Sheena Wilkie's Photo Talk

You can receive your copy of Canadian Camera by becoming a member of the Canadian Association for Photographic Arts.

CC Spring Editorial by Sheena Wilkie

We’ve all got one in our pockets or purses. Well maybe not everyone but over 80% of us carry a cell phone that has a built in camera.

In 2000 the first cell phone camera was mass produced. The Sharp J-SH04 phone camera produced a whopping 0.1 megapixel image. Those early cell phone cameras if used at all were mostly used to document events, particularly incidents we required proof of. Things like the damage from a fender bender, that water stain on the laminate floor for the insurance company, Sasquatch sightings, weather phenomena and even alien abductions. They were a bit of a novelty.

But then one day the Internet and the camera phone crossed paths and the world changed forever.  Events from something as mundane as eating dinner to breaking world news and everything in between was being photographed on cell phone cameras and uploaded to the Internet for all to see – often within minutes of happening.

In 2004 for the first time the majority of the images we saw on the evening news of the devastation of the Indian Ocean tsunami were not from professional news journalists but cell phone photographs taken by ordinary citizens.  This saw the birth of citizen journalism — people on the street, capturing and sharing what is happening before them at any given time. Everyone always has their phone with them! More… »

You can have whatever colour hat your heart desires! Consider taking my Photoshop course!

I took my students down to Granville Island yesterday for a bit of a photo walk. We lucked out on the weather and had an overcast but dry morning. Granville Island is a wonderful place to shoot in poor weather because you can always go inside and shoot in the market. A nice fast lens comes in handy here, many of us were shooting with our 50 mm lenses. Public markets anywhere are great places to practice shooting in public if you are nervous. You can even try your hand at street photography and take some photos of people around the market.  At most public markets tourists are also walking around with cameras so you will fit right in!

Worked with Pat from Boulevard Magazine this past week to provide photographs for an article on the  New Beauty Institute in South Surrey. Caree and Karen were a delight to photograph! I used off camera flash here – my Nikon SB800in a portable soft box with my D700 in commander mode.

I just don’t understand where time goes. Last I thought about my blog was a New Year’s resolution to keep it updated once a week. Hah! I am always too busy doing it to write about it until its long past over. And I put things on Face Book I should be writing in my blog.

January and February have been busy months, I’ve  introduced an new intermediate photography course to www.photogurus.ca and a new set of students set to begin Intro to Digital Photography and Photoshop for Photographers. I hosted a fun event at the Langley Camera Club – “So you think you can judge!”  which was well received. And I completed my documentary photography series on the Karen People for the Surrey Museum. The spring issue of Canadian Camera is complete and at the printers. And finally the studio renovations are complete and am glad to be back to shooting in the studio in these cold rainy months.  I promise to love my blog more this spring!

The traffic around the shopping malls is getting crazy! Everyone is out there looking for the perfect Christmas gift for their loved ones. I have a few suggestions for you. You can purchase a gift of a photo session. Give me a call and I can create a gift session for everyone’s budget! And if you’re not in the market for a photography session, but you have a budding photographer in your life why not buy them a photography course! All the  information on how to do this is on my Photo Gurus website where you can purchase a gift certificate for a course.  One stop shopping!

My workshops were well received. Nothing broke down or blew up, so that in and of itself is a success   Enjoyed the crowd very much. Met great people, so many enthusiastic learners! It was awesome! Looking forward to next year already!

Wow we had great weather for the photo walk, but we could have done with less sun, it was really harsh, lots of contrasty lighting even early in the morning. But it was a chance to review with students aperture and shutter settings, developing their photographic eye and to put into practice concepts we’ve discussed in class. And then we had a nice chat over coffee.

If you’re interested in joining me in future walks book mark my site www.photowalks.ca where I keep a schedule of photo walks and where you can register for them! Hope to see you on one soon!

Hands down I think Hycroft has to be one of the prettiest wedding venues in the Lower Mainland.  I had the pleasure of photographing Daniel and Rhianna’s wedding there a couple of weeks ago. It was a beautiful summer day and a lovely wedding. Best wishes to the bride and groom. Here is Rhianna’s sweet wedding dress.

I don’t know about you but my summer has been happily busy doing what I love. Although I have sacrificed keeping my blog up to date, updating my sites, etc. in order to spend more time  with my family and friends.

Lots of head shots, a couple of weddings and some family portraits have kept me busy this summer, but I took the opportunity to spend a great deal of time at our precious Pressy Lake.

When I die,  I don’t want my epitaph to be “Here lies Sheena Wilkie, she always kept her blog and websites up todate.” Don’t sacrifice time with the people you love for things that aren’t really that important in the bigger scheme of things.

Back from the Canadian Camera Conference this week in London Ontario. Had a fabulous time. met great people, saw amazing photography — it was a great experience all round. Special thanks to the London Camera Club http://www.londoncameraclub.on.ca/ for putting on this conference, they did an excellent job!

I’m excited to be here – presenting two workshops. Staying in student digs at Fanshaw College in London Ontario.

Please reply to Nancy directly:

My organization, the SOGC, is a non-profit society dedicated to women’s health. We are in Vancouver at the Bayshore this week for our Annual Clinical meeting. We have a last minute requirement for a photographer to shoot an awards ceremony taking place on Friday June 24 between 3 and 6 p.m. We are contacting you because you were hoping that you could recommend a photo arts student who would be willing to shoot this event for an honorarium (to be determined ).

Nancy Bickford
Women’s Health Initiatives
Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada (SOGC)
E-mail: nbickford@sogc.com

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