Life and Olive the Above

It seems everyone goes through that feeling of not having enough hours in the day and I can certainly sympathize right now, though I don’t want to come accross complaining. I’ve been booking up my time with soap making, photographic engagements, floral design and more weddings than you can possibly imagine.

It’s a good predicament to be in, not for everyone, but for me at least. I’m hopeful that one day I won’t have a desk job during the day, or if I do it’ll only be part time so I can have a little more time to do the things that excite me and challenge me.

Yesterday alone Steve and I recieved two wedding invites, one which will conincide nicely with a visit to my parents on Vancouver Island and my dad’s birthday and the other is in Kelowna and well… we can’t go… I’m going to be designing flower arrangements and doing photos for a wedding in Langley the same weekend so unfortunately we’ll have to opt out.

I still haven’t managed to plan a summer vacation just yet but maybe I should get that in the works sooner rather than later. Our usual trip to Orca’s Island for Woodsong has been cancelled this year and we weren’t planning our other usual trip to the Oregon coast so we’re left with the question of what to do!

One thing I know for sure is that I want to arrange our patio to be a little cozier for the next few warm months

Another busy weekend in my life. I’m in a frenzy of activity to have prices sent out to clients for flowers, photos and custom soaps. It’s great to be so busy with the things you love, unfortunate when you realize you still work a desk job full time.

No less I had the pleasure of joining with Jo and Austin as they celebrated their weddding this past Saturday and had a chance to photograph Jess and Jonny in Granville Island on Tuesday! To keep things interesting I thought it best to post some photos!

Got Craft? is coming up this Sunday May 3rd! Also this Sunday! My birthday! If you show up and mention my birthday I’ll give you $2 off a bar of 4 oz.  soap. *Limit to one per customer.
See you at the show!

Last weekend I was fortunate enough to attend Open Source Photography West in downtown Seattle! I found out about it with only two weeks to spare, but enough time to make a commitment and plan a short working vacation in good ol’ America to spend some time shooting with other photographers from around the region.
The weekend was kicked off on Friday night with a Cocktail meet and greet hosted by Microsoft at Hotel 1000, a great venue in a very convenient location for walking around to many of the locations we shot at. Going into it, I wasn’t sure what to expect or the experience many of those attending would have but I was happy to be surrounded by some great talent and really got some valuable working knowledge from each session whether on the field or in the conference room. They were giving away some great take homes from Kiss wedding albums, OneLight, ProDPI and ShowIt among others! I was fortunate enough to come away with some album templates from Gene Higga, a fabulous destination wedding photographer.
Here are just a few images from the photoshoots I partook in.

Lately I’ve been following @ScottBourne on Twitter and more  recently he’s been hosting a bunch of contests through his website Photo Focus. He’s been giving away Ray Flashes and with my every growing love of photography I swoon over such things! Last weekend I had the priviledge to go to Seattle, WA for Open Source Photo West which was a great opportunity to get together with other photographers and models and make it happen! Hope they plan another one next year! Anyways all this to say contests = amazing!

Steve and I are sick this week. Somehow it’s so much worse when both are down because it’s just such a sad sight to behold.

The Liberal Arts Students at Trinity Western University opened their graduating art show, “Gift Shop” last night at the Langley Centennial Museum in Fort Langley. The gallery space was a cute venue and a definite step up from the underground parking lot on the university campus last year and it served as a great place to mingle and run into old faces. Although a small graduating class I must say that each year I’m impressed by several of them for to work they put out especially when I spent the last 5 years in art school and, at many times, felt disappointed by the work that would come out (though of course there are exceptions). I have often felt that TWU has been a great support to their artists and has really helped to develop and challenge their skills in a unique way that is very exciting. It will be running all month at 9135 King St. and is definitely worth checking out.

Before I sign off, a photos of the sun setting on the horizon, it was so beautiful and gold I just have to share!

This evening was my first time back to the Vancouver Art Gallery since I completed my degree in April of last year. My student pass no longer valid I am forced to enjoy the evening amidst the crowds on the “by donation” Tuesday evening. The show had a few pieces of interest and in the showing of abstract works, I recognized a fair number of pieces but over all the exhibition lacked a certain “gusto” as my mother would say. Sad as it may be, I still say that the Brien Jungen show in 2006 has always been my favourite at the VAG. I expected to be disappointed to some degree and yet I was completely blown away by his talent and his creative thought.  If he’s unfamiliar to you he’s widely known for creating native masks out of Air Jordan shoes. For me, it was the lawn chair dinosaur skeletons that drew me in among other things .

Upon the shows closing we had hoped to enjoy a great cappuccino from Artigianos cafe. To our dismay it closed just as we came upon the few stairs to the door. Artigianos is one of those places that reminds you of how enjoyable a drink should be and can be. Sadly most chains fall short of this and now that they’ve been purchased by a larger company my hope is that they too won’t go down the dreaded path of mediocrity. The night missed a couple high notes with the exhibits and the coffee but the company was great and the adventures in the city were definitely needed and well worth the trek.

It makes me wonder what is so different from one cup to the next that they taste worlds apart? While in Italy in May 2006 I enjoyed possibly the most delicious cappuccino at the gallery which was once home to Peggy Guggenheim. If only such goodness didn’t have to be so far away.

Outside the weather goes back and forth between winter and spring with hot sun and snow the following day. So I too have been going back and forth from Body Care Crafter to Photographer and back again with every other thing in between.

Steve and I have now begun to truly settle into our new home in Cloverdale. We still live amidst a few “projects” but the bulk is done and normal life is beginning to resume again. OliveLife.ca was completely void of any activity with all the commotion around the house, that’s right completely void. But an overhaul has been long overdue so I’m going to test market a new style of imagery for the site and see what the response will be. I’m undecided if a busier image is as eye catching in the market place  even though it does have a certain appeal in my individual store.

So to celebrate the coming of spring I give you the crocus outside our door

and the hope that the nicer weather will bring out a reason to wear a more “fancy free” pair of shoes…

Steve and I have moved from our former living space, which although large and having everything included, left much to be desired. We’ve moved into a smaller community, Cloverdale, where we continue the grueling process of moving in. I find myself glued to Design*Sponge and Apartment Therapy or design shows on television that show some element of promise.To intensify matters Shrove Tuesday is coming up and we’ve aggreed to have a small gathering for dinner so it serves as a date to get most of the unpacking and nesting done.

I’m going through all the rooms looking for art and prints we can put up on the wall, frantically searching Craigslist for furniture we could paint out or otherwise modify and drawing up floor plans on Gliffy and coming up with ideas for headboards in our room!

I love this kind of stuff!

I do however miss our garden but I’ve got a few planters outside that have Crocus in them! Not much but it’s a start!

Originally written late January ‘09

Seasons are changing on not simply in regard to the weather outside. Working in an office has been a trying change for me as I get used to corporate life. Still on the other side of the coin it has helped to enlighten the fact that photography is truly an important venture for me which can’t be put to the side. I’ve been booking more and more jobs over the last few months and trying to really develop a strong portfolio that shows diversity and adaptability and with that I’ve been carrying my camera more than ever.

As with anything, as time elapses I’m realizing to a greater degree the need for the right camera bag. Don’t get me wrong I love my Think Tank Urban Disguise 40 but frankly, it’s big. Big is great on occasion but for someone with a bad back, a shoulder bag is not the way to carry lots of gear. This bag has however been great for short ferry rides and would also be great on flights because it’s got a handy feature of being able to attach easily to luggage and it also fits my laptop. What I need now is a great bag for on the job. When you need two flash units, one or two spare lenses and SD cards as well as your camera body and all this with no serious back injuries would be a serious asset.

I’ve been eyeing up the LowePro Inverse 200 bag for the last while because this offers a solution for my poor back. I made a quick stop to try this on in the store last night and was surprised to find that it was much roomier than I had imagined. It fit everything I would need for a simple photo shoot and it would even be able to handle a tripod to boot! It was easy to get into and had the option of a shoulder strap because lets me honest, we don’t all want to wear a waist pack ALL the time. The rain cover also appears to be a strong bonus being from the West Coast of Canada where it rains most of the year and so it means that small features like this go a long way.

Hopefully I’ll find one in my collection of bags very soon.