here are a couple of my fav photos from the wedding:

Lauren

Andrew, Lauren & Malachi

The whole gallery is on my Smugmug website, so please drop by to have a look ... I'd love to know what you think!

Teck U16 K2 Provincial Series 2012 @ Panorama Resort

Superb Athlete - He Saved This!

I spent three days, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, taking photos of the ski racing in Panorama. 

365 Project & Cats

I'm already wondering what the heck I was thinking when I committed to another 365 project! It can be such a chore! All whinging aside, though, I have to say that it does me good, forces me to use my camera every day, make the most of whatever conditions I'm presented with ... makes me try things I might not have tried before!

For those of you who're following my 365P, you know that this year I've changed it up a bit. I'm not just shooting random images of whatever I feel like this time. This year, every week consists of a different topic - so far we've had grave markers, doors, local scenery, the colour red, circles - quite a mix of things.

If you'd like to watch how the year unfolds, and participate in the weekly process of subject selection, please "like" my photography page on Facebook so that you can get the updates!

I'm also still regularly taking photos at the Invermere Companion Animal Network, so that they've always got up to date images to post on their website to show potential small pet adopters what animals are currently looking for a forever home.

Any of you who know cats, who're the vast majority of clients at ICAN, know that they do what they want, when they want, and how they want. This makes taking decent photos a challenge, especially when I'm shooting alone - which is most of the time! It's great practice for me, though, as I get to work with various types of lighting without any pressure!

It's a bonus that I get to cuddle the cats and kittens, too!

Here's one of my fav's from the shoot I did on Valentine's Day ... the rest may be viewed on my Smugmug page:

Hidey