Dress for Success

May 03, 2016

Giving back is something that I always have on my mind. For a number of years now I've wanted to try and donate my time and help out people that are less fortunate. The last couple of years since I've switched to becoming a professional photographer full time, I've realized that I now have a skill to offer. I love taking portraits and Dress For Success kind of fell into my lap. I've been lucky enough to be working with DFS Vancouver the last 3 years. I've very much enjoyed these shoots the last 3 years. For me as a photographer, it has given me another opportunity to further my own skills whilst providing photos for DFS Vancouver's yearly fundraiser Impact 360.

The first year I helped out, the first woman I photograph cried when I showed her how beautiful she looked in the back of the camera. It was quite a startling moment for me. Such a simple thing for me, but I hadn't realized how impactful it could be to someone who's confidence and self-image weren't as high as we'd all like to have. This was a moment I realized that I was very willing to help these women and help Dress for Success Vancouver with showcasing what a fantastic charity they are. Since that day I've been hooked and helping where I can.

It was a great day getting to chat with all of these women, I feel honoured to have created these portraits. I hope you enjoyed the images. These beautiful, courageous and lovely women deserve our attention.

-Broda

Under the Overpass

February 26, 2016 in Art

Hi Guys,

I've been fortunate enough over the last year or two that I've been very busy as a commercial photographer. I love it, I've been meeting so many people and working with a ton of different companies. Sometimes though it seems like the only time I get my camera out is for work or when my wife Linda and I travel. So one of the things I've been trying to be more conscious of is to work at creating more art. Going forward I'm looking into selling more prints as I would love to share my art with more people. This blog entry is about a series of images I created and how they came to be.

It all started a couple of summers ago. My family and I were going to a Night Market here in the Vancouver. If you haven't been or know of it, It is a good sized outdoor market with lots of food and little knick knacks that one can buy. The night market is located near a junction Skytrain station. So we parked underneath this Junction, this overpass of Skytrain rails and as we were walking away it had caught my eye. To me, the three separate rails just had a very intriguing silhouette.

This picture was from that that first night. I think I had wrote in my Instagram account when posting the photo that I would be back to shoot this with my dslr camera one day.

So not exactly how much longer it took me to get back and take the photos but it happened late last summer. And I'm glad I did. There is just something about this large infrastructure. The design, the swinging shapes and the raw concrete texture that I just needed to capture.

Here is the set of images that I came up with. I think with the blues and the contrast in the concrete anyone of these would be fantastic print.

Thanks very much for checking out my Blog. I hope you enjoyed my art. Hopefully one day coming up I can get these all printed out nice and big.

If you aren't already doing so you can use the small icons on the bottom of the page to see my Instagram account. I try to add new images often.

-Broda

Lovely Children

February 23, 2016

Hi Guys,

Been a little while since my last blog post. I've been lucky enough to have been very busy with tons of photography gigs since just before Christmas. I'll try and catch up a little bit this week.

This was a session of portraits done for good friends of my wife's. They have 3 of the most adorable children. Their mother was looking for some photos to be done for a Christmas card. I think some of you will have seen them already but I just wanted to share a couple of my favorites on here.

As usual you can click on the images for a lightbox view.

She has the most piercingly beautiful eyes.

Thanks for checking in. Hope you enjoyed the photos.

-Broda

Parisian Adventures

November 25, 2015

With Paris being a center of attention for all the wrong reasons this past week, I was reliving old photos and the reasons I and many others around this world have fallen so deeply in love with the City of Light. I've been fortunate enough to have visited Paris twice in my life. The first visit while backpacking across Europe in '09, then again with my wife in 2012. The Culture, people and food always amazed me during my visits. So vibrant and full of life. It's hard to resist as it draws one in. Being one of the epicenters of culture for this world, I have no doubt that Paris will remain strong.

Winged Victory of Samothrace in the Louvre

I have a few more in the gallery below. Thanks for visiting.

- Broda

A Late Summer's Anniversary

September 08, 2015

It has been two years since Robyn and Jason declared their love for one another. It was a fantastic day, and the perfect most intimate wedding. I was so honoured when Jason asked me to photograph their ceremony with only their parents and twins Fin and Ayden at their sides.

With such and intimate wedding. I was trying so hard to not disturb the ceremony. With nowhere to hide but in plain sight. I tread lightly and snapped photos silently. I was reassured afterwards that I had not been noticed or seen at all. All my years of refining my ninja skills paid off.

Finally after good behavior during the wedding, I was able to direct and pose them to my liking. It was easy to capture the magic which bonds them. The park and beach of Jericho in Vancouver being the perfect setting to do so.

Time to celebrate! And take more photos.

They were dressed so elegantly. Robyn's dress so classic and subtle juxtaposed with bright strands of purple and teal in her hair, then matching flower and shoes. Jason was not to be out done with his piece de resistance matching Teal shoes. The perfect couple, perfectly attired.

Such a beautiful day. Such a beautiful wedding. I wish I could put all of the photos up here. Thanks again for letting me be a part of it. Congratulations on two great years. I look forward to more late nights, parties and festivals with two people that I am honoured to call my friends.

Thanks for reading and please check out the rest of the gallery below. There were so many great moments.

- Broda

School of fish at Monterrey Bay Aquarium

Sharks and the Jets

July 30, 2015

It was a couple years back now. But my first trip to San Francisco was very memorable. I traveled down with a couple friends and my now wife. I was still quite new with my camera at the time, alas I was very eager snap some shots of places I had only heard about.

We had a fantastic time visiting some of the more famous sites. Driving down to Monterrey Bay Aquarium and then Pebble Beach for a glorious sunset was also something I had wanted to do for years.

Almost looked like a mushroom cloud. Sunset at Pebble Beach

It was Fleet Week at this time of year in San Francisco. A week when the Pacific fleet of military forces are honoured. Basically... Big ships ships and Jets. More specifically the Blue Angels! We were lucky enough that they were soaring only hundreds of feet above us as we drifted to Alcatraz. It sounded as if they were ripping a hole in the sky above.

It was a such a spectacular sight to see. I've always cherished these photos. The history, the old and the new. I've always been pretty keen on history. Alcatraz has just that.

I was fortunate that day because we were the last trip across to see the now ghost prison. I found myself at the back of the pack waiting for the stragglers to slip through doors and out of sight. I was hoping to catch Alcatraz as empty as it was. The quite dark. It was an intimidating place. The 1,576 residents back then only had a few inches of hope in each of their cells.

A room with a View. This window couldn't have been more than 6 inches across

Hearing the stories of what happened in certain cells and whom were the inmates. The most notorious names America's criminal past were held here. Al Capone, George "Machine-Gun" Kelly and Arthur "Doc" Barker to name a few. One could only imagine the stories that weren't being told that day.

Alcatraz was an incredible place to visit. I do hope I get to go back again one day. Its a place that feels more fiction than fact. Among it's deranged beauty, it still has some shinning moments. The view off the back to the most famous bridge in North America sure wasn't bad.

There is still tons more to see, hopefully I can make it back again soon to capture more of the incredible city that is San Francisco.

Please check out the rest of my photos I promise there is a shark. Thanks for reading and I'd love to hear your thoughts or if you've been there yourselves.

-Broda

-Lone Austin-Healey enjoying the shade — -Lone Austin-Healey enjoying the shade

British Indulgence

July 16, 2015

It's been some time since I can remember not quickly turning my neck every time I hear the roar of a passing car. One of my greatest passions are cars and anything that has a motor. I've been engulfed in my love of cars from a very young age. I used to draw nothing but scores of trucks and cars. My family will attest, I always wanted to be a Dump Truck when I grew up. I used to only care about the best of the best. Zero to sixty times and top speeds. As I've matured I have started to understand the beauty in classic cars. Nothing used to compare to the Jaguar XJ220 or the Mclaren F1. But now seeing a stunning well kept Austin Healey, MG or Morgan 3 wheeler can really turn my crank(pun intended).

The All British Classic Car show at the stunning VanDusen Botanical Garden is a perfect place to nourish my love of cars and now automotive photography. With so many some gorgeous little sports cars there was much for my lens to capture.

-Beautifully hand crafted MG steering wheel

I've found over the last couple years attending a handful of these car shows that getting a shot of a single car can be tricky. Luckily I think I got a few decent photos in this set. Like this stitched together shot of this older Aston Martin Vanquish. Everyone could use a little James Bond in their lives.

The other thing that I have noticed. The garden always seems to be teaming with wild life. Must be a picnic somewhere nearby.

These moving works of art have captured my heart. I hope to be able to drive at least a few of these in my life time. Have a look at the rest of my gallery and let me know what you think? Maybe one of your favorites is in here too?

- Broda

Our helicopter flying away after dropping us off.

West Coast Fishing Club

July 07, 2015

Recently I was commissioned to shoot at one of British Columbia's most remote and pristine locations in Haida Gwaii. For four fantastic days I stayed at the West Coast Fishing Club's North Island Lodge. It was a 2 hour flight up the coast to Masset followed by a short helicopter ride.

Haida Gwaii is spectacular. It's definitely a fisherman's paradise. Bird watchers and nature lovers alike would find much peace here. It was cloudy and threatened to rain the majority of the trip. However, it held out except for one night which was great as I didn't have to worry about my gear getting soggy at all. We did end up having one evening where the clouds broke and were able to see a beautiful sunset. The fishing was great and I was able to catch - well the catches.

I was also invited to document the First Annual West Coast Fishing Club Ultimate Grill Showdown. The resort featured award-winning chefs, Canadian BBQ Icon Ted Reader, Christian Pritchard, and Park Heffelfinger from Memphis Blues Barbeque House restaurants in Vancouver. Over the course of the four days there I was lucky enough to dine on some of the best BBQ I've ever tasted.

Slow roasted beef brisket sandwich created by chefs Reader and Pritchard

Of the many new experiences I had, the one I enjoyed the most I affectionately called "Eagle-ing". When the fish weren't biting, we tossed herring pieces into the air and waited for the eagles' response. With luck, the eagle would swoop in and grasp the fish with their impressive talons. These animals are absolutely majestic and a photographer's delight.

All in all it was an excellent week. I met a ton of fantastic people, captured beautiful visuals, ate some incredible food and caught a couple of fish myself. I can't wait to get back to the West Coast Fishing Club in Haida Gwaii! Please have a look at a couple more shots from the trip.

-Broda